I, Uchiha, will not be whitewashed!

Chapter 102 Master and Disciple!

In the Hokage's office, Minato stood by the window, a crystal ball in front of him playing footage of the preliminary rounds.

Naruto created dozens of shadow clones, which swarmed forward and overwhelmed Kiba and Akamaru in the crowd, raining down punches on them.

The scene freezes on the moment Naruto emerges from behind a shadow clone, dusts off his clothes, and grins. Minato watches for a long time, his lips twitching slightly, but not in a smile; it's something else entirely.

The secret agents knelt behind him and whispered the results of the preliminary rounds.

"Understood. You may leave."

The secret agents withdrew, and the door closed. Minato leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping softly on the armrest.

He recalled Naruto's performance in the match: his chakra was plentiful, and his shadow clone tactic was effective, but too inefficient.

He created fifty shadow clones, using forty to create a show of force, with less than ten actually attacking.

If the opponent is an experienced ninja, there's no need to defeat all the clones; finding the main body is enough.

Naruto has dozens of times more chakra than his peers, which is his talent, but it shouldn't be relied upon.

No matter how strong you are, if you use it in the wrong direction, it's just brute force.

That evening, Naruto returned home.

Pushing open the door, I saw Minato sitting at the table with two bowls of noodles in front of him. His chopsticks were resting on the rim of the bowls, the noodles were clumped together, the noodles were bloated and white, and the soup was almost completely absorbed.

Naruto paused for a moment, unable to recall the last time Minato had waited for him at home for dinner.

I watched your match.

Minato didn't look up, but picked up his chopsticks and stirred the noodles.

"You're wasting too much chakra. You created fifty shadow clones, but you only need ten to win. The extra forty aren't power; they're openings."

Naruto took off his shoes, sat down at the table, and picked up his chopsticks. "But I feel very relaxed. Even if I created fifty more shadow clones, it wouldn't be a problem."

"Having plenty of chakra is not a reason to waste it."

Minato took a bite of noodles, chewed twice, and swallowed. "You could have won the match much more easily. Having skill and fighting smart are two different things."

Naruto took a bite of noodles, but it was clumpy and didn't taste good. However, he didn't stop.

He recalled how Ya's fist had hit him during the match, but it hadn't hurt.

He won, and won easily.

He didn't understand why Minato was saying all this.

Minato put down his chopsticks. "Starting tomorrow, I've hired someone to teach you."

"Who?"

"My teacher, Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha."

Naruto opened his mouth, as if to say "No need".

He would much rather his father teach him personally than Jiraiya, whom he had never met. But when he saw the dark circles under Minato's eyes and the soggy bowl of noodles on the table, he swallowed his words.

Minato stood up and took the bowl away. "Go to sleep early."

He went into the kitchen and turned on the tap to rinse the bowl.

The water was splashing. Naruto sat at the table watching Minato's back, his shoulders slightly slumped. He hadn't taken off his Hokage robe, and the white fabric looked somewhat grayish under the dim kitchen light.

Naruto seemed to want to say something, his lips moved but no sound came out.

The next morning, Naruto found Jiraiya at a hot spring inn in the mountains behind Konoha Village, following the address given by Minato.

When he pushed open the door, Jiraiya was leaning against the wall of the women's bathhouse, holding a small telescope in his hand and muttering to himself.

His long white hair hung down his shoulders, his face was covered in plasters, and his red coat was open, revealing his hairy chest. His posture was extremely lewd, but his expression was extremely serious, as if he were engaged in some kind of sacred work.

"Ah—" A scream came from the women's bath.

Jiraiya's body flipped off the wall, tracing an arc in the air.

It wasn't thrown down; it jumped down on its own.

When he landed, he dusted off his coat, stuffed the little notebook into his pocket, and turned around nonchalantly, only to see a blond kid staring at him.

"You're a peeping tom." Naruto asked, but his tone was very certain.

He naturally knew Naruto, but he never expected to meet him in this way.

"Footage, material. I'm just recording something beautiful to benefit my fellow men. You little brat, you don't understand anything."

Jiraiya laughed it off.

Naruto, however, had a "you're kidding me" look on his face.

