A Wonderful Fate

The progress on the Gnosis was faster than expected, which put Uchiha Arashi in a much better mood. He felt more energized while writing his books every day, and his attitude toward tending the shop was better than it had been before.

Konoha had never given up on tracking his whereabouts, but they were far more cautious than in the past. Instead of sending out Anbu or other ninja, they had summoned Jiraiya back.

In the current Konoha, if there was anyone left who could stand against a Mangekyo, aside from the Third, it was only Jiraiya.

Tsunade could barely manage it, but she had already left Konoha to travel and clear her head. Even if the Third wanted to call her back, she would only listen if she felt like it.

At the end of the day, only combat power that obeys orders can be called combat power; otherwise, it is just a burden to the village. Jiraiya was, without a doubt, the former.

He hadn't been back in a long time, but Konoha hadn't changed much since he last left; the streets were still the same streets, and the bathhouses were still the same bathhouses.

"Huh? A new bookstore opened here? Interesting!"

Jiraiya had originally intended to head to the bathhouse for research, but while passing through an ordinary residential area, he accidentally spotted a small shop he had never seen before.

He was far too familiar with this route. From the Hokage Building, he would walk southeast for a few hundred meters to reach the bathhouse; he could walk it with his eyes closed.

He was certain that the last time he passed by here, this bookstore definitely did not exist.

"As a renowned author, it is only reasonable to check out the current market trends!"

Jiraiya found an excuse, turned on his heel, and stepped into the bookstore.

Three minutes later.

"Boss! Answer me! Why doesn't your shop carry Icha Icha Paradise!"

Jiraiya slammed his hand against the counter and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Please calm down, customer. This shop is small, so naturally, we cannot stock every book. If you don't find the books you like here, you are welcome to try another shop."

Uchiha Arashi naturally recognized Jiraiya. He hadn't expected this guy to suddenly appear before him, let alone get red in the face over a book.

Come to think of it, Icha Icha Paradise was a good book. Was it lewd? Much of it was suggestive. But was it wholesome? It certainly described a few things. It belonged to that category of "is it or isn't it," where the author and reader shared a tacit understanding.

Unfortunately, as he had said, his shop was small and the number of books he could stock was limited. Since there were children at home, he didn't want them to accidentally stumble upon things they shouldn't see.

That sort of thing could wait until they were closer to adulthood.

Therefore, when the publisher asked him which categories he needed, he naturally crossed out the entire section led by Icha Icha Paradise.

The result of this was that his shop's business had never been particularly good.

It couldn't be helped; that's what happens when you don't carry bestsellers.

Icha Icha Paradise was a bestseller among bestsellers, far more popular than his own Teyvat Travelogue, and most bookstores couldn't even get their hands on stock. Because of his status as a reviewer, Uchiha Arashi received special treatment from the publisher, so he could have stocked some if he wanted to.

But he had refused, only asking the publisher for a single authentic copy to keep for his own collection.

Yet, for all his calculations, he never could have predicted that his first encounter with Jiraiya would turn out like this.

Jiraiya wasn't trying to pick a fight; he had simply walked in with a curious heart and felt a bit disappointed not to see what he was looking for.

"Forget it, it's not your fault. I'm off."

He waved his hand and turned to leave.

"Please wait a moment, customer. If you don't mind, why not take a look at this book?"

Uchiha Arashi called out to him, took a book from behind the counter, and handed it over.

Jiraiya stopped out of curiosity, took it, and looked down.

"Bleach?"

"Yes, this is my new book. This is a trial print from the publisher; it hasn't been officially released yet, and they only sent me a few copies to give away. It is our fault for not having the books you wanted, so please take this as an apology. No charge, it's a gift."

Uchiha Arashi smiled, looking harmless.

"Oh? You're an author too? Interesting."

Jiraiya nodded, his expression softening considerably.

Although colleagues are often rivals, it depends on the situation. First of all, Jiraiya didn't rely solely on writing for a living, so he didn't take competition between authors to heart. Entering a small shop by chance and finding that the owner was also an author seemed quite interesting to him.

Furthermore, being able to exchange ideas with a peer was a good thing for him.

"Huh? Senya Arashi? This name sounds familiar... Ah! I remember now, you're the one who wrote Teyvat Travelogue, aren't you!"

Jiraiya paused when he saw the author's name, recalled it after a moment of thought, and then looked at Uchiha Arashi with excitement.

"Indeed, that is me."

Uchiha Arashi nodded with a smile.

"My goodness, your book is fantastic! You have no idea—I was out doing research when I stumbled upon your book. The fantasy world inside was written so well, it felt as if it truly existed. This is a genre that has never appeared in the Ninja World before..."

It was clear that Jiraiya was a big fan of Uchiha Arashi's previous work.

The annoyance from a moment ago had vanished, replaced by the excitement of meeting an idol.

Although he was quite a bit older than Uchiha Arashi, in terms of writing novels, the two seemed to be on equal footing, just with different focuses.

And the high-fantasy setting Uchiha Arashi wrote was a genre Jiraiya had never encountered before; seeing it for the first time, he couldn't help but be amazed.

What was even more miraculous was that he had met the author himself by pure chance. What a strange twist of fate this was.

Jiraiya was no longer in a hurry to leave.

Uchiha Arashi did not rush him, and the two began to chat as if no one else were around.

During this time, a few customers entered the shop; Uchiha Arashi naturally could not attend to them, so Izumi had to step in, while Uchiha Arashi took the opportunity to lead Jiraiya to the backyard.

Izumi cast a worried glance at him, but Uchiha Arashi gave an imperceptible shake of his head to signal that it was fine.

There would inevitably be traces of ninja activity in the house, and for an expert like Jiraiya, such traces were almost impossible to hide from his eyes.

Yet Uchiha Arashi was not worried; this was Konoha, and a place without traces of ninja activity would be the rarity.

Even if Jiraiya raised questions, he could brush them off by claiming he was researching ninja techniques. Most importantly, Jiraiya would never suspect that he was the person Konoha had been hunting all along, let alone that he would be bold enough to live right inside Konoha.

Therefore, he was not afraid in the slightest.