Back Then, I Was Also a Crown Prince

Obviously, not every apprentice possessed such an overpowered control skill.

Could it be that Raka had an ancestor named Daniel Wu?

Tsk.

No wonder they dared to fish for targets. One silence and one bind, paired with an assassin...

Too terrifying to imagine.

Jiang Rui was delighted. His constitution had also reached its limit of 5; all that remained was strength.

He opened the assassin's loot card. Golden light formed a vortex, gradually revealing several items.

Aside from a piece of junk, there were:

A short sword. Mysterious red Sanskrit was engraved upon its hilt, its blade slightly curved, with a dragon-like blood groove running along it. Rather than a short sword, it was more like an elongated dagger.

Blood Weeping Blade: a piece of Meteorite Iron, a Divine Mark, a Holy Word, a Holy Monk who had vowed to slaughter all demons beneath the heavens, and the life of a blacksmith.

When striking an enemy, it could consume a large amount of blood to inflict Dark Erosion.

A disc that could temporarily conceal the figures of oneself and nearby people, preventing detection.

Jiang Rui casually gripped the short sword, walked over to a tree, and gave it a light swipe. Like slicing tofu, the entire blade sank into the trunk.

It was quite a good weapon. It seemed useless to eat it, though?

Even if he could replicate it... judging by the description, the forging material seemed to be Meteorite Iron... He would keep it for now. If nothing else, he could sell it someday.

After sorting through the loot, Jiang Rui raised his head and looked in the direction from which he had ambushed Raka.

"The moment I appeared, Raka was clearly relieved, and he mistook me for a Cloud Ninja. Other than the fact that I can use Lightning Style, that direction... must be where Kumogakure's troops are, right?"

A smile spread across Jiang Rui's face.

Raka!

What a good guy!

I was just worrying about where to find them, and you brought me right to them!

His blue hair fluttering, Jiang Rui leaped into the air. Kumogakure's troops... he wondered whether the Raikage was there.

He stuck out his small tongue and licked his lower lip.

Right now, he was feeling rather inflated.

As he leaped through the trees, his hands had somehow turned into vortices of black mist, turbulent waves surging within them.

Elsewhere, at the Mizukage Building:

"Since the enemy realized that you had successfully escaped, the intelligence naturally won't be as accurate anymore."

Upon hearing the Mizuki Clan elder's words, the Third Mizukage nodded slightly, but he countered, "It would be too difficult to rearrange the defensive line in such a short time. At most, there will be some changes."

They could not possibly tell the two people who had returned after risking their lives that Kumogakure had withdrawn and the deployment map was useless. That would be too cruel.

In truth, intelligence warfare in war was all about exploiting time differences.

Thinking of this, the Third Mizukage looked toward Jiang Rui's avatar beside him. "How is it going over there?"

"Mm..." The avatar froze, looking somewhat stiff and dull.

He turned his head with a miserable expression. "Teacher, I got captured by Konoha..."

Jiang Rui truly was a little dumbfounded. He did not even know how he was supposed to report this to the Mizukage.

Could he say that not only had he failed to find Kumogakure's camp, he had also fucking run into the last person he wanted to meet?

One of the future Sannin, the Pervy Sage Jiraiya?!

Why the fuck weren't you in Amegakure leading reinforcements for your good buddy Snake Uncle? What were you doing here?!

Looking for your three precious disciples?!

Jiraiya wore a green Ninja Vest. Compared to his middle-aged self, he was clearly a little more handsome now. Most importantly, he did not have that lecherous air about him.

But the Jiraiya of this time was also not as easy to talk to as he would be in middle age!!

Looking at the young face filled with vigilance, as well as the faintly visible camp behind him and groups of ninjas...

Had he... stabbed a Konoha nest?!

"That outfit is... Mist Anbu? Why would they be here!"

Hearing that, Jiang Rui decisively forced a huge smile onto his face, swiftly removed the Kirigakure Mask from his head, and hid it behind his back!

Blinking his large golden eyes, he raised his hands pitifully. "Eh? What Anbu? Don't spout nonsense!"

Jiraiya: ???

"Do you take me for an idiot?! Ah!!"

In a burst of anger, Jiraiya appeared beside Jiang Rui in an instant, grabbed him by the scruff, and looked behind him.

Eh?!

Leaving Jiraiya aside, Jiang Rui himself was utterly dumbfounded.

Do I have no dignity at all?!

