After watching Asana and Yamanaka Teruzuki leave, Uchiha En turned and walked toward the Uchiha Clan compound.
He hadn't been lying just now; he did have a few friends in the Uchiha Clan.
The Uchiha Clan compound had not yet been moved to the outermost edge of the Village, so its location was still quite bustling, and he passed many lively shops.
Among them was Konoha's largest open-air hot spring.
As Uchiha En passed the hot spring establishment, he noticed a white-haired uncle staring excitedly at the wonderful scenery inside the women's bath, a lewd smile hanging on his lips.
"Yes, that's right, lift your arm up a bit more!
This one is also good! Such enormous evil!
Don't block the one on the right!"
"
"I've gone to so many places for research, but Konoha women are still the best looking!" Jiraiya jumped down from the rooftop, savoring the material he had just gathered.
"Uncle, isn't peeking into the women's bath in broad daylight a bit inappropriate?"
Jiraiya's expression subtly changed upon hearing this. Before this person spoke, he hadn't sensed anyone behind him. Was it because he was distracted by gathering material?
Or was it that his Body Flicker Technique was too fast, allowing him to appear directly behind him?
Jiraiya immediately turned around and sized up Uchiha En, thinking to himself: "This brat has the Uchiha Clan crest on him, and he looks only 11 or 12 years old. He's been out of the Ninja Academy for at most one or two years. He shouldn't have mastered such a fast Body Flicker Technique. Most likely, I was distracted gathering material."
Thinking this, Jiraiya laughed and said, "So it's a brat from the Uchiha Clan! This Immortal wasn't peeking, I was gathering material for my work."
"Gathering material? Are you a writer?" Uchiha En asked, feigning ignorance.
"That's right, this Immortal is a great writer!"
"Uncle, what works have you written?"
"This Immortal has written many works, previously..." Jiraiya then entered bragging mode, while simultaneously quickening his pace, hoping to shake off Uchiha En.
But he didn't expect Uchiha En to be able to keep up right behind him, which surprised Jiraiya.
Jiraiya's intuition told him that this brat might be unusual. He subconsciously sped up, but Uchiha En still followed closely.
"Hey! Brat, why are you following me?"
"You were peeking into the women's bath. As a member of the Uchiha Clan, I have an obligation to maintain the Village's public order, so I'm taking you to the Police Force."
"I told you I wasn't peeking... Huh? When did a ramen shop open here? The business looks pretty good. I wonder how the taste is." While running away, Jiraiya noticed the ramen shop below with a long queue.
Uchiha En also spotted the ramen shop. After thinking for a moment, he shouted to Jiraiya, "Uncle, how about we grab a bowl of ramen together? If you treat me, I can pretend I didn't see anything."
"Alright, alright! Running into something like this right after returning to the Village, how unlucky," Jiraiya said with a look of resignation.
The two arrived at Ichiraku Ramen, and only then did Jiraiya notice the banner hanging on the shop indicating it was the last day of trial operation. It seemed the shop hadn't officially opened yet!
"To have so many customers without even officially opening, the noodles at this place must be quite good," Jiraiya thought to himself.
After queuing for about 20 minutes, the two finally sat down. Uchiha En ordered a large bowl of seafood ramen, while Jiraiya ordered a bowl of tonkotsu ramen.
When the ramen arrived, Jiraiya first took a sip of the broth: "Tsk~ The taste is pretty good!"
"It's certainly not bad, but it doesn't seem as delicious as the legends say."
"Legends? Brat, are you saying you haven't eaten ramen from this place either?"
"No! I only heard people talk about this shop."
After finishing one bowl of ramen, Uchiha En was only two-tenths full. This was mainly because he had spent the previous night traveling under the stars, which consumed a lot of Chakra, and all the food he consumed was converted into Chakra by Return of Life.
However, since someone was treating him, Uchiha En wasn't going to be polite. He simply ordered one of every kind of ramen. After finishing, Uchiha En patted his stomach contentedly.
"Not bad, not bad, it's been a long time since I ate so comfortably! Brat, wait—Brat, are you a pig? Which bowl is that now?" Jiraiya, who had just finished his second bowl of ramen, asked in shock, looking at the empty bowls in front of Uchiha En.
"The seventh bowl, I think! I'm barely nine-tenths full."
"Why is your appetite so huge? Brat, what's your name?" Jiraiya casually asked the boy's name.
"My name is Uchiha En!"
"Uchiha En, huh? This Immortal remembers you. Waiter, check please!"
After paying, Jiraiya turned and left.
To be fair, among the characters in the Hokage original work, Jiraiya was the one Uchiha En felt the most affinity for, which is why Uchiha En orchestrated this "chance encounter."
However, more than a year of tempering on the battlefield had made Uchiha En realize that this was not the world of a comic book, but a terrifyingly real world.
If Jiraiya were to jump out and oppose his plan in the future, he wouldn't hold back.
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