031 Obstruction

Land of Grass.

A nation rebuilt after its demise.

Jiraiya looked at the Land of Grass before him with curiosity.

At this moment.

Spring had arrived.

Therefore, the weather had also warmed up considerably.

However, the Land of Grass before him was different from what was rumored in the ninja world.

As everyone knows, the Land of Grass in the ninja world...

It was famous for stealing ninjutsu from other nations and skillfully navigating between powerful countries through diplomacy, thus being able to grasp the trend of the times early to preserve itself. Because of this, it was called a "wall-sitter" by the ninja world!

After all, every time they clearly understood the trend of the times... if one side's situation turned unfavorable, they would unhesitatingly switch allegiance to the other.

Although Konoha had a good relationship with Kusagakure, everyone in the village knew... it wouldn't be strange if they defected to Iwagakure the very next morning.

Why did the Land of Grass suddenly fall at the end of the First Great Ninja War?

It was because these people had no integrity whatsoever!

They sold a large amount of false information, selling it to Konoha one day, to Iwagakure the next, to Sunagakure the day after, and even to the distant Kumogakure.

A small ninja village, with its own efforts, provided more than half of the intelligence for the First Great Ninja War!

Unfortunately...

Most of the information provided by TN was fake!

The First Great Ninja War was fought to the point where everyone was exhausted... Jiraiya suspected that it was caused by that large amount of false intelligence.

It was imaginable.

In the end...

The Land of Grass was destroyed.

Thinking of this, Jiraiya felt a wave of emotion.

Those Grass Ninjas were truly bold!

And it was likely that no one expected that the already destroyed Land of Grass would quietly re-establish itself during the Second Great Ninja War, when all countries were fiercely engaged in battle.

As for why he was here in Kusagakure this time...

He was just passing by and intended to visit Teacher Ooki, but he didn't expect such a thing to happen.

Recalling his newly made like-minded friend... who had now been imprisoned, he felt a wave of emotion.

He figured that if he hadn't truly intended to buy classified information from the Land of Grass, but merely wanted to buy a book, he might have been wanted by Kusagakure by now.

Then.

He would have had to flee the Land of Grass in a hurry, and thus, miss his meeting with Teacher Ooki.

What a twist of fate!

This morning, he had specifically gone to visit him again, after all, a signed copy by Teacher Ooki... that was something not available in the Land of Fire!

But what did he see?

In just a few days... his friend, with whom he shared common interests, was now sitting upright at a table, holding a pen, and reciting incomprehensible words like "Zhi hu zhe ye."

And he had sternly criticized him, saying, "I am not that kind of person, I have nothing you want, please do not disturb my studies in the future."

Even though he had already planned the transaction.

After he came out, he planned to conduct the transaction outside the Land of Grass.

Before that, the two of them were not to meet, to avoid being discovered by the Grass Ninjas. When the agreed-upon time arrived...

On a dark and windy night.

That day.

The weather was clear, spring was in full bloom, and a gentle evening breeze was blowing.

After everyone had fallen asleep...

He, dressed in black clothes, wearing a black hat and glasses, blended into the night, carrying the well-wrapped book, and quietly placed it in a small grove to the east, outside the Land of Grass.

Afterward.

At the appropriate time, he himself, also dressed in black clothes, wearing a black hat and glasses, carrying a box filled with cash, appeared at the designated location, took out the well-wrapped book, and placed the box filled with cash.

The two of them never met, and the transaction was completed silently!

He thought that the Land of Grass wouldn't arrest anyone for this reason again!

The plan was perfect, but unfortunately... the other party refused to trade, saying that his spirit had been sublimated and he was no longer that kind of person.

Nonsense!

How long has it been?

No one's ever heard of genjutsu brainwashing being this fast. Everyone here is a fan of Teacher Ooki, who doesn't know who that is?

That guy is probably scared, huh?!

Jiraiya stroked his chin, planning to ask again in a few days.

He continued to wander through the streets of the Land of Grass, observing a country that was different from the rumors.

A gentle smile, warm and hopeful eyes.

This wasn't something you'd see during wartime.

It made the corners of his mouth unconsciously curl into a smile.

In this moment...

Jiraiya felt the arrival of peace once more in his heart.

This was the first year of peace after the war. It was likely that all the villages and countries were recovering and rebuilding their lives!

Perhaps Konoha was the same right now!

Just then.

Was that a Grass Ninja?

Why was a ninja in a residential area for civilians?

As Jiraiya froze, filled with confusion.

He saw the Grass Ninja not far away suddenly form hand seals, their expression hardening...

They were about to use ninjutsu!

Using ninjutsu on ordinary people?