No, as one of the future Sannin, you just carelessly grabbed an enemy by the scruff?

Could it be because I'm too cute?!

Jiang Rui looked up at Jiraiya, who wore a puzzled expression as he continued searching for the mask.

He seriously considered whether a Water Gun fired at point-blank range could kill this guy.

After struggling with himself for quite a while, hot blood and cowardice battled fiercely. In the end, the latter narrowly won. Forget it, he should just obediently act cute.

After all, his goal was to sabotage the relationship between Kumogakure and Konoha, while also taking back the corpse.

If he attacked Konoha, would that not awkwardly strengthen their cooperation... He could not exactly turn around and form an alliance with Kumogakure, could he?

That would not do. Their score had not been settled yet!

With that thought, Jiang Rui tried hard to twist his body. Jiraiya, whose face was full of confusion, felt the little girl in his hand grow heavier. When he turned his head, he saw her puffing out her cheeks and glaring at him unhappily.

Those golden eyes were enough to rival Orochimaru's...

Looking at the white-haired young Jiraiya, who was still standing there in a daze,

Jiang Rui ground his teeth in irritation.

What an idiot, huh?

How did you even survive until now? If I didn't respect the fact that you're the savior's teacher, uh, and that there are so many ninjas around...

Believe it or not, I would've sprayed you to death with a mouthful of salty soda long ago.

It had to be said that if Jiang Rui did not display the aura he had cultivated in the Anbu, then at only 130 centimeters tall, he or she or it truly had no intimidation factor at all.

Furthermore, although the area where she operated had gained some notoriety, Jiraiya had clearly only just arrived from the battlefield in the interior of the Land of Fire and knew nothing about it. In his eyes, she was merely a harmless little girl. Even if she was a ninja, she could not be all that strong.

Besides, Jiraiya had always been the type who appeared foolish and carefree on the surface, but was actually meticulous within and vigilant in secret.

Even if the other party attacked, Jiraiya was confident that he could react and counterattack swiftly.

"Please put down that ninja, Lord Jiraiya."

At that moment, a female ninja with short black hair leaped down from a tree to the left. Jiang Rui recognized her. She was a rogue ninja he had once seen at the Underground Exchange.

Yet now, she wore a Konoha forehead protector.

A Konoha intelligence agent disguised as a rogue ninja?!

Well then, he could no longer keep up the harmless act.

However, upon seeing her, Jiang Rui did not worry about being exposed. Instead, he felt relieved.

If someone recognized him, that was actually the greatest safeguard.

"She is one of Mist Anbu's current elites and possesses the strength to kill High Ninja."

Upon hearing that, Jiraiya loosened his grip and stared in surprise. "A High Ninja? Her?"

"Do you have a problem with that!" Jiang Rui landed, spotted the pile of supplies, and kicked it! The surrounding ninjas were so startled that they nearly rushed him.

"That hurts!"

As the crisp voice rang out, Jiraiya could not help baring his teeth in pain. He lowered his head to look.

The little fellow who had already landed was angrily raising one foot, making no effort whatsoever to hide the fact that she had just kicked him.

No matter how he looked at her, she was only a little girl.

If this was a disguise, then it was far too terrifying.

Shuddering, Jiraiya put on a fierce expression and threatened, "Aren't you afraid we'll kill you?"

Rather than being frightened by the threat, Jiang Rui revealed a beautiful smile. He suddenly took the mask back out from behind his back and seriously placed it on his head. "I am Lord Mizukage's disciple."

Jiraiya froze and looked toward the female ninja behind him. She nodded.

An important figure...

He fell silent for a moment and sighed. "Take her away. Suppress her Chakra and lock her up for now. I'll ask my teacher for instructions."

Jiang Rui obediently raised both hands to accept the Chakra seal. Following Jiraiya, the corners of his lips curved slightly upward.

Even though he knew the Land of Water had ill intentions, even though he knew keeping me around was a hidden danger, he still had to remain restrained and not give the other side an excuse to attack. He was still greedily hoping to use me to exchange for greater benefits, or to restrain the Mizukage.

Jiang Rui looked at Jiraiya, thinking of how he would later die at Pain's hands, thinking of how the open and hidden struggles within the village would leave him disheartened enough to depart.

Jiang Rui softly said in his heart.

Was Jiraiya truly an idiot like Naruto?

No. Perhaps he understood more clearly than anyone else, but simply disdained doing such things.