Yahiko: Teacher, I've come for the scriptures!

"Whew! Good, that was close, I almost lost my life!"

Kyosuke wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

At that moment, the opponent's blade had been only an inch away; he had been a hair's breadth from death!

"The opponent held back. If he had gone for the kill, you would have been dead long ago."

Konan let out a breath as well.

That strike had been too fast; it was impossible to dodge or evade.

What terrifying speed!

Fortunately.

"It's a good thing he didn't pursue us. Otherwise, even I wouldn't have the confidence to escape without alerting too many people."

The orange-haired young ninja finally caught up from behind.

Recalling the situation just now, he couldn't help but exhale softly: "The teacher's new student is terrifyingly strong. By the time he reaches our age, I fear he could become the next generation's White Fang."

"I heard the teacher has another student, but it's a pity we arrived too late and didn't have the chance to meet him."

Konan sighed with regret.

Yahiko nodded: "I heard he went to Iwagakure."

Then, he lamented.

"What a pity!"

Yahiko sighed, then sat down in the cave.

"It's a shame there were too many people around at the time. If we could have made private contact, we might have been able to ask him to help us get in touch with the teacher."

"Why the sudden urge to contact the teacher? You've always said that the affairs of the Land of Rain must be solved by us, the people of the Land of Rain, and that we shouldn't think about relying on the teacher."

Konan was incredibly puzzled.

Kyosuke also paused his movements and looked at Yahiko.

In recent years, they had been working hard to protect civilians in the Land of Rain, and some ninjas who agreed with their philosophy had joined them; Kyosuke was one of those companions.

However, some time ago, Yahiko had suddenly said he wanted to come to Yugakure to find Jiraiya.

Neither Konan nor Kyosuke understood why, but they had accompanied him anyway.

"Hmm."

Yahiko pondered for a long time, then continued, "I have a feeling that the teacher seems to have changed."

"Changed?"

Konan looked confused.

Yahiko said: "Since Konoha let the teacher preside over the situation in Yugakure, it means the teacher is the one pushing this from behind the scenes. The teacher of the past wouldn't have done this."

He paused, then suddenly shook his head: "No, that's not the right way to put it! To be precise, I feel that this is the true form of achieving peace through 'dialogue,' so I want to ask the teacher about his current thoughts and philosophy."

Yahiko's ideal was to achieve peace between the Land of Rain and the surrounding nations through dialogue and mutual understanding, and subsequently change the tragic state of his country.

The multi-national dialogue taking place in Yugakure had given him hope!

Konan's expression shifted after hearing this.

Yahiko was incredibly sharp: "Is there a problem?"

"No, it's just that, although what you say makes a lot of sense, I always feel it's a bit strange—it doesn't seem like the teacher's style."

What a fast blade!

Yamashiro Aoba rubbed his eyes and then whispered: "Is this guy really not Kakashi?"

"He isn't. Kyohiko's speed is high, and his timing and target selection are excellent, but his swordsmanship... well, the fundamentals are very solid."

Namiashi Raidō thought for a long while before finally coming up with a positive descriptor.

Kurenai Yuhi's mouth twitched.

"It really must have been hard for you to think for so long. Kyohiko has only been practicing the blade for about two months in total; 'solid fundamentals' is indeed the right level for him."

"T-two months?"

Might Guy, Yamashiro Aoba, and Namiashi Raidō all snapped their heads toward the opposite side.

Good grief!

This kind of result after only two months?

Namiashi Raidō's hand instinctively gripped his sword hilt, his lips pressed together, and a look of irrepressible envy appeared on his face.

He wanted that kind of talent, too!

"What are you all chatting about? Aren't you going in?"

Kyohiko returned via Body Flicker.

He had just gone to observe the situation of Yahiko and his group as they departed.

There were many traps along the way, making pursuit difficult, so he simply turned back.

"We were waiting for you."

Kurenai Yuhi's gaze held a hint of concern. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No, they were all harmless traps; they likely didn't want to escalate things either."

He opened the door and entered.

Everyone sat down and chatted for a while.

Only a few years had passed since the war; most ninjas had already been promoted to Chunin, while those who had just graduated lacked sufficient strength.

