"What the hell…?"
Tsunade felt her blood pressure spike. She wanted nothing more than to kick Naruto straight into the ground.
This brat caused trouble all day long, and now he thought he had a point?
Looking at Naruto now, Tsunade couldn't help but see a bit of Jiraiya in him.
Was it just her imagination?
If Naruto didn't have the Uzumaki bloodline and that unmistakable blond hair, Tsunade might have started questioning whether he was really Minato's son or actually Jiraiya's.
They were like copies of each other.
Useless at everything except making trouble.
"And you still dare to talk back? You wanna try living in a public toilet for a week?"
"Ow! That hurts!!"
Naruto yelled, clutching his forehead after taking a hard smack from Yan.
Tsunade had expected Naruto to behave after that, but his reaction just made her laugh in frustration.
"Uh… what do you mean by 'living in a public toilet for a week'?"
"..."
"*Ahem!*"
Tsunade wanted to laugh but held it in.
Sasuke stared at Naruto, speechless.
Damn, this guy was getting gutsy. Talking back to an elder?
He feel like his future was doomed, just stared blankly at the ceiling of the Hokage's office.
At that moment, he had a sudden urge to strangle Naruto.
Yan narrowed his eyes and slowly explained,
"It means you'll be in charge of cleaning Konoha's biggest public toilet—all by yourself.
I'll have someone bring your bedding there.
There's a small shack at the entrance, so you can eat and sleep there. Don't worry, you won't have to clean the women's restroom."
"So? Wanna give it a try?"
"..."
Living in a public toilet? Eating and sleeping there?
Naruto processed the words in his head, and his face instantly turned pale. He jumped up in shock.
"What?! You can't do that!
I just got into a fight at school! How can you punish a kid like this?! I won't accept it!"
"I'll even get you a little toothbrush so you can scrub every toilet and squat stall on your hands and knees. Want to try that too?"
At that moment, Yan looked like a demon—at least in Naruto's eyes. He could practically see the horns growing out of his forehead.
Inside the Hokage's office, Tsunade was stunned.
The teacher was completely dumbfounded.
Sasuke had his mouth wide open in shock.
All three of them were thinking the same thing.
So... there's actually a punishment like this for dealing with a troublemaker?
Why didn't we use this before?
"If you say one more word, you'll get the full public toilet experience."
Yan shot Naruto a sharp look. Naruto immediately covered his mouth, terrified that Yan might actually throw him into a public restroom to "enjoy the package deal."
Living and eating in a public toilet—just the thought of it was horrifying.
If that really happened, Naruto felt like he'd never be able to face people again.
"Listen, kid. Sakura and Sasuke can handle their own problems.
I know you like Sakura, but you can't keep causing trouble like this, understand?"
"The more you act like this, the more Sasuke will push Sakura away.
And in turn, Sakura will think Sasuke is ignoring her because of you. Eventually, she might even start hating you.
You don't want that to happen, do you?"
Seeing that Naruto was truly shaken, Yan decided to explain things patiently.
Kids in the Hokage world matured early—that was just how things were. Even little brats a few years old already had feelings for each other.
Naruto liking Sakura was his own choice.
But dragging Sasuke into it just because he liked her—that wasn't right.
It didn't matter if it was true affection for Sakura or if it was Asura's chakra inside him acting up—he needed to behave himself.
Kids making mistakes was understandable, but making the same mistake over and over—that was a problem.
Before, Naruto acted out because he craved attention and family love.
But now that Jiraiya had come into his life and filled that void, if he was still causing trouble, wasn't that just his own problem?
"I got it. I won't do it again."
Losing face because of the "public toilet package" was one thing, but Naruto's biggest fear was Sakura truly hating him.
"And you—if you want to learn from Itachi, then learn how to properly reject someone. Walking around with a stone-cold face isn't exactly a good thing for a kid."
After scolding Naruto, Yan also gave Sasuke a few words of advice.
Compared to Naruto, Sasuke only got a short lecture.
After all, he wasn't really at fault here.
Yan wasn't the type to punish both sides equally just for the sake of fairness.
If someone was wrong, they were wrong. If someone wasn't, they weren't. There was no point in forcing a balance.
And honestly, Sasuke had done nothing wrong.
All he did was reject Sakura—even if his attitude was a little cold.
"Take Naruto back and give him extra homework. I'll bring Sasuke home later."
With everything settled, Yan signaled the teacher to take Naruto away—and to pile on the assignments while he was at it.
They couldn't let this kid have any free time, or he'd definitely find new ways to cause trouble.
"Understood, Lord Advisor."
The teacher grabbed Naruto and quickly dragged him out of the Hokage's office.
Yan gestured for Sasuke to wait at the entrance.
Once Sasuke stepped out, Yan turned to Tsunade and said,
"I'm heading to Orochimaru's lab to deliver a disciple to him."
Sasuke had been working hard these past few years, but unfortunately, Yan had become busier and busier. Taking on a disciple was simply impossible.
So both he and Fugaku had a silent understanding not to bring it up again.
Fugaku had helped him a lot, so Yan felt he should find Sasuke a good teacher.
Orochimaru seemed like a great choice.
In the original story, that cold-blooded snake trained Sasuke pretty well—except for his personality.
Orochimaru might have a dark heart and ice-cold blood, but he had incredible patience when it came to teaching.
His methods were far more advanced than Yan's.
—
"Orochimaru? Are you sure?"
Tsunade looked at Yan like he was joking.
It wasn't that she doubted Orochimaru's skills or strength.
She was just worried that if Sasuke wasn't careful, he'd end up as one of Orochimaru's experiments.
"Of course. If I weren't sure, I wouldn't send Sasuke to him. I believe he can train him well."
If this were Orochimaru before he turned dark, Yan wouldn't be so confident.
But after he became the way he was?
He was the perfect teacher for Sasuke.
Tsunade gave him a strange look.
"In all of Konohagakure, you're probably the only one who still thinks Orochimaru is a good teacher.
But this is your Uchiha business, so do whatever you want. I won't interfere."
—
---------------------------------------
You can read 10 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi