First Battle

Several days later, Jiraiya returned and tossed a small booklet to Chiba and the others.

"This is your opponent this time."

The group curiously looked over the booklet. The photo on the first page showed an unusually tall, thin man with an unremarkable appearance. The only distinctive feature was probably his cold, sharp eyes.

"This is information I found at a nearby underground exchange. We've preliminarily confirmed that this man, Jing Jiu, is a rogue Mist Ninja."

"A rogue Mist Ninja?"

Jiraiya nodded. "That's right. The Mist Ninja have already put a bounty on him. It's rare for one of them to show up here, but I think he probably fled here to escape their pursuit. After all, the Mist Ninja have only just been through a major battle themselves. They're unlikely to have the resources to chase him across so many countries."

"In fact, whenever the various countries go to war, the number of rogue ninja from their villages rises sharply. It's something no ninja village can avoid."

Just then, Yahiko's hand, which had been turning the pages, suddenly stopped.

"This bastard... How dare he..."

For a moment, Yahiko's eyes blazed with fury.

Following Yahiko's gaze, Chiba looked at the page and was taken aback, too.

The information showed that this man had slaughtered three civilian villages.

Jiraiya's eyes turned slightly cold as well. "Generally speaking, even rogue ninja rarely target ordinary people. But there are certainly people like this. Ninja are a complicated lot, after all. There are plenty like those who tried to kill you for no reason and took pleasure in bullying the weak."

Konan and Nagato, standing nearby, shared Yahiko's fury.

Having come from civilian backgrounds themselves, they hated people like this more than almost anyone.

Seeing their anger, Jiraiya nodded in satisfaction.

"This is the most suitable opponent I could find for you. I don't think you'll feel any remorse about killing someone like him. His strength should be somewhere between a Chunin and an elite Chunin, so you should be able to handle him. However..."

Jiraiya's tone grew stern again. "That doesn't mean you can afford to underestimate him. In the Ninja World, no one who's survived this long is simple, especially someone from the Mist Ninja, a village known for its cruelty and assassinations. You must be careful and give it everything you've got. This is a real fight to the death. One mistake, and you could be killed."

Hearing how grave Jiraiya sounded, they nodded seriously. "We understand."

"Good. You should also know that I'll be following you from the shadows. I can guarantee your safety and step in to save you if necessary. But I hope you won't need me. I can't stay by your side forever, so you have to learn to rely on your own strength."

"Also, unless you're seriously wounded, I won't help you."

"Understood." They nodded again.

Yahiko even flashed a confident two-finger gesture. "Don't worry, Jiraiya-sensei. We're not weak. We're not the same people we used to be."

Chiba, however, was more level-headed and nowhere near as optimistic as Yahiko.

By all rights, based on the information Jiraiya had given them, each of them should be close to Jing Jiu's level. Nagato was even stronger, so four against one ought to be no problem.

But when it came to actual combat experience, they were still rookies who hadn't even gone on a Genin mission. Their inexperience was a glaring weakness.

It wasn't impossible that some of them might get killed. Otherwise, Jiraiya wouldn't have gone so far as to make them fight four against one.

Fortunately, they could still count on someone to keep them safe. This was when having a good teacher really mattered. Even an ordinary Jonin probably wouldn't be confident they could save someone in time during a fierce battle between Chunin.

Only a Kage Level powerhouse like Jiraiya would dare make such a promise.

Soon, they gathered their belongings and set out with Jiraiya.

The following afternoon, using some unknown method, Jiraiya easily tracked down the man's location and brought Chiba and the others to the edge of a dense forest.

"Tap, tap—"

Jiraiya's footsteps splashing through the rain came to a stop.

"All right, he's hiding in this forest. The rest is up to you."

As he spoke, Jiraiya glanced up at the rain. "Rainy weather, huh... It should benefit both sides, but overall, it probably helps your opponent more. Even so, your combined strength is still far greater than his."

Yahiko, Chiba, and the others exchanged glances, then nodded together and charged into the forest.

"Whoosh—" "Tap, tap—"

Wearing black hooded raincoats, they raced through the forest, leaping from branch to branch.

A thread of nervousness suddenly crept into Chiba's heart. No matter how he looked at it, this was his first real battle.

Even though Chiba knew Jiraiya was there to back them up and nothing would happen, his heart still began to pound faster and faster.

Even Yahiko, who had been so confident at first, was clearly nervous too, his face tense.

Suddenly, Nagato spotted something.

"Found him. Over there."

In an instant, they sped up again, heading in the direction Nagato had indicated.

Just as they spotted their target, a tall, thin man hundreds of meters away suddenly stood up.

"Hm? Heh-heh, more people coming to die..."