"Identification."
Two Hidden Leaf Village shinobi guarding the main gate stepped forward and stopped Akashō.
Akashō lifted his paper umbrella, revealing his face with a faint smile, showing no hostility.
"Please inform the Fourth Hokage—tell him Akashō is here to see him."
One of the guards looked him up and down. About 1.7 meters tall, wearing a dark red robe, long red hair tied behind his back, holding an oil-paper umbrella.
"Wait… are you Uzumaki Akashō?"
Akashō paused for a moment, then didn't deny it. "That's right."
"Oh, then no need to say more—I know you."
The guard immediately broke into a grin.
"A relative of the Fourth's wife, right? I recognize you. No need for ID—go on in."
Akashō raised an eyebrow slightly and nodded. "Alright, thank you."
"No problem."
After Akashō's figure disappeared from view, the other guard asked curiously,
"Uzumaki Akashō… is he famous?"
"Not really."
The man recalled, "But two years ago, anyone on gate duty or patrol more or less heard of him."
"Why?"
"Because… some ANBU squad captain nearly lost his job just because he didn't recognize him."
"…"
The one who asked froze on the spot.
"Don't tell me… he's the Hokage's illegitimate son?"
"Hey!"
The guard who had been smiling instantly turned pale and clamped a hand over his mouth.
"What nonsense are you talking about? That's not what I meant, idiot! Do you have a death wish? What if Kushina sends you to the hospital?!"
...
Meanwhile, Akashō had already arrived at the center of the Hidden Leaf Village—the Hokage building. Logically, such an important place should have ANBU watching from the shadows, yet no one appeared to stop him.
Looks like Minato already got the message.
Akashō put away his umbrella and walked straight up to the Hokage's office.
"Yo, Akashō, long time no see."
"Hahaha, you kid—how've you been?"
Pushing the door open, besides Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya was also sitting by the Hokage's desk.
"Long time no see, Minato. And you too, Perverted Sage."
Akashō greeted them with a smile.
"What 'Perverted Sage'? It's Toad Sage,."
Jiraiya walked over and patted Akashō on the shoulder, then muttered,
"Haven't seen you in two years—how'd you grow so tall?"
"Three days apart and you'll need to look up at me."
Akashō's faint smile never faded as he casually kicked Jiraiya in the rear, nearly sending him face-first to the ground.
"You little…"
Jiraiya rubbed his backside. "Grown bigger, gotten stronger too, huh?"
"Thanks for the compliment."
"Akashō, Kushina will definitely be happy to know you're back."
Minato sighed. "Unfortunately, I still have a lot of work to do, so I can't go with you. Head over with Jiraiya-sensei first."
"Hahaha, this time I'll keep an eye on him—won't let him get bullied by some kid again."
Jiraiya grinned as he threw an arm around Akashō's shoulders and led him outside.
Akashō glanced at the mountain of documents piled on Minato's desk and shook his head.
The strongest and highest authority in the village… yet restrained by paperwork. Absolutely ridiculous.
After leaving the Hokage building, Akashō opened his umbrella again, which made Jiraiya frown in confusion.
"It's a bright sunny day—why are you using an umbrella?"
"Ah, I'm a bit afraid of the sun. Bad for the skin, you know."
Jiraiya frowned. "Bad for the skin? You're a guy—why act like some delicate noble lady?"
As he spoke, Jiraiya forcibly pushed the umbrella down.
"See? You're fine. It's not like you'll drop dead the moment sunlight hits you."
Akashō gave a wry smile and simply raised the umbrella again.
Jiraiya clicked his tongue but didn't press further.
Before long, the two arrived at Minato's home.
Come to think of it, the last time he was in the Hidden Leaf Village, aside from that orphanage, he had spent the rest of his time in the hospital.
"Ding-dong."
Jiraiya rang the doorbell. "Kushina, open up—it's me, Jiraiya."
"I hear you! Stop holding the button down, it's annoying!"
Kushina's impatient voice came from behind the door.
"Akashō's here too."
"Akashō!?"
The moment the words fell, the door was yanked open, revealing a heavily pregnant Kushina.
"It really is you, Akashō!"
She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. Akashō instinctively resisted, but for a moment couldn't overcome her strength—it didn't feel like that of a pregnant woman at all.
"Come, come—sit down."
Watching Kushina excitedly drag Akashō in, Jiraiya smiled with satisfaction and moved to follow.
Bang!
"AH!!! My foot!!"
Jiraiya clutched his foot and pounded on the door.
"Kushina, I'm not inside yet!!"
"It's really been a long time, Akashō."
Kushina pulled him over to the sofa and sat him down.
"Look at you—you've grown so much. You don't look like a six- or seven-year-old at all anymore. If there weren't still a bit of your childhood face left, I might not have recognized you."