After saying goodbye to the Hatake Sakumo father and son, Rinjin headed home, book in hand.
He found a cool, shady spot along the veranda in his courtyard and was just about to crack open his new read when—poof!—a shadow clone materialized in front of him.
"Here!" The clone tossed him a scroll and vanished without another word.
"What the hell? What an attitude!"
He grumbled reflexively—then realized he was cursing himself. Rinjin quickly played it cool, grabbed the scroll, and unfurled it.
The next moment, he snapped upright.
The scroll was from Amegakure, and it detailed the organization Rinjin had specifically asked them to monitor: Akatsuki.
A mysterious group, to say the least. According to limited intel, its founders were three young people.
But Amegakure's intelligence division had unearthed signs that an even more formidable figure was lurking behind the scenes.
The White Zetsu clones they'd sent in had all vanished without a trace—no reports, no feedback.
Elite spies dispatched afterward? Same fate: gone, as if swallowed by the void.
Though intel on Akatsuki's inner circle was spotty, Amegakure's spies had a clear read on their activities and hideouts.
First: Akatsuki was currently based in Takigakure, taking mercenary jobs at the behest of the village chief.
Second: They were obsessed with making money. Word was, they'd just offloaded a huge batch of explosive tags on the black market.
Third: Akatsuki had recently hit a snag—the Takigakure chief seemed to have some dangerous ideas about them.
Reading this, Rinjin scratched his head in confusion.
Wait a second. Didn't Jiraiya already get news that those three kids were dead?
By all rights, Yahiko should've been long gone.
Clearly, ever since he took over Amegakure, the whole storyline had shifted.
Yet, under the invisible hand pulling strings in the dark, events that seemed to veer off course always found their way back to the original track.
After mulling it over, Rinjin decided to keep watching for now.
After all, he had no real connection to Yahiko—and he was still counting on Nagato, the desktop-clearing master, to make him some serious cash~
That said, Takigakure was actually a cut above Amegakure in some ways.
Once the leader among the small hidden villages, Takigakure had lost the secret technique Earth Grudge Fear, but still held the Hero Water—a treasure that could boost chakra tenfold or more.
Honestly, back in the days of Hashirama and Madara, this village had managed to snag the Seven-Tails through sheer strength and luck. That was no small feat.
And there was one more thing:
Its geography was top-notch.
Hidden behind massive waterfalls, Takigakure had never been invaded by another nation. Its natural defenses were unmatched.
As Rinjin pondered all this, a familiar head suddenly popped up over the courtyard wall.
Jiraiya was crouched there like a cat burglar, peeking into the backyard.
"Get down here, you bastard! Why are you acting just like Sakumo?!"
Ever the early warning system, Rinjin shouted before Jiraiya could even speak.
At that, Jiraiya scratched his spiky hair and grinned, vaulting over the wall with an easy, one-handed flip.
Man, that kind of style—he'd make a great… ahem, Hokage someday.
"Well, well, a rare visitor! Jiraiya, I was just thinking of talking to you about razor blades this afternoon~"
"Razor blades? You mean for shaving your legs?"
Jiraiya flopped down next to Rinjin like he owned the place.
"I mean the kind for slicing up lazy authors. If you don't update your novel soon, I'm mailing you a whole box."
Jiraiya burst out laughing, giving Rinjin a hearty slap on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'm already working on it. I've even got a title: Icha Icha Violence."
"Nice." Rinjin gave him a thumbs-up, satisfied.
See? No pressure, no progress!
He remembered that in the original timeline, Jiraiya didn't write Icha Icha Paradise until he was forty-two.
Now? The guy wasn't even thirty and he was already plotting out Icha Icha Violence.
"Keep it up. Remember your true calling—make that easy money!"
"I'd like nothing better," Jiraiya said, though a hint of trouble flashed across his face, "but…"
"But what?" Rinjin asked, raising an eyebrow.
Seeing the bait taken, Jiraiya perked up, rubbing his hands together with a sly grin:
"I'd love to focus on writing, but the village keeps assigning me missions.
That's fine—I can handle those while I'm out peep… uh, gathering material.
But there's one thing I just can't let go—my poor, pitiful student."
Rinjin rolled his eyes so hard they nearly fell out.
Student? Minato Namikaze? "Pitiful"? "Worried"?
How do any of those words belong in the same sentence?
What, was Kushina not appealing enough? Or was the Hokage seat not tempting?
He waved a hand dismissively.
"Give me a break. You, worrying about your poor student?
Don't forget who stayed holed up in the Land of Grass and refused to come home."
Jiraiya's face flushed red.
Damn! He should've known better than to put on airs in front of someone who knew all his dirty laundry.
He scratched his head, then sidled up to his childhood friend with a sheepish grin.
"Hehe, you got me. Actually, I wanted you to teach Minato the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"What do you mean?" Rinjin asked, not quite following.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique. The kid got a chance to study the Scroll of Seals.
I figured, with you—someone who zips around everywhere—teaching him, he'd master it in no time."
"…"
Rinjin looked at Jiraiya, who was grinning like an idiot, and for once, he was speechless.
What do you mean, 'zipping around everywhere'?
And did a prodigy like Minato Namikaze really need a teacher?
He shook his head so fast it was a blur.
"No way. I can't teach him.
And besides, does that kid even need a teacher? He's been a sly little monkey since he could walk."
Playing the senior card, Rinjin cracked a few jokes at the future Fourth's expense.
But Jiraiya wasn't backing down. He steeled himself, rapidly flashed through a series of hand signs, and unleashed his ultimate move: Ninja Art: Update Suspension Jutsu!
Rinjin wasn't about to lose this fight. He whipped out a legendary Six Paths artifact—the Palace Entry Razor Blade!
But Jiraiya didn't flinch. "If we can't be brothers, we'll just be a married couple! Let's see if Tsunade pounds you into dust!"
Either way, whether Rinjin wanted to or not, he was teaching Minato.
In the end, Rinjin had no choice but to put down his blade and admit defeat amid a round of "joyous laughter."
Who would've thought the legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya could be such a shameless rogue?
All he could say was: as pathetic as you look when you shamelessly beg, you're kind of cool when you throw your pride away.
Watching the triumphant, beaming Jiraiya, Rinjin sighed and muttered,
"The Flying Thunder God Technique is too risky to practice at my place. You got a venue?"
Jiraiya flashed a proud thumbs-up, his teeth sparkling.
"Already got it—Training Ground Nine!"
Damn it!
Rinjin sighed again.
This bastard had it all planned out—he even booked the training ground in advance!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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