Why Are the Sand Shinobi So Mean!

"Let's go! To the Pleasure District," Akaseki said after reviewing the case files.

"Eh? Isn't the meeting at four?" Ranwu looked at the time, seeing it was only twelve, and assumed they would eat first.

"Do you really expect to catch a thief while walking the streets with a lawman?" Akaseki said as if it were obvious.

Ranwu realized the point upon hearing this. Seeing her reaction, Akaseki immediately felt puffed up—Isn't your grandfather the 'Mighty Wise General'? Is this it? Is this really it?

Although he didn't burst into wild laughter, his... Fire Style range increased by one.

Ranwu: ...

Seeing Akaseki's inflated ego, Ranwu was just about to say something when Minato spoke up first: "That's right, and since it's noon, it's the perfect time to go to the Pleasure District for a meal!"

After Minato diverted the topic, Ranwu sullenly kept her mouth shut.

After arriving at the Pleasure District, Ranwu carefully observed the people around her, her sharp gaze sweeping over the pedestrians on the street...

Akaseki, Minato: ...

"There's definitely something wrong. According to my careful observation, everyone on the road is guarding their coin purses!" Ranwu said with a serious air.

"Is it possible that they're only like that because of your staring?" Akaseki retorted.

"Ha? Then you do it!" Ranwu said, unconvinced.

"Of course I'll do it. This is the specialty of our Uchiha Clan!" As Akaseki said this, he took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, then...

Sharingan, activate!

Once the Sharingan was active, it wasn't just the act of "pickpocketing" that he could see; even the "shifty-eyed glances" and "stiff, nervous expressions" were things Akaseki could detect instantly.

After watching for a few seconds, Akaseki deactivated his Sharingan.

"Aside from the people who got nervous because of Ranwu's staring, everyone else looks fine," Akaseki said.

"That fast?" Ranwu frowned, questioning him.

"These are eyes used to observe ninja attacks. Using them to look at the movements and expressions of these ordinary people is a matter of an instant!" Akaseki said as if it were only natural.

"Is it really not because you can only maintain it for a short time?" Ranwu asked, hitting the nail on the head.

"I'm short? Don't joke, I..." Akaseki immediately prepared to argue back.

Seeing this, Minato had to divert the topic once again: "Ah! That restaurant on the second floor has seats facing the street. Let's go eat there so we can observe while we eat!"

Akaseki and Ranwu were hungry, and upon hearing Minato's words, their attention was immediately drawn away.

The three of them arrived at the street-side restaurant and specifically took seats on the second-floor balcony overlooking the street.

Although they were just three children, Akaseki slammed his coin purse onto the table and ordered quite a lot, so the shopkeeper didn't hesitate—they were at an age where they had big appetites anyway, and since ninjas had to refine chakra, they could eat even more than the average person!

From their position on the second floor, Akaseki would occasionally activate his eyes to look at the pedestrians below.

However, after the time it took to finish a meal, Akaseki hadn't discovered anything unusual...

But just after they finished eating, the three of them suddenly heard a commotion coming from afar!

The three exchanged a glance...

Akaseki tossed down some silver coins, then he, Minato, and Ranwu vaulted over the railing and rushed toward the source of the chaos.

"Ah! There's a pervert!"

"You bastard! How dare you come to peek at my bathhouse..."

"Careful... this person looks like a ninja!"

The commotion was indeed at a bathhouse. After Akaseki and the others arrived, they immediately surrounded the "culprit."

However...

Jiraiya: ...

Akaseki, Minato, Ranwu: !!!

The pervert surrounded by the crowd, while wearing unfamiliar attire and lacking his signature tear-track face paint, had white hair, wore wooden sandals, and possessed facial features that looked very familiar.

Seeing this familiar "culprit," the three were left dumbfounded.

"This... is there some kind of misunderstanding? Jir..." Ranwu still couldn't believe it.

But Akaseki had a flash of inspiration and quickly interrupted: "Damn pervert! So you're a ninja from Sunagakure... Speak! What is your objective?"

