"Waaah…"
"Grandpa..."
"Sob…. Slurp…"
"Naruto Aniki, can you give me some more glutinous rice balls?"
"The sweet kind..."
Konohamaru wailed while rummaging through the pot with his chopsticks.
Every time he took a bite, he'd let out a couple more sobs.
It can be seen that Hiruzen's death has dealt a great blow to the kid.
"Slurp…"
"Wait, the ones I just put in aren't cooked yet."
Naruto noisily sucked up some glass noodles, his face full of contentment and relaxation.
Konohamaru, who was sitting opposite him, raised his butt and still sniffle as he reached for more food.
Jiraiya and Kakashi held their sake cups and took small sips.
The stimulation of alcohol made them momentarily forget their grief.
The four of them, old, middle-aged, young, and brat, sat around the square table, eating hot pot and drinking. At a glance, the scene looked perfectly normal.
Except... outside, a light drizzle was still falling...
And...
Diagonally opposite Jiraiya, there was Hiruzen's portrait.
Above the four-person seats, there was a huge canopy tent, and the tables, chairs, benches, hot pot bowls and chopsticks were all taken out by Naruto.
As for the ingredients in the pot, as well as the sake Jiraiya and Kakashi were drinking… All of it was Hiruzen;'s offerings.
Yep...
The ingredients are fresh today, very delicious.
As for why the four of them were gathered around Hiruzen's grave to eat hot pot...
That had to do with a certain white-haired old man.
Jiraiya had mentioned that after being away from the village for so many years, he hadn't had a drink with the old man in ages.
Now that he thought about it, they were already separated by life and death.
When he said this, the sorrow in Jiraiya's eyes was almost overflowing.
But then he turned his head and saw Naruto leaning against the tombstone, with one hand on his hip, munching on an apple with loud 'crunch crunch' sounds.
The master and disciple then looked at each other for two seconds, and without further words, they instantly understood each other's thoughts.
The next moment, the two of them sat in front of Hiruzen's grave and ate the offerings.
The white-haired uncle, Kakashi, tried to stop them several times.
But before he could say anything, Jiraiya and Naruto spoke in perfect tacit understanding, "Offerings are merely tokens of remembrance for the departed..."
"Rather than letting them rot here, it's better for young people like us to enjoy them."
Konohamaru felt that what his Aniki and Aniki's master said made a lot of sense, so with tears in his eyes, he joined the ranks of those 'borrowing' Hiruzen's offerings.
And so, the three of them sat in the light rain, with faces full of sorrow, piously eating the offerings in front of the grave.
A few minutes later, Jiraiya couldn't stand the rain anymore.
He was thoroughly annoyed by the environment.
And there were still some uncooked offerings left.
Since they'd already eaten most of it, it'd be a shame to leave the rest untouched.
When Naruto heard this, he immediately pulled out a canopy tent from his system.
Right then and there, they set up camp in the cemetery, complete with pots, pans, tables, and chairs.
At first, Naruto considered taking ingredients from his system to cook.
After all, no matter how much Hiruzen's offerings were, they wouldn't be enough for the three of them to eat.
But then, out of respect for Hiruzen's dignity, Naruto felt that eating anything other than the offerings at his grave would be a bit disrespectful.
So in the end, Naruto didn't take out any extra ingredients.
But the genius Konohamaru quietly ran off to other graves, stuffed his arms with more offerings and brought them back.
In response to this, Naruto could only say that he, as a younger brother, was very sensible.
Not long after the ingredients were put into the pot, Kakashi, after struggling internally for a long time, finally decided to sit down and join them.
There is no need to think too much. The moment he showed up here, whether he participated or not, he was already part of the crime.
Rather than doing nothing and still taking the blame, he might as well sit down and enjoy the meal.
At least when punishment came, he could accept it with a clear conscience.
And so, the four of them ended up eating hot pot in front of Hiruzen's grave.
The moment Kakashi started eating the offerings, he finally took off his mask, and Naruto managed to see the full appearance of the white-haired uncle for the first time.
Was he handsome?
Naruto felt Kakashi was a little worse-looking than himself.
However, Kakashi's appearance was the perfect material for being a gigolo.
The only downside was that he still looked like he had kidney deficiency.
Kakashi ate the last rice ball and took another sip of sake, his face slightly flushed.
"Naruto..."
"There's not enough food."
After saying this, Jiraiya and Konohamaru both looked at Naruto expectantly.
