Jiraiya

In a town in the Land of Rain.

A tall, white-haired man walked out of a tavern with his arms around two scantily clad beauties who turned heads wherever they went. He wore a lecherous grin.

If Qingshui had been there, he would have recognized the man at once as a Konoha Ninja.

He was Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin, famed alongside Tsunade.

Normally, if Jiraiya, a Konoha Ninja, showed up in the Land of Rain, it would be to carry out a mission, just like Qingshui and his team.

But that wasn't the case. Ever since the Second Shinobi World War ended, he had stayed in the Land of Rain.

After the fighting there ended, he had met three war orphans and decided to teach them ninjutsu.

If Jiraiya hadn't been a student of the Third Hokage, his actions could easily have been treated as desertion from the village.

Though Konoha had the word "village" in its name,

it wasn't actually a village at all. It was a military base.

The other Ninja Villages were the same.

Put simply, ninjas were organized mercenaries.

They took all kinds of jobs, from planting rice and finding lost cats to assassinations and starting wars.

Despite the two beauties' fervent attempts to keep him there, Jiraiya didn't forget the purpose of his trip. After promising to visit again, he finally left.

Afterward, Jiraiya went straight to a shop in town that sold grain and fruit.

Once he'd bought what he needed, he left town alone.

A few hangers-on secretly followed behind him.

They weren't ninjas, just a bunch of thugs who often robbed lone civilians of their food.

Clearly, they had chosen Jiraiya as their next target.

This sort of thing was common in the Land of Rain, and it had become even more frequent since the Second Shinobi World War ended. People had long since grown used to it.

"Where'd he go? How could a grown man just disappear?"

"I don't know, boss. I clearly saw him go this way. This is strange."

As they searched in every direction for Jiraiya, he suddenly appeared behind them.

"Are you looking for me?"

Jiraiya's words startled them, but their leader still snarled,

"Hand over the food, or don't blame us if we get rough."

After realizing they weren't ninjas, Jiraiya sighed, dispatched them with a casual move, and continued on his way.

But before he'd gone far, he spotted a group of Rain Ninjas.

They weren't there to confront Jiraiya. They were hurrying toward somewhere.

"What's going on?"

Muttering to himself, Jiraiya headed in the same direction as the Rain Ninjas.

"Big Brother Qingshui is really amazing!"

Mukai Yuki's words earned nods of agreement from Minato and Sasaki Ayami.

After killing the enemies they'd first engaged, Qingshui had gone to support Mikoto's Shadow Clone.

That had given them the chance to witness his fight firsthand.

The enemies, who had seemed so powerful to them, were no match for Qingshui. He cut them down after only a few exchanges.

The only exception was the kunoichi still fighting Qingshui.

As a Jonin from Kirigakure, she was naturally much stronger than the others.

Unlike Jonin from Small Ninja Villages, Jonin from the Five Great Ninja Villages were well-rounded in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and Genjutsu, and rarely had any obvious weaknesses.

So there was no way Qingshui could defeat her in just a few exchanges like the other enemies.

"Damn it. He looks young, too. I didn't expect him to be this strong."

The Kirigakure kunoichi watched Qingshui with a grave expression.

She'd been held up by Mikoto's Shadow Clone at first. Once she'd dealt with it, she was shocked to find that the young man before her had already taken out all her subordinates.

Now, even after joining the fight herself, she was still being held at bay.

As a Missing-nin, she was already considering fleeing.

But when she glanced at her two companions fighting Uchiha Mikoto, she pushed the thought aside.

The three of them had chosen to defect because they opposed the Blood Mist Policy enforced by their village.

Even though the three Jonin had repeatedly joined forces to ask the Third Mizukage to change the policy,

their efforts had come to nothing.

They could only watch as the villagers gradually stopped treating one another as comrades and began to regard one another as enemies to be wary of.

They couldn't accept that kind of atmosphere.

Ultimately, disillusioned, the three had defected together, recruited Missing-nin from Small Ninja Villages, formed their current team, and come to the Land of Rain.

Unfortunately, this time they'd fallen into the hands of Konoha Ninjas.

Though she thought this, her attacks didn't slow. She continued wielding her Ninja Sword and clashing with Qingshui.

She was a Jonin who specialized in swordsmanship and had once taken part in Kirigakure's contest to select the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

She hadn't made the final cut, but her skill was still impressive.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

In an instant, the two exchanged several blows, neither giving ground in swordsmanship.

As for Mikoto, although she was fighting two opponents alone, she had kept the upper hand throughout.

After all, to avoid being caught in a Genjutsu cast through Mikoto's Sharingan, her opponents had to avoid looking directly into her eyes.

After another failed attack, Seiji was kicked away by Mikoto. He knew he couldn't keep this up.

"Yuyue, I need you to buy me some time. I'm going to use that move."

"Got it!"

As Seiji's comrade, Yuyue knew exactly what he meant: he was going to use the Water Dragon Bullet.

As a B-Rank Water Style Ninjutsu, its power was not to be underestimated.

Its only drawback was the number of Hand Seals required.

Even at Seiji's speed of four Hand Seals per second, it would take eleven seconds to complete them.

In a normal fight, the enemy would never give him that much time.

That was why he needed his comrade's help.

Mikoto naturally noticed what was happening and immediately decided to interrupt him.

But Yuyue gave her no chance. He used Earth Style: Rock Pillar Spear again, forcing her to dodge.

She'd been hit by the same technique earlier and sent flying into the air, where she'd become a sitting duck.

If she hadn't used a defensive technique in time, she would have been dead by now.

Seeing this, Yuyue wasn't surprised.

His opponent was a Uchiha Jonin from Konoha. If the same technique had worked twice, he would have suspected he was caught in a Genjutsu.

But his goal was to stall for time, so he didn't care that she'd dodged his ninjutsu.

He kept silent and used Earth Style: Rock Pillar Spear again and again.

He absolutely couldn't let Mikoto counterattack.

Once Seiji managed to release his Water Dragon Bullet, Yuyue believed that even a Uchiha wouldn't be able to block it and would be taken out in one strike.

With Yuyue stalling, eleven seconds passed quickly.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"