16 Chapter 16 Protecting

Konoha.

Hokage Office.

"It's been a long time, you two"

Sitting on the Hokage Seat, with her both hands supporting her chin, Tsunade looked at the two faces standing before her which she hasn't seen for more than 2 years.

One was a man with long white spiked up and wore a red attire with a large scroll fixed on his back, and the other was a kid with blue eyes, yellow hair, whiskers on his cheeks and was donned in a black and orange jacket.

"I'm sure your training produced good results, right?"

Asked Tsunade looking at the two with a light smile on her face.

"Do you think we came back without making any progress?"

"It went perfectly!"

Jiraiya replied causally as Naruto brought a smile on his face and gave her a thumbs up.

"Ah, who is he?"

Suddenly, Naruto's attention was taken by the figure standing beside Shizune with arms across his chest, and the usual poker face.

"Damn, another handsome guy!!"

Cursed Naruto in his heart looking at the quite figure with the big sword on his back, giving him envious glances as in some ways this guy looked even cooler than Sasuke.

"Ah, Azuma-Kun!"

Sakura also spotted Azuma as earlier she was too focused on Naruto and gave him a light greeting.

"Un."

Hearing her words, Azuma just nodded slightly greeting her back as he was a little familiar with her now after these two months.

"Meet him, he is Yoshitake Azuma, a Konoha Jonin, he is around your age"

Seeing Naruto curious about Azuma, Tsunade gladly introduced Azuma who stood on the side quietly thinking why she called him here.

"Jonin, I'm still a Genin!!"

Naruto was immediately depressed as his peers had surpassed him so much already and he was still a Genin.

"My Name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be the future Hokage, nice to meet you!"

But he didn't stay depressed for long and cheerfully introduced himself to Azuma and stretched out arm for a handshake.

""Un.

"Ha…Ha…"

But to Naruto's embarrassment, the other party just gave him a light node and had no intention of shaking hands with him.

Naruto a bit embarrassed took his hand back and let out a dry laugh rubbing the back of his head, as the situation was really awkward.

"Haha!!, don't mind him, he just talks less, all in all, he's a good kid!"

Seeing Naruto embarrassed, Tsunade laughed for a while before she spoke for Azuma as she knew this was his nature and he wasn't being rude.

"Sigh…another moody guy!"

Hearing her words, Naruto quickly put this matter aside but silently evaluated Azuma as someone who is hard to get along with.

"Sakura, Naruto, there's something I want to inform you about!"

After a light talk, Tsunade finally came to business and gained their attention with a serious look over her face.

Naruto and everyone else in the room also looked at her seriously not in the mood to joke anymore.

"From the information gathered by the Anbu, the activities of Akatsuki has increased a lot, and they might target you outside on a mission"

"You should know how important your safety is to the village and I don't want any accident to happen to you!"

"So, I have decided to let Azuma join your squad for some while, I will be a lot assured if he stays with you"

Looking at Naruto, Tsunade calmly told her decision as the faces of everyone in the room changed slightly as they looked at Azuma.

"Sigh…"

Being the center of attention, didn't faze the calm expression on his face but inside his heart he sighed lightly as the little time he had earlier for rest was gone completely now.

During these two months, due to his strength or maybe due to her trust in him, Tsunade informed him about the Akatsuki and Jinchuriki, something he already knew.

But this proved to Azuma that Tsunade really trusted him a lot otherwise she won't tell him such secret easily.

So for her trust, Azuma stayed silent now and decided to face whatever was thrown at him calmly.

"You mean he will take the place of Sasuke!"

Asked Naruto, in a somewhat dejected voice, a sad look over his face as he didn't want Sasuke to be replaced.

Even the mood of Sakura went a little down hearing the name of Sasuke as the cheerful atmosphere of in the room was swept away.

"No, he won't be a member of your squad, he'll just tag along with you to protect you!"

Sensing the strange atmosphere, Tsunade quickly explained her intentions as she knew both Sakura and Naruto cared a lot for Sasuke.

"Protect me?"

Hearing her explanation, the mood of Naruto and the room was elevated a lot but some confusion appeared on his face due to her words.

"Ho~ Interesting!"

Even Jiraiya looked at Azuma with an interesting look over his face as he knew Tsunade won't talk nonsense and this kid had something, something enough to protect Naruto from Akatsuki.

Read chapters ahead on P@treon.com/Navyking6666.

(AN:_About Azuma's strength I want to explain something, when his template had not reached 100%, he defeated Big Mom, combining the powers of lightning Style.

But here's the main point, after completing the template to 100%, he got a reward *Perfect Haki*.

His Armament Haki is stronger than Garp who could destroy mountains with a single punch.

His Conquerors Haki is stronger than Shanks and his Observation Haki is stronger than Roger, Whitebeard or anyone else.

So in the end even without using the powers of Chakra now, he is stronger than Whitebeard or Roger at their peak.

Some readers mentioned Mihawk strength is not enough to face the likes of Six Path Characters, so that's why I explained all of this, he is the strongest now even in One Piece World)