“Naruto? What are you doing here?”
Looking at the girl’s confused expression, Naruto frowned, clenched his fists, and loudly complained:
“You told me to come to your house to find you! But I waited at your house all afternoon and didn’t see you! Then I thought maybe you forgot about me! So I specially ran over to check, and sure enough, you forgot!”
Naruto became more and more agitated as he spoke, his sense of grievance evident.
Chizhao suddenly remembered that she had indeed arranged to go to the mountain to play with Naruto, but she had completely forgotten about it.
I knew I had forgotten something; it turns out I stood up the Hokage!
What a sin!
“Sorry, sorry, sorry! I’ve been too tired these past few days and forgot about it! As an apology, I’ll treat you to ramen!”
Chizhao put her hands together, her face full of apologies.
But Naruto, still angry, turned his face away. The setting sun shone on his face, making him look like a puffed-up red pufferfish.
“No, Grandma Huizi has already made dinner and is waiting for you.”
Little Naruto turned around in a huff, leaning forward, his arms swinging straight at his sides, and walked straight ahead, muttering three words:
“Let’s go back.”
“Wait for me!”
All the way, she quietly followed behind Naruto, occasionally peeking at his expression, trying to find an opportunity to reconcile, but each time he turned his head away.
It was indeed her fault for standing him up, but what could she do to make him less angry?
Although Naruto appeared angry on the surface, there was a secret hint of joy within him.
Seeing Chizhao troubled on his behalf, a sense of satisfaction at being valued welled up in his heart.
So he tried to maintain a cold demeanor, but inwardly, he eagerly anticipated Chizhao finding a way to appease him.
Naruto: Why do I feel a little mischievous?
Completely unaware, Chizhao sighed silently in her heart. After all, she was in the wrong first, so she had to find a way to make Naruto forgive her.
Just then, Chizhao’s gaze suddenly fell upon a familiar pair of goggles. Wasn’t this the very pair little Naruto often wore in her memories?
I’ve got it! I’ll give him that as a gift!
She glanced at Naruto, who was still walking ahead, then with a flash, Chizhao entered the shop. After asking the price, she tearfully pulled out all her saved pocket money.
Looking at her deflated little bird-shaped purse, she felt a bit disheartened.
It seems the money I owe Shikamaru will have to wait again...
Naruto noticed Chizhao was no longer behind him and looked around in confusion.
Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head to see Chizhao standing in front of him with her hands behind her back, a brilliant smile on her face.
“Hehe, were you just looking for me?”
“No... I wasn’t.”
Oh my? When did this kid Naruto become so tsundere?
Chizhao took out the goggles she had hidden behind her back and held them out in front of him.
“Alright, don’t be angry anymore. This is a gift for you. Please forgive me!”
Naruto, feigning coolness, glanced at the goggles in front of him, paused, and his gaze remained fixed on them.
He had seen too many scenes of friends, family, or even couples exchanging gifts. He wasn't jealous, nor was he envious.
He simply wanted to experience that feeling of happiness.
And when he looked up and saw his own reflection in the bright eyes of the girl in front of him, this time, he was finally no longer just an observer.
A smile finally bloomed on Naruto’s small face. He rubbed his nose with his finger, and a suspicious blush crept onto his cheeks.
“Well, I guess I can’t help it. I’ll forgive you then!”
Naruto took the goggles and eagerly put them on his forehead, smiling confidently at Chizhao with a triumphant look:
“How do I look? Am I cool?”
“Cool, cool, cool! You’re as dashing as a Hokage!”
Under Chizhao’s flattery, Naruto became even happier.
Then he scratched his cheek, looking a little embarrassed at the ground: “Thank you, Chizhao. I was too willful just now...”
“It’s okay, I was in the wrong first. We’re good now, right?”
“Absolutely!”
Naruto gave a thumbs-up, smiling brightly.
Then he looked at Chizhao’s eyes with a serious expression, emphasizing each word:
“Next time, you’re not allowed to forget me again!”
“Got it, got it! I promise!”
To enhance credibility, she even held up three fingers to the sky.
Naruto, in high spirits, adjusted the goggles on his forehead and nodded, giving Chizhao his affirmation.
Subsequently, their relationship became harmonious as usual. They skipped and hopped towards home, the lingering glow of the sunset casting a warm silhouette upon them.
........
The hourglass of time quickly turned, and the second phase of Chizhao’s training with Jiraiya arrived as scheduled.
This time, Jiraiya decided to increase the difficulty of the training, as if to temper every bit of potential in Chizhao’s body.
Weighted cross-country, evasion training, moving target practice, perception enhancement... everything was covered.
He even assigned her homework.
That was to build a small wooden cabin in this training area to serve as a resting place during training, and it couldn't be a simple cabin; it had to have a bedroom and kitchen facilities.
Upon hearing these demands, her jaw almost dropped.