Could they be some ninjas who disregarded Ninja Virtue?

Jiraiya's expression suddenly changed. He remembered the reputation of Grass Ninjas in the ninja world... they were indeed a group of ninjas who disregarded Ninja Virtue!

Look at that guy he just met when he arrived in the Land of Grass. Didn't he openly defy his ninja village's orders, deal in illegal goods, and end up imprisoned because of it?!

Grass Ninjas disregarding Ninja Virtue... seemed pretty normal, didn't it!

But since he, the Toad Sage Jiraiya, had witnessed it... he couldn't pretend not to see it!

Just as the Grass Ninja's expression hardened, they shouted in a low voice, "Earth Release: Cultivating Earth..."

Jiraiya's face contorted with anger as he leaped out, shouting, "Stop! Are you worthy of your leader like this! Of the civilians of the Land of Grass who trust you..."

Before he could finish.

The ninjutsu before him was interrupted.

However... the situation seemed different from what he had imagined?!

Everyone glared at him, even the old man he was supposed to save was staring at him!

"...trust...?"

The last few words... his voice trailed off, and he finally finished speaking, pausing after each word.

But.

Being stared at by so many people, Jiraiya didn't know what to say. After hesitating, he said, "Uh, I am the Toad Sage..."

However.

Before he could even finish introducing himself.

"You damn brat! Why are you interrupting the ninja master while he's helping us cultivate the land?"

The angry old man swung his hammer.

And it wasn't over yet.

"Someone's interrupting the spring cultivation! Help! Someone get over here!"

Someone shouted this...

Then...

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~"

Suddenly.

Jiraiya found himself surrounded by a group of ninjas with blood-red eyes.

Just like that night...

They had him completely surrounded!

"Uh..." Jiraiya hesitated, then gave a sheepish smile, "If I said this was a misunderstanding, would you believe me?"

"Who would believe that?" Kusana rolled his eyes, looking at the document in his hand, and sneered. "It's only been a few days, less than half a month, and this guy says he's changed? That he deeply understands the Spirit of Grass? Keep him locked up for a full month. He can't be released before then!"

He then wrote the words "NOT APPROVED" in large characters on the document!

Honestly, that's really something. Don't they know the Land of Grass has a ton of things to do right now?

Winter is over, spring has arrived, and it's the perfect time to start a new wave of infrastructure development.

You have to understand, the spring thaw in the Land of Grass is incredibly fast. To speed up spring plowing and get the land cultivated as early as possible, he even dispatched ninja and taught them ninjutsu that could help with farming!

It couldn't be helped.

After the fall of the Land of Grass, there were years of continuous warfare, leaving far too much land desolate.

Kusana sighed with emotion, muttering to himself, "It looks like the preparations for spring plowing are going smoothly these past few days. I'll call another meeting in a while to see if there's anything else that needs to be addressed!"

As soon as he finished speaking.

"Knock knock~"

A knock sounded at the door.

"Come in!"

When Kusana saw Oyakamon walk in, he was slightly taken aback.

The head of the Security Department coming here at this time...

"Even you've come, it looks like something major has happened~" Kusana sighed helplessly, shaking his head, and said, "Speak! What happened now? Is that Mujie guy acting up again, or has Konoha next door started condemning us again?"

After he spoke.

Oyakamon was stunned for a moment, "Eh~"

Finally, after hesitating, he said, "Neither! Leader!"

"Oh? Neither? Then what happened?" Kusana looked at Oyakamon in confusion, pondered for a moment, and said, "Could it be someone from Iwagakure has arrived?"

"No one has come from Iwagakure either! It's just..."

At this point, Oyakamon fell silent again, opening his mouth as if unsure how to explain.

This only made Kusana more curious. He sat up straighter and said directly, "Just say it! Whatever it is, just say it!"

"Well, it's just that..." Hearing his leader's words, Oyakamon could only say with a strange expression, "We just received a report from the citizens! Someone is obstructing the spring plowing preparations!"

"Who is it! How dare they obstruct the spring plowing preparations?" Kusana's eyebrows shot up upon hearing this, his face filled with anger. "Don't they know this is the most important task for the Land of Grass right now?" He slammed his hand on the table fiercely. "Why haven't you arrested them yet? As the head of the Security Department, you look so hesitant! Do you still want this job? Or is there something that scares you? Tell me! Who is it? Is it residual evil forces within the country? Bandits and mountain thieves? Or some reactionary forces?"

"Uh~, Jiraiya, one of the Konoha's Sannin!"

After he spoke.

"???" Kusana was stunned, then he dug at his ear, hesitating, "Who?"

Jiraiya?