Chapter 16: Jiraiya
Inside a town in the Land of Rain.
A tall man with long white hair emerged from a tavern, his arms around two scantily clad, eye-catching beauties, a lecherous grin on his face.
If Aosui were here, he would instantly recognize this person as a Konoha ninja.
It was Jiraiya, one of the 'Legendary Sannin of Konoha,' famous alongside Tsunade.
Logically, Jiraiya, as a Konoha ninja appearing in the Land of Rain, should be on a mission like Aosui and his team.
However, this was not the case; he had been staying in the Land of Rain ever since the Second Great Ninja War ended.
This was because after the war in the Land of Rain concluded, he met three war orphans and decided to teach them ninjutsu.
If Jiraiya weren't a student of the Third Hokage, his actions could easily be considered treason against the village.
Although Konoha's name includes the word "village" (mura).
It's not actually a village, but a military base.
The same goes for other ninja villages.
Ninjas, to put it simply, are a group of organized mercenaries.
From small tasks like planting rice and finding cats to major ones like assassinations and waging war, they accept all kinds of missions.
Despite the fervent pleas of the two beauties to stay, Jiraiya didn't forget the purpose of his trip, and after promising to return next time, he departed.
Afterward, Jiraiya headed straight to a shop in town that sold grain and fruit.
After buying what he needed, he left the town alone.
However, behind him, a few hangers-on were secretly tracking him.
These people were not ninjas, but a group of hooligans who often robbed isolated villagers of their food.
Clearly, they had chosen Jiraiya as their target this time.
Such incidents were already common in the Land of Rain, and they became even more frequent after the Second Great Ninja War, a sight people had grown accustomed to.
"Where is he? How did such a big person suddenly disappear?"
"I don't know, boss. I clearly saw him heading in this direction. It's really strange."
Just as the few of them were searching everywhere for Jiraiya's whereabouts, Jiraiya himself suddenly appeared behind them.
"Are you looking for me?"
Jiraiya's words startled them, but the leader still spoke fiercely.
"Hand over the food, or don't blame us if we get rough later."
After determining that these individuals were not ninjas, Jiraiya sighed, casually dealt with them, and then left.
However, before he could go too far, he spotted several Rain ninjas.
They weren't coming for Jiraiya, but were rushing in a certain direction.
"Did something happen?"
Muttering to himself, Jiraiya also headed in the direction the Rain ninjas were going… "Brother Aosui is truly amazing!"
Mukai Yuuki's words were echoed by Minato and Sasaki Ayame.
After killing the enemies they were initially fighting, Aosui continued to support Mikoto's shadow clone.
This allowed them to witness Aosui's combat process firsthand.
Enemies they considered very strong were no match for Aosui at all; he would cut them down with his blade after just a few exchanges.
Except for the female ninja who was still fighting Aosui.
She was, after all, a jonin from the Hidden Mist Village, so her strength was naturally much greater than the other enemies.
Unlike jonin from smaller ninja villages, jonin from the Five Great Ninja Villages are comprehensively developed in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, and generally do not have obvious weaknesses.
So, resolving the fight in just a few rounds, like with the other enemies, was clearly unrealistic.
"Damn it, this guy looks relatively young, but I didn't expect him to be so strong."
The Hidden Mist kunoichi jonin looked at Aosui with a solemn expression.
She was initially entangled by Mikoto's shadow clone, and only after dealing with the clone did she realize with astonishment that her subordinates had all been dealt with by this young man.
Now, even with her personally engaging, she was being held up by him.
As a rogue ninja, she was already contemplating escape.
However, a glance at her two companions fighting Uchiha Mikoto made her suppress that thought.
The three of them chose to defect because they were dissatisfied with the Blood Mist policy implemented by the village.
Even though the three of them, as jonin, had repeatedly and jointly requested the Third Mizukage to change the policy.
But the result was useless.
They could only watch as everyone in the village gradually stopped seeing their comrades as comrades, but rather as enemies to be wary of.
Such an atmosphere made them feel unacceptable.
Eventually, the three disheartened individuals chose to defect together, then recruited rogue ninjas from smaller ninja villages, formed their current team, and came to the Land of Rain.
It was just a pity that this time they fell into the hands of Konoha ninjas.
Thinking this, her attacks were nonetheless swift, as she wielded her ninja blade and sparred with Aosui.
She was a jonin skilled in kenjutsu, and had even participated in the Hidden Mist Village's competition to contend for the "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist" title.
Although she ultimately wasn't chosen, it showed that her strength was not to be underestimated.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
In an instant, the two exchanged several blows; neither's swordsmanship was inferior to the other's.
As for Mikoto, although she was fighting two opponents alone, she consistently held the upper hand.
After all, her opponents had to constantly avoid direct eye contact with her to prevent being caught in genjutsu by her Sharingan.
Another missed attack, followed by a kick from Mikoto, made Kiyoshi realize that continuing like this wouldn't work.
"Yuuki, please buy me some time. I need to use that move."
"Okay!"
As Kiyoshi's companion, Yuuki naturally knew his plan: he was going to use the Water Dragon Bullet.
As a B-rank Water Release ninjutsu, the power of this technique was not to be underestimated.
Its only drawback was the excessive number of hand seals.
Even with Kiyoshi's speed of four seals per second, it still required eleven seconds of hand seals.
In a normal battle, the enemy would certainly not give him that much time.
That's why he needed his companion's help.
This scene naturally didn't escape Mikoto's notice; her first thought was certainly to interrupt him.
But Yuuki didn't give her the chance, once again unleashing Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall, forcing her to dodge.
She had been hit by that move before, thrown into mid-air and becoming a living target for the enemy.
If she hadn't used a defensive technique in time, she would be dead now.
Seeing this, Yuuki was not surprised.
After all, the opponent was a Konoha Uchiha jonin; if the same move could work again, he would suspect he was under genjutsu.
However, his goal was simply to buy time, so he didn't care that his ninjutsu was dodged by the opponent.
He remained silent, simply continuously using Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.
He absolutely would not give Mikoto a chance to counterattack.
As long as Kiyoshi's Water Dragon Bullet was successfully released, Yuuki believed that even if the opponent was an Uchiha, they wouldn't be able to block it and would be defeated in one blow.
With such a delay, eleven seconds quickly passed.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"