“Master, you’re not joking, are you? I’m only 5 years old! You expect a 5-year-old child to build a house with her bare hands?”
Jiraiya tapped Chizhao’s wooden head:
“Of course, I’m not asking you to rely purely on your hands. You need to learn to use the skills you’ve learned, combining taijutsu with wisdom to complete this challenge.”
With that, Jiraiya took out an object wrapped in white cloth and handed it to Chizhao.
“What is this?”
Chizhao suspiciously lifted the white cloth, discovering it was a short sword.
Jiraiya crossed his arms, his gaze falling on the short sword.
“From now on, you must learn to use this sword to cut down tree trunks, and the blade must not touch the trunk.”
Chizhao was a bit stunned, skeptically touching the white scabbard.
“Can this really be done?”
With that, Jiraiya pulled the short sword from Chizhao’s hand and lightly swung it at a nearby large tree. A faint surge of Chakra cut the tree in half at the waist.
With a “clang,” the large tree fell to the ground, leaves scattering everywhere, leaving Chizhao wide-eyed with astonishment.
“Wow~ How amazing!”
Jiraiya picked up the scabbard and sheathed the short sword, his expression becoming serious:
“This sword has Chakra infused into it. As long as you practice diligently, you can make it an indispensable part of your combat strength.”
Chizhao solemnly took the sword from Jiraiya’s hand.
This sword was about as long as her arm, which was just right for her current size.
She gently drew the blade, and the gleaming edge reflected her eyes, clean and bright. There seemed to be two characters engraved on the blade near the hilt.
“sōran?”
Chizhao softly read out the two characters, feeling that this short sword was not as simple as she had imagined. She raised the short sword and looked at Jiraiya in confusion.
“Master, where did you get this sword engraved with ‘sōran’?”
Jiraiya gently pinched his chin, looking as if he was recalling past events, and spoke earnestly to Chizhao:
“I went to great lengths to get this from a friend. I heard that the Chakra infused into this sword is very powerful, so you must use it well.”
“It’s that amazing? Then I must practice my swordsmanship diligently.”
With that, she eagerly walked to an open space and began to practice swinging the sword with full concentration.
Jiraiya gazed deeply at the short sword in Chizhao’s hand, his thoughts drifting back to his conversation with the Third Hokage two days prior.
That day, Jiraiya, who had just finished his training, received a message from the Third Hokage, asking him to come to his office.
He also wanted to inform the Third Hokage about Chizhao’s situation, so he arrived at the Hokage’s office at the appointed time.
“Third Hokage, you sent for me?”
“Oh~ Jiraiya, you’re here. I hear your training these past few days has been very smooth.”
Hiruzen stood up, looking at Jiraiya with a benevolent expression.
“Progress has been very smooth so far, but I discovered something incredibly strange about her...”
A sharp glint flashed in Hiruzen’s eyes. He asked softly,
“Is it that she has no Chakra in her body?”
Jiraiya was greatly surprised, looking at his calm teacher, and anxiously asked:
“How did you know...? Could it be... you’ve always had people watching Chizhao?”
Hiruzen exhaled a puff of white smoke. He had been skeptical, but now his heart grew heavier.
“Jiraiya, your sensitivity to intelligence is as keen as ever. But rest assured, this is not surveillance, but a form of protection...”
Smoke filled the room. Hiruzen walked out from behind the desk.
The smoke twisted into swirling patterns with his movements, drifting around.
His weathered eyes seemed to look through the buildings in front of him, gazing into the distance.
“You should also be aware that Orochimaru would never let go of someone with Chizhao’s special constitution. Although he hasn’t appeared yet, we must be prepared.”
Jiraiya lowered his eyes with a complex emotion, his voice becoming low.
“...Indeed...”
“So that’s why I called you here.”
Hiruzen took out an object wrapped in white cloth from under the desk, placed it on the table, revealing its contents.
“This is...”
Jiraiya looked at the short sword in front of him with a puzzled expression, not understanding.
“Do you remember in the Second Ninja World War, there was a Ninja from Hidden Sand Village who, alone with a single sword, held off multiple echelons of elite Ninja from Hidden Rain Village, thereby allowing Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Rain Village Village to reach a peace agreement?”
Jiraiya frowned, trying to recall the war scenes from back then.
At that time, he, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were on their way to a mission location, and they did indeed see a masked Ninja fighting multiple Amegakure Ninja alone.
“I think I remember that this Sunagakure Ninja was later given the title ‘Yōtōhime (Demon Sword Princess)’ by Hanzou. Is this sword hers?”
“But I heard that after that war, she disappeared without a trace. How did this sword end up with you?”
Hiruzen turned his back, gazing deeply at the houses outside the window. He took a deep drag from his pipe, slowly exhaling smoke.
“Before she got married, her name was Keiko Kuronuma. Now... her name is Aihara Keiko.”