"Please take me with you this time too!"
As Konohamaru spoke, the gazes of everyone in the Ichiraku Ramen turned towards him.
"Do you even know where we're going, kid?"
Karin walked over, arms crossed, scrutinizing the boy in front of her.
She felt he was too different from the future Jonin, Konohamaru.
Future Konohamaru at least looked tall and lean, wearing a Jonin vest, and at first glance wasn't too different from other Ninjas in the village.
But the current Konohamaru-
He had somehow gotten ahold of a loose robe similar to Naruto's, replacing his tracksuit. His already somewhat developed muscles could easily fill out the clothes.
Hmm, compared to a Konoha's Ninja, he looked more like a direct disciple of the Raikage.
Konohamaru didn't pay any mind to the white-haired woman questioning him. He just kept his determined eyes fixed on Naruto, not saying a word.
"Hmm..."
Naruto wasn't slumping anymore. While slurping his noodles, he looked at the kid who had clearly achieved some results from training.
It had to be said, Konohamaru's talent was really good.
If you disregarded Kurama's near-limitless Chakra Recovery Boost for him, Naruto at the same age was no match for this kid.
Naruto finished his large bowl of Tonkotsu Chashu Ramen in a few bites, wiped his hands, and then gently patted Konohamaru's shoulder.
"Interesting, Konohamaru. Why do you want to come with me? Is Konoha not comfortable enough?"
If it was because of being ostracized, Naruto wouldn't mind taking the kid out to relax.
"No, on the contrary, it's too comfortable."
Unexpectedly, Konohamaru shook his head.
"?"
"Naruto Aniki, will there be fighting on this trip?"
Konohamaru asked another question instead.
Hearing this, Naruto recalled his reputation in the One Piece World and his relationships with various forces.
"Probably... maybe?"
"That's enough."
Hearing this, Konohamaru nodded, then stated his thoughts.
"In Konoha, I can't grow any further."
"How could that be? Konoha has plenty of good teachers, right? Right, Kakashi?"
Jiraiya, who heard this, suddenly said this and turned to look at Kakashi, who had entered by pushing aside the curtain at some point.
"Eh..."
The middle-aged man with dead-fish eye immediately felt something was wrong.
But Konohamaru didn't seem interested in him.
"These teachers all worry about my status. At most, they just spar with me like it's playing around."
"What I want is real combat. Passionate combat where you fight with your backbone and your life on the line."
Konohamaru's words were resolute and forceful. When he said this, his expression wasn't at all like a child throwing a tantrum. His demeanor made even Kakashi, who wasn't very familiar with him, glance over slightly.
Naruto, who could sense the kid's genuine emotions, was also somewhat surprised.
'This guy Konohamaru wasn't joking.'
'He had truly prepared himself to fight to the death for the sake of getting stronger.'
'Why did he have such resolve...'
This time, it was Naruto's turn to scratch his head. He didn't quite understand.
'Could it really be my own influence?'
Naruto was underestimating the idol effect too much.
When he heard the story about Shanks and that Straw Hat kid, he thought it was quite amusing, but now that it was happening to him, it became troublesome.
However…
"Alright."
Even Sasuke, who had been silently eating his noodles, turned his head at this.
"Huh? Naruto-san, are you serious?"
Karin also asked incredulously. Although she hadn't been to the [One Piece World] Naruto mentioned either, she had learned a lot about that world through daily conversations.
For example, over eighty percent of the pirates on those seas were truly ruthless killers who wouldn't blink at taking a life.
Also, for instance, the average physical prowess of people there was formidable. Even though they didn't use Ninjutsu, they were still very troublesome.
Most crucially, Naruto had talked about his own situation over there.
Currently, the world's largest power, the [World Government], had listed Naruto as its number one wanted criminal. At the same time, many famous and notable pirates saw Naruto as a stepping stone to boost their own reputations.
-There was no helping that, really.
After all, among the major deeds Naruto had done 'recently', some were actively hidden and not publicized by the World Government, while others were events those pirates simply had no chance of witnessing firsthand.
The only two things that got out were 'suspected' defeats of an old-timer like Shiki the Golden Lion, who had vanished for decades, and the incident involving attacking a Celestial Dragon.
This time, the Marine Government learned its lesson.
Instead of suppressing the news of Admiral Akainu being severely injured like in the past, they released many ambiguous 'false reports'.
Things like the Fleet Admiral being near death, all three Admirals being defeated, the Marine Hero Garp being severely injured, and so on.
Once the news became exaggerated to the point of absurdity, its credibility plummeted.
This instead allowed the initial true report to successfully slip through the cracks.
At least, during the last attack on Whole Cake Island by Garp and Kizaru, some pirates who came for the tea party still had thoughts of testing their mettle against the so-called [Great Hero].
It's just that a large portion of those people died in the catastrophic aftermath of that battle, which further delayed the spread of the news.
Maybe even if it got out, others wouldn't believe it.
Seeing everyone looking at him simultaneously, Naruto didn't offer much explanation, just smiled at the others.
A smile immediately appeared on Konohamaru's face, which was already beginning to show some angular features. At this moment, Jiraiya, as if remembering something, quickly asked,
"Konohamaru, does the old man know about this?"
"Grandpa? He knows."
Looking at Konohamaru's expression, which didn't seem fake, Jiraiya scratched his head, somewhat incredulous.
This wasn't a lie.
-At least, not entirely.
Did Hiruzen know Konohamaru wanted to follow Naruto out of the village to make his way? Yes.
Did he accept it?
Obviously, it wasn't that easy to accept.
"Then it's settled. Konohamaru, you go back and pack your things. We'll set off this afternoon, first heading to Uzushiogakure."
Naruto made the decision directly, and Konohamaru was faster than he expected.
Just as he said this, Konohamaru pulled out a backpack from who knows where and slung it over his shoulder.
"Alright! I've been packed for a while!"
'This kid... he came prepared.'
Everyone looked at each other.
On the other side, Hiruzen, who no longer had to wear Hokage's robe and was nestled in his small courtyard drinking tea like any ordinary old man, had no idea his grandson was about to embark on a potentially deadly adventure.
Sitting across from him, sharing tea, were the current Fifth Hokage, Hyuga Hiashi, and the Hokage's Advisor, Nara Shikaku.
In reality, most of Konoha's decisions nowadays actually came from this small courtyard.
Hiruzen was starting to have an illusion.
'Did I really step down?'
'As if.'
Although he wanted to advise Hiashi that he was the real Hokage now, Hiashi always brushed him off with phrases like, 'You are highly respected, please offer your advice', and whenever major issues arose, he would bring Shikaku along to seek Hiruzen's decision.
'Sigh...'
Taking another sip of tea, the old man couldn't help but recall the two former senior advisors who were recently confirmed killed in their homes.
'If only those two hadn't died.'
'At least then this new Hokage wouldn't be pestering me alone.'