Mikoto: Qingshui is Excellent

"Jiraiya, we were set up in this incident, but if you dare to harm my subordinates, I will never let you go."

Before leaving, Hanzo left a harsh warning.

It seemed like the only way to preserve his dignity as a "Demigod."

Jiraiya didn't care about Hanzo's warning.

He had always pursued peace in the ninja world, so how could he do such a thing?

What concerned him more at this moment was who was the mastermind behind this incident?

They had completely toyed with them and Amegakure.

"Could it be Iwagakure?"

Jiraiya guessed.

In his opinion, only the other four of the Five Great Ninja Villages, like Konoha, had the capability to orchestrate this incident.

And the Land of Rain was located between the three great nations of the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind, so the most suspicious were undoubtedly Iwagakure and Sunagakure.

But Sunagakure was weaker among the Five Great Ninja Villages, and they should be trying to recover their strength as soon as possible after the Second Shinobi World War ended not long ago.

In contrast, Iwagakure's overall strength was not much inferior, except that they had fewer geniuses than Konoha.

Moreover, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, because of his experiences in his youth, liked to target Konoha, which was why Jiraiya suspected Iwagakure the most.

"..."

Qingshui, who was beside him, heard Jiraiya's muttering and just shook his head slightly.

Let him guess, the answer would be wrong anyway.

If he didn't have memories of his past life and know that Uchiha Madara was still alive, he would also think Jiraiya's guess made sense.

Ignoring Jiraiya, who was trying to guess the mastermind, Qingshui looked at Mikoto and asked with concern.

"Mikoto, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere else? I'll heal you."

"I'm fine now, but we'll have to stay in the Land of Rain for a few more days before returning to Konoha."

Mikoto was seriously injured in the fight with Hanzo and needed time to recover.

Jiraiya was the same.

"That's great. Not only can you not go to work, but you also have a beautiful woman by your side every day."

As he spoke, Qingshui tucked a stray strand of hair behind Mikoto's ear.

Jiraiya happened to witness this scene.

"Youth is truly a wonderful thing."

Hearing this, Qingshui really wanted to ask: Are you that old?

You are only in your twenties right now, not the old man in his fifties from the future.

As for Mikoto, she felt a bit shy upon hearing this, her cheeks flushing slightly red.

Unaccountably, she thought back to Konan asking her earlier if she was Qingshui's girlfriend.

Qingshui was excellent; it was indeed easy for someone to be moved by him.

When the Trio returned home together, Qingshui's Shadow Clone dispersed, returning its memories to his main body.

At the same time, Minato was informing Jiraiya about the White Zetsu attack that had just occurred.

When he heard that someone could transform into him, with even their Chakra being identical, he wore an expression of disbelief.

Such a Transformation Technique was beyond his understanding.

Therefore, he was very skeptical of what Minato said.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Minato, but simply because such a thing was too shocking.

However, seeing that everyone—including Qingshui, who had just received the memories from his Shadow Clone—confirmed it, he finally chose to believe.

"This is the freak that turned into you, Jiraiya-sensei."

Looking at the dead White Zetsu, Jiraiya looked bewildered.

He had traveled throughout the ninja world in the past and could be considered knowledgeable and experienced.

But this was the first time he had ever seen a freak like White Zetsu.

"In any case, let's seal it up first and bring it back to Konoha for the old man to have someone study it."

In the end, unable to make sense of White Zetsu, Jiraiya made this arrangement.

No one had any objections.

Thus, Jiraiya, the only one among them who knew Sealing Technique, took action himself to seal the White Zetsu's corpse into a scroll, which he then handed to Qingshui.

"Qingshui, I'll have to trouble you to take this back and give it to the old man."

The old man Jiraiya referred to was naturally the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Qingshui naturally would not refuse.

Afterward, Jiraiya and Mikoto returned to their respective rooms to recuperate from their injuries.

At Jiraiya's request, Qingshui took charge of guiding Konan and the others in their training for the day.

Mukai Yuki and Sasaki Ayami, who had already mastered water walking, were among them.

Incidentally, when Konan learned that Qingshui would be staying here for a while longer, she appeared very happy.

Upon returning to his room, Jiraiya did not rest immediately. Instead, he first reported the incident to Hiruzen Sarutobi, warning him of potential actions from Iwagakure.

At the same time, he emphasized his praise for Qingshui's performance.

Ninjas transmit intelligence quickly. Before long, Hiruzen Sarutobi, far away in Konoha, learned of what had transpired in the Land of Rain.

"A conspiracy by Iwagakure? And that mysterious white creature—could it also be a biological weapon developed by Iwagakure?"

After taking a deep drag of his pipe, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately ordered the Anbu to summon Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu.

Since it involved Iwagakure, it was not a major matter he could decide on his own.

Afterward, Hiruzen Sarutobi reread Jiraiya's praise for Qingshui.

"To think he could actually stall for time against Hanzo. It seems I underestimated Qingshui; Kosuke was right."

The fact that Qingshui had become a qualified Medical Ninja in just one year had naturally reached his ears previously.

However, he hadn't paid much attention to it at the time.

After all, as Hokage, he had many affairs to handle every day. A young man with some talent for Medical Ninjutsu was truly not worth investing too much attention in.

He had simply investigated Qingshui's background, found no issues, and left it at that.

"Since he is a Medical Ninja, I should have Tsunade guide Qingshui."

But the mere thought of Tsunade, who was currently slacking off, gambling, and drinking every day, gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a headache.

This was why he hadn't considered having Tsunade take Qingshui as an apprentice.

Besides, in terms of both Medical Ninjutsu and combat prowess, Qingshui was not much worse than Tsunade; an apprenticeship wouldn't be appropriate anyway.

Having made his decision, Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the Anbu to inform Tsunade of the matter.

The Anbu who received his order did not dare to delay and immediately found Tsunade in a casino.

Looking at Tsunade, who was in the middle of a winning streak, the Anbu ninja hesitated.

He felt that if he interrupted her mood at this moment, he would likely be sent flying by a punch, or perhaps even killed by one.

But thinking of his mission, he steeled himself and appeared before Tsunade.

As expected, Tsunade was very angry at being disturbed.

Only when she saw it was an Anbu ninja did she manage to suppress her temper.

"Speak quickly if you have something to say."

The Anbu ninja breathed a sigh of relief and quickly handed Tsunade a scroll containing Qingshui's information and Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders.

After reading it, Tsunade was shocked.

"When did Qingshui become so powerful?"

As someone who had been defeated by Hanzo, she knew even better how powerful Hanzo was.

It was precisely because she knew this that she was shocked by Qingshui's strength.