Ranwu: ???

Fortunately, Jiraiya wasn't wearing a Konoha uniform, nor was he wearing a forehead protector.

Jiraiya immediately understood Akaseki's intent and shouted back: "Though the sand is fine, gathered it becomes a wall; born in the sea of sand, unyielding and indomitable!"

Ranwu: ???

Hearing Jiraiya shout the classic Sand Wall Manifesto of Sunagakure, the crowd became even more indignant.

"So he is a ninja from Sunagakure, no wonder he's so shameless..."

"How can people from the Land of Wind be so wicked!"

"Everyone, be careful! This guy is a ninja... leave him to us Konoha ninjas!"

Upon hearing that they were ninjas, the onlookers, while indignant, gradually began to retreat.

Akaseki and Minato then launched a pincer attack on Jiraiya, while Ranwu stood by to "provide support" with a blank expression, and then...

The "Sunagakure ninjas" also performed miserably, being chased and beaten by the two all the way until they quickly vanished from sight!

"Phew... Akaseki! Well done, I knew I hadn't misjudged you!"

After shaking off the others, Jiraiya slapped Akaseki on the shoulder in his usual boisterous manner, praising him.

Nowadays, friction between the major ninja villages was constant, and the atmosphere between the great nations was dark and treacherous. For Konoha, the primary targets of conflict were Sunagakure and Amegakure...

Amegakure was not among the Five Great Ninja Villages, and ten years ago, its strength was not even on par with Takigakure.

However, it had begun to rise in recent years, leading to friction with Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure.

As for Sunagakure...

That was a genuine, deep-seated conflict!

Among the Five Great Nations, the Land of Wind was the most barren and coveted the land of the Land of Fire the most, so naturally, Sunagakure had become Konoha's mortal enemy.

Both Akaseki and Jiraiya felt absolutely no psychological burden about shifting the blame onto Sunagakure.

"Jiraiya-sensei, what were you doing just now?" Ranwu asked, questioning him.

"I went to gather material." Jiraiya gazed toward the direction of the bathhouse, his eyes deep and profound.

Ranwu: ...

Now the three of them finally understood what Jiraiya had been doing when he arrived late on the day of the bell-snatching test!

"Alright, while I was busy gathering material, how did your mission go?" Jiraiya immediately "counter-attacked."

Hearing Jiraiya bring up the mission, Akaseki and the others naturally felt embarrassed.

"Well... we haven't found anything yet. The thief must know we're here, so... hmm?" Akaseki said, suddenly pausing, then wearing a thoughtful expression as he said, "Minato, do you remember when the reports started to decrease in the case files we read?"

"Seven days ago." Minato had a deep impression of that.

"Seven days ago... I remember the mission deadline was April 4th, which means it was posted on March 4th... that is, six days after the mission was posted in Konoha, the thief got the news... it takes two days to travel from Konoha to here..." Akaseki seemed to be calculating something.

"No, if it wasn't a ninja, it would definitely be slower. Even with a carriage, it would take six or seven days." Minato corrected him.

"Ah, that means it was when Sheriff Naiku went to Konoha and just returned to the Flower Capital that the thief received the news!" Akaseki cleared up his train of thought.

"Hmm? You mean to say... the sheriff and the thief are in cahoots?" Ranwu was still a bit confused.

"Of course not! If the sheriff were the mastermind, the ninjas would have had to find him first when starting the mission; there would be no need to tell the thief to stop early... It must be someone who was notified after he returned who leaked the news to the thief!" Akaseki refuted logically.

Educating Ranwu felt so good, Fire Style range +1.

"In that case... I have an idea!" Minato suddenly thought of something.

Seeing this, Jiraiya smiled slightly and said, "Oh? Then I'll keep my eyes peeled and wait to see it."

"Is that what you're keeping your eyes peeled for?" Ranwu retorted from the side.

Jiraiya acted as if he hadn't heard a thing.