Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 340 Uzumaki's Former Residence, Jiraiya Arrives in Konoha.

After taking a look, Hyuga Tokuma's expression turned serious. "Judging from his appearance, he certainly doesn't seem like an ordinary person."

Hyuga Tokuma is a member of the Hyuga clan, a prominent family. He has a keen eye and can tell with just a little observation that the dark blue haori worn by Bane is no ordinary item. The materials used are very exquisite, and ordinary people simply cannot afford it. This alone indicates that the other party is either rich or noble.

In addition, Bane is over two meters tall. Although he doesn't exude any imposing aura, as a strong person, his walking posture is obviously more graceful than that of ordinary people.

At least one sense of confidence can be conveyed in their gait.

Kakashi nodded and said, "There have been a lot of outsiders coming to the village lately, so we should be careful."

"Let's take a look then." As soon as Hyuga Tokuma finished speaking, his chakra became active, the meridians on both sides of his eye sockets bulged, and his Byakugan was activated immediately.

With the Senju clan now retired and rarely involved in ninja world activities, and the Uchiha clan extinct with only a few remnants remaining, the Hyuga clan is the most powerful clan in Konoha.

Many contemporary Konoha ninjas believe that "Hyuga is the strongest in Konoha".

This statement is not without merit, because the White Eye is truly powerful; it can see through objects, see into the distance, and clearly see things that ordinary people cannot.

For example, the body's meridians, chakra, and acupoints.

At this moment, Hyuga Tokuma was observing Ban's physical condition.

At the same time, Bane also keenly sensed that someone was watching him, but he remained calm and did not look back in the direction of that gaze. Instead, he continued to chat and laugh with Rock Lee.

In Bane's view, this was a very normal situation. With so many tourists coming to Konoha these days, there must be people specifically responsible for investigating potential crises. The current environment of Konoha can be described as outwardly relaxed but inwardly tense. It may seem like there are no waves, but who knows how many people are watching it from the bottom of their hearts.

After a moment, the veins around Hyuga Tokuma's eyes gradually calmed down. Then, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief, he smiled and said, "We were probably overthinking it. Perhaps it's just a young nobleman on an outing?"

"Is that so?" Kakashi nodded, slightly relieved.

"Yes, there is no chakra energy in his body, which means he has never practiced ninjutsu and is not a ninja," Hyuga Tokuma explained.

He used his Byakugan to check on Bane's condition and discovered that Bane had no chakra energy at all.

In fact, Bane did not display any chakra energy in his body. His chakra energy was all stored in the dark element. Every time he condensed a trace of it, it would automatically enter the dark element.

The Byakugan is completely unable to detect natural energy; otherwise, they would have already begun practicing Sage Mode. Therefore, they cannot see Bane's chakra at all, at least not the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan.

"Well then, I'll leave the rest to you. I'll take over tonight," Kakashi said lazily, stretching.

"I hope you won't get lost on the path of life again tonight, Mr. Kakashi," Hyuga Tokuma teased with a chuckle.

Kakashi smiled, then waved his hand, opened the door to the rooftop corridor, and gracefully left the rooftop.

After going downstairs, Kakashi originally planned to go home and rest for a while. With the Chunin Exams approaching, Team 7 didn't have any missions. As for their instructor's work, they could relax a bit these few days and let Naruto and the others adjust their mindset so they could be in a better position to face the exam.

However, after walking a few steps on the street, Kakashi looked back at the street not far behind him, the street that Rock Lee and the man in the straw hat had just walked through. After pondering for a moment, Kakashi still seemed a little uneasy.

Although Hyuga Tokuma had already used his Byakugan to check and there was nothing wrong with the man, Kakashi still felt a little uneasy, it was an instinct.

After thinking it over, Kakashi turned around and walked back down the street.

The clan territories of each major family were originally built far from the central area of ​​Konoha. According to the plan, the central area of ​​Konoha was to have various functions such as administration and economy, so the residences of each major family would avoid this area and make room for it.

The Uchiha clan's territory is the most remote. This is partly because they are not good at communicating with others and hold themselves in high esteem, and partly because no one wants to be their neighbor, resulting in some form of exclusion.

The Uzumaki clan's territory is actually quite remote, and can be considered the outermost area of ​​Konoha.

Because the Uzumaki clan never truly established themselves in Konoha, but merely left behind a settlement symbolizing bilateral friendship, they naturally had no need to occupy any prosperous location. During the era of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, some Uzumaki clan members remained there to look after him because his wife, Mito Uzumaki, was a legitimate daughter of the Uzumaki clan and held a noble status. However, Mito Uzumaki gradually dismissed these clan members, and the settlement began to decline from that time onwards.

Nowadays, no one lives in the former residence of the Uzumaki clan, but Konoha regularly sends people to maintain and clean it as a form of commemoration.

"This is the Uzumaki clan's residence. It's usually closed and not open to the public. No one lives inside, but it's not classified as a secret area either. Uncle, you're welcome to look around from the outside." Rock Lee flipped over, landing on his feet, and returned to his normal appearance, explaining to Bane.

