It turned out that Hiruzen wasn't as "selfish" as he seemed. He hoped Ethan could provide more guidance to other young people of the same generation, even including Guy's team.

Well, well. With Naruto being the only one of the Konoha 12 not in the village, was Hiruzen planning to dump all the others on him?

"We're all from the same generation, but Neji and Lee are even a year older than me. Is this appropriate?"

"What's inappropriate about it?"

Hiruzen didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Given Ethan's current strength, reputation, and status in the village, no one would object.

Especially with Sasuke as an example, those young people presumably wouldn't object either.

Competition? Defiance?

When the strength between two people isn't far apart, young people might feel defiant.

But the gap between Ethan and these young people was too large. They weren't even on the same level. Could they even harbor thoughts of comparison? They could only admire him or treat him as a goal to chase.

As for why Hiruzen suddenly thought of this, he wanted to see whether Ethan could only guide Sasuke or if his teaching abilities were truly that strong.

If it was the former, there was nothing more to say. Perhaps the knowledge he possessed wasn't something everyone could digest. This wasn't uncommon in the ninja world. Many powerful ninjas searched their entire lives without finding a suitable successor.

If it was the latter, it would be a huge surprise, meaning Konoha's future was filled with infinite hope.

Hiruzen wasn't a warmonger and never considered unifying the ninja world.

But he knew this world wasn't peaceful. It wasn't that if Konoha didn't cause trouble, others would live peacefully with them.

Every ninja village was actively training powerful ninjas. If Konoha couldn't keep up, war would eventually reach them.

Hiruzen's idea was simple. As long as Konoha was strong enough, others wouldn't dare stretch their claws toward them, and then Konoha could continue to live in peace.

"How about it?"

"I'm idle anyway, so I don't mind giving them some pointers."

By his estimation, the two-plus years of peace were about to end. It wouldn't be long before Naruto returned to Konoha. At the same time, the Akatsuki, which had been quiet for a long time, would begin their Tailed Beast capturing plan, successfully taking Gaara, who had become Kazekage.

After Naruto returned and rejoined Team 7, their first mission would be to support the Sand Village and rescue Gaara.

At the same time, shortly after Team 7's departure, Tsunade would send Guy's team to support Naruto and the others, just to be safe.

From that point on, events would unfold one after another, leaving little free time, all the way up to the final Great Ninja War, which turned into Black Zetsu's mother-saving plot, and then Naruto and Sasuke teaming up to defeat Kaguya Otsutsuki.

In other words, even if Ethan agreed, there wouldn't be much time to train these "little powerhouses."

Of course, Ethan could still lay a foundation for them. How long it would take them to digest that foundation, and how much effect it would produce, was uncertain.

A complete transformation like Sasuke's was basically unlikely.

For example, the Kusanagi Style Taijutsu Sasuke learned involved very difficult concepts. Just getting Sasuke to skillfully perform Fire Release chakra nature transformation without hand signs took a lot of time.

The "little powerhouses" didn't have that time now.

Of course, this didn't mean Ethan's guidance would be useless. Even just sparring and giving these guys a proper beating could help them gain more combat experience, especially when facing opponents far stronger than themselves. At the very least, they could learn to properly judge enemy strength and respond accordingly.

As for training direction? He did want to give Lee heavier weights, or even use ninjutsu to create a gravity room to see if he could train a Super Lee. Or train Tenten to become the second generation of a certain famous bun-haired female fighter. Or train Hinata into a Tai Chi master like in countless fanfics from his previous life... Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time.

Because this group of "little powerhouses" had become the backbone of the new generation, each of them was very busy. Therefore, those who came for guidance each day weren't fixed. They would come during rest periods after missions and leave if they had new assignments.

Besides the training fanatic Lee, Sasuke and Sakura were the ones who came over most frequently.

However, Lee wasn't here today. He hadn't returned from a mission yet. Sasuke had just come back not long ago and was resting. Sakura had spent the past two years mostly training with Tsunade, occasionally going on missions to gain experience, so she had stayed in the village most of the time.

Just as they finished training for the day and were chatting, Naruto returned.

"Naruto's back?"

A great benefit of being an advisor was that when he wanted to know something, someone would naturally take care of it.

For example, giving him a heads-up in advance. Notify him when Naruto returns.

So, the moment Naruto entered Konoha, a ninja had already delivered the message to Ethan.

