"Mr. Asuma, Konohamaru is undoubtedly the most gifted child I've ever met. Entrusting him to my tutelage will absolutely not disappoint you!"
Ebisu, wearing black sunglasses, spoke with great seriousness. If not for the smell of alcohol on his breath, this would have been mistaken for a job interview for a private tutor.
"Sigh, my elder brother left too early. This has made young Konohamaru lack parental affection since childhood. I hope Teacher Ebisu can guide him more."
Ebisu pushed up his sunglasses and confidently stated, "Please rest assured on this matter. Nurturing geniuses is my most confident forte."
At this moment, Lin Yu, accompanied by Gekko Hayate, entered the izakaya and walked directly towards their booth.
"Long time no see, Asuma."
"Lin, Lin Yu... senpai."
The moment Asuma saw Lin Yu, his eyes first showed surprise, then confusion, and finally, relief.
He had been so arrogant and reckless in the past, even attempting to compete with senior Lin Yu. He never realized that the most important person had been by his side all along, and he had pushed that person away with his own hands. Fortunately, he had managed to find them back in the end.
All that was in the past was like smoke in the wind. Asuma and Lin Yu had no major entanglements, and even if they did, they had vanished with Jiriku's appearance.
This address of "Lin Yu senpai" was spoken by Asuma wholeheartedly. Having experienced the vicissitudes of life, he was grateful to Lin Yu for making him understand what true love truly is!
Lin Yu asked with a smile, "And who is this..."
Asuma snapped back to reality, stood up, and introduced, "This is Jiriku, the abbot of the Fire Temple, and my... my dearest friend!"
Jiriku gave a slight bow to Lin Yu. It was hard to imagine that Jiriku, with his resolute face, would be as quiet and polite as a supportive spouse.
"This is Special Jonin Ebisu, he..."
Before Asuma could finish, Ebisu from across the table suddenly rushed in front of Lin Yu, saying excitedly, "Teacher Lin Yu, do you still remember me? I was in the same class as Might Guy. You were our practical combat instructor back then. I sat in the fifth seat of the third row."
"Uh... I remember, I remember. Isn't this Ebisu? I didn't expect time to pass so quickly. You're already a Jonin."
Lin Yu took a couple of steps back, feeling quite awkward. Who would remember Ebisu? Back then, his attention was all on Obito and Kakashi. Even Might Guy only had interactions later on.
Hearing that Lin Yu still remembered him, Ebisu was thrilled. Lin Yu was his idol and role model. To have produced such talented ninjas as Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy, his teaching ability was unquestionable.
Especially Might Guy's brilliant performance in the recent Otsutsuki battle further proved Lin Yu's effective guidance.
Ebisu had also heard that even the Fourth Hokage had once received guidance and help from Lin Yu. Coupled with the fact that Lin Yu was surrounded by beautiful women, Ebisu, being somewhat lustful, almost wanted to treat Lin Yu as his life's role model, to admire him every day by his bedside!
"Teacher Lin Yu, please have a seat! I have so many questions I want to ask you!"
Lin Yu didn't understand why Ebisu was so enthusiastic about him, as he seemed to have no prior connection with the man. He awkwardly said, "The gentleman behind me is Gekko Hayate. I believe you've all heard of him. His father was Gekko Hayate, who used to work at the mission reception."
Gekko Hayate nodded. Although he disliked such a lively environment, the people present were Asuma Sarutobi, son of the Third Hokage, Jiriku, the abbot of the Fire Temple, and Ebisu, a Special Jonin of the Leaf. They were all people he might need to interact with in the future, so getting acquainted was good.
Gekko Hayate, who had just been expelled from the ANBU, was naturally unknown to the three. However, Asuma and Ebisu were familiar with Gekko Hayate, his father. They had been tricked by him countless times in their childhood to take on tasks like cleaning sewers.
"Since he's brought by Senior Lin Yu, he's one of us. No need to be polite, I'm treating today!"
Asuma, somewhat drunk, swayed his sake bottle. As the booth could only seat four people, they had to ask the waiter to move them to a private room.
"Hayate, you'll be working in the open from now on. You can ask these two seniors for advice if you have any problems."
Lin Yu, seeing that Gekko Hayate hadn't touched his chopsticks and hadn't drunk any of the sake cups on the table, had to speed things up. He didn't have the leisure to delay any further and wanted to resolve the issue of Gekko Hayate within half a day!
"Hey! You've asked the right person. When it comes to Leaf Village matters, I, Asuma Sarutobi, know everything." Asuma, when sober, was calm and composed, but clearly, he wasn't thinking straight while drunk.
As the son of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi had once intended to groom Asuma as his successor. Naturally, he had instilled in him a lot of knowledge about the various departments of the Leaf Village.
Gekko Hayate hesitated for a moment and said with a poker face, "Actually, Lord Hokage hasn't assigned me any work yet. And... I've been feeling restless and my training hasn't been going smoothly recently."
Ebisu pushed up his sunglasses and said, "When it comes to strength, I might not be as good as you, Hayate. But when it comes to training matters, I'm very knowledgeable. In my opinion, Hayate, you need to stop and recuperate. From my observation since you entered, you've coughed 18 times in total, and your complexion is weak..."
Ebisu gave a knowing, lecherous smile and chuckled, "Although we're both men, it's best to do that sort of thing less. It's bad for your health, hahaha!"
Gekko Hayate found the first part of his statement somewhat reasonable and was surprised by Ebisu's keen observation. However, he hadn't expected this guy to be drunk as well. How could he, Gekko Hayate, do such a thing!
At this point, Asuma added, "I don't think Hayate, you're having trouble with training, but rather with romantic matters, aren't you?"
Gekko Hayate's eyes widened. Was he having trouble in his romantic life?
"I, Asuma, have been through that age as well. Your little thoughts can't escape my eyes. You have a girl you like in your heart?"
The face of Yuugao flashed through Gekko Hayate's mind. He didn't know if this was love, but he felt that if he were to find a partner in the future, he would choose Yuugao.
"Have you confessed? Have you asked the girl?"
Seeing Gekko Hayate shake his head, Asuma seemed to recall a memory and sighed, "Hayate, take my advice. In the adult world, an unstated 'yes' is a 'no.' You should cherish the people around you, rather than bothering them time and time again."
Gekko Hayate was bewildered. He hadn't confessed, but the situation didn't seem to be as Asuma described... However, he did want to train the Leaf-style swordsmanship with Yuugao. Was that also wrong?
"Wrong! Terribly wrong!"
Gekko Hayate was startled and quickly looked at Asuma, whose expression had turned serious.
Asuma's gaze was intense. He wanted to save a misguided youth and prevent him from repeating his own mistakes!
"Hayate, do you understand what true love is?"