Jiraiya

Half a month had passed since the intelligence was sent out, and Uchiha Shisui had finally waited for reinforcements from Konoha.

At the hot spring inn, a small toad scanned the surroundings, as if checking to see if anyone was following.

Upon seeing that the area was perfectly safe, it hopped into one of the inn's rooms.

Uchiha Shisui had received notification and was naturally waiting in the room early on.

When the small toad saw Uchiha Shisui on the rafters, it stopped moving. As its mouth opened, a hand reached out from within, followed by the rest of the body.

"So this is Yugakure? The old man really assigned a good mission."

After Jiraiya dispelled the Summoning Technique and found no one around, he quickly changed into his bathing attire.

"Are you Jiraiya, one of the Sannin?"

Seeing that Jiraiya did not seem to have noticed him, Uchiha Shisui took the initiative to speak.

Jiraiya followed the voice and looked up at the ceiling, only then discovering Uchiha Shisui sitting on the rafters.

Seeing Uchiha Shisui ask for his name, he spread his arms, straightened his back, dropped into a horse stance, and looked up, saying:

"That's right! I am the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku! Jiraiya has arrived!"

Uchiha Shisui was naturally too lazy to watch his self-introduction. He jumped down from the rafters, took out a scroll, and said:

"You understand the mission, right? This is the Suna intelligence I've gathered over the past half-month. Let's share the information now."

"Wait a second! The mission or whatever can wait. I need to go gather material first. After all, it wasn't easy to get here. Ciao!"

Jiraiya scratched his head, refused in a hurry, and headed straight for the bathhouse below.

"This guy!"

Uchiha Shisui awkwardly retracted the scroll in his hand, then changed into a bathrobe and followed him.

Inside the steam-filled open-air bathhouse, Jiraiya balanced a wooden sign with the character "Hot Spring" on his head and slowly began to climb the high wall.

"Hehehe!"

After climbing the wall, Jiraiya stared straight into the women's bath below, his face wearing a lecherous and curious expression.

From time to time, he showed surprise or satisfaction at the scenes he witnessed.

"Is this what you call gathering material?"

Uchiha Shisui walked to the base of the wall and, seeing Jiraiya in this state, spoke with disdain.

"Shh!"

Seeing Uchiha Shisui, Jiraiya quickly raised his index finger, signaling him to be quiet.

After jumping down from the wall, he pulled Uchiha Shisui over and said, "I'm planning to release a new book and need a lot of material. I really was gathering material just now, alright!"

"Mm-hmm, that reason is barely acceptable." Uchiha Shisui crossed his arms and nodded.

"Geez, is my word as Jiraiya really that untrustworthy!"

Jiraiya hung his head and said in a dejected tone.

"Eek, you're annoying!"

"Haha~ (￣▽￣~)~, ladies, here I come! (His hands twitched, intending to grab a certain sphere)"

Jiraiya's ears twitched; the playful sounds coming from the women's bath next door were constantly tugging at his heartstrings.

"Kid, stop bothering me while I'm gathering material! How about this: after tonight is over, I'll grant you one favor. You should know that a promise from me, Jiraiya, is worth its weight in gold!"

Jiraiya patted his chest and turned to look at Uchiha Shisui.

However, Uchiha Shisui was no longer in Jiraiya's line of sight.

"Where did this kid go?"

Jiraiya scratched his head, and just as he intended to climb the wall to continue watching, he saw Uchiha Shisui's figure already perched on top.

"You! You kid, you're actually... a man of culture!" Jiraiya pointed indignantly at the peeping Uchiha Shisui.

"Idiot! If you don't look now, they're going to leave."

Uchiha Shisui rolled his eyes at Jiraiya and said slowly.

Hearing this, Jiraiya couldn't be bothered to scold Uchiha Shisui anymore; he hurriedly climbed onto the wall, his eyes curving as he looked down at the women's bath.

Seeing that Jiraiya was exposing too much of his head while looking at the target, Shisui whispered a few words into his ear.

Jiraiya was suddenly enlightened and immediately put it into practice.

In the bushes around the women's bath, the two, transformed into a large and a small shrub, had eyes shining with excitement, fearing they might miss a single detail. The waves in the pool rose and fell, and the beauty on display gave both Jiraiya and Uchiha Shisui a feast for the eyes.

The next day, in the room, Jiraiya and Uchiha Shisui were enjoying breakfast.

"Haha! Shisui, are you interested in becoming my disciple? You know, becoming a disciple of the Toad Sage is something many people would envy!"

Jiraiya gnawed on a chicken leg and reached out to pat Uchiha Shisui on the shoulder.

"I'll see how you perform. After all, you're an idiot who couldn't even think of using the Transformation Technique to peep."

Uchiha Shisui dodged Jiraiya, who was trying to wrap an arm around him, and said indifferently.

"Ha? Are you questioning the status of the genius Jiraiya, one of the Sannin?"

"Isn't that the case?"

"You brat, don't underestimate one of the Sannin, you jerk."

"Isn't that the case?"

"There's no helping it, you really are a troublesome kid."

Amidst the bickering between Uchiha Shisui and Jiraiya, Jiraiya was quickly defeated.

"By the way, this mission is supposed to be about disrupting the Sand Ninja's arrangements in the Land of Rivers, right?"

Jiraiya suddenly turned serious and said to Uchiha Shisui.

"Yes, the Hokage needs to send a large number of ninja and supplies to the border, which takes time. Therefore, we need to harass the Sand Ninja in the Land of Rivers to buy time."

Uchiha Shisui unfolded the intelligence in his hand and said slowly.

Jiraiya reached out to take the intelligence, and after reading the Sand Ninja's layout, he nodded and said, "I have a general understanding of your intelligence, but I also have a piece of intelligence for you."

After saying that, Jiraiya handed a scroll to Uchiha Shisui.

Uchiha Shisui took a quick glance and understood what had recently happened in the ninja world.

Uchiha Shisui slowly unfolded the intelligence scroll: A large number of Cloud Ninja and Sand Ninja had appeared in the Land of Rain, and both sides had engaged in combat. In the hands of Rasa, the new master of Magnet Release, the Cloud Ninja forces suffered heavy losses. The Third Raikage turned to launch a surprise attack on Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, while the Sand Ninja were also threatened by Hanzo of Amegakure, forcing them to withdraw from the Land of Rain and head toward the Land of Rivers instead.

"As it stands, it is only a matter of time before the war spreads to the Land of Fire."

Jiraiya sighed heavily, his expression grave, as if he had already foreseen the cruel war to come.

"It's just war, relax." Uchiha Shisui chuckled, his tone casual.

"Don't you think war is easy, kid. If that person hadn't spared us back then, I might have died in the Second Shinobi World War as well."

As he spoke, Jiraiya stood up and stretched, his eyes gradually becoming distant, as if he were looking through the scene before him and returning to the cruel, smoke-filled battlefield of the Second Shinobi World War.

Jiraiya stared intently at Uchiha Shisui and said earnestly, "War is the loss of countless lives. It takes away the people and bonds you cherish; it is a tragic song of blood and tears."

"Perhaps." Uchiha Shisui said indifferently.

Jiraiya looked at the young, arrogant, and indifferent Uchiha Shisui before him, and couldn't help but recall that he had been just like that back in the day. He shook his head helplessly and walked slowly toward the door.

Uchiha Shisui watched Jiraiya slip away and thought to himself: For you, it might truly be that way, but for me, it is not...