Looking for a Teacher

Four of them followed the route Jiraiya and the others had taken for two days and two nights, but unfortunately, they found nothing.

They could guess that the group they were tracking must have been moving too slowly to keep up with those powerful shinobi.

For a while, they couldn't help feeling rather dejected.

But after a brief moment of disappointment, Yahiko quickly perked up again.

"It's all right. Even if we can't find them, we can look for someone else. I'm sure there are powerful people in a battlefield this vast who can teach us."

Konan and Nagato nodded in agreement.

Chiba, however, could only smile wryly to himself. Aside from Jiraiya, there really weren't many people in the entire Ninja World who had both the strength and the patience to teach a group of children like them.

And so, in search of someone powerful enough to teach them, Yahiko led Chiba and the others straight into the chaotic battlefield.

"Be careful. Don't go over there."

Yahiko held Chiba and the others back.

Silently watching the wounded man before them cry for help, Yahiko frowned slightly, picked up a rock, and threw it at him.

Boom!

A powerful explosion erupted, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Just as I thought. It's a Dummy Puppet."

The others felt beads of sweat break out on their foreheads. If they had actually gone over there, they would have been in danger.

By then, more than three months had passed since they'd set out to find a teacher.

As time went on, they ventured farther and farther into the battlefield, and the dangers they encountered grew more and more frequent.

It had to be said that there were good reasons this little group had managed to survive in such an environment.

Yahiko often had an almost instinctive sense of danger, and had led them out of peril several times.

But even more useful than Yahiko was probably Nagato.

Standing at a high vantage point, Nagato carefully surveyed the entire battlefield.

While everyone else could see only a few hundred meters, Nagato's vision extended more than two thousand meters, which was unquestionably a much greater advantage here.

The distant scenes that were nearly impossible for others to make out were perfectly clear to Nagato.

The Rinnegan really was the Rinnegan. Even just in terms of eyesight, no one else could hope to match it.

But apart from Chiba, no one—not even Nagato himself—thought much of it. They simply assumed he had naturally excellent eyesight.

"There's a lot of firelight in that direction. I can see a few shadows moving around. It should be shinobi fighting."

Yahiko's expression turned cautious at that, but after hesitating for a moment, he said firmly, "Let's get a little closer, but not too close. Nagato, keep watching carefully."

They all understood that getting shinobi to teach them would be difficult.

So their initial plan was to look for shinobi who'd been badly wounded after a major battle and save them.

Even if they refused to teach them afterward, surely they wouldn't hurt the people who had saved their lives.

After all, shinobi usually cared about their honor. Unless someone was a complete sadist, who would harm civilians who had saved them?

Even a sadist would have to consider whether anyone might witness them repaying kindness with cruelty on a battlefield this fierce.

All in all, their plan wasn't a bad one.

Along the way, thanks to Nagato's Rinnegan and his ability to spot danger before it struck, they really had managed to save several shinobi.

But without exception, none of them had agreed to teach the children.

Still, it hadn't been a complete waste. At the very least, they'd gotten some money, food, and small tools.

Of course, things couldn't go smoothly forever.

On a battlefield like this, there were bound to be people who'd gone mad with bloodlust. No matter how careful the four of them were, they could hardly avoid that risk altogether.

"Nagato, Chiba, Konan, run!"

Yahiko shouted in alarm, but the Rock Ninja facing them toyed with them like a cat playing with mice.

There was no shortage of people like that anywhere—people who enjoyed bullying the weak.

Just as the four of them were fleeing in disarray, several kunai suddenly shot out from a corner. Caught off guard, the Rock Ninja behind them collapsed on the spot.

The four stared blankly at the shinobi who had suddenly fallen, unable to react for a long moment.

"Is he... is he dead?"

After a moment, Yahiko couldn't help feeling relieved. "We're really lucky. Someone else took that guy out."

In truth, this wasn't the first time they'd been lucky.

Yahiko and the others could chalk it up to luck, but Chiba wasn't so naive.

Was Zetsu the one who'd intervened again?

Chiba felt a little relieved.

It was a good thing that, after hesitating for so long, he'd ultimately chosen to save Nagato. Otherwise, if they'd had to cross this battlefield relying on their own strength alone, they might never have known what killed them.

After narrowly escaping death once again, the four felt relieved, but couldn't help growing a little disheartened, too.

Even Yahiko couldn't help wavering slightly.

He glanced covertly at Chiba and the others, then quickly looked away.

He was afraid, too. What if Chiba, Konan, and the others died because of him?

But no matter what, he didn't want to give up.

Several days later, as the four searched once more for a chance to find a teacher,

the ground suddenly began to tremble.

Yahiko was briefly stunned, then was the first to react. He ran toward higher ground, with Chiba, Nagato, and the others close behind.

This time, even without Nagato's eyes to guide them, they could clearly make out who was fighting.

"We found them. We finally found them!"

Hanzo and the Sannin were locked in another fierce battle.

As the battle wore on, Hanzo began to feel more and more pressured.

Those three Konoha shinobi facing him had actually grown stronger again!

Hanzo couldn't help feeling a headache coming on.

Their growth had been astonishing. Last time, they'd clearly been at a disadvantage, but now that disadvantage was no longer so obvious.

And the worst part was that no matter how much of an upper hand he gained, it was difficult to kill even one of them.

For a moment, Hanzo couldn't help feeling like an experience-point piñata someone else was using to level up. He probably wouldn't have understood what that meant, but he really did feel that way.

Even if he still had the upper hand now, it wouldn't be long before he was no match for them, would it?

If Jiraiya and the others couldn't win, they could run. With the three of them working together, Hanzo had no chance of killing them.

But if Hanzo lost, the three of them would hunt him down. Whether he'd survive that was another matter.

Thinking of that, and of the losses on the battlefield as a whole, Hanzo finally made a decision.

"Let's stop."

Hanzo halted his attack and stood calmly on Ibuse's back, looking at the others.

"Hm?"

Jiraiya and the others looked at him in confusion.

"That's enough. This war—barring any surprises, Konoha should win."

Though he was deeply reluctant to admit it, Hanzo had to acknowledge that the difference in strength between the Rain Ninja and Konoha was simply too great.

The three shinobi before him weren't even all of Konoha's elite forces. On other fronts, Konoha was still fighting the various nations, with powerful shinobi everywhere.

But the Rain Ninja had only him to hold the line.

Konoha had already begun to gain the advantage on other fronts. Even if he kept fighting, once more Konoha shinobi arrived to reinforce them, the Rain Ninja would still have only one possible outcome: defeat.

So rather than let that happen, he was better off withdrawing early.

"I have to admit, you're very strong. You've managed to push me this far. Tell me your names."

"Orochimaru."

"Tsunade."

"Jiraiya."

"From today onward, I'll call you the Sannin of Konoha. In the name of the demigod, I acknowledge your strength."

Afterward, they reached a rough verbal understanding about the terms of a ceasefire.

Since the Rain Ninja's forces remained largely intact and other fronts were under pressure, the Rain Ninja didn't suffer too many losses in the agreement.

At that moment, the war that had raged in the Land of Rain for years was finally about to end.

Of course, none of this was something Yahiko and the others needed to know or consider.

After Jiraiya and the others finished fighting, the four hurried toward them.