Chương 174: Hokage Office.

"What do you need me for, Kakashi-sensei?" Haruto asked out of confusion. Kakashi simply nodded and didn't explain while Shizune led the two of them to a simple room in the Senju compound before going off to fetch Tsunade. Haruto looked at Kakashi and began wondering about all sorts of things.

'Is it because now he suspects that I'm Ultra Fighter?'

'Or is it because of something else? Perhaps he wants me to reveal the jutsu I used to fly to the meteorite as compensation for using his name?'

'Maybe the Hokage put him up to this task?' Soon Tsunade entered the room, entering silently as if her feet were padded by cat's paws.

'I should learn to do that soon… while my feet are silent right now… they're only silent while I walk… I can't run quietly yet.'

'Korosensei… you should train me on how I should achieve that.'

'No problem Haruto-kun, it shall be added to your training plan by the greatly efficient me!' Korosensei said, smiling widely. Tsunade sent a glance Haruto's way for a second which caused him to flinch instinctively before he even realised it for some reason.

'Wait… why did I flinch!? I wasn't doing anything wrong just then!?'

'Yeah! Yeah! Why did you flinch, Haruto!?' Megumin asked excitedly, smelling a story. While everyone else seemed puzzled by Haruto's reaction, it was Korosensei who revealed the answer to the mystery.

'It seems you have still not realised it Haruto-kun…'

'What have I not realised? Do I have an instinctive fear of Tsunade? Why would I be afraid of her?'

'It's because Tsunade has been training you to pay attention to your surroundings every second of your life and not space out! Since spacing out for even a moment is fatal on the battlefield!'

'Wh- Wait… what? When did she do that to me!? Wait no way!!' Suddenly Haruto recalled all his time spent with Tsunade and he immediately pointed out how this reflex of his had built up.

'No damn way… those toothpicks she kept throwing at me while I was reading medical textbooks… they were because I kept spacing out…' Haruto's eyes widened at the dual training that Tsunade had been making him go through as he suddenly looked at Tsunade in a new light. In the real world, Tsunade looked at Haruto and then frowned before- BANG! Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Haruto clenched his head and fell to the floor, glaring at Tsunade as bitterly as possible.

"Why!?" Haruto asked in pain as a bump formed on his head.

"Felt like it." Tsunade said calmly before turning to Kakashi, "So? Is it finally ready?"

"What's ready?" Haruto asked with a slightly intrigued expression, his pain fading away in moments as he used the basic bruise healing jutsu to reduce the swelling on his head.

"It is Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said smoothly with a nod, completely ignoring Haruto whose curiosity was growing even larger.

"Then let's go… we don't need to wait for it until tomorrow." Tsunade said right away.

"Where are we going!?" Haruto asked again but Tsunade and Kakashi simply ignored him much to his annoyance.

'Are they going to be reading my memories again for some reason!?' Haruto thought.

'I thought teaching Tsunade a lesson by giving her that unfairly difficult illusion to cross was enough to turn her away from the topic… I guess it wasn't enough.'

"Follow us." Tsunade simply said to Haruto before walking out of the Senju compound with Kakashi. Haruto shrugged and followed.

'Worst comes to worst I'll simply leave Konoha and escape… nothing really tying me to this place anyway…'

'Well except Naruto…'

'And maybe a little bit of Kakashi…'

'And Arakawa too…'

'I can just visit them occasionally when I return through the front gates… like Itachi did with Sasuke.' Soon enough however, Haruto realised something weird.

'Why are we going towards the Hokage office?' The trio of Tsunade, Kakashi and Haruto entered the Hokage building in the dead of the night when very few people were working anymore. It seemed strange to Haruto but his mind thought of a simple possibility in the end. But he couldn't bring himself to quite believe it.

'No way!' Haruto thought excitedly. Tsunade looked back at Haruto and admonished him, "Control your expression you brat! Your expression looks like the one Jiraiya makes when he spots a particularly naive young girl! Ewww!"

"Ahem…" Haruto corrected his expression immediately fearing that Tsunade would hit him once again.

"Who's bad mouthing me?" Jiraiya suddenly said, poking his head in through the window on a wall. Seeing Jiraiya, Haruto's confidence in his deduction shot up.

'With Jiraiya here… he won't let anyone do anything untoward with me now that he thinks that I'm the Child of Prophecy! I'm sure Tsunade's already shared that with him or else he wouldn't have taken such a keen interest in me in the first place.'

'I wonder what it'll be!' Tsunade clicked her tongue before muttering something incomprehensible that only Kakashi and Jiraiya seemed to catch with their enhanced senses. Kakashi appeared confused but Jiraiya nearly fell off the window ledge. But the two of them controlled their expressions well as they finally entered the Hokage office one by one with Haruto in tow.

"Fugaku." Tsunade greeted sternly, looking at the aging man sitting at the desk rubbing his temples. Jiraiya simply nodded and Kakashi was the only one to greet him formally, "Good evening Hokage-sama." Haruto simply looked confused and copied Kakashi, "Good evening Hokage-sama." Fugaku remained silent for a few seconds as he looked at Haruto closely, before sighing and asking Tsunade a question, "Why have you delayed it so far… you should've been in this room the second it happened!"

Tsunade flicked a strand of her hair back before speaking calmly, "I had a few doubts before… they took a while to resolve."

"I see…" Fugaku appeared frustrated that Tsunade didn't expand more on what her doubts were, after all he was the Hokage and should've held all the power in their conversation here. But it seemed like he was the weaker party of the two for some reason. Jiraiya too said nothing, it was only Kakashi who finally urged the matter at hand, "I think it's time we did what needs to be done Hokage-sama… any longer and it'll be a shame to the Hidden Leaf Village."

Haruto who was practically buzzing with excitement looked super elated to know what needed to be done and everyone just let him have his moment for a second before Fugaku stood up and guided them all.

"Please follow me." Fugaku said. Fugaku walked up to a clean wall in the Hokage office and performed a few handseals before slamming his palm onto it.

"Release." Fugaku whispered, causing Haruto to roll his eyes mentally.

'Like father, like son. I can see where Itachi got the habit of calling out his jutsu names like an idiot.' The wall literally disappeared as soon as the smoke cloud that emerged out of Fugaku's palm vanished. Haruto was interested in whatever the jutsu was used to create that wall, but he was looking forward to something even bigger right now.

'There it is!' Haruto said as he spotted a thick fat scroll at the end of the short corridor full of scrolls that had just been revealed. Fugaku walked up to the scroll and placed his hand on the scroll at the end of the corridor and spoke with emotion.

"Haruto Hayashi. As a shinobi of the leaf village, for performing your duties to it, the village has chosen to reward your efforts. You may pick one jutsu from the Scroll of Seals to learn and master to accompany you on your journey as a shinobi henceforth. I hope you make the most of it." Fugaku said solemnly.