“Huh? That’s weird… why do I feel fine now?”
As Gen withdrew his hand, Naruto suddenly felt the heat fade from his body. He glanced suspiciously at the bathhouse behind him, then grumbled, “Damn that pervy old man—I seriously thought I was gonna pass out from heatstroke.”
“Could be worse. I had to stay cooped up in an inn the whole ti.”
Gen pressed his lips together… and suddenly, a mischievous grin crept across his face.
“But hey, I think I just figured out how to deal with this kind of situation.”
“Oh? How?”
Naruto’s eyes lit up. He was completely fed up with Jiraiya’s irresponsible antics too.
“It’s simple.”
Gen winked, then instantly gathered his chakra and, perfectly mimicking Naruto’s voice, shouted at the top of his lungs: “Pervy Sage! You’re peeping again, you damn pervert! Soone catch the lecher!”
“…”
Naruto stared at him, dumbfounded.
Was this guy trying to get killed?
“What’re you staring at?! Run!”
Gen didn’t wait for a response—he turned and bolted. Naruto hesitated, then spun around and chased after him, glancing nervously behind.
“Wait, wait! This is all a misunderstanding!”
Monts later—
Jiraiya ca stumbling out of the bathhouse in complete disarray.
And chasing him was a furious mob of bathhouse workers wielding cleaning tools—and a group of kunoichi ard with ninja weapons.
...
"Damn it, still no news?"
Inside Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage’s eyes blazed with fury. He stared at Darui in disbelief, but Darui could only give a small nod.
"Still nothing for now. They may have run into so trouble, or maybe..."
Or maybe sothing worse—but Darui didn’t dare say it aloud. Still, everyone knew what he ant.
"Raikage-sama, according to our intel, Orochimaru attempted to steal the secret treasure of the Land of Wind, which led to a massive explosion," said C, sounding helpless as he spoke up from the side. It was impossible to stay silent in this situation.
"They say the treasure was destroyed, and Orochimaru was seriously injured. The blast radius was enormous. It’s hard to say for sure, but..."
"Orochimaru again? Another one of those damn Konoha defectors? Are they all dead yet?"
The Fourth Raikage was clearly struggling to contain his anger. He just couldn’t accept this kind of situation.
"What’s going on with Konoha now? I heard Sunagakure signed a new agreent with them?"
"Yes, Raikage-sama."
C glanced at Darui, noticing that his laziness was kicking in again, so he took the initiative to speak.
"They were already allies to begin with. But this ti, after that mysterious group stirred up so much trouble in the Land of Wind, there's no way they’ll let it slide."
And not just Sunagakure. Kumogakure had no intention of letting it slide either.
The only difference was: one was targeting the Akatsuki, the other had its sights set on Konoha.
"Raikage-sama, what should we do now?"
Seeing the Fourth Raikage fall silent, C quickly turned toward Samui, who had remained quiet this whole ti. Samui finally opened her mouth.
"Should we continue investigating that mysterious organization? Or try to make contact with them? And Konoha—"
"Hmph. Just a bunch of rats—rogue shinobi banding together. Keep a close watch on them. I want to know exactly what they’re up to."
The Fourth Raikage had never trusted defectors—especially since their own village had almost none.
"As for Konoha… Next year’s joint Chūnin Exams will be hosted there. I’ll go myself when the ti cos. So, before that..."
He paused here, clearly hesitating. His pride made it hard to say what he needed to.
But then he glanced at his empty left arm... and recalled that speed, no less than Namikaze Minato’s, and that ruthlessness—reminiscent of Senju Tobirama.
At last, he sighed and spoke coldly.
"If you encounter Kitagawa Gen, you’re permitted to abandon the mission without punishnt. But as for everyone else—double the payback. Understood?"
"Yes, Raikage-sama!"
...
"Looks like the mission was a complete success."
In Konohagakure, Hiruzen puffed on his smoking pipe as he read the scroll in his hand, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
"The cooperation proposal from Sunagakure could really strengthen our alliance. That’s excellent news. Well done, Kakashi, Guy."
"We were only doing our duty."
Kakashi and Guy bowed slightly. Sunagakure had suffered attacks from the Akatsuki—there were even attempts to interfere with the Dragon Vein. Naturally, that raised serious concerns.
On top of that, they had to deal with a daimyo who was notoriously stingy. To ensure future safety, Sunagakure was willing to make compromises.
Even if what they expressed was only a willingness to cooperate, the rest would be handled by Konoha’s diplomatic experts. But even so, that alone was already enough.
"Aside from that, we’ve basically confird that the intel Danzo provided was mostly accurate. It’s just that… this ti, sothing feels off."
