Sakuma Yunlang smiled brightly and asked, "Jiraiya, where's my copy of Kaihime?"
"Well, uh… let me just pay you up front now." Jiraiya awkwardly scratched his head.
Because he'd been too busy training, he hadn't spent much time studying the proper artistic techniques for drawing Kaihime—his skills were still far from adequate. He had no choice but to pay four hundred ryō in advance.
"Great! We've got One Piece, Naruto Shippuden, and the new manga Intimate Desert. Also, Orochimaru bought quite a few comics today. How many sets would you like?" Sakuma Yunlang said with a bright smile.
Orochimaru had visited the store repeatedly today, spending several thousand ryō in total. This customer might also turn out to be a big spender.
However,
he overestimated Jiraiya's financial situation.
Lately, not one of these lazy bums had gone on any missions. While Orochimaru at least earned steady income through various research projects that kept his wallet full, Jiraiya didn't have that luxury.
Besides mission earnings, Jiraiya only made money from sales of the manga Intimate Desert.
It wasn't too shabby in terms of income—each volume sold for a hundred ryō, and after splitting the profits, he'd already earned several thousand ryō.
Even so, Jiraiya hesitated.
Orochimaru bought multiple sets?
Looking at his nearly empty wallet, he realized how broke he was and finally raised one finger. "Give me two sets of everything."
"All right then, two sets each. Please wait just a moment."
Although slightly disappointed, two sets still represented significant sales volume. He quickly turned around and started organizing his manga stock.
"Oh, forget about Intimate Desert though."
He added as an afterthought.
After all, the toads couldn't understand human artistry—it'd be a complete waste giving them those copies. Better save some money instead.
Quickly flipping through the titles, Sakuma Yunlang soon prepared two sets each of One Piece and Naruto Shippuden.
Akaba hadn't come out yet. From the shadows of the private chamber, he observed secretly.
The manga weren't for himself obviously—it seemed their business expansion into Mount Myoboku had already succeeded.
What strong business capabilities.
Well, considering the irresistible Dream—the most annoying pop-up ad in the Ninja World, impossible to refuse.
He mused for a moment before opening the Points Panel.
Within half a day alone, his points had skyrocketed, now totaling more than three thousand.
The Toad Sages really made a difference. Just five volumes alone gave him over two thousand points.
Pity,
after this wool-shearing stunt, such massive surges wouldn't happen often anymore.
"Hmm, logically speaking, those Toad Sages should contribute even more points though. Seems like some simply don't enjoy reading manga."
Akaba sighed regretfully.
After all, not everyone liked reading manga. Plus, there was an unavoidable gap between humans and amphibians—differences in aesthetics and worldviews made low readership completely normal.
Ah well. Still, he'd managed to earn quite a few points. Not bad at all! Now he wondered how many points Mount Myoboku's toads would bring him.
He waited eagerly.
Though boosting his attributes cost 3000 points per 13 attribute points, for jonin-level ninja like him, improving physical or spiritual traits through conventional means was still nearly impossible.
Perhaps a tiny improvement required years—maybe even decades—of effort. Compared to that, exchanging points like this was actually the fastest shortcut possible.
"These are the funds. Count them."
Jiraiya pulled out his wallet and carefully counted out part of the money—neither one penny extra nor one penny short.
Then he left—though from the looks of things, not heading straight back.
Thinking about it, with Jiraiya's personality, arriving at Konoha would naturally mean paying the bathhouses a visit. Otherwise, staring at toads all day would drive anyone stir-crazy.
Akaba rested his chin on his hand while flipping through his Exchange List.
The Chunin Exam storyline was approaching its climax—should he save some points for upcoming techniques?
But when he thought deeper, nothing really seemed worth spending points on.
Techniques like Wood Release and Impure World Reincarnation weren't viable right now, and even powerful sealing techniques like Dead Demon Consuming Seal—which required a soul for a soul—were out of reach.
Guess buying extra attributes was still the way to go.
After blowing over 3000 points in one go, he gained thirteen spirit points.
His total spirit points reached 113!
Though the number wasn't huge, Akaba felt like he'd improved significantly. Plus, increased spirit points also meant a slight bump in chakra reserves.
All things considered, swapping points for attributes still gave the best value.
Right now, at Mount Myoboku.
A bunch of toads huddled together, hopping around, while others idled about looking totally bored.
"Where's Jiraiya? Why hasn't he come back yet?"
Sage Fukasaku returned after taking a stroll, only to find Jiraiya still missing.
Worse yet, the whole place was in total disarray.
"What exactly went wrong?"
He was puzzled.
Normally, they'd either be training or hunting—not this many idle toads just loafing around. Something was definitely off today.
"Lord Fukasaku, those Yumekumas have come again for spiritual energy. Worse still, they turned the dreamscape into a forced manga-reading scenario, making all of us read a series called *Naruto*."
Gamata sighed, clearly worn out.
He'd already lost a lot of spiritual energy. If it weren't for all these toads hanging around, he'd have gone to sleep by now.
"A forced manga reading scenario? *Naruto*?"
Sage Fukasaku's mind flashed to the comic featuring the Nine-Tails Beast. Come to think of it, it had been a while—he wondered how the artwork was coming along. That story wasn't bad for something to pass the time.
