After bidding Jiraiya farewell, Tsubaki walked home side by side with Mizuki, who was lost in thought, through the pitch-black night.
"Mizuki, was there anything wrong with what Lord Jiraiya said just now?" Tsubaki could not help asking.
"No." Mizuki shook his head. "I just have some immature guesses, but they probably will not have much of an impact."
For the moment, it clearly had nothing to do with Mizuki. Even if his guesses were true, if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up. No matter how one looked at it, it was not Mizuki's problem to worry about.
Still, from another perspective, there had long been signs. The ninja world had an astonishing variety of intelligent species, with all sorts of monsters and freaks appearing one after another. Anyone with even a little power came out to stir up trouble.
There had been a saying in his previous life: those who are not of our kind must have different hearts. That was merely a difference in ethnicity, yet it had already led to endless conflict. In the ninja world, they were not even the same species. Perhaps there truly were clans that were friendly toward humans and indifferent to worldly affairs, but for all of them to be so eager to participate in human conflicts was a little too enthusiastic.
"Still, I never expected Naruto Uzumaki to catch Lord Jiraiya's eye. Just a few months ago, he was an orphan shunned by the villagers." Tsubaki spoke with feeling.
"He's a good kid. Maybe he'll become someone the village can rely on someday," Mizuki said. "Enough of that. Something may happen in the village tomorrow, so let's head back and get some rest early."
With the village leadership having obtained intelligence that the Sand Shinobi were colluding