The Pot Comes!

A long while later, Eiji and his group packed up quite a few things from Orochimaru's laboratory.

Before leaving, Jiraiya took a long, deep look at the lab.

"Orochimaru, how did you end up like this?"

Jiraiya couldn't help recalling the days when the three of them studied under the Old Man.

Back then, he was called the dead-last idiot, and he saw Orochimaru as the goal he'd chase his whole life.

But as time passed, he became one of the Legendary Sannin, the ceiling of Konoha, and earned the abstract nickname of the Pervy Sage.

It didn't sound half bad.

Only...

Orochimaru, once seen by the Old Man as his successor, had walked down this path of no return after a series of upheavals.

Jiraiya had clearly found out that even after defecting from the village, Orochimaru had never stopped cooperating with Danzo all these years.

Danzo used his position to funnel money and experimental subjects to Orochimaru.

And the blood on Orochimaru's hands kept piling up—Jiraiya couldn't even bear to imagine how many people had died by his hand!

"Orochimaru, I'll kill you with my own hands!"

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

A violent fire dragon burst forth, instantly engulfing the laboratory.

"Let's go," Jiraiya said, his mood sour. "Find a place to rest."

That evening, a small restaurant.

The four of them ordered a few vegetable dishes and four bowls of rice. Eiji even had the nerve to ask for a big pot of free soup.

Jiraiya looked at the food, then at Eiji.

"Kid, it's not like we're refugees—can't we eat a little better?"

Ever since they got caught by the Security Division, Jiraiya had been a bit annoyed with Eiji.

And today, there wasn't even a bottle of booze—wasn't that just bullying him?

Eiji didn't say a word. He just pulled out his wallet and showed it to Jiraiya.

"This is all I've got. We'll have to rely on Tenzo-senpai for lodging tonight."

Tenzo silently raised his hand. "Leave that to me."

Jiraiya smacked Tenzo on the head. "That's not about where we're staying—it's about whether we can add some dishes!"

"No money."

Jiraiya clicked his tongue. "Kid, the Security Division's pay isn't bad, is it? You're not married—where's all your money going?"

Eiji clamped his mouth shut. He couldn't say it. He'd die before saying it.

Honest Tenzo, trying to ease the awkwardness, said, "Actually, you can't blame Eiji. He lost all his money to Lord Tsunade..."

"AAAAHHHH!" Eiji went berserk!

Tenzo, you with your honest face and big eyes—why do you have to jab right at the sore spot?!

Didn't we agree that only a few of us would know about this?

"Oh no," Tenzo covered his mouth. "Did I say too much?"

Jiraiya was completely stunned. How the hell could anyone in the entire Shinobi World lose to Tsunade?

And lose their entire fortune at that?

How bad at gambling did you have to be!

"HAHAHAHA!" Jiraiya's mood suddenly lifted a lot. He slapped a banknote on the table.

"Boss, bring out your best dishes!"

Two hours later.

Full and satisfied, the group headed back to the inn to rest.

Eiji, in a state of self-imposed isolation, didn't want to talk to anyone and stubbornly took a single room for himself.

That left the other three burly men to share another room.

Luckily, the room was big enough that it wasn't too cramped.

Kakashi leaned back on the sofa and pulled out Icha Icha Paradise from his bag.

"Lord Jiraiya, please keep Eiji losing to Lord Tsunade a secret."

Jiraiya's face was about to split from grinning.

That kid looked pretty sharp, but he sure was pathetic in this area.

Then he noticed the book in Kakashi's hand.

He knew Kakashi was a die-hard fan who always bought his new books the moment they came out.

"This is my signed edition—it's been marked up dozens of times on the black market, Kakashi, you really know how to spend money."

Kakashi shook his head. "This book was a gift from Eiji the first time we met."

"Ah?"

Eiji's impression in Jiraiya's mind became a little more three-dimensional.

The genius ninja of the Uchiha clan, unmatched by any of his peers.

But what was the price?

His gambling luck was the absolute worst, worse than the Big Fat Sheep—he was the Big Fat Pig.

Usually righteous to the point of being unsettling, utterly selfless.

But in private, he read little pervy books.

What an interesting brat.

"Kakashi, how's Tsunade?"

Kakashi closed the book and said, "Same as always—loves gambling and drinking. I asked if she wanted to return to Konoha, but she doesn't want to."

"Ah," Jiraiya let out a long sigh, "Tsunade... she's a pitiful one too."

He tapped his head. "Get some rest early. We've still got travel tomorrow."

Several days of long journeys had left them exhausted, and they quickly fell asleep.

But Eiji next door couldn't sleep.

He pulled out the evidence he'd gathered today from the scroll again.

The more he looked at it, the less satisfied he felt.

The mentions of Danzo in here were too vague—that old bastard would still be able to weasel his way out.

Maybe he should add a little more to it.

After all, that old turtle did all this anyway—it wouldn't be unfair.

He pulled out a lighter and set one of the documents on fire.

When it was halfway burned, he snapped his fingers.

Drops of water fell onto the burning paper, sending up wisps of smoke.

Then, he pulled out another scroll, imitating Orochimaru's handwriting, and started fabricating a story.

Then he repeated the process.

By the time they returned to Konoha, half a month had passed.

Because the matter involved Orochimaru, the usually carefree Jiraiya had also made a rare trip back.

And the first thing he did was go see the Hokage to report on the mission.

"We were attacked by Orochimaru. Though we managed to defeat him, he still got away."

"He seems to have mastered some kind of strange Substitution Technique."

Hiruzen took a drag of his pipe, a trace of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

He had still been hoping that Orochimaru might reform.

But from the fact that he had actively attacked them, that was basically impossible now.

"However, with Lord Jiraiya's help, we managed to locate one of Orochimaru's former laboratories."

"There, we collected some things."

As he spoke, Eiji and the others placed stacks of materials on the office desk.

When Hiruzen finished reading the evidence Eiji had fabricated, his hands trembled with rage.

"That bastard Danzo... what the hell has he done?!"

"Assassinating village ninja, reporting them as missing, only for them to become Orochimaru's test subjects."

"Embezzling orphanage funds to conduct brutal human experiments!"

"And this is just what we found—how much more is there that we haven't uncovered?!"

Hiruzen ground his teeth in fury. "You all go back first. Also, summon Danzo here. Now!"

When Danzo arrived at the office, Hiruzen tore into him without mercy.

When Danzo claimed he hadn't done anything recently, Hiruzen grabbed a scroll and hurled it into his face.

"Read!"

Danzo opened the scroll, and his face instantly turned pale.

That idiot Orochimaru—why did he keep these things?!

And recorded so clearly—were you a warehouse manager or an accountant?!

As he read on, Danzo's head itched more and more.

Wait, that's not right. A lot of this has nothing to do with me.