He glanced at it briefly, paused thoughtfully, then asked, "When did Jiraiya leave?"
"He's been gone half a day already and still hasn't returned."
Gamata muttered listlessly.
"Summon him here using the Summoning Jutsu! That brat must've gone to the bathhouse again—if we don't pull him back now, we won't see him until tomorrow!"
Of all Mount Myoboku's residents, no one knew Jiraiya better than Sage Fukasaku.
Gamata might become his partner eventually, but currently, they'd only just started training together—they hadn't even developed a stable cooperative relationship yet.
With that said, Sage Fukasaku quickly began directing everyone to prepare the summoning ritual.
Quite a few toads were full of energy, not because they had been mercifully spared by Yumekuma, but because just thinking about being summoned by Jiraiya—meaning they'd get to read manga—filled them with motivation.
Before long, streams of chakra gathered, and the jutsu was complete.
Poof!
After a cloud of smoke, a figure appeared on the mountain.
Completely naked, his hair dripping wet and steam occasionally rising from his body—it was clear he had just been soaking in a hot spring.
But that wasn't all.
He also had a peculiar scent, most likely from bathing in a mixed-gender hot spring.
"Jiraiya, you bastard!"
Gamata couldn't help clenching his fists—it took all his willpower not to grab a blade and chop this guy into bits.
"Teacher, I'm sorry! Please let me go back to get my clothes and manga books."
Jiraiya apologized shamefully, yet wistfully.
Just as he was getting into it, he'd suddenly been summoned here. By the time he returned, those beautiful ladies would probably all be gone.
Sage Fukasaku stayed calm—this was exactly what he'd expected.
Besides, he'd long since gotten used to it.
Jiraiya apologized as often as he made mistakes, so his apologies had practically no meaning.
Still, giving him a public execution wouldn't solve anything—it would just be a spectacle without any manga involved.
Therefore, he glanced over and slowly nodded.
Jiraiya felt an immense sense of relief and quickly returned to Konoha. As he expected, all the pretty ladies had fled in terror.
He was completely broken inside.
He had waited for an hour before the lovely ladies finally arrived, and then—
This is too hard!
Dressed properly and carrying his manga, Jiraiya returned to Mount Myoboku, where only now did he notice: there were at least over twenty toads here.
The big ones hadn't come—the majority were young toads, which were actually the most troublesome.
They weren't just willful brats; each had powerful parents backing them up, so Jiraiya didn't dare lay a hand on them.
And the biggest problem of all was—he only had two sets of manga.
What should he do?
His heart panicked fiercely.
"Jiraiya, hurry up and bring out the manga already."
Gamata squatted down.
Hurry up—the sooner this is done, the sooner he could go back to sleep.
The other toads jumped forward, surrounding Jiraiya tightly, clearly implying he couldn't leave without handing over the manga.
Not far away, Sage Fukasaku's eyes looked slightly off.
Gulp!
Jiraiya swallowed hard, trembling hands reaching inside his robe to pull something out.
Then, he spread open the bundle.
"It looks like so many—can't wait to see it."
"Way to go, Jiraiya! We're gonna get to read manga again!"
The little toads cried joyfully.
However...
The happier they got, the more anxious Jiraiya became.
There was no way he could remain calm—when these toads realized later that there were only two sets, they might force him to buy more.
RIP my wallet!
"Well, no need to thank me. If nothing else, I'll head back to Konoha first."
Finally wriggling free from the pile of toads, Jiraiya tried to leave.
The small toads were captivated by the manga while Gamata was too sleepy to move—an ideal opportunity.
Taking a few steps away, he was about to use a jutsu to return to Konoha when suddenly another figure appeared beside him.
Looking down.
Sage Fukasaku?!
"T-This isn't me running off—Teacher needed me for something important."
Jiraiya stammered defensively.
"Don't worry, I know you've been at Mount Myoboku recently, so it's understandable you don't have money to buy manga. I just want to go to Konoha with you and meet this brat called Sakuma Akaba."
Sage Fukasaku jumped onto his shoulder, signaling him to use the jutsu.
No wonder he's a sage.
Jiraiya immediately retreated in defeat. His little secret had been completely seen through.
The other toads obviously noticed something too.
Although there were two different series, altogether they only had four volumes—nowhere near enough to go around.
Normally, they might have jumped onto Jiraiya and nagged him to buy more, but since Sage Fukasaku was by Jiraiya's side now, they didn't dare cause trouble, so they could only share one volume among several toads.
Gamata took a glance, then wandered off to catch some Z's elsewhere.
Jiraiya had no choice but to bring Sage Fukasaku to Konoha. He didn't know what the sage's intentions were, but considering the relatively mild temperaments of the toads from Mount Myoboku, they wouldn't pose any serious threat to Akaba.
Even if it was a sage, they were probably just here for a quick look around.
Therefore, after returning to Konoha, Jiraiya naturally brought Sage Fukasaku to the manga shop.
There were quite a few summoning beasts in Konoha already, so a single toad didn't seem out of place. It drew some curious glances along the way, but nothing happened beyond Jiraiya's control.
Until they reached the manga shop.
Sage Fukasaku calmly surveyed the surroundings, finally pointing in another direction and said, "Let's go this way."
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