Inside a small restaurant in Konoha.
After eating and drinking their fill, the three members of the master-and-student trio leaned back in their chairs in unison.
The afternoon sunlight happened to spill across the corner of the table, casting a leisurely glow over the scene.
Jiraiya had already arranged to have lunch with Shiranui Rei and Minato that day.
After examining Rei, Tsunade had hurriedly left to head for the battlefield—or rather, the gambling den.
The three master and disciples hadn’t stayed idly at Minato’s house either.
Once it was about time for lunch, they simply went out and found a small restaurant, chatting as they ate.
“Ahh, this hits the spot~”
Jiraiya rubbed his stomach without the slightest concern for his image and let out a satisfied burp, his eyes narrowing contentedly.
This restaurant was an old establishment in Konoha.
Back in the day, the Old Man had often brought him, Tsunade, and Orochimaru here for meals.
Over the years, the four of them seemed to have drifted farther and farther apart, making Jiraiya unexpectedly nostalgic for those days.
“Damn, am I getting old too?”
Jiraiya clicked his tongue in displeasure.
But…
Perhaps looking at it from another angle wasn’t so bad either?
He looked at the two young men sitting opposite him, one on either side, and a hint of warmth appeared in the eyes of this usually carefree man.
From student to teacher, Jiraiya had somehow grown into someone who could stand on his own.
As he watched the two youths laughing and chatting, he seemed to see, for a fleeting moment, three children again—a white-haired boy, a black-haired boy, and a blond girl, all fooling around together.
But when had things gradually started to change?
“Jiraiya-sensei, what was it you said yesterday that you wanted to tell us?”
Shiranui Rei’s questioning voice pulled Jiraiya out of his strange train of thought.
Coming back to himself, he froze for a moment before punching his right fist into his left palm in realization.
“Oh, right! I almost forgot to tell you two about this.”
“It’s like this…”
Jiraiya gathered his thoughts and looked from one disciple to the other.
His expression wasn’t particularly stern, but it was considerably more serious than usual.
He said solemnly, “The Old Man thought about your situations and decided that it’s time to put a little more responsibility on your shoulders and give you some experience.”
The “Old Man,” of course, was Jiraiya’s affectionate nickname for his teacher, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hearing this, Shiranui Rei immediately understood.
In short, it was time to get ready to serve the villagers!
His previous guess had been correct.
Konoha’s higher-ups really did intend to cultivate the two of them as important talents.
Both he and Minato had been promoted to jonin, and they were also Jiraiya’s disciples.
As civilians by birth, they had no ties to any of Konoha’s shinobi clans.
Perhaps they had already entered the sights of Konoha’s higher-ups even before they rescued Kushina Uzumaki.
The rescue of Kushina had merely provided an opportunity.
Being allowed to choose ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals was both a reward for their achievements and a way to deepen their sense of belonging to the village.
From the Third Hokage’s perspective, handing the position of Hokage to someone from another shinobi clan could potentially allow that clan to become too powerful.
Handing it to someone from his own clan, meanwhile, could invite accusations of favoritism.
At the same time, differences in political views could cause instability during a critical transition of power.
In such circumstances, perhaps the best choice was to cultivate talented children from civilian backgrounds as successors, allowing their will to be passed down through the bond between master and disciple and ensuring that their policies would remain broadly consistent.
This way, because power wouldn’t be passed directly to a family member in a hereditary fashion, the other shinobi clans in the village wouldn’t have as much reason to strongly oppose it.
This had nothing to do with some conspiracy theory.
It could simply be considered an inevitable choice.
“As long as we can contribute something to the village, we’re naturally willing to do our part!”
Minato’s eyes lit up.
Clearly, he hadn’t thought nearly as deeply about the matter.
He was simply genuinely delighted by the trust the village had placed in them.
Minato, Rei’s good friend, really was a rather straightforward person.
Of course, that might also be why Rei was willing to trust him without reservation.
As long as you didn’t betray the village, Minato would always be your most reliable comrade and strongest ally.
