On the other hand, for the sake of his village and the Land of Rain, Hanzo had no choice but to pinch his nose and jump into the pit Danzo had dug for him.
What Danzo didn't know, however, was that even though he had successfully persuaded Hanzo and dragged him onto his ship of mischief, he no longer had the time to settle down and develop his plans.
Because the Land of Rain would soon descend into chaos.
"Sir."
Two squads of Anbu operatives approached Takuya, saluted, and stood in formation, awaiting his orders.
Waving his hand to indicate that formalities weren't necessary, Takuya said:
"This mission to the Land of Rain is a special, classified operation. We'll need to remain hidden as we advance. Your job is to cover our tracks and scout ahead."
"Yes, sir!"
They didn't know the nature of the mission; all they knew was to obey Takuya's orders.
If it weren't for Tsunade needing a strong protector by her side, Hatake Sakumo would have personally led the team to accompany Takuya to the Land of Rain.
Takuya, however, didn't agree to Tsunade's suggestion, feeling it was better for Sakumo to stay in the village for now.
With Pakura and Minato accompanying him, he was confident they could handle any unexpected situations.
As for Nawaki, who had wanted to tag along, one look from Tsunade had pinned him firmly in Konoha, leaving him grumbling in frustration.
"It's been a while since we've gone to the Land of Rain, hasn't it?"
Minato's voice carried a hint of nostalgia, as if recalling past events in the Land of Rain as vividly as if they had happened yesterday.
"You're nostalgic for the days when you followed an unqualified teacher, running around and getting dumped at the camp to do chores?"
Takuya raised an eyebrow at him.
Doing chores at the camp?
Pakura turned to look at Minato, who had a wistful expression on his face.
"..."
Minato's smile stiffened as he scratched his head awkwardly.
"Takuya, can we not talk about this?
This is all Jiraiya-sensei's fault. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have ended up in that situation. Honestly, even the Third Hokage is to blame!"
Whenever he thought about the miserable days of his past, especially the times when he wasn't allowed to form a team with Takuya, Minato felt the urge to curse.
Jiraiya deserved criticism, and so did the Third Hokage.
"You weren't always on the same team?"
Pakura had assumed that Minato and Takuya, given how close they were, had always been on the same team. But that wasn't the case.
Takuya chuckled mischievously.
"I was originally teamed up with Mikoto, while Minato and Nawaki were sort of abandoned. They had no choice but to tag along with us. Eventually, after Mikoto left to join the police force, the three of us were left together."
Recounting these memories, Takuya couldn't help but laugh, his laughter filled with a rhythm that made it hard for anyone nearby not to smile.
"Please, stop!"
Blushing, Minato covered his face in embarrassment.
"Jiraiya-sensei actually took me to peep on girls bathing. When we got caught, he ran off and left me behind!"
It was mortifying!
That was definitely a hell-tier black mark in his history. What kind of deranged behavior was that?!
"Hahaha…"
Takuya laughed so hard he doubled over, while Pakura stood there, stunned.
Jiraiya had such a glorious history?
Although she knew Jiraiya had a reputation for being shameless, she hadn't imagined he would go so far.
Not only did he act indecently himself, but he even dragged his student into it.
What kind of insane behavior was this? Dragging a disciple to peep, then abandoning him when caught—only someone truly extraordinary could pull off such a move.
Ordinary people couldn't match this level of audacity.
Minato sighed, covering his face with his hand, wishing he could sever his ties with Jiraiya.
After laughing for a while, Takuya clutched his stomach and leaned on Pakura's shoulder for support as he continued:
"Nawaki had his share of bad luck too. He begged and pleaded with Tsunade, who eventually relented and pulled strings to make him Orochimaru's disciple."
"But instead of the battles he'd been dreaming of, he ended up helping Orochimaru clean up severed limbs in the lab."
Pakura: "..."
The ninjas of Konoha really were something else.
Wait, she was technically a Konoha ninja now too.
Thank goodness she hadn't ended up with such a twisted teacher.
Pakura exhaled in relief.
Minato wanted to laugh, but he couldn't bring himself to. After all, his own history wasn't spotless. He couldn't mock others and instead mumbled:
"When it comes to being abandoned and doing chores, Nawaki was the original. His teacher made mine look tame by comparison."
While neither teacher was particularly responsible, Minato's comment wasn't wrong. Jiraiya was still slightly more reliable than Orochimaru.
Not that Jiraiya had a sudden moral awakening—it was just that his antics weren't as extreme or terrifying as Orochimaru's. At least he avoided giving his students trauma.
Instead, he stuck to peeping, reading inappropriate books, and dragging Nawaki along for these escapades.
"The funny thing is, even though Nawaki was Orochimaru's student, he didn't pick up any of Orochimaru's good traits or skills. Instead, he loved tagging along with Jiraiya to mess around. Tsunade gave them both quite the beatdown over it."
"I suspect Nawaki's inability to find a girlfriend and settle down is because he spent his youth hanging out with Jiraiya."
Takuya analyzed the situation with such conviction that Minato could only cover his face again.
What a mess.
Pakura couldn't help but marvel. If this had happened in the Sand Village, someone's legs would've been broken a dozen times over.
But in Konoha…
The most baffling thing was that the root of the problem started with the Third Hokage, the pervy old man himself.
As the saying goes, when the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will slant.
This sort of behavior clearly passed down the line.
"I'll head to Nagato first to prevent any mishaps. You two can follow along at your own pace."
The conversation had gone entirely off the rails. Minato regretted bringing up the past.
Now he'd gotten himself caught in the crossfire, and Pakura was looking at him with an odd expression.
Enough. This was unbearable. He decided to leave first, heading to the Land of Rain to meet up with Nagato, while Takuya and Pakura followed later.
Meanwhile, in Konoha, the villages that had purchased information about perfect Jinchūriki were scrambling to gather the funds.
The first village to collect the full amount was somewhat unexpected.
If Ay and Dodai hadn't personally shown up at the Hokage's office, Tsunade wouldn't have believed that the Hidden Cloud Village was the first to come up with the money.
After all, Ay and Dodai had been complaining and nitpicking the entire time. Yet they were the ones most eager to buy the information.
Classic case of saying one thing and doing another.
Of course, it wasn't entirely out of the question that the Hidden Cloud Village's behavior was partly to pressure for a lower price. Even though they'd gathered the money, Ay and Dodai still wanted to bargain, hoping to bring the price down further.
Unfortunately for them, they were overthinking things.
"I'm sorry, but even though the Hidden Cloud Village has gathered the funds, I cannot hand over the information to you."
"Why? Are you planning to go back on your word, Hokage?"
Before they even got the chance to start bargaining, they were met with a brick wall. Ay and Dodai immediately panicked.
After spending so much time haggling and arguing, they had finally reached an agreement. Now, with the money in hand, Tsunade was refusing to deliver?
Was this some kind of joke? Were they just being played like fools?
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(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read up to 50+ Chapter at Patreon com/ Emik01.
DO NOT FORGET POWER STONE AND CHATTING