Jiraiya-san, the Cherry Blossoms Back Home Have Bloomed

"Sorry, there's nothing I can do about this."

In an inn in a small town in the Land of Waves, an old man examined Kakashi's condition, then spoke with some helplessness.

"After all, I'm not a ninja, and his condition isn't just a flesh wound."

"It's all right. Thank you for your trouble."

Jiraiya seemed mentally prepared for this. He nodded, then saw the old man out.

"Looks like your condition will have to wait until we're back in Konoha for further treatment. Too bad no one knows where Tsunade went. If she were here, this would be much easier."

After seeing the old man off, Jiraiya returned to the room and looked at Kakashi lying on the bed, immediately slipping back into his carefree, sloppy manner.

"But it doesn't matter much. You don't look as bad as I imagined. Once we're back, you'll be fine."

"Thank you, Lord Jiraiya."

Kakashi still seemed somewhat weak. After taking Itachi Uchiha's Tsukuyomi, even if Kitagawa Gen had disrupted it halfway through, his mind had still suffered trauma.

In this situation, they probably really could only return to Konoha. After all, putting everything else in the entire ninja world aside, when it came to the skill of Medical Ninja, Konoha was absolutely the strongest!

And after seeing Jiraiya, Kakashi's nerves were no longer as taut.

Itachi Uchiha and Biwa Juzo had left, but it was hard to say whether they might come looking again. With Jiraiya here, the situation was completely different.

"All right, don't thank me. You just focus on resting."

Jiraiya shrugged and said it as if he didn't care in the slightest.

"You really were lucky. I just happened to be nearby investigating Orochimaru's whereabouts when I saw your signal flare. But kid..."

As he spoke, Jiraiya turned to look at Kitagawa Gen.

"You really are bold. Using that kind of method to trick them—weren't you afraid they'd see through it?"

With that mole Itachi Uchiha there, probably not.

Kitagawa Gen muttered inwardly, then shook his head and said,

"Lord Jiraiya, they're rogue ninja, aren't they? They definitely wouldn't want to run into Anbu, so there's nothing wrong with trying, right?"

"Nothing wrong, sure, but in that situation, it was far too risky."

Jiraiya pursed his lips. For some reason, he felt this brat was just like Tsunade. They both liked to gamble.

It was just that this brat had good luck and won his bet.

"Forget it. You got through it anyway. But kid, you've only got one life. In the future, it's best not to take risks so lightly."

"Yes, yes, I understand."

Kitagawa Gen nodded hurriedly. He had no desire to argue with Jiraiya.

And he didn't want to listen to Jiraiya keep lecturing him, either, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Lord Jiraiya, what are your plans after this?"

"Me? Naturally, I'll keep investigating Orochimaru's whereabouts."

Jiraiya didn't mind. His mission was known to everyone, and besides, this kid was Kakashi's student. Naturally, he wouldn't brush him off.

Rubbing his chin, he seemed thoughtful as he spoke.

"Now that you mention it, it is strange. I've been tracking Orochimaru all this time, and in the end, I got a strange piece of news. Orochimaru seems to have joined an organization.

It's really hard to imagine that guy would actually make a decision like that. Truly unbelievable..."

What was so unbelievable about that?

Itachi Uchiha and Biwa Juzo had once been in the same organization as him!

Only, Orochimaru had already been kicked out of the group by now...

Kitagawa Gen chuckled without saying anything. He knew how terrifying habitual thinking could be.

Powerful rogue ninja were very hard to gather together.

After all, when everyone had once served their own masters, they might have had grudges with one another because of war.

Secondly, ninja were always competitive. If powerful rogue ninja stayed together, internal strife was unavoidable.

Especially someone like Orochimaru. How could he possibly submit to another?

Unless there was an even stronger power suppressing him. That was also why there was only one "Akatsuki" in the ninja world.

Besides, Jiraiya's investigation had a certain lag to it.

He still remembered that when Jiraiya asked Kakashi for Naruto's guardianship, he said "Orochimaru only just left Akatsuki," which already explained a lot.

But that was normal, too. Every member of Akatsuki was an expert. Before they reached the point of brazenly capturing tailed beasts, it wasn't hard for them to hide themselves.

As for Orochimaru being in the Land of Waves, most likely, that guy had gone to the Land of Water or was coming back. His target was naturally Kimimaro.

New Side Quest obtained

Jiraiya-san, the cherry blossoms back home have bloomed

Bring Jiraiya back to Konoha

"..."

When he saw this lousy quest, Kitagawa Gen froze for a moment, then felt his teeth ache.

Although he was somewhat relieved that this time there wasn't some heaven-defying quest like making Jiraiya and Pain smoke together on the ruins of Konoha,

trying to trick Jiraiya into going back to Konoha was no simple matter!

Especially when he still had an Orochimaru to chase.

"But if the reward comes from Jiraiya...?"

Kitagawa Gen fell into deep thought. In the end, he decided to give it a try!

After all, he had a "tiny little" advantage in intelligence...

After thinking for a while, he figured out what he should do.

"I see, Lord Jiraiya."

Kitagawa Gen's expression instantly fell a little, and he sighed.

"I thought you'd return to Konoha with us."

"Hey, hey, hey, what would I go back to Konoha for? Don't drag me down!"

Jiraiya's eyes widened the moment he heard that. In a certain sense, Konoha was a place of heartbreak for him.

Unless he had no other choice, he really didn't want to go back. Besides, if he did go back, could he get out again so easily?

"After all, Teacher Kakashi is in this state right now. If we run into a rogue ninja like Itachi Uchiha again, we might..."

Kitagawa Gen glanced at Kakashi lying on the bed before looking back at Jiraiya.

"But Lord Jiraiya has a more important mission, so naturally we can't force you. We can only hope we don't run into any more accidents.

Actually, even if we do, it won't be Lord Jiraiya's problem. We can only blame ourselves for being too unlucky."

"."

Jiraiya's expression went a little stiff. He felt as if he had been taken hostage. Why was this brat's mouth so vicious?

"All right, Gen, I'm fine."

Fortunately, at that moment, Kakashi quickly spoke up to smooth things over and change the topic.

"Lord Jiraiya, please tell us about Orochimaru's situation. That way, I can report it when we return."

"No problem!"

Kitagawa Gen said nothing, merely lifted his brows faintly, while Jiraiya completely let out a breath of relief.

After thinking for a moment, he spoke with utmost seriousness.

"Actually, I've more or less told you what there is to tell. The most important thing is still that organization.

This organization is hidden extremely deep. I have no way of knowing who its members are, and I don't even know what the organization is called.

But any organization Orochimaru is willing to join can't be simple. And some time ago, I obtained a piece of intelligence.

Someone near the harbor in the Land of Waves supposedly saw him. That's all the information I currently know."

"It's that mysterious?"

Kakashi also frowned. If even Jiraiya couldn't uncover more information, one could imagine how troublesome this was.

"The Land of Waves again, huh."

Suddenly, Kitagawa Gen at the side spoke up "at just the right time."

"Itachi Uchiha and Biwa Juzo are also in the Land of Waves. And if I remember correctly, during the Third Great Ninja War, the Uchiha fought Kirigakure in the Land of Whirlpools."

"Hmm?"

Kitagawa Gen's words immediately made both of them freeze. In the next moment, both their expressions turned somewhat strange.

"It really is incredible that those two could team up."

Seeing this, Kitagawa Gen stopped pretending.

"And both of them are ruthless and proud. One was once a genius who even killed his entire family, and the other was once one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen..."

"If even they can come together, doesn't that mean other people can, too?"