“I’m also willing to follow the Hokage’s arrangements!”
At a time like this, Shiranui Rei naturally wouldn’t refuse.
Besides, from his current perspective, there was no real downside for him.
Objectively speaking, the Third Hokage’s arrangement really was an opportunity for them to gain experience.
If they followed the intentions of the village’s higher-ups, they could also obtain more in return.
Rei could already foresee that if he refused the Third Hokage’s arrangement, he might never get another chance to even look at the Scroll of Seals until Minato eventually became Hokage.
But if he agreed to follow the arrangement of the higher-ups, then besides the Flying Thunder God Technique he had copied not long ago, he might have the chance to learn a second or even third ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals.
For a civilian-born shinobi like him, who possessed neither secret techniques nor inherited bloodline limits, this was an irresistible temptation.
“Then I’ll tell you what the Old Man has arranged for each of you.”
Jiraiya first turned his attention to Minato.
“Minato, it’s graduation season at the Ninja Academy again. Another batch of students will soon become genin and face the cruelty of the shinobi world.”
“Your assignment is to become a jonin team leader. You’ll be responsible for guiding three genin who graduate this year until one of them is promoted to chunin.”
According to Konoha’s regulations, a jonin team leader would first guide a team of three genin.
Once one of those three genin was promoted to chunin, the jonin leader would automatically leave the team, and the newly promoted chunin would take over as the team’s leader.
“Me? A jonin team leader?”
Minato’s eyes widened slightly.
Counting the years on his fingers, he hadn’t even been out of the Ninja Academy for five years.
Going from being a student to becoming a teacher responsible for an entire team…
Was he really ready for that?
Jiraiya didn’t say anything.
He simply looked at him quietly with an encouraging gaze.
“…All right.”
Receiving that look, Minato’s eyes gradually became firm.
He nodded solemnly.
“I accept, Jiraiya-sensei!”
“Good!”
Jiraiya smiled in satisfaction before turning his attention to Shiranui Rei.
His expression became even more solemn than before.
He spoke slowly, one word at a time.
“Rei, your assignment is… to join the ANBU!”
ANBU.
Its full name was the Anbu Black Ops, officially known as the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, an organization established during the era of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
Just as its name implied, most of the missions its members carried out were the kind that could never see the light of day.
Being a shinobi had never been some profession built around truth, goodness, and beauty.
And the ANBU was where a village’s darkness was concentrated.
Whether someone was suited for the ANBU varied from person to person.
Jiraiya considered himself absolutely incapable of surviving in a place like that.
His friend and fellow student, Orochimaru, on the other hand, seemed almost perfectly suited to it.
And between his two disciples, he felt that Rei’s personality might be better suited to the ANBU than Minato’s.
He could sense that his student seemed to be carrying some kind of pressure all the time, as though something behind him was constantly driving him forward.
Rei appeared calm and gentle on the surface, but beneath that exterior, there was undoubtedly a trace of madness hidden within his personality.
When pushed into a desperate situation on the battlefield, the crazed side he displayed was enough to make even opponents far stronger than him feel apprehensive.
Joining the ANBU could have both advantages and disadvantages for him.
The pressure might cause him to improve by leaps and bounds, allowing him to obtain the strength necessary to finally cast off the burden weighing on his shoulders.
Or it might crush him, causing him to gradually descend into the abyss amid the darkness of the ANBU.
Even Jiraiya, his teacher, couldn’t say for certain whether this choice would ultimately do more good than harm.
Therefore, unlike when he had hoped Minato would accept the position of jonin team leader, Jiraiya did not favor any predetermined choice from the beginning.
He genuinely placed the decision in Shiranui Rei’s hands.
Whether Rei accepted or refused, no one in Konoha could force his student’s will.
Jiraiya, the gallant hero, still had that much confidence.
“ANBU? That’s exactly what I wanted!”
Shiranui Rei was stunned for a moment.
Then he grinned and accepted the assignment without the slightest hesitation.