"Sounds great!" the three cheered in unison.
But once they got into the hot spring, the three of them realized something was off.
Jiraiya, who had suggested the hot spring in the first place, hadn't gotten in. Instead, he'd excitedly dashed over to the women's bath and was crouching in a corner, grinning to himself.
"Minato, was Jiraiya-sensei always like this?" Uchiha Matsuri asked, face darkening.
Come to think of it, why did this scene seem so familiar?
"You should know better than me. You've been with Jiraiya-sensei since you were little." Kiba Inuzuka pursed his lips, looking with disdain at the lecherous Jiraiya in the distance.
The three of them left the hot spring and walked over to Jiraiya, who was still grinning excitedly.
"Jiraiya-sensei!"
After the three of them hauled him away, Jiraiya reluctantly left the women's bath.
Half an hour later.
On the street.
Uchiha Matsuri and the others walked ahead, laughing as they went. Behind them trailed a dejected Jiraiya.
Just moments ago, Jiraiya had complained that the three of them had ruined his fun. In response, they had all looked at him with undisguised disdain.
The four wandered along the streets and soon arrived in front of a trading company called the Fujino Company.
Jiraiya took a square metal token from his robes and handed it to a servant at the entrance. The servant accepted it and immediately went inside.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged man with a fleshy face and a paunch came out.
"You're the shinobi from Konoha?" The man sized up the four of them and took a long drag on his cigarette.
"That's right," Jiraiya replied respectfully.
"You four think you can protect an entire caravan?" the man said with a disdainful sneer.
"Don't underestimate us!" Kiba Inuzuka snapped. "The four of us are more than enough for this mission."
"Hahahaha. I hope so." The man gave a cold laugh, then stamped out his cigarette.
"Come with me." He said no more, simply tossing out the words before heading toward the outskirts of town.
Jiraiya and the others followed him to a secluded grove outside the town.
After checking the goods and confirming the quantities were correct, the man climbed into the lead carriage and called through the canvas cover, "Let's move!"
Three carriages rolled slowly along the road. Five servants walked beside the lead carriage and along the sides, while the four members of Team 5, who were responsible for protecting the caravan, followed at the rear.
"Hey, Minato, who is that guy? He's so full of himself," Kiba Inuzuka muttered unhappily, holding his Ninja Dog.
"I heard he's the manager of this company. His name is Koji Moriya. He's the kind of person who picks on the weak and fears the strong," Jiraiya answered before Minato could. "If he makes any unreasonable demands later, don't go looking for trouble with him."
"Got it," the three replied in unison, resigned.
Uchiha Matsuri's opinion of Koji Moriya was much the same as Jiraiya's, so he naturally agreed with Jiraiya's advice.
The caravan continued its slow journey down the road.
Two days passed, and the caravan still hadn't encountered any attackers. Kiba Inuzuka, who had started out full of enthusiasm, gradually lost his spirit during the dull journey.
"This is so boring. No one's attacked us yet."
Kiba Inuzuka sounded bored.
"E, you look like you're hoping someone will attack the caravan," Jiraiya said helplessly.
"Heh heh heh. If anyone dares attack us, Ono and I will beat them until they're running for the hills." Kiba Inuzuka struck a pose, then chuckled.
Hearing Kiba Inuzuka boast, Uchiha Matsuri couldn't help but tease him. "You're awfully confident. You might be the one running for the hills."
"What did you say?!" Seeing Uchiha Matsuri's disdain, Kiba Inuzuka flew into a rage and raised his fist to hit him. Fortunately, Minato Namikaze stepped in to stop him, and the two didn't come to blows.
Once Minato Namikaze had held him back, Kiba Inuzuka hugged his Ninja Dog and taunted Uchiha Matsuri. "Hmph! Just because you're from the Uchiha Clan doesn't mean you can look down on people. The Inuzuka Clan is plenty strong too!"
When Uchiha Matsuri ignored him, Kiba Inuzuka felt slighted all over again. "Hey, are you even listening? If you can't beat them later and come begging me for help, I won't lift a finger."
"Got it." Uchiha Matsuri couldn't be bothered to argue with Kiba Inuzuka. He tossed out a reply and continued walking.
"Damn it." Kiba Inuzuka stamped his foot in anger.
"This is such a headache." Seeing the members of his team at odds again, Jiraiya couldn't help sighing.
Minato Namikaze and Kiba Inuzuka had often clashed before. Now Kiba Inuzuka was at odds with Uchiha Matsuri too.
Fortunately, Uchiha Matsuri and Minato Namikaze got along well enough. Otherwise, if all three of them refused to speak to each other, just keeping the peace would give Jiraiya a massive headache.
"Jiraiya, you're making a lot of noise!" Koji Moriya's head had appeared out of the carriage at some point.
"Mr. Moriya, sorry for disturbing your rest." Though he disliked Koji Moriya, Jiraiya still apologized respectfully.
"Hmph. I don't care how much you squabble among yourselves. Just get my goods safely to the Land of Earth," Koji Moriya said irritably.
"Yes, sir."
Another half day passed, and dusk fell. As the sky grew darker, everyone's vision gradually blurred. The next village was still several miles away, so the caravan had to pick up the pace if they wanted to reach it before nightfall.
"Wait," Kiba Inuzuka said suddenly, breaking the silence.
"What is it?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
"Northwest, three hundred meters away. I can smell more than a hundred people. It seems they're lying in ambush on both sides of the road." Kiba Inuzuka frowned.
"Woof, woof!" Ono, nestled in Kiba Inuzuka's arms, barked in agreement.
"Bandits or shinobi?" Jiraiya asked.
"I can't smell any chakra. They're probably ordinary bandits," Kiba Inuzuka replied cautiously.
"That should be easy enough to handle." Uchiha Matsuri thought to himself. Hearing that more than a hundred people were lying in wait had made him tense up for a moment.
He could never forget the painful memories of Scarlet Valley. The average shinobi of the Sabaku Clan had only been at the Chunin level, but there had been so many of them.
Even the strongest shinobi couldn't withstand tens of thousands of shinobi attacking at once. Wasn't that how the Third Raikage, wielder of the Strongest Spear and the Strongest Shield, had been worn down to death in the original story?
But a hundred ordinary people were nothing like a hundred shinobi. Without chakra, ordinary people could only rely on their fists, feet, and weapons. In terms of strength, they were nowhere near a match for shinobi.
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