Six Rogue Ninjas (Second Update)

"Therefore, even if you have to die in battle, you must protect this caravan. If this shipment is lost, your entire Konoha couldn't afford the cost of this single cartload of goods!"

"Understood."

Jiraiya did not waste words with Koji Moriya, instead walking straight toward a large tree on the right side of the road.

Next, Jiraiya summoned several small toads. After whispering a few words to them, the toads immediately scattered in all directions.

Once the four of them had dispersed to the four sides of the caravan as planned, the caravan crossed the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass.

A few minutes later, the toads Jiraiya had released returned one after another, reporting the hiding spots, numbers, and strength of the enemy ninjas within a two-kilometer radius.

"Finally, they can't hold back anymore," Jiraiya muttered to himself.

Immediately, Jiraiya drew three kunai from his scroll and assumed a combat stance. Seeing Jiraiya's actions, Uchiha Matsuri and the other two also stood on guard in turn.

Deep in the forest, over a dozen ninjas lay in ambush, intending to intercept the cargo. Seeing that the leader was Jiraiya, one of the "Sannin," everyone could not help but frown.

If Konoha had sent other jonin, it might have been a fight worth taking, but since the opponent was the renowned and formidable Jiraiya, many among the various ninja groups were already having second thoughts.

High up in a lush, leafy tree stood six rogue ninjas from Kirigakure.

"Big Brother, Konoha sent Jiraiya to protect this caravan. What do we do?" a dark-complexioned Kirigakure rogue asked anxiously.

"Jiraiya?" Hearing the name, the leader of the ninjas couldn't help but pause.

"This is bad. If it's Jiraiya, why are we even fighting? We should just run away," a female rogue on the side said sarcastically.

"Shut up," the leader scolded impatiently. "Yoru, you must understand, as long as we pull off this job, we won't have to worry about funds for several years."

"But the opponent is Jiraiya..." the female rogue retorted defiantly.

"So what if it's Jiraiya? Among the six of us, three were once members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen! I don't believe that if we all attack together, we can't beat one Jiraiya." On a branch, a pale-faced rogue with silver hair said with disdain, "Tell me, Yoru Mizuzuki, don't tell me you're afraid to fight?!"

"Afraid to fight? Heh, Narishige Sawa, why don't you tell me when I've ever been afraid to fight?" Yoru Mizuzuki roared unhappily.

"Then who was just complaining about wanting to run away?" Narishige Sawa sneered.

"You..."

Before they had even made a move on the caravan, his subordinates were already infighting.

The leader glared at the two who couldn't stand each other and scolded in a low voice: "Enough, both of you shut up. Listen to me!"

"When the caravan gets close, I and the other two former members of the 'Seven Ninja Swordsmen' will join forces to deal with Jiraiya, and the remaining three will take care of those three brats."

"What about the other ninjas in the forest?" the dark-complexioned ninja asked impatiently.

"Hmph, those people are just a bunch of weak cowards. Ignore them." The leader swept a disdainful glance toward several different directions deep in the forest.

"Yes."

On the main road.

The caravan did not stop its advance; instead, it deliberately increased its speed.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Over a dozen kunai suddenly flew out from all directions.

"Watch out!"

Jiraiya swatted away a kunai and shouted a warning.

"Understood."

Uchiha Matsuri, Minato Namikaze, and Kiba Inuzuka all agilely dodged the incoming kunai.

In an instant, four ninjas jumped down from the trees on both sides. Judging by their headbands, they were ninjas from Kumogakure.

"Hmph, four Cloud Ninjas. I don't know why you just ambushed us. We are on an escort mission; if you have no business here, please step aside," Jiraiya said with dissatisfaction.

"We were also hired by someone to seize the cargo," one of the Cloud Ninjas replied.

"In that case, don't blame me for being impolite," Jiraiya said, a hint of killing intent in his tone.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

Jiraiya held oil refined from his chakra in his mouth, spitting it out while using a fire technique to ignite it.

The flame bullet flew rapidly toward the Cloud Ninjas a few meters away; one ninja failed to dodge in time and died instantly.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Rod!"

Blue electricity suddenly surged over a Cloud Ninja's palm. In an instant, the ninja leaped forward, striking toward Jiraiya's chest.

"Since you don't want to stop, I'll have to spar with you," Jiraiya smiled slightly, his entire body radiating an astonishing killing intent.

Dodging the Cloud Ninja's lightning strike, Jiraiya leaped sideways and struck the ninja's back. After being hit, the Cloud Ninja spat out a mouthful of blood and crashed heavily to the ground.

"To think they'd try to fight Master Jiraiya with this level of skill—how overconfident," Kiba Inuzuka said, looking with disdain at the three Cloud Ninjas being brutally handled by Jiraiya.

Within two minutes, the three Cloud Ninjas were defeated by Jiraiya one after another.

Seeing the four Cloud Ninjas easily defeated by Jiraiya in such a short time, the ninjas hiding in the dense forest all gasped in shock.

"This Jiraiya... he's too strong," a female ninja on a branch couldn't help but exclaim.

"Indeed. To defeat a squad that was by no means weak in just a few minutes—truly, the Sannin lives up to his reputation." An old man with a white beard watched the distant battle with a troubled expression.

"Well, old man, are we still going to make a move?" a female ninja asked cautiously.

"Wait a while longer. Let's see if anyone else loses their patience," the white-bearded old man sighed softly.

Beside the merchant caravan.

After "slaughtering" the four men without the slightest effort, Jiraiya led the caravan to continue onward.

Seeing how easily the first four to step forward had been defeated, the other factions hiding in the dense forest became much more well-behaved. While they dared not reveal themselves, every faction was hoping that other ninjas would step up to hold Jiraiya back, so that they could then deal with those three "frail" genin.

For a full half-hour, the caravan protected by Team 5 did not suffer another attack.

"Could it be that everyone hiding in the woods has been scared off?" Jiraiya muttered.

"They just don't dare to act for the moment," Uchiha Matsuri whispered a reminder. "As soon as a powerful ninja manages to hold Master Jiraiya back, the other factions will scramble to attack the caravan."

As he spoke, six people suddenly stepped out from both sides of the road ahead.

Sensing that the chakra of all six individuals was exceptionally strong, Jiraiya immediately raised his guard. "Minato, E, Matsuri, these six are not easy to deal with. You must be extremely careful."

"Understood," the three replied in unison.

When the six drew closer, Jiraiya said with slight surprise, "The Six Rogue Ninjas?"