Chapter 347: Chapter 348: Third Hokage: Why does this child’s name sound like something Orochimaru would choose?
Chapter 348: Third Hokage: Why does this child’s name sound like something Orochimaru would choose?
"Did you hear? Lord Jiraiya has a child!"
"Really? Where did it come from?"
"I don’t know! Yesterday, someone saw him bring it back from the Hokage Building! White hair, exactly like Lord Jiraiya!"
"Given by the Hokage-sama? Could it be... a war orphan? Did Lord Jiraiya adopt it?"
"Doesn’t look like it! That child seemed like Lord Jiraiya was being especially protective and precious with it! Besides, besides Lord Jiraiya, Second Hokage, and Kakashi, who else have you seen with white hair?"
"Kakashi’s father."
"Do you feel itchy if you don’t contradict me twice?"
"Could it be... actually his biological son? Lord Jiraiya traveled far and wide in his youth..."
"Shh! Keep it down, but... white hair, it’s a rare hair color indeed."
Rumors, especially when they involve figures who are highly respected yet also subjects of intense discussion, always spread at an astonishing speed.
By the next morning, the news that "Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, suddenly has a child" was known throughout all of Hidden Leaf Village.
Among them, the ones who reacted the fastest and were most unable to suppress their curiosity and concern were naturally the older generation who had watched Jiraiya grow up.
So, early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
A knock that wasn’t urgent but very firm woke Jiraiya from his sleep.
He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was as messy as a chicken coop, and he climbed up groggily, shuffling in his slippers, scratching his tangled hair as he walked to the door and pulled it open.
The sight outside the door made Jiraiya instantly sober up, and the remaining sleepiness flew to the nine heavens.
Standing at the door were three people.
Leading them was the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Old man was wearing a dark casual kimono, and his face carried an expression mixed with curiosity, concern, and relief.
Most eye-catching was that he was actually carrying a shoulder pole!
Two large bamboo baskets hung from the ends of the pole, filled to the brim.
Looking closely, they were all infant supplies: milk powder, diapers, baby powder, brightly colored stuffed toys, rattles, and a pile of neatly folded small clothes, socks, and hats for newborns to one or two-year-olds...
It was an eye-opening array, clearly carefully selected, and in such quantity that it would be enough for a child for quite a while!
Following behind the Third Hokage were Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, who had also received the news and couldn’t hold back from coming to "witness the miracle."
The two elders were also dressed in casual clothes. Koharu Utatane was carrying a basket filled with fresh fruit and homemade snacks, while Homura Mitokado had his hands behind his back, his face still bearing that serious and rigid expression, but the curiosity and inquisitiveness in his eyes couldn’t be hidden.
"Old man? And the two former Advisors, why are you here? And bringing so many things?"
Jiraiya looked at the scene outside the door, dumbfounded.
The Third Hokage unloaded the shoulder pole from his shoulder, placed it steadily at the entrance, then stroked his beard and glared at Jiraiya in annoyance, but his eyes were full of smiles:
"What’s going on, Jiraiya?"
The Third Hokage’s voice was loud, carrying the concern and a hint of teasing peculiar to an elder,
"I heard... you suddenly have a son? Such big happy news, and you actually hid it from us old folks?"
No wonder Jiraiya was so decisive when he sealed Tsunade before, so he had already let go!
He leaned in closer and lowered his voice a little, but it was still enough for Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado standing next to him to hear clearly:
"Quick! Let us see! Where is the child? Bring it out for us to take a look! Longing for looks like who? You? Or... the child’s mother?"
The Third Hokage’s eyes flashed with the light of gossip, clearly very interested in who the "child’s mother" was.
This child must have been conceived before Kato Dan was resurrected!
Koharu Utatane also stepped forward, with a rare gentle smile on her face: "That’s right, Jiraiya. Having a child is a big deal, why didn’t you say anything? It would have been easier for us elders to prepare early. These are a little token of our sincerity, the child will have use for them."
She gestured to the infant supplies.
Homura Mitokado coughed and said with a straight face: "Jiraiya, although this is your private matter and it’s not our place to ask, for the sake of the child, you should register the marriage with the mother as soon as possible!"
Although the words were serious, his eyes, which couldn’t stop glancing into the room, betrayed his equally strong curiosity.
Jiraiya was completely bewildered by this rapid-fire questioning and the mountain of baby supplies in front of him.
He scratched his even messier hair, looking at the three elders with a dazed expression:
"No, no... Old man, where exactly did you hear that from? What son? Where would I get a son?"
He tried to play dumb, but the guilt and panic in his tone were all too obvious.
The Third Hokage gave a "Heh" sound and reached out to point at Jiraiya:
"Still playing dumb? Yesterday evening, many people saw you carrying a white-haired child home from the Hokage Building, carrying it all the way back."
He looked at Jiraiya with an expression that said "You still want to hide it from me?":
"In all of Hidden Leaf Village, besides Kakashi Hatake and you, who else has white hair?"
And since Kakashi Hatake’s wife Hanare was not pregnant, it was very obvious.
"Three, please keep your voices down."
Konan walked out holding Miharu.
Seeing that there was another woman in Jiraiya’s house, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, who had no other sources of information, looked at each other. It seemed this was the mother of Jiraiya’s child. She looked so young!
But Jiraiya’s genes were truly powerful; the child’s face didn’t show any resemblance to the mother at all.
The Third Hokage did have some information channels and knew that this was a captive that Naruto had brought back, and was Jiraiya’s Disciple.
He had originally thought this child had already died. It seems the situation in the Land of Rain is truly shrouded in mysterious fog!
"This is my Disciple, Konan. She is holding Miharu in her arms. Old man, you all should come in quickly."
Hearing the term "Disciple," Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were stunned for a moment. Wasn’t Minato the only Disciple Jiraiya had?
Where did another Disciple come from?
Oh my, this brat is worthy of being a writer of adult novels; he really knows how to play!
"Miharu..."
The Third Hokage repeated the name, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
Miharu...
The implication of this name, how it sounded...
It all carried a thick, distinct style belonging to Orochimaru.
"Mi" relates to the snake, and "Haru" has the meaning of cycle, connection, and ring, fitting Orochimaru’s obsession with immortality, Reincarnation, and the cycle of life.
The Third Hokage always felt that this name was something Orochimaru would choose.
It must be said that as the teacher of the Sannin, Hiruzen Sarutobi understood these three Disciples very well.
The Third Hokage’s heart skipped a beat.
An ominous, absurd, yet not entirely impossible guess, like a cold viper, quietly crept into his mind.
It shouldn’t... be, right?
Although Orochimaru has now become a woman, looking at the size of this child, it should have been born before Orochimaru’s Konoha Crush Plan.
No matter how you think about it, it couldn’t be Orochimaru’s child!
I must be overthinking it!
This name might just be a coincidence, or perhaps Orochimaru helped Jiraiya name it.
Yes, that must be it.
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