Over the past year, Jiraiya had spent most of his time away from the village.
It wasn't that he disliked Konoha—
on the contrary, compared to Orochimaru, who preferred to stay within the village, Jiraiya's attachment to Konoha ran much deeper. Even while wandering outside, he often sent messages back.
Many of the frontline reports, in fact, came directly from him.
As for how those messages reached Konoha—
naturally, through Minato.
Though Minato wasn't in the village, transmitting information through the Flying Thunder God barely consumed any chakra, nor did it take much time.
To be honest…
Tsunade still wasn't at ease.
Their opponent was none other than the legendary Uchiha Madara. Even if he was just a shadow of his former self—old and weakened—it was hard not to worry.
That man was a living legend.
If she could, Tsunade would have accompanied Kyoichi herself. But Konoha needed her now more than ever, and as Hokage, every move she made represented the village's stance.
Even though the Land of Iron had already given secret approval, it still wouldn't be wise for her to go personally.
Besides…
There was still a mountain of work waiting in the village.
After thinking it through several times, Tsunade still couldn't rest easy.
"Orochimaru isn't busy with anything important right now—let him go with you. If that won't do… we can always borrow a pair of eyes."
Kyoichi nearly choked.
"Cough, cough—sis, that won't be necessary. This trip is just a reconnaissance mission. We're only confirming whether Madara's actually in or near the Land of Iron.
Once we pinpoint a general area, we can call for a Five Kage Summit and gather forces to destroy his base in one strike."
The hardest part about dealing with Madara was always the same—finding him.
Even if their current methods were clumsy, they were still better than letting him wreak havoc unchecked, throwing both Konoha and the entire shinobi world into chaos.
And beyond Madara, there were still Black Zetsu, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, and the entire Ōtsutsuki lineage to consider.
As for Orochimaru—
It wasn't that Kyoichi looked down on him. The man's intellect and talent were frighteningly sharp, but if he came along, who knew what kind of "accident" he might cause?
It was better to keep him confined to the research division.
Even then, Kyoichi wasn't entirely comfortable leaving him unsupervised.
Who knew if Orochimaru might decide to tinker with the God Tree while he was gone—cut off a piece here, experiment with chakra there?
If that snake started one of his "creative projects," the consequences could be catastrophic.
After some thought, Kyoichi suddenly remembered the Iburi Clan.
In the original story, the Iburis were a small clan Orochimaru took under his wing—but he never valued them much, and their fate was miserable. Only one survivor remained to carry on their name.
Perfect.
He'd give Orochimaru something to keep him occupied.
"Tsunade-nee, I won't have time to oversee the lab while I'm gone, so keep an eye on it for me. The Iburi and Tenbin clans should be arriving soon—let Orochimaru handle them."
"I was going to send the hospital's research department to assess them, but that's not a bad idea. Let Orochimaru help lead the study—it'll keep him busy and out of trouble."
Tsunade nodded in agreement.
After running through every detail, Kyoichi mentioned the newly captured White Zetsu, then dispelled his clone.
Konoha already had plenty of those.
Both the medical research division and his own lab had cultivated their own batches of White Zetsu cells—each slightly different in properties, but fundamentally the same.
The extra one this time posed a small dilemma.
Tsunade felt uneasy about it. Though the cells originated from Hashirama Senju, there was no real sense of connection—it wasn't even clear if Zetsu counted as "human."
Still…
She didn't dare hand it over to Orochimaru either. Who knew what kind of idea he'd come up with next? After thinking it over, she decided to seal it away for now and distribute samples only when needed.
Kyoichi's clone dispersed.
The original, after sending a sealed letter to Jiraiya, rubbed his temples.
He was exhausted.
Lately, he felt like there weren't enough hours in the day—even splitting himself into multiple clones wasn't enough. Fortunately, his body was no longer what it used to be; his physical resilience was now only a notch below Hashirama's.
He had attained the Sage Body.
Without Asura's chakra, he couldn't heal instantly without hand seals, but otherwise, there wasn't much difference.
If not for that…
He might've dropped dead long ago.
Tobirama had been wise to classify the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique as forbidden—if he hadn't, half the shinobi world might've died from chakra exhaustion.
Kyoichi exhaled softly.
With a Sage Body, his recovery was fast. His mental energy was harder to restore, but not as debilitating as before; he could at least muster enough chakra to continue.
After sending a message via Flying Thunder God, he left a Wood Clone behind and lay down to rest.
…
"Hm? What now—don't tell me he's calling me back?"
Jiraiya was quietly scouting around the Land of Rice Fields.
He had his reasons for not returning to Konoha.
Some things were best handled by individuals—not official operatives. If he caused trouble, he'd just take the blame later, get scolded, maybe apologize.
But the results were worth it.
For instance, when it came to gathering intel from small nations like the Land of Rice Fields, he was the only one who could do it freely.
He unrolled the message scroll and sighed.
"The Land of Iron? What's this about now?"
Jiraiya had been there before—and had almost been caught by the samurai patrols.
But as he kept reading, his expression turned serious.
The Land of Iron had agreed to participate in the Five Kage Summit—and even host it as a neutral power.
Moreover…
"If Madara's really hiding in the Land of Iron, that makes sense. It's the place with the fewest ninja in the entire world. If he's underground there, no one would find him for decades."
Jiraiya pondered for a moment.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized Kyoichi's analysis was spot-on.
Indeed, no matter how one looked at it, the Land of Iron was one of the most logical places for Madara's base.
Without further hesitation, Jiraiya headed north. The Land of Iron wasn't far—just across the border.
At the frontier, he summoned a toad to help him evade samurai patrols, slipping quietly into the Land of Iron before sending another toad to relay a message to Minato.
He waited half a day.
Night fell.
Jiraiya wandered along the frozen paths, muttering curses under his breath and plotting how he'd deal with Kanda Kyoichi when this was over.
"Beat him up? No, too light. Maybe I'll gut him—yeah, gut him good!"
"Who are you planning to gut, exactly?"
"Huh?!"
Jiraiya nearly stumbled into the snow, heart leaping out of his chest. When he turned, Kyoichi was standing right behind him, expression unreadable.
Good news: the kid had arrived.
Bad news: the kid had arrived.
And worse—he'd heard everything.
Jiraiya cleared his throat awkwardly.
"You didn't hear anything. Let's just… skip that part, alright? So, where to next?"
Kyoichi's lips curved faintly.
"First, we pay a visit to the person in charge of the Land of Iron. We're guests here—can't move without reporting in. And while we're at it, we'll exchange some intel."