A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Young Boruto's mouth as he sighed helplessly, "I really am not some illegitimate child!"
Meanwhile, paying no attention whatsoever to Boruto's words, Jiraiya thrust his wrinkled old face directly in front of Young Boruto.
Rubbing his chin with one hand and wearing an expression of intense curiosity, Jiraiya stared right at Boruto and demanded, "Hey, kid, what's up with that eye of yours?"
Faced with such an abrupt and wild leap in the conversation, Young Boruto was slightly taken aback, clearly caught off guard by this erratic style of chatting.
Recovering quickly, however, he raised a hand to gently touch his right eye and replied with a calm expression, "I just had an accidental run-in with someone else's blade a while back."
With that, Young Boruto slowly shifted his gaze to Lady Tsunade standing nearby and asked with great earnestness, "So, Lord Hokage, do you think someone in my situation can successfully join the Hidden Leaf Village now?"
Folding her arms across her chest, Lady Tsunade fixed her sharp eyes on the young man before her, remaining silent as she seemed to carefully weigh all aspects of the matter in her mind.
After quite a while, Lady Tsunade finally broke the silence, speaking in a measured tone: "As for your request to join the Hidden Leaf Village, we cannot simply make a hasty decision at this moment."
Pausing briefly, Lady Tsunade added, "However, you may temporarily stay in the Hidden Leaf Village for now."
"As for whether you can truly become a member of the Hidden Leaf Village in the end, that will depend entirely on your subsequent conduct."
Hearing Lady Tsunade's response, Young Boruto nodded without hesitation, indicating that he completely understood and was willing to accept such an arrangement.
Lady Tsunade's lovely eyes turned toward Kakashi as she slowly instructed, "Well then, Kakashi, I'll leave him in your hands for the time being."
"I expect you to take good care of him and make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Huh?" Hearing Lady Tsunade's words, Kakashi's face showed a mixture of surprise and awkwardness as he hurriedly waved his hands in defense.
"Lady Tsunade, look at how much I have on my plate. I really can't spare the time to look after him specially."
"How about... how about you hand this guy over to Master Jiraiya? He probably has a lot more free time."
At that moment, hearing Kakashi mention him, Jiraiya hastily turned his head to look at Lady Tsunade and protested with an innocent expression:
"Oh, come on, I don't have that kind of idle time."
"I've been busy creating new material lately, racking my brain every single day just to find inspiration."
"Besides, that brat Naruto clings to me like a shadow all day long. Where would I even find the energy to deal with anyone else?"
With that, Jiraiya threw up his hands in helpless resignation, indicating that his hands were truly tied.
Watching these two unreliable men try to pass the buck to each other, Lady Tsunade felt a surge of irritation.
Frowning, she raised her voice and snapped, "Enough!"
"Stop making excuses and trying to dodge this!" Lady Tsunade's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them before she continued in an unyielding tone:
"Since neither of you wants to take sole responsibility for him, you can share the task together."
"I trust that with both of your abilities, you should be able to handle this properly."
"If any trouble arises during this time—hmph, you two had better be prepared for punishment!"
With that, Lady Tsunade lowered her head to resume reviewing documents, leaving Kakashi and Jiraiya staring at each other in dismay, completely at a loss as to what to do.
Young Boruto spoke up rather awkwardly:
"If it's all right, I can go to Uncle Kaka—to Kakashi's house first."
Hearing this, Jiraiya nodded with a serious expression and said, "Mm, that makes sense."
"Well then, I'm leaving him to you."
With that, Jiraiya patted Kakashi on the shoulder and slipped away.
Watching Jiraiya disappear, Kakashi had no choice but to take Young Boruto back to his home.
...
On the roof of the Hokage's Office, a gentle breeze ruffled Lady Tsunade's blonde hair as she leaned quietly against the railing. Raising her lovely eyes to gaze at the sapphire-blue sky, she murmured softly:
"Do you really think that kid could be Minato's student?"
Her voice was so soft it felt as though a gust of wind could blow it away.
Standing nearby with his hands casually resting behind his head, Jiraiya gave a slight shake of his head and replied without a moment's hesitation: "That's completely impossible!"
Hearing this, Lady Tsunade couldn't help covering her mouth with a chuckle as she teased, "Could it be that you actually thought he was some illegitimate child Minato left behind in secret?"
Yet this time, casting aside his usual frivolous and carefree demeanor, Jiraiya wore a rare look of solemnity and seriousness as he stated earnestly:
"Stop joking around, how could something like that ever happen?"
Then, as if remembering something, he paused briefly before continuing: "Still... I can't deny that you can genuinely see flashes of Minato in that kid."
Lady Tsunade nodded slightly in agreement, then added, "Mm, I had the exact same feeling."
"Furthermore, through my own observation and perception, I don't sense any ill intent from this kid toward our Hidden Leaf Village. I just can't figure out what on earth brought him here."
With that, she turned to look at Jiraiya, waiting for him to share his thoughts.
Furrowing his brow slightly and pondering for a moment, Jiraiya slowly spoke up: "Nowadays, the only two people in our Hidden Leaf Village capable of drawing outside interest are probably those two."
Understanding his meaning instantly, Lady Tsunade fixed her gaze on Jiraiya and pressed further: "Could the ones you're talking about be Naruto and Sasuke?"
Jiraiya gave a slight nod, replying with a firm tone: "Aside from them, I honestly can't think of any other possibility."
"Don't you think it was a bit rash of me to pair him up with you and Kakashi, then?"
"After all, those two have so much history with Naruto and Sasuke."
Jiraiya replied, "It'll be fine."
"With me and Kakashi keeping an eye on him, there won't be any problems."
Lady Tsunade nodded. "Speaking of Sasuke, that boy seems to have some issues. If we don't correct them in time, I'm afraid some unpredictable situations might arise."
"Just like Orochimaru back then."
At the mention of Orochimaru's name, Jiraiya lowered his head in silence.
After a long while, Jiraiya raised his head and said:
"I believe Naruto will be a wonderful balancing force."
Tsunade murmured, "Naruto, huh..."
"That little fellow really does possess a certain kind of magic."
"Oh well, enough of this."
Lady Tsunade looked at Jiraiya and asked, "Are you really sure it's fine to take Naruto out for training?"
Jiraiya nodded: "Barring any accidents, we'll set out next month."