Inside that same old apartment building, Naruto adjusted his orange jacket, casually grabbed a backpack from the table, and opened the door. "I'm heading out."
"Wait, Naruto!"
A red-haired woman rushed out from the kitchen, a frying pan held tightly in her hand. "If you're going out to train with Master Jiraiya, you are not allowed to go to any places with colorful lights, you are not allowed to go to mixed-gender hot springs, and you are not allowed to—"
"...Yes."
Naruto waited for the woman to finish before nodding wearily and letting out a big yawn.
Ever since Kushina Uzumaki was revived, his life had changed dramatically. His mother seemed determined to make up for all the years she had missed, and honestly, it was a bit hard to get used to.
"Hey, Naruto!" Kushina grabbed her son's ear and warned him seriously, "Your purpose for going out this time is to bring back Lady Tsunade. If I find out you've learned any bad habits..."
"The First Hokage is coming with us," Naruto said, pulling at her hand and rubbing his now-red ear.
Kushina still wasn't convinced. She straightened her son's clothes, patted his head, and said softly, "Alright then... Naruto, come back early."
Having lived with Mito Uzumaki since she was young, Kushina had heard many stories about the First Hokage from "Granny Mito." She greatly admired the man who had brought an end to the Warring States period.
He should be a trustworthy ninja, right? she thought. The legendary God of Shinobi had to be morally pure and flawless. After all, long after Hashirama Senju passed away, his wife was still reminiscing about him until the day she died.
Underneath the Hokage Rock, carved into the cliff overlooking Konoha, was a secret base Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze once used for training. It had now become the First Hokage's temporary residence.
After Hashirama Senju was revived by the Impure World Reincarnation, his existence became a bit of a headache for Konoha. There was no precedent for the living and the dead coexisting in the village.
Not daring to provoke the short-tempered "Red Hot-Blooded Habanero," Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado could only direct their frustrations at the not-so-bright Hashirama Senju. Konoha's higher-ups temporarily placed him in seclusion here, forbidding ordinary ninjas from approaching and issuing a gag order to anyone who knew the truth.
As the hope of Konoha's new generation, Naruto Uzumaki was, of course, not considered an ordinary ninja. Especially after he awakened the Wood Style, the entire village seemed to agree that he would one day become as powerful as the First Hokage.
So, when Jiraiya proposed taking Hashirama and Naruto with him to find Tsunade, Koharu and Homura agreed without hesitation.
"You want me to go find little Tsunade to succeed as the Fifth Hokage?" Hashirama asked, his face a picture of disbelief when he heard the news. "Can little Tsunade really become Hokage? Won't she gamble Konoha away at the betting table?"
"...Lord First, you know your granddaughter well," Jiraiya said, the corner of his mouth twitching. He couldn't understand why his old friend's reputation as a gambler was so ingrained that even her own grandfather didn't trust her.
"Hahahaha, actually, I don't know that much..." Hashirama scratched his head and laughed awkwardly. "After all, I was the one who taught little Tsunade how to gamble..."
Jiraiya coughed, his expression unreadable. "Over the years, Tsunade has indeed accumulated a lot of debt from gambling..."
He had contributed his fair share to it. Whether it was lending Tsunade money or paying off her debts, Jiraiya had done it all when he was younger, and Orochimaru was no different. Being Tsunade's friend meant you were destined to be her personal bank. Her principle for making friends was simple: anyone willing to lend her money was a good friend. To call her a money-grubber was putting it mildly.
"I don't like gambling..." Naruto frowned and pressed his temples. He had a strange gut feeling that he'd lost a bet once, which was why he was in this mess today.
"You're still too young to understand that it's a very exciting sport," Hashirama sighed faintly, shaking his head. "Perhaps because I've never lost in battle, I can only taste the flavor of defeat at the gambling table..."
Jiraiya was speechless. What Hashirama said left him with no response.
While the God of Shinobi had indeed been undefeated during the Warring States period, hearing him talk so casually about the loneliness of being invincible was a little infuriating.
Jiraiya was also good at bragging, but he could never say something like "wanting to taste defeat" as lightly as the First Hokage did. Especially since Jiraiya's most famous battle was a loss, earning him and his teammates the defeated title of the "Sannin of Konoha."
Fortunately, another person was there to speak up.
Naruto casually replied, "Didn't the First Hokage lose during the Chunin Exams?"
That was even more infuriating. The kid showed the First Hokage no face at all. But then again, Naruto was probably the only person in Konoha who had the right to say it. Although Hashirama wasn't at his peak, he had indeed been defeated by Naruto in that battle, even with two other Hokage at his side.
Hashirama glanced at Naruto and smiled magnanimously. "Hahahahaha... being defeated by a junior from the village, I suppose that's not such an unacceptable thing."
The First Hokage was broad-minded and easily admitted his skills were inferior. Compared to Jiraiya, Hashirama was more optimistic about Naruto's future. His chakra was as abundant as his own had been, and he had even awakened the Wood Style. In that respect, the two were very similar.
But Hashirama believed Naruto would definitely surpass him. The Nine-Tails was sealed inside him, and that fox's strength was nothing to scoff at. It was, after all, the strongest of the Tailed Beasts. And on top of that, the kid was apparently skilled in Sage Mode.
"Let's not talk about this, Lord First." Jiraiya's expression turned serious. "Because of some things that happened during the war, Tsunade might resist returning to Konoha. We hope you can come with us and persuade her to succeed as the Fifth Hokage."
During the last war, the deaths of her lover, Dan Kato, and her younger brother, Nawaki, had caused Tsunade to develop a crippling fear of blood, forcing her to withdraw from the battlefield. That, coupled with the dirty dealings of Konoha's leadership, eventually made her grow tired of the village altogether.
Jiraiya's plan was to bring the First Hokage and Naruto along not just to persuade his old friend, but also to see if he could cure her psychological illness. Between an energetic junior like Naruto and her resurrected grandfather, how could Tsunade possibly refuse?
What Jiraiya didn't expect was for Hashirama to raise an objection. "Although I'm already a dead man, I still want to say something. Little Tsunade is my granddaughter, and I don't want her to serve as Hokage..."
-----
Bonus:
Tsunade: I'm not going back!
Jiraiya: Look who I brought!
Tsunade: Holy crap, are you crazy? What are you doing bringing my great-grandpa here!
Jiraiya: To get you to come back and become Hokage!
Hashirama: I disagree. The Hokage of Konoha must absolutely not be appointed through nepotism.
Jiraiya: Are you serious?
Hashirama: Serious.
Jiraiya: Then I'm telling you, in that case, the only one left who can become Hokage is probably Might Guy...