Actually, there's not much to see. The Uzumaki clan's former residence isn't very big; it's just a villa that looks grand and has a strong historical and ancient family atmosphere.

The lanterns hanging in front of the door also bear the emblem of the Whirlpool Clan.

The gate was locked and not open, but the street outside the courtyard looked very clean and tidy, so the inside must be just as nice.

"As the most illustrious sealing technique clan in the ninja world, has the Uzumaki clan fallen to such a state? Weren't they on good terms with your Konoha? Don't you have any members of the Uzumaki clan in Konoha?" Bane asked casually with a sigh.

"I'm not too sure," Rock Lee shook his head, then said, "But I have a friend named Naruto Uzumaki, who might be from the Uzumaki clan, though we haven't asked him."

"Hahaha, pure-blooded Uzumaki clan, all red-haired, are you your friend?" Bane laughed.

"No, he has very beautiful blond hair," Rock Lee immediately shook his head and said.

They didn't continue on that topic. Bane had already noted down the location of the Whirlpool Clan's former residence. It wasn't a good time to cause trouble now, but he could come over and see if there was an opportunity later in the evening.

So he wandered around the area for a while, seemingly sighing and admiring, before saying, "Alright, my wish has been fulfilled. Thank you for showing me the way, young man. As a reward, shall I treat you to a meal?"

"Huh?" Lee Rock looked pleasantly surprised, then a little shyly said, "Actually, I didn't help much, I just showed you the way. You don't need to be so polite, Uncle."

"Haha, you don't need to be so polite with me. Come on, I'll treat you to barbecue. But I don't know much about Konoha, so you'd better take responsibility and recommend a good barbecue restaurant." Bane slapped Rock Lee on the shoulder twice more, almost knocking him over.

Hearing that Bane was going to treat him to barbecue, and given his genuine enthusiasm, Rock Lee declined twice, but eventually happily led the way.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

"Uncle, you're such a good person," Rock Lee said as they walked.

"Don't assume someone is a good person just because they invited you to dinner," Bane said with a smile.

After passing the corner, Bane glanced casually at the alley behind him, but didn't linger and quickly left.

A few minutes later, Kakashi stood in front of the Uzumaki clan's former residence, looked at the tightly closed gate, and was slightly puzzled.

"The Uzumaki clan?" Kakashi murmured softly, wondering if there was anything special about them.

After thinking for a long time, Kakashi couldn't figure out what was special about this place. Apart from the aura of being the former residence of the Uzumaki clan, it was just an ordinary courtyard. He had been inside twice before and there was nothing of note. The Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques couldn't possibly exist here. The village didn't classify this place as a secret area. Although they didn't allow people to enter, it was out of respect for the Uzumaki clan and didn't have any special meaning.

"Am I overthinking this?" Kakashi muttered, shook his head, and left.

He stopped chasing after Bane and Rock Lee and decided to return the way he came. However, he stopped at the corner of the alley and looked up at the roof.

"Quite perceptive, Kakashi," a hearty voice said with a laugh.

Along with the sound, a head of unrestrained and flowing silver-white hair also moved with the wind.

"Lord Jiraiya?" Kakashi said with some surprise, "I heard you were coming back to the village soon, but I didn't expect to run into you here."

"I only arrived in Konoha today, it's so lively here. I originally wanted to gather some materials from the hot springs, but I sensed a wisp of Sage Mode on the way, so I followed it all the way here," Jiraiya explained with a smile.

"Sage Technique!?" Kakashi was stunned for a moment, then turned around and glanced at the alley behind him.

"Well, as you know, I trained at Mount Myōboku and have a rudimentary understanding of Sage Mode. But even at Mount Myōboku, I've never seen such pure, or rather, active, natural energy. It's as if some great sage is nearby, and the surrounding natural energy is cheering with joy," Jiraiya said, clicking his tongue.

After saying this, Jiraiya noticed that Kakashi seemed a bit off and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Hmm." Kakashi thought for a moment, then said, "There was indeed a suspicious person here just now, but after confirming with the Byakugan, he didn't have any chakra. I'm wondering if it's related to him? I don't know much about Sage Mode. If you don't have chakra, can you still practice Sage Mode or control natural energy?"

"Of course it's impossible without chakra. To master the power of Sage Mode, you need to balance and integrate chakra with natural energy. You can't have too much or too little, so how could you not need chakra? Unless you're an ancient being like the Toad Sage, who didn't even have the concept of chakra when he was young," Jiraiya retorted with a smile.

However, after saying that, his expression turned serious and he said, "But at this moment, we must not let our guard down. We still need to be more careful."

As he spoke, Jiraiya stood up, as if sensing the breeze, closed his eyes for a moment, then pointed in a direction and said, "Did the person you mentioned leave this way?"

"That's right," Kakashi nodded.

Jiraiya's expression darkened, and he muttered with a furrowed brow, "Could it really be? But it's impossible without chakra, isn't it?"

(End of this chapter)