Under the hazy moonlight, in a dilapidated house in a small border town in Sugi Village.
The Fourth Raikage's face was terrifyingly dark, and recalling today's actions, his fists clenched.
"I was actually ambushed."
This ti, when they left the village, they had a very clear goal: to seize the secret Ninjutsu of Sugi Village!
For things they didn't possess, Kumogakure always adopted the simplest thod—seizing them.
Whether it was the various small countries, or those reclusive Ninja families, they even dared to act against places like Konoha.
Twenty or thirty years ago, they dared to kidnap the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina, because of Konoha's Fuinjutsu.
Although they ultimately failed, at least they lost to the future Fourth Hokage.
A few years ago, they even dared to seize the Byakugan when Konoha was at its weakest.
Even if they were ultimately outsmarted by Konoha, at least they had no psychological burden regarding 'seizing'.
This ti was no different, except they encountered so trouble.
"The Nokizaru Group."
Sugi Village seed to have anticipated their actions, so they hired the Nokizaru Group for defense.
As a result, caught unprepared, they were actually counterattacked by the Nokizaru Group.
"Nigai was blown up, and Karai was hit by the Nokizaru Group's unique Ninjutsu—Exploding Insect, which is truly terrible."
Looking at Amai, who was currently treating Karai, he couldn't help but shake his head.
The mission was completed, but it seed they would lose two subordinates, which greatly displeased him.
"How is it? Is there a way?" After a mont of silence, he walked over and asked in a low voice.
"I apologize, Lord Raikage, my dical Ninjutsu is truly powerless."
Amai's face showed a troubled expression. He saw the Fourth Raikage's expression darken even further.
After a mont of silence, he whispered, "However, perhaps soone can save him, and she's in a nearby small town."
"Quick, tell , who is it!"
The Fourth Raikage's eyes lit up upon hearing this news, but the answer Amai gave made his expression change slightly.
"It's Tsunade-sama of Konoha. There's no dical Ninja in this world who can rival her. If we ask her..."
Tsunade?
The Fourth Raikage didn't mind Amai calling Tsunade 'sama'. As a dical Ninja, perhaps any village's dical Ninja would address her that way.
After all, she established the dical Ninja system, and all other villages benefited from it. This was an acknowledged fact in the Ninja World.
But Tsunade...
"Don't be naive, Amai."
Karai looked up, a hint of displeasure in his voice.
"Also, don't call Ninja from other villages 'sama'. Konoha and our Kumogakure don't have a good relationship. How could soone from Konoha save ?"
"But, you..."
"Even if she's willing to save , I..."
Listening to his two subordinates argue, the Fourth Raikage also felt annoyed. He was currently conflicted about what to do.
But as he thought, he suddenly rembered his old man, who had single-handedly faced tens of thousands of Iwagakure troops to cover his subordinates. For a mont, his brows furrowed.
"Hmph, old man, what you can do, I can do too!"
Ignoring his two arguing subordinates, he looked up and gazed outside.
He had made his decision now.
— — —
"Orochimaru-sama, this is..."
At the entrance of Sugi Village, Orochimaru was walking into the town with Kimimaro.
Under the moonlight, Sugi village was brightly lit, with laughter and playful shouts echoing everywhere.
All kinds of drunkards stumbled through the streets, their expressions varying depending on whether they had won or lost money.
Kimimaro was not unfamiliar with such scenes. He had seen them many tis in the Land of Hot Water, but he wasn't sure why they were here.
"Sugi Village is also our destination."
Orochimaru said casually, seemingly indifferent to everything before him, as his goal was singular.
For him, finding soone was relatively easy, especially since Tsunade didn't try to hide her whereabouts much.
Moreover, Tsunade was an avid gambler but always lost, so it wasn't difficult to inquire about this Legendary Sucker.
Orochimaru said, "Later, I'll take you to et soone. That woman was once my teammate."
Kimimaro asked, "Teammate? Like Jugo and I?"
"...No, perhaps like Jiraiya last ti."
The bonds between the Three Sannin were indescribable.
They had gone their separate ways, and Orochimaru was even annoyed by Jiraiya's presence. But he wouldn't deny their past affection, it was a true friendship, sharing life and death.
"Is that so?"
Kimimaro's gaze instantly turned cold. That white-haired guy had attacked Orochimaru-sama last ti.
"Don't make that face. Tsunade doesn't like it, and if she gets angry, even I'll have trouble." Orochimaru smiled and shook his head.
Then he carefully surveyed his surroundings before continuing, "Alright, let's go. She hasn't changed much after all these years, but this ti..."
"We shouldn't encounter anything annoying!"
— — —
"Hehehehe..."
On the streets of the border town in Sugi Village, Jiraiya watched the people coming and going.
Seeing the various beautiful won in flashy clothes along the street, a particularly strange smile appeared on his face.
"..."
Kakashi and Takemi, standing behind him, had deadpan expressions.
This wasn't the first ti they had seen such a situation. They had seen it countless tis on their journey and had given countless warnings.
But the truth was, Jiraiya, one of the Three Sannin, simply wouldn't listen to advice, he would always act as he pleased.
His unrestrained behavior, no matter how many tis they saw it, always made them feel embarrassed.
"Takemi, when you ca out with Jiraiya-sama last ti, was it like this too?"
Perhaps unable to bear it any longer, Kakashi lowered his head, hoping no one noticed them.
"More or less, even worse than this ti." Takemi also spoke with a hint of exasperation.
He rubbed his temples, thought for a mont, and then continued, "He told that regular hot spring inns wouldn't let in. Only later did I understand what he ant by 'regular'."
"..."
No wonder Takemi had such a strong obsession, it turned out he was hard by Jiraiya.
Thinking of this, Kakashi felt a slight sense of relief.
It had been over a week since they had set out, and all this ti he had been worried that Takemi might actually do sothing ssed up.
Especially when Jiraiya suggested he transform into the Third Hokage to go to a hot spring, was that really appropriate?
Clearly, it wasn't appropriate at all, it was downright embarrassing.
Fortunately, although Jiraiya seed unreliable, he didn't actually take them to any shady places.
Even though he acted incredibly embarrassing along the way, he always managed to gather so information, eventually leading them to Sugi Village.
The fate of small countries on the Ninja World is generally not good.
Except for a very few protected by Great Ninja Villages, and those with exceptionally bad geographical conditions, almost all others have resorted to 'special industries'.
Sugi Village and the Land of Hot Water have countless casinos, taverns, and pleasure houses.
There were tis when Kakashi suspected that Jiraiya's search for Tsunade was fake, and he just wanted to have a good ti himself.
"Alright, Kakashi-sensei, since we're here, just relax a bit."
Seemingly noticing Kakashi's worries and embarrassnt, Takemi, with his 'rich experience,' spoke with a smile.
"It was similar last ti in the Land of Hot Water. Jiraiya-sama has his own unique way of gathering intelligence, so we can just wait for him."
"Exactly, Kakashi, you're not even as good as Takemi." At this mont, Jiraiya also walked over, snorting with displeasure.
"Do I look that unreliable?"
"..."
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