A-rank Mission: Find Jiraiya the Soldier

Strange. The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki should be living within a designated barrier zone. Why could she go out freely? I hadn't sensed any traces of a barrier around here these past few days.

And who would set up a barrier meant to restrict the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki in the middle of a shopping street?

Kaedeji's first reaction was that something was wrong, but on second thought, he understood.

Having to remain within a special barrier was something Kushina had experienced during the first few years after becoming the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.

But now? Uzumaki Mito was simply far too formidable. There was no need for any barrier to "protect" her!

Kaedeji felt that the strongest person in Konoha right now was undoubtedly Uzumaki Mito, and no one dared provoke the old woman.

She had mastered the Reaper Death Seal, could forcibly seize the Nine-Tails' Chakra, and could sense the good and evil in people's hearts. At seventy-six, with little time left, she could still maintain overwhelming control over the Nine-Tails only because of the Uzumaki Clan's powerful constitution.

Against an existence like that, anyone who provoked her would die. The best possible outcome would be mutual destruction with Uzumaki Mito.

Therefore, Uzumaki Mito could bring her own successor around wherever she pleased without even a single person watching them—no watcher could escape Mito's senses.

"You're a mess, both in mind and in Chakra."

As Kaedeji acted as though nothing had happened and was about to walk past her, Uzumaki Mito looked at him and said hoarsely, "Even Shimura Danzō isn't as complicated as you."

Kaedeji paused. "Is that so? It seems you know Lord Danzo quite well too. But you may have misunderstood. I'm not one of his direct subordinates."

"I never said that. But your minds are similar in many ways... Or rather, every deeply calculating person has certain similarities in their mind," Uzumaki Mito said.

Kushina stared at Kaedeji in shock, then looked up at Uzumaki Mito, her face filled with disbelief.

Why was Grandma, who never spoke to strangers, suddenly bringing up such a strange topic with a young ninja?

Complicated? A complicated mind was easy enough to understand, but what did complicated Chakra mean?

Kaedeji, however, understood what Uzumaki Mito meant. He also knew why she had mentioned Danzo.

Danzo had surely already transplanted a Sharingan into himself. An extra organ that did not belong to him had appeared in his body, and the Chakra flowing through that organ was incompatible with his own body. Naturally, he could not hide it from Uzumaki Mito.

A transplanted organ was nothing, though. Kaedeji's physical condition was countless times more complicated than Danzo's!

"Is that so? It seems you possess astonishing sensory abilities. Then was it also intentional on your part that I happened to appear before you?"

"No, that isn't the case. This was purely a coincidence. Compared to others, you're very unusual." After observing Kaedeji at close range for two seconds, Uzumaki Mito lost interest and entered the barbecue restaurant with Kushina.

Kushina remained obedient and did not say another word.

Kaedeji pondered for a moment, suspecting that Uzumaki Mito was referring to his body—a body that was not native to the ninja world. Even with Chakra covering it, it would be difficult to conceal the truth before a sensory master on Uzumaki Mito's level.

But it did not matter. Kaedeji did not take it seriously. He was still some distance away from Uzumaki Mito's level.

Before he had enough strength, it was better to stay farther away from the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. Minato Namikaze might be eager to get close to Uzumaki Kushina, but Kaedeji had no such interest.

Their backs gradually receded into the distance.

Inside the barbecue restaurant, the two were having a conversation.

"Grandma, why did you speak to that person just now?"

"Stay away from that person in the future. He is different from ordinary people in every respect, whether in heart or in techniques."

"Then why not expose him to the village? Someone like that must have a problem, right? Lord Hokage wouldn't just stand by. He definitely knows how extraordinary your sensory abilities are." Kushina could not understand Uzumaki Mito's actions.

A problem? Then just report him. Those adults in the village who practiced the Will of Fire would surely find a way to eliminate the darkness... right?

Uzumaki Mito stroked Kushina's hair. After a long while, she slowly said, "Your hair is very beautiful. Remember to take good care of it. It is a symbol of your identity and strength."

"...? Then can I also gain your sensory abilities? The ability to sense the good and evil in people's hearts?"

"That will be difficult, but it isn't hopeless. It depends on how you deal with that big fox."

Kaedeji truly did not want such an incident at all. If anything, he found it extremely troublesome.

It also made him lose interest in continuing to wander around the village, so he turned and returned to the Corpse Disposal Unit.

After all these days, the three assistants were still handling all kinds of corpses according to plan, causing the cemeteries of the outside world to add a few more new Memorial Stones.

Ever since Kaedeji had devoured all the corpses for his own cultivation, this cemetery had not added any new bodies for a long time, much less disguised them as Konoha Ninja to swindle generous bereavement funds from the Land of Fire.

Only after he had finished cultivating had this money-making business resumed.

"Lord Kaedeji, this is the list of additions from the past week."

An assistant handed over a document. Kaedeji opened it and skimmed through it, then signed his name at the end. "Another 3.52 million ryō in revenue for the village. Not bad. Anything else?"

"One more thing. Lord Danzo has assigned you an A-rank mission," the assistant said respectfully.

Without even looking up, Kaedeji casually tossed the document back. There was no surprise on his face, as though he had expected it all along.

"In the future, when there's something like this, you should mention the important matter first rather than the other way around," Kaedeji said.

"You're not surprised?"

"Should I be? One of you three must be from Root. There's no need to deliberately bring up something so obvious, because whether it's exposed or not makes no difference to the actual situation." Kaedeji said, "Give me the mission scroll."

The assistant handed over a scroll.

Kaedeji pressed a palm onto it, dispelling the Sealing Jutsu on its surface, then unrolled the scroll to examine its contents.

"This, of all things? Has the war on the front lines become so difficult that they have to send me to do this?"

A look of astonishment appeared in Kaedeji's eyes.

The mission scroll clearly stated that he was to head to the Land of Rain and search for Jiraiya, who had been missing for more than two years!

The difficulty of this A-rank mission was far more than simply infiltrating the Land of Rain. Its true challenge was not merely in how to find Jiraiya!

The assistant dropped his emotional pretense and said stiffly, "The situation on the front lines seems to have become even more complicated. Lord Orochimaru's offensive has not achieved the expected progress. Even after Lady Tsunade led a unit there as reinforcements, they still failed to secure any significant results."