Jiraiya the Invisible Tycoon

Not to mention whether Orochimaru might have tampered with the Hashirama Cells he gave to Qiuyang.

The Konoha Crush Plan, launched by Orochimaru in alliance with Sunagakure, caused immeasurable losses to Konoha.

The most terrifying part was that the Third Hokage, the spiritual leader of the entire village, had actually died in this attack.

Countless other jonin, chunin, and other pillars of the village were lost as well.

Fortunately, the rising generation was not significantly affected; in fact, Naruto, Shikamaru, Shino, and others even grew through this assault.

After concluding his deal with Orochimaru, Qiuyang rushed back to Konoha the very next day. After receiving a beating from his teacher, he was now walking with Jiraiya through the streets currently under reconstruction.

Along the way, there were broken walls and ruins everywhere, with children who had lost their loved ones sobbing intermittently. The villagers' faces were filled with dejection, devoid of any joy.

Seeing the once-prosperous streets reduced to such a desolate state, Qiuyang couldn't help but sigh.

It seems that in any world or era, feudal regimes always fulfill the saying: "When it rises, the people suffer; when it falls, the people suffer."

"The Ninja World is just like this. For the sake of their own interests, people constantly trigger new friction and conflicts. Even yesterday's allies can stab you in the back at a critical moment."

Jiraiya was sternly lecturing his student. Today, it was quite rare for him not to show even a hint of lechery toward the women passing by on the roadside.

Jiraiya had never expected that the Third Hokage would die in this battle. Even now, he was still blaming himself for not dealing with the invaders at the front gate more quickly so he could have rushed over to help him.

Perhaps, that might have stopped Orochimaru from killing his master...

Sigh, there are not so many "what-ifs" in the world, and it's useless to think about them now.

Jiraiya let out a deep sigh, worried about the village's future.

He wondered what arrangements would be made for the village now that the Third Hokage was gone, and whether Danzo would...

These matters were too annoying. He pretended to be very relaxed, patted his student on the shoulder, and praised him:

"I've heard about your situation. Aside from chasing the enemy, you did a beautiful job. Many people in the village are already calling you the 'Black Flash of Konoha', Qiuyang."

Hmm, have the busybodies already given me a nickname? And it spread so fast?

Black Flash of Konoha, oh my, not bad at all.

While admiring the person who came up with such a catchy nickname, Qiuyang couldn't help but feel a bit smug and inflated:

"This was the resolution I made after I took you as my teacher, Jiraiya-sensei. I will never lose face for you."

Jiraiya nodded with great satisfaction, but then thought of his other student, Naruto, and felt another headache coming on.

"There will likely be a major adjustment to the village's personnel structure later. Since you contributed so much to resisting the enemy during this invasion, I will fight for you..."

"No, no, Jiraiya-sensei, I don't want such things to tie me down. I prefer a life like yours."

Jiraiya traveled to various parts of the Ninja World while gathering intelligence, a point Qiuyang greatly envied.

He planned that after he evolved into an invincible Otsutsuki in the future, he would also cast everything aside to travel the Ninja World and broaden his horizons.

But hearing Qiuyang's unambitious remarks, Jiraiya got angry and knocked his student on the head:

"What do you know, kid? Do you think I'm just playing? I'm collecting infor... collecting material for my novels, hahaha..."

Damn, almost let it slip. It was better not to tell Qiuyang for now about how he secretly collected all kinds of intelligence for the village.

Seeing Qiuyang holding his head in pain to ease the agony, Jiraiya gave him another flick to the forehead:

"Would your teacher harm you? You need to understand the promotion path of the Fourth Hokage; he sat in that seat by constantly completing missions and through personnel adjustments."

That's why Minato died so young.

Qiuyang added this thought to himself. He didn't think he had inherited the Will of Fire; he just wanted to be a "lying-flat" ninja and had no desire for a high-risk profession like Hokage.

However, since he had indeed made a name for himself this time by helping the village defend against foreign enemies, it wouldn't hurt to fish for some benefits.

So, Qiuyang looked up and spoke carefully after some deliberation:

"...Teacher, if it's possible, the place I used to live was destroyed in this attack. Could you talk to the village leaders and find me a better place..."

This mercenary look made Jiraiya question the Great Toad Sage's prophecy once again.

He highly suspected that the Great Toad Sage had been sleeping when he made it, or that he had found the wrong person in the prophecy.

Otherwise, show him a person who could influence the landscape of the Ninja World who would choose to "lie flat" instead of actively climbing the ladder.

Seeing Jiraiya staring at him with eyes full of deep confusion and resentment, Qiuyang felt a chill and hurriedly said it was just a casual remark.

Unexpectedly, in return, Jiraiya reached into his robe and started digging around:

"I'd be embarrassed to even mention such a small request. I have a few properties in the village in good locations; there should be some you like..."

He then pulled out a small stack of documents that looked like land deeds. Qiuyang was surprised for a moment, then snatched them from his teacher's hand to take a look:

A detached villa with a garden just ten meters from the Hokage Building, a "school district house" one hundred meters from the Ninja Academy, and several other properties in prime locations...

The list went on, all of them high-value, prime real estate.

Qiuyang's eyes lit up like lightbulbs, and he kept making "tsk-tsk" sounds, marveling at how deeply this cheap teacher of his had been hiding his wealth.

Whether in the anime or in reality, he had never shown his wealth.

Yet, he turned out to be a bona fide tycoon.

But actually, thinking about it carefully, there was nothing wrong with that. After all, Jiraiya was known as one of the "Legendary Sannin"; just that title alone meant he couldn't be someone of ordinary financial means.

Some might say:

Oh, Jiraiya is always traveling around, drinking with beauties or spending the night with them whenever he sees one, how could he possibly have any money?

Well, let me ask you, why is Jiraiya wandering around? He's on missions for Konoha, which means it's essentially a business trip on the public dime—he gets paid and receives allowances, alright!

All that drinking and chasing women is just for the sake of the mission, and he can submit receipts for reimbursement...

Uh, I've gone off on a tangent.

Anyway, Qiuyang was already feeling the thrill of having a wealthy teacher, so after some deliberation, he picked out two of the deeds.

One was a secluded residence near the village wall, and the other was in another core street of Konoha where food and entertainment were easily accessible.

Seeing his student show absolutely no restraint, Jiraiya's mouth twitched. Just as Qiuyang was about to put them away, Jiraiya snatched them back with lightning speed.

After comparing them repeatedly, he handed the one near the wall to Qiuyang:

"It's not good for a young person to have such assets so early; it hinders your drive. When your strength is as great as mine, come find me to get the other one."

With that, he vanished into a puff of smoke with a "poof," leaving a dumbfounded Qiuyang standing there, clutching the deed in the desolate wind.

Good heavens, why is it that no matter where you are, there's always an elder trying to gaslight you into working hard instead of letting you slack off?