"Everyone come quick! There's a peeping tom here—" Naruto shouted, completely breaking with convention.

Jiraiya's expression changed, and he cursed under his breath.

"You brat—"

Jiraiya reached out and grabbed Naruto by the collar.

Body Flicker Technique!

The two figures vanished from the spot in an instant.

On the Sunday of the third week after the preliminary rounds ended, Naruto had a rare half-day off.

Jiraiya gave Naruto a day off, and Naruto walked alone on the street, unknowingly arriving at the hospital entrance. He remembered that Rock Lee was still hospitalized and decided to go and check on him.

Pushing open the door to the ward, I saw Kai sitting on the edge of the bed peeling an apple. Xiao Li was lying on the bed with his right hand in a cast and wrapped in bandages. His face was still swollen, but his eyes were bright.

"Naruto-kun!" Lee tried to sit up, but Guy held him down.

"Don't move."

Naruto placed a bag of fruit on the bedside table.

Xiao Li looked at the bag of fruit, her eyes welling up with tears. "Thank you for coming to see me."

"What are you saying! You're the one who almost smashed that Sand Village ninja's head in!" Naruto clenched his fist. "You'll definitely win next time!"

Xiao Li smiled, but as he smiled, tears welled up in his eyes. Kai handed him a peeled apple, which Xiao Li took and bit into. As he chewed, even more tears streamed down his face.

"Teacher Kai, when can I be discharged from the hospital?"

"The doctor said to observe for another week." Kai closed the fruit knife and put it in his pocket. "After you recover, resume training first; don't rush into high-intensity training."

Xiao Li nodded.

Naruto walked out of the ward and ran into Sakugo and Kakashi at the corner of the corridor.

Sakugo, dressed in a long black robe with a sword hanging on his back and carrying a bag of fruit, walked side by side with Kakashi. Kakashi also carried a bag, and in his other hand held a copy of "Icha Icha Paradise," turned to the middle.

"Did you come to see Lee?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded, his gaze lingering on Sakugo for a moment before shifting away.

"He's recovering well." Kakashi closed the book. "Don't worry."

"I'm not worried at all, Xiao Li is very strong."

Naruto put his hands in his pockets and walked away.

Kakashi and Sakugo entered the ward. Lee saw Kakashi and called out "Kakashi-sensei," but his voice trailed off when he saw Sakugo.

Sakugo had a bad reputation among the Konoha genin; he was cold and unapproachable. He walked over, placed the fruit on the bedside table, said nothing, and turned to leave.

Kakashi sat down and asked about Lee's injury. Kai said the bones were fine, but it was mainly a ligament strain that required rest.

Kakashi nodded and stood up.

"Give my regards to Asma and Red," Kai said.

Kakashi nodded and walked out of the ward. Sakugo stood by the window at the end of the corridor, looking at the sky outside. Kakashi walked over and stood next to him.

Why didn't you say anything just now?

"There's nothing to say." Shuoge turned around and walked towards the stairwell.

Kakashi followed. The two walked down the stairs and met Rin in the lobby on the first floor. She was wearing a white coat, holding a medical record folder, her brown hair was tied in a ponytail, and she had faint dark circles under her eyes.

"Kakashi, Sakugo-kun." Rin stopped, her gaze lingering on Sakugo for a moment. "You've come to see Lee?"

"Yes." Kakashi nodded.

Lin smiled, scribbled a few lines on the medical record folder, and then looked up. "I'm going to make my rounds now. There are a lot of wounded patients lately, I'm too busy." She left quickly, the hem of her white coat fluttering behind her.

Kakashi watched her figure disappear at the end of the corridor without saying a word.

Shuoge remained silent.

The two walked out of the hospital, the sunlight blinding them.

Jiraiya was squatting on the steps at the hospital entrance, holding a string of dumplings in his hand, eating them with his mouth full of oil.

"Yo, Kakashi." Jiraiya stood up and threw the bamboo skewer into the trash can. "Naruto has been improving a lot lately."

"If we train for another half month, we'll definitely surprise those Sand Village genin in the main tournament."

Kakashi nodded.

"Sasuke worked very hard too."