After his initial satisfaction, Hiruzen couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
"The Akatsuki's actions this ti felt far weaker than before. It was more like they were probing us."
"Agreed. Gen got the sa feeling."
Kakashi nodded with a serious expression.
"We didn’t encounter Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Obito, or even Jiraiya-sama’s two disciples. And on top of that, shinobi from Kumogakure showed up. Could it be that..."
"Perhaps Kumo managed to sniff sothing out from our side."
Hiruzen furrowed his brow again. In the end, that was the only plausible explanation he could offer.
"Kumogakure needs to be watched carefully. As for the Akatsuki, we’ve now managed to gather a rough idea of their structure. That’s a good sign for us."
The Akatsuki’s secrecy was no longer a complete enigma to Hiruzen and his people.
Even if many specifics were still unclear—like whether they had a proper headquarters, or what exactly they planned to do to ‘reshape the world order’—there was now at least a general understanding of who they were.
"Perhaps it’s ti we consider coordinating with the other shinobi villages to launch a full-scale suppression."
The Akatsuki were proving to be too dangerous—not just because of their overwhelming strength, but because of how extre their ideology was.
Even without knowing exactly what their ultimate goal was, the fact that their mbers were all rogue shinobi was more than enough to justify serious action from the other villages.
"You really think that’s a good idea?"
Kakashi frowned—not because he disagreed, but because it felt like a risky move.
"Would the other villages even cooperate? And what about Jiraiya-sama..."
"Don’t worry. I only said we should consider it. We’ll talk about it again once the deal with Sunagakure is finalized."
Hiruzen chuckled. He wasn’t sure if such an alliance could even be achieved—he was just voicing a possibility.
"As for Jiraiya, I’ll speak to him about it. But now that you ntion it... why isn’t he here yet?"
Hiruzen glanced at the clock. He had sent soone to find Jiraiya right after Kakashi returned, and yet the eting was nearly over and still no sign of him?
Shaking his head, he didn’t dwell on it and continued.
"Alright, that’s enough about this. You’ve both done well. Go get so rest. By the way... did you make any progress this ti?"
"Huh?"
"At the very least, none of you ended up in the hospital this ti, right?"
"..."
Seeing Hiruzen’s wide grin, Kakashi took a long breath and gave a small nod in agreent.
At the very least... he wasn’t convalescing in Konoha this ti.
"Hokage-sama!"
Just as their conversation ended, an ANBU burst in, clearly in a hurry.
"What is it?"
Hiruzen’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively reached for his chest.
He’d seen that look too many tis. And now… it genuinely made him nervous.
"Jiraiya-sama caused so trouble at the hot springs. Then he happened to run into Tsunade-sama. They... got into a bit of a conflict."
"..."
"And now... Jiraiya-sama’s been hospitalized."
"..."
...
"You bastard... that’s just evil."
At Ichiraku Ran, Naruto spoke up as he slurped his noodles.
"I was actually waiting for him to finish peeping so he could teach a few things—and then you had to ss it all up?"
"Relax. The Pervy Sage has thick skin. He’ll be fine," Kitagawa Gen said casually, then smiled at Naruto.
"You should worry more about yourself. After all, you’re the one who got him into this ss."
"You bastard, you’re always dragging into trouble..."
Naruto lowered his head, falling silent. But after everything these past few years, he’d grown used to this kind of situation—it was just another minor annoyance.
Besides, the Pervy Sage wasn’t that hard to handle. Worst case, he’d just hit him with a combination of Shadow Clone and Sexy Technique tomorrow and give him a good show.
"Hey, what do you think is a good na for the technique when I combine Shadow Clone with Sexy Technique?"
"Oh? So he actually taught you that?"
"Tch! That’s all , pure talent! Never mind that—just help na it already."
"Harem Technique. What else would it be?"
"Huh?! Why do you sound so confident about it?"
"Tch."
Seeing Naruto’s face full of disbelief, Kitagawa Gen raised a brow.
"Also, Naruto, if you developed a technique like that, why ask ? Shouldn’t you go ask the Hokage to evaluate it?"
"Huh?"
Naruto froze, hesitating for a mont.
"Wouldn’t that be kinda... inappropriate for the Hokage?"
"Have you already forgotten what I told you? Respect your elders, care for the young."
"Weren’t you just trying to set up that ti?"
"Sure, but tell —was the reasoning wrong? Besides, the Hokage is The Professor. His feedback is more valuable than anyone’s. And… I’ve got a secret to tell you."
"What secret?"
"The Pervy Sage’s sensei was the Hokage. And their personalities? Pretty similar too."
As he said this, Kitagawa Gen flashed a mysterious smile and said no more.
But Naruto’s eyes were already glowing. He was clearly considering whether this might actually work.
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I will post so extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar
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