The Land of Hot Water

Although difficult, Shiyu still had his methods, naturally by using the cheat of Shadow Clones. He split himself into the maximum of five Shadow Clones to help him practice, effectively quintupling his practice speed.

The many days of practice had greatly increased Shiyu's experience, and his control over Chakra had become much sharper. Shiyu was slowly beginning to feel like a rubber ball about to burst.

With his concentration reaching its peak, Shiyu spun the Chakra within the rubber ball even more forcefully, then there was only a...

"Bang!" sound, and the rubber ball finally burst completely.

Having completed the first two stages of training, only the most difficult and most important third stage remained.

Other team members, like Kurenai, were still secretly undergoing Taijutsu training with Hizashi Hyuga. After all, they were from the same clan, and many of the Hyuga Clan's secret techniques could be taught wholeheartedly. However, Shiyu wasn't very interested, mainly because he had copied those secret techniques long ago.

Kakashi Nao was also not idle. With Shiyu as his target, he practiced climbing trees and walking on water whenever he had free time, and he had now gained extremely precise control over his Chakra.

"This scene really resembles the one in the original work where Team Seven fought Zabuza and Haku," Shiyu couldn't help but muse.

A few more days passed, and everyone finally arrived at Yugakure in the Land of Hot Water.

Yugakure was completely different from Konohagakure. It was filled with hot spring inns, and the environment was very elegant. Even the flowers on the streets had been meticulously maintained. It had to be said that Yugakure was truly better than Konoha in this regard.

"This is the village known as the 'Village That Forgets War,' famous for its hot springs!" Hizashi Hyuga also introduced.

"I wonder where the information is. There don't seem to be any suspicious people around," Kurenai said.

"What is 'White Rose'? It should be the name of a shop, right?" Kakashi Nao also guessed.

"This place is so big, I think we'll have to split up to search. If you find anyone suspicious, remember to signal! I'll go with Mr. Noguchi," Hizashi said, then left with Mr. Noguchi.

"Let's go, we'll just wander around too," Shiyu said to Kurenai and Kakashi Nao.

"Let's go to Rose Street! That's the most famous place in Yugakure! Everyone on the street loves to grow roses!" Kurenai said, pulling Shiyu as they ran excitedly towards Rose Street.

Kakashi Nao also felt a bit awkward, like a third wheel. He muttered softly, "Is Kurenai's liking for Shiyu already this obvious?"

He then slowly followed behind.

Shiyu, however, didn't think much of it, his mind solely focused on the mission.

He and Kurenai arrived at Rose Street, a famous street in the Land of Hot Water. While called a street, it was more of a small alley. Yet, the scent of roses wafted from all around, and every house had roses planted in front of their windows and doors.

A gentle breeze rustled by, and rose petals danced with the wind, as if emptying one's soul. It was incredibly romantic.

"What a beautiful street! It would be wonderful to live here! To see such vibrant flowers every day would be true happiness," Hinata Kurenai's fiery red hair also fluttered in the wind. Her gentle gaze fixed on Shiyu, and Shiyu seemed to notice something.

However, Shiyu's thoughts were: Ninjas really mature early. They're still children, yet they're already experiencing nascent feelings. What a sin.

This alley was very famous in the Land of Hot Water. However, perhaps it was the wrong time of day, as there weren't many people in the alley at the moment. After casually walking around, Shiyu quickly lost interest. Suddenly, a beautiful girl grabbed Shiyu's arm.

"Young man, are you interested in staying at our hot spring inn? Our prices are low, and the rooms are very nice!" a seductive-looking young woman said to Shiyu with a sly smile.

"No, thank you. We still have things to do," Shiyu immediately refused, as the three of them were on a mission.

Shiyu shook his head and immediately walked to another part of the alley. At this moment, Shiyu spotted a man whose behavior was extremely suspicious.

The man approached a window step by step, looking at something, and appearing very strange.

"Hmm? Who is that?" Shiyu suddenly saw a suspicious-looking man and immediately alerted Kurenai and Nao, "Follow him!"

Kakashi Nao and Kurenai exchanged glances, nodded, and followed Shiyu forward.

Shiyu noticed the man entering through the back window of a bathhouse.

"Very suspicious!" Shiyu suddenly rushed forward, patted the man's shoulder, and asked, "Who are you! What are you doing!"

"Ah! Keep it down! My dear!" The suspicious white-haired man turned around, greatly surprised that the person in front of him had interrupted his good deed.

Shiyu was also bewildered and instantly knew who this person was.

At this moment, screams of women could already be heard from inside the bathhouse.

"Ah!! Someone's peeking!" All the women immediately covered their private parts. The steam from the bathhouse was thick, but it didn't allow the white-haired man to see clearly.

"Ah! This person! What exactly is he looking at!" Kurenai finally understood what was happening, her pretty face instantly turning red.

Kakashi Nao naturally understood as well and whispered, "What a sin." He immediately turned his head away.

"Run! Run!" The white-haired man didn't say anything else and immediately bolted.

"Follow him!" Shiyu would naturally not let go of this opportunity. Then, the three of them followed the white-haired man, beginning a chase.

"I can't believe Jiraiya's kinks are so peculiar! Peeking at girls in broad daylight!" Shiyu said with a wicked grin as they ran.

"Jiraiya? Who is that! You've got the wrong person!" The white-haired man continued to run, not admitting it.

Looking at the man in front of him, his pure white hair reached his waist. On his forehead, he wore a forehead protector with the character 'oil' written on it. Below his eyes was a red mark. He wore a red outer robe over a brown inner garment, wooden sandals on his feet, and arm guards on his hands.

If not the Sannin—Jiraiya, then who else could it be?

"Senior Jiraiya! I'm Master Sarutobi's newly accepted disciple!" Shiyu said as he chased Jiraiya.

"I don't remember having a junior like you! Besides! What I was doing wasn't peeking! I was gathering material! Seeking inspiration! I'm going to write a book! Do you know that! I'm a writer!"

Hearing this, Shiyu was 100% certain that the white-haired man in front of him was indeed Jiraiya, one of the legendary Konoha Sannin.

"Then it must be you!" Shiyu was 100% sure that the person in front of him was undoubtedly Jiraiya.

"Brat, you're really annoying!"

Jiraiya finally stopped running and turned around, taking a closer look at Shiyu.