Jiraiya listened to the two of them and rolled his eyes helplessly. Trust him? Weren't they just afraid he might run off? No matter how unreliable he was, he would never joke about something like this.
Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Forget the Anbu. But I want to take someone with me! Hmm, a genin will do!" He smiled faintly, a mysterious glint in his expression.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura looked at each other.
Konoha, northwest corner, atop the city wall. If any Konoha shinobi had been there, they would have been utterly shocked, because two figures were standing on the wall—and they were clearly not Konoha shinobi. This place was covered by Konoha's special barrier. Although Otogakure and Sunagakure had forcibly broken it during the Chunin Exams using Orochimaru's method, it had since been repaired.
Yet two people had appeared atop the wall, and the barrier had not reacted in the slightest!
"So Konoha was reduced to this state by that bastard Orochimaru. It really doesn't resemble the greatest shinobi village in the ninja world from back then at all." A shark-faced man wearing a black cloak embroidered with red clouds stood atop one section of Konoha's wall, a massive sword slung over his shoulder. Looking down at Konoha's war-ravaged ruins, he spoke in a mocking tone.
"Kisame, Konoha is completely different now from what it once was. The Konoha of old has fallen. The aged Third Hokage had no way to fully protect Konoha against the Sunagakure forces allied with Orochimaru. Even the Shinobi Hero of old died an unnatural death. It is quite ironic." The other man, wearing a conical hat, spoke indifferently.
"Heh heh. Could it be, Itachi, that you still feel attached to your hometown?" Kisame chuckled, casting a meaningful glance at his companion.
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