Under the pressure of three pairs of eyes, Naruto finally broke his own bottom line.
'Old man Sandaime...'
'I was being very respectful to you.'
'If we end up eating other stuff at your grave...'
'That's entirely because your grandson and your student forced me!'
'This has absolutely nothing to do with me, Uzumaki Naruto!'
With a sigh, Naruto began pulling out more ingredients from his system.
There were all kinds of creatures flying in the sky, running on the ground, and swimming in the water, which whetted the appetite of the three people at the table.
At this point, who cared if they were having a feast at a cemetery?
Jiraiya poured out the last drop of sake in the cup and frowned slightly. He suddenly remembered that he had drunk so many cups, but he still hadn't shared one with the old man.
"Naruto, do you have any sake..."
Hearing Jiraiya's words, Naruto rolled his eyes and casually tossed out a crate of Heineken beer.
Jiraiya cracked one open, downed it in one go, and let out a satisfied sigh.
Compared to the sake earlier, nothing beat the crisp chill of a cold beer.
He hooked his arm around Naruto's shoulders and said with a grin, "Hey, Naruto, wanna have a drink?"
"Old man! I'm not even of age yet!"
"Since when did you brat care about that?"
Naruto: "..."
When he thought about it, Naruto felt that what Jiraiya said does make some sense, and considering his physique, drinking a little alcohol isn't a big problem.
So, Naruto opened a can of beer for himself and also dragged Konohamaru into it.
To be honest, corrupting Hiruzen's grandson right in front of his grave...
He did feel a little guilty.
And so, the four drunkards, old, middle-aged, young, and brat, started making a ruckus at the grave.
…
"Advisor-sama!!"
"Something terrible has happened!"
An Anbu's member stumbled into the room where Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were seated.
Due to Hiruzen's death, the authority for the Anbu was temporarily handed over to the two Advisors.
But...
They really don't want to deal with this mess!
Back when Sarutobi Hiruzen was alive, he had been the one keeping the yellow-haired delinquent of Konoha in check, sparing them the headache.
But now, with Danzo seriously injured and unconscious, and Hiruzen died in battle...
All of Konoha's problems had landed squarely in their laps.
The Anbu's member reported how Naruto's group of four were feasting at the gravesite, drinking heavily...
'Damn it!'
'Sandaime-sama's body is still warm!'
'Did they really have no fear of Sandaime-sama rising from the grave out of sheer rage and downing a bottle of blood pressure meds?!'
At that time, more than a dozen Anbu's members had been so outraged they immediately moved to intervene.
But the result...
Their opponent's fighting power was so terrifying that even when more than a dozen Anbu's members attacked at the same time, they were pinned to the ground and beaten up by two white-haired and one yellow-haired.
Especially since those guys were all drunk, so they hadn't held back at all.
The only reason this Anbu's member was able to return to the Hokage Tower to report was because he was well aware of the background of Konoha's yellow-haired delinquent, so he hid in the back and watched the battle, thus avoiding this disaster.
As for the others …
They were currently hanging from trees, courtesy of the yellow-haired delinquent.
When Koharu and Homura saw the Anbu's member burst in, their hearts skipped a beat.
And after hearing the report, they nearly passed out on the spot.
The blood pressure of the two also soared at this moment, but fortunately, there were still some remaining medicines in Hiruzen's drawer.
After fumbling with the pills and waiting a few minutes, they finally stabilized.
'Hiruzen...'
'You really had it rough, didn't you?
At this moment, they finally understood the suffering Hiruzen had endured all these years.
'But what were we supposed to do now?!'
'Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, the genius Shinobi, Hatake Kakashi, Yondaime's son, Konoha's yellow-haired delinquent, and Sandaime's grandson...'
'Any one of them would be a nightmare to deal with, let alone all four at once.'
'There was just no controlling them!'
'Damn it!'
'If this kept up, Konoha was doomed.'
"No!"
"We must choose a new Hokage immediately!"
After saying this, Koharu glanced at Homura.
The two exchanged glances, and agreed, 'Whoever takes the Godaime Hokage's position is signing up to be the village's punching bag, and it sure as hell won't be us.'
After all, they still wanted to live a few more years.
The Godaime Hokage needed both the seniority and the strength to keep those four in line...
And there was only one candidate who fit both criteria.
The two looked at each other and spoke at the same time, "That's right!"
"Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin!"