White Zetsu

"I never thought you'd become this much stronger in just a little over a year, Jiraiya."

Hanzo, healed by Qingshui, spoke with mixed feelings.

"It's because I have reliable comrades."

Jiraiya meant every word.

Without Qingshui, Hanzo would have succeeded in stalling him until he left Sage Mode and lost.

Jiraiya had been the main force in this fight, but Qingshui's contribution couldn't be overlooked.

"That's right. Konoha is always producing one genius after another. I can't help but envy you."

Hearing Jiraiya's words, Hanzo looked at Qingshui with a sigh.

If he'd known things would end this way, he would never have given Qingshui and Mikoto the chance to buy time.

But what was done was done. Regretting it now was pointless.

As the "Demigod," Hanzo couldn't bring himself to repay kindness with treachery.

"Hanzo, there must be a third party pulling the strings behind this incident. I've never met this Aonosuke you mentioned."

The two sides, who had just been fighting to the death, now sat down together to talk.

Hanzo had still been somewhat doubtful about Jiraiya's words, but now he believed him.

In his eyes, if Jiraiya had really killed Aonosuke, he wouldn't have had Qingshui heal him.

In that situation, Hanzo would have been as good as dead if Jiraiya had simply left him alone.

"As I said earlier, I captured the Jonin who led the attack on us and interrogated him. I learned they'd acted on Aonosuke's orders."

"But before we could do anything else, someone killed that Jonin right in front of the five of us. The strangest part was that we couldn't detect any trace of the enemy."

Only then did Mikoto understand that the Rain Ninja's earlier actions hadn't been a plot by Amegakure.

In truth, Amegakure had been a victim too.

Poor Mikoto had no idea that she herself had been the real target of this incident.

Qingshui, who had already guessed the truth, thought silently.

"It seems there really is a hidden force in the Land of Rain, one even I knew nothing about."

Hanzo decided that as soon as he returned to Amegakure, he would investigate this mysterious force and eliminate it as quickly as possible.

But he was destined to come up empty-handed.

"Jiraiya's been gone for so long, and even his Shadow Clone has disappeared. I wonder how things are going."

Yahiko fidgeted anxiously.

On one side was the teacher who had taught him ninjutsu; on the other was Hanzo, the "Demigod" he'd admired since childhood.

As someone from the Land of Rain, Yahiko knew that it was Hanzo's presence that kept their country from being bullied by the great nations.

"Yahiko, I'm sure Jiraiya will be fine."

Seeing how worried he was, Konan tried to comfort him.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door, followed by Jiraiya's voice.

"We're back. Open the door."

Their worry and unease instantly gave way to excitement.

Yahiko hurried to open the door.

But Minato stopped him.

"Something's wrong. That isn't Jiraiya. There's only one person outside!"

Minato had a sensory technique that let him detect how many people were outside the door.

He didn't know why the person outside had the exact same Chakra as Jiraiya, but there was only one person out there—not a whole group, as the voice had claimed.

As he stopped Yahiko, Minato hurled a Kunai with an Explosive Tag toward the door.

Boom!

The explosion blew the door apart.

But there was no body to be seen.

As everyone cautiously surveyed the area outside, a scream suddenly rang out.

It was Sasaki Ayami!

They turned and saw someone who looked exactly like Jiraiya emerge from the ground and grab Ayami.

But the fact that he'd done this made it obvious that he wasn't really Jiraiya.

"Damn it! Let Ayami go!"

Mukai Yuki roared and charged, only for Fake Jiraiya to kick him away.

At the same time, Minato used Body Flicker to appear behind Fake Jiraiya and thrust out his Kunai.

To Minato's surprise, the attack he'd thought was certain to hit was dodged.

His opponent immediately released Sasaki Ayami, sank into the ground, and vanished without a trace. Even Minato's sensory technique couldn't detect him.

"Everyone, stand back-to-back!"

At Minato's words, they immediately did as he said.

That way, Fake Jiraiya couldn't ambush them as he had before. He would have to reveal himself in front of everyone.

"Who are you?"

Minato demanded, his face grave. At the same time, he discreetly took the Fuma Shuriken he'd been carrying on his back—the one Shadow Clone Qingshui had given him earlier.

"If you can tell me what it feels like to take a dump, I'll tell you."

Fake Jiraiya answered with a grin. His words left everyone momentarily stunned.

Whoosh!

Minato hurled the Fuma Shuriken at Fake Jiraiya.

If it hit, it could easily slice through a person.

"That won't work."

As he spoke, Fake Jiraiya twisted aside and dodged the Fuma Shuriken.

Seeing this, Nagato prepared to attack himself. He was confident that his Shinra Tensei couldn't be dodged.

But the next moment, he gave up on the idea.

The Fuma Shuriken Minato had thrown changed into Qingshui after Fake Jiraiya dodged it.

Knowing that Uchiha Madara was behind this incident, Qingshui naturally hadn't taken any chances.

He'd transformed a Shadow Clone into a Fuma Shuriken ahead of time and given it to Minato, secretly protecting everyone.

As it turned out, his caution had been justified.

Once Hanzo's side failed, White Zetsu would target Minato's group instead.

Fake Jiraiya clearly hadn't expected this. Shadow Clone Qingshui struck him with a direct hit.

Shadow Clone Qingshui had held nothing back. The blow killed White Zetsu, who had been disguised as Jiraiya.

"Huh? Why did the Fuma Shuriken suddenly turn into Big Brother Qingshui?"

Yahiko asked in confusion, still unable to make sense of what had happened. Minato immediately explained.

The moment Minato had received the Fuma Shuriken, he'd sensed that its weight was off and realized what Qingshui was planning.

"Wow, Big Brother Qingshui really is amazing!"

Once Yahiko understood, he looked at Shadow Clone Qingshui with adoration.

Konan, meanwhile, ran over and linked her arm with his.

At the same time, the White Zetsu Qingshui had killed returned to his original form.

Looking at the humanoid monster before him, with its entirely white body and short green hair, Minato asked in disbelief:

"What is this thing? Why was its Chakra exactly the same as Jiraiya's after it transformed?"

That was White Zetsu's Disguise Technique.

By absorbing someone else's Chakra, he could reproduce the exact same Chakra. Even the closest friend or the most skilled sensory Ninja couldn't tell the difference.

Of course, Qingshui wasn't about to reveal this information.

After all, he couldn't explain where he'd learned it.

"Let's wait until Lord Jiraiya gets back before we discuss this."

Meanwhile, Uchiha Madara had also received word that the test had failed.

"Hirakawa Aosui..."