For safety reasons, there were only their two squads for now.

"Since there aren't many of us anyway, you should all rest here for a while and wait for Jiraiya-sensei to arrive before we make further arrangements."

"Understood."

By evening.

Kyohiko had been waiting for Jiraiya to return, but—

He was greeted first by a system notification.

[Proper use of personnel, excellent leadership!]

[Under your strategic guidance, the village has gained compensation and significant reputational benefits.]

[Reward: Clone Technique leveled up by 1.]

Clone Technique?

Kyohiko was surprised.

He soon vaguely understood the reason.

Rewards for matters beneficial to the village were often chosen from his own ninjutsu, though this particular incident hadn't actually brought much benefit to Konoha.

It was more that Iwagakure had suffered a major blow to its reputation.

Furthermore—

Ōnoki likely didn't care much.

Iwagakure was recovering extremely quickly, and according to Jiraiya, the pro-war faction had been growing in recent years.

War was only a matter of time.

Relatively speaking, Kirigakure might be the ones with more of a headache.

However.

For him, the reward was what mattered most...

With a Master-level Clone Technique, one day, he might truly be able to achieve an effect similar to Body Flicker Shisui.

Inside the room, Kyohiko carefully contemplated the Master-level Clone Technique.

He had been secretly pondering the Clone Technique lately, but hadn't made much progress; to truly improve, he would need to learn more genjutsu and understand and master more knowledge and techniques regarding it.

That would consume a considerable amount of energy.

Having it upgraded now saved him quite a bit of trouble.

"More precise control, using genjutsu methods to guide chakra to influence the enemy..."

With that in mind.

Several plans surfaced in Kyohiko's mind.

Currently, reaching the level of Shisui was truly difficult, though if his genjutsu level reached the Grandmaster level, there might be hope.

A reasonable plan would be—

Reduce the number of clones.

Secondly, integrate Shadow Clones to create confusion.

"I can try this!"

A smile appeared on Kyohiko's face.

"What are you thinking about? You're even smiling."

At that moment, Jiraiya's voice came from outside.

Kyohiko snapped back to reality and immediately opened the window.

Jiraiya was crouching on the eaves outside, a smile on his face; he seemed to be in a very good mood.

As the window opened, he immediately jumped inside.

Kyohiko said, "Teacher, I just thought that by combining the Clone Technique and Shadow Clone with the Body Flicker Technique, I could achieve a much stronger deceptive effect."

"A combination of clones and body flicker..."

Jiraiya pondered for a moment before grasping Kyohiko's idea.

If applied correctly, this tactic would indeed be terrifying, but it placed extremely high demands on one's mastery of clone techniques.

"This requires a very high level of proficiency in clone techniques."

"That is why I wanted to ask for your help to see if it is feasible. By the way—Teacher, there were a few ninjas from Amegakure today..."

Kyohiko stated his purpose, then recounted his encounter with Kyosuke.

At first, Jiraiya did not react.

However.

Upon hearing about the paper-based ninjutsu...

He stood up immediately, his face unable to hide his shock and astonishment.

"It's her. How could they have come to Yugakure?"

"Teacher knows them? No wonder. I felt they seemed to have a purpose, yet they held no malice. If they are your old acquaintances, then it makes sense."

"Yes, this is a story from after the war."

Jiraiya's expression was dazed, yet he still recounted the past events—

He trusted that Kyohiko possessed sufficiently mature thinking and judgment.

"Hmm, since you put it that way, Teacher, do you think it is possible they came for the Land of Waves agreement?"

"Huh?"

"Using communication and mutual understanding as a bridge to achieve peace—isn't that the philosophy of Yahiko that you often speak of?"

"This..."

Jiraiya felt that what he had been doing lately had nothing to do with communication or mutual understanding.

However.

Thinking about it carefully, there did seem to be a connection, though his method of communication relied more on alliances and using force to compel the other party to agree.

So.

Had Yahiko come to seek his advice?

Yet, his own recent actions were entirely a result of Kyohiko's influence.

If he were to meet Yahiko and Konan, should he bring Kyohiko along?

Jiraiya looked at Kyohiko, his gaze gradually turning strange.