As a result, Sasuke and Sakura, who were there, also learned of Naruto's return.

"He just entered the village. He should still be on the street."

He remembered that in the original story, when Naruto returned, he climbed to a high place to overlook the entire village. After Tsunade received the news, she notified Sakura, and by the time she and Sakura leisurely went to find him, Naruto was still chatting on the street.

It was probably similar now, especially since Kakashi would definitely go meet Naruto. Those two would probably talk for a while after reuniting.

"Hmph. I'm really curious how much his strength has improved over these past two-plus years."

The relationship between Sasuke and Naruto was truly difficult for outsiders to understand. They clearly seemed to dislike each other, yet they were the ones who cared most.

However, compared to the original story, where Sasuke resented Naruto, who used to be the dead last but repeatedly surpassed him, the current Sasuke didn't have that discomfort.

Besides rapidly improving through Ethan, Itachi, and Kakashi's guidance, he had also learned more of Naruto's secrets from Ethan.

A Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. A descendant of the Uzumaki clan (Sasuke naturally hadn't known what the Uzumaki clan was, and Ethan gave him a simple explanation). The Fourth Hokage's son. In terms of background, Naruto was no less than Sasuke. Moreover, the talent of a Jinchuriki and the Uzumaki bloodline even surpassed the average Uchiha. This made Sasuke understand why Naruto improved so quickly.

Also, he was no longer in a rush to seek revenge against Itachi. After resolving his inner conflict, Sasuke's mindset had broadened significantly. He could now calmly view Naruto's growth.

The competitive spirit still existed. He really wanted to spar with Naruto and, coincidentally, show off the huge progress he had made over the past two years. It would definitely shock that guy.

"Should we go meet him?"

Ethan was originally planning to head out to greet Naruto, but he quickly waved his hand. "No need. It seems the Hokage is planning to bring Naruto here."

Before he even finished speaking, an Anbu had already appeared at Ethan's side and whispered something in his ear.

The message was indeed that the Hokage wished for the advisor to wait here, and that she would be arriving shortly.

"Reply to the Hokage. Just say I understand."

After receiving Ethan's reply, the Anbu left using the Body Flicker Technique. Only the few of them remained in the empty training ground.

Because of the news of Naruto's return, their conversation naturally revolved around him.

"What will Naruto be like?"

"He should have gotten stronger."

After all, he went out to train with Jiraiya. If Naruto hadn't improved, Jiraiya, the legendary Sannin, would be too embarrassed.

Look at Sakura, who had once held Team 7 back. After training under Tsunade, she had become an excellent ninja.

Having sparred together for the past two years, Sasuke knew Sakura's strength well. With a powerful sparring partner like him, Sakura's strength had improved rapidly.

"Probably..."

Sakura felt that she had become much stronger. So Naruto, who had already been stronger than her, should have grown even more.

Just as they were talking, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Naruto appeared. Konohamaru was also with them, chatting and laughing with Naruto.

"Huh!"

After getting closer, Naruto finally noticed Sasuke and Sakura.

"Are you Sakura?"

Having been apart for over two years, almost three, Sakura's changes were quite significant, making Naruto a little unsure.

As for Sasuke beside her, he recognized him at a glance.

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!"

Electric sparks seemed to fly as they locked eyes, as if they were about to fight in the next second. It was Kakashi who reminded Naruto not to just stare at Sasuke.

"There's still someone you know that you haven't greeted."

"Huh?"

Naruto looked left and right, then uncertainly looked at Ethan in front of him.

"This person... who is this?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

Naruto scratched his face, looking him up and down with uncertainty. "You look kind of familiar..."

Kakashi couldn't take it anymore. He covered his face and revealed the answer. "It's Ethan."

"Huh?"

Naruto looked disbelieving, pointing at Ethan. "You're lying to me! Didn't you say you were a guy? How can a guy be that pretty?"

"Sorry for being pretty. I'll take that as a compliment."

Ethan forced a smile and, after reluctantly greeting Naruto, quietly stood aside.

This was Team 7's reunion. Even though he had spent time with them before, it was still different. He just wanted to stand by and watch.

The events that followed were completely different from the original. Kakashi didn't do any test games. Instead, Sasuke, with an expectant look, wanted to have a match with Naruto.

"Come on, Naruto!"

"Get ready, Sasuke!"

(To be continued.)

◇◇◇

◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.

◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves

(Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)