34 Reunion

As the boss presented a steaming bowl of ramen, a gleam of anticipation appeared in Satoru's eyes.

He took the bowl, blew on it gently, and took a sip of the last mouthful of ramen soup.

There was a look of satisfaction on his face.

"So delicious." He praised softly, "Truly the strongest ninja village. Even the food is amazing."

After saying that, he took out a candy from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.

At that moment, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen approached.

He was a young man with a warm smile on his face.

He looked at the customer and smiled, "Of course, our shop has been open for a long time, but it's been warmly received."

Satoru nodded in agreement. However, at this moment, a pair of hands suddenly reached out in front of him.

"For a bowl of noodles, three hundred ryo."

He looked up and saw the boss staring at him with a smile, holding a large book in his hand.

"Eh?" Satoru's expression suddenly froze.

Only then did he realize that he had forgotten to bring money when he left.

He smiled awkwardly, then tried to explain, "Well, I..."

The boss's smile suddenly turned sharp like the sudden change in the situation. He asked with a deep voice, "Little brother, you're not going to tell me you don't have money, are you?"

Satoru felt the tension in the air, and wisely closed his mouth without answering.

Seeing him like this, the boss continued, "Judging by your clothes, you must be visiting Konoha from elsewhere, right? It's not a wise idea to dine for free here. Don't think I'm just the ramen shop owner, do you know who that person over there is? If you dare to fail to pay our debt, you should think twice before doing so."

As he spoke, he pointed to a figure, a lecherous man who had been following some women. He also held a ledger in his hand and kept jotting down something.

Satoru looked at the boss's pointing finger, and his heart suddenly trembled.

He saw oil smudges under the man's eyes, his white hair fluttering.

The boss smiled proudly, "He is one of the Sannin in Konoha, Jiraiya-sama! I'm sure you've heard of the name Sannin Konoha. Let me tell you that Jiraiya-sama is our regular customer. If you want to fail to pay the bill, you should think about your own worth."

Seeing Satoru's silence, the boss frowned, already sure that the young man was here for a free meal.

Then, he raised his voice and shouted loudly, "Jiraiya-sama!"

Jiraiya was following some beautiful women with great interest, planning to go to the hot springs to get some material.

The sudden shout made him stop in his tracks, his face slightly embarrassed. He raised his head and looked towards the voice, only to see the owner of Ramen Ichiraku standing in the shop, waving at him continuously.

"Ah, it's Teuchi, what's going on?" Jiraiya put down the small book in his hand and asked.

"Jiraiya-sama, there's a boy freeloadin' in my shop, please give him a lesson!" Teuchi replied helplessly.

Hearing this, Jiraiya walked towards Ramen Ichiraku Shop and said as he walked, "Oh? Someone dared to dine for free at your place? Let me see who that naughty kid is."

As he walked to the shop door and looked in the direction indicated by Teuchi, a white-haired boy was staring at him with a smile.

Jiraiya's footsteps froze for a moment.

"Long time no see, Jiraiya-sensei."

The white-haired boy greeted with a smile, his voice showing familiarity.

Although he hadn't seen him for years, Jiraiya vaguely recognized his former disciple.

His eyes widened and he exclaimed incredulously, "You... you rascal!"

"Why are you so blind?"

Teuchi looked at the two people he knew and the smile froze on his face.

Did he just hear that? Jiraiya... Sensei?

What background does this person have?

＊＊＊

"You're really not blind?" Jiraiya was walking in the bustling streets of Konoha, his eyes fixed on the man next to him who was already taller than him, his tone full of disbelief.

He never imagined he would meet his former disciple in Konoha after so many years.

Although their reunion was full of embarrassment. One didn't pay for his meal because he forgot to bring money, and the other seemed despicable for following beautiful women inappropriately.

But they still immersed themselves in the joy of reunion.

Satoru smiled helplessly, he knew Jiraiya's concerns. "Of course not."

Thinking about their recent encounter, Jiraiya really thought there was a hidden eye disease behind Satoru's eye cover, and he couldn't help but worry.

But now it seems that it's just Satoru's personal habit.

"Didn't I tell you? My eyes usually receive too much information, and sometimes my brain can't process it. Wearing an eye cover can help me filter information better and make me less tired every day." Satoru said lightly.

Hearing this, Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh and scolded, "I think you're just doing it to look cool, kid."

Although there was ridicule in his words, it was more relieving.

Satoru shrugged, not answering, just smiled and continued walking.

He knew that no matter how he explained it, Jiraiya would still tease him like this.

Just like before.

"It seems like you're doing fine." Jiraiya looked at him and said from the bottom of his heart, "I heard about Amegakure and Yahiko becoming the first Amekage. When I heard the news, I was surprised."

"And the Akatsuki organization in your village is now famous. I heard their leader is Nagato?"

"I'm very happy to see you all growing up one by one."

"Then I'll embarrass you." Satoru joked, "They've all achieved great things, but I'm still nobody."

"How could it be?" Jiraiya waved his hand and said directly, "You're standing here now, isn't that the greatest affirmation for you?"

"What kind of simple person could be sent to negotiate with Konoha?"

"Besides, you are my disciple. No matter what you become, Sensei will be proud of you."