Moral Decay of a Teacher

After passing through several blocks, Jiraiya led Yuehua Ai to a somewhat dilapidated apartment building.

This building was located in the third ring of Konohagakure, neither in the center of the village nor on its outskirts.

Jiraiya led Yuehua Ai up to the third floor. As soon as he turned the corner at the stairwell, he stopped in front of a wooden door that looked mottled from peeling paint. Yuehua Ai then watched as he pulled a key from his robes and jammed it into the lock.

"Master Jiraiya, this is your home..."

Yuehua Ai looked down the hallway, which was lined with a series of identical solid wood doors. Looking at the building's structure, he didn't need to guess that the rooms behind them were all much the same. He truly hadn't expected that Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin known throughout the Ninja World, would live in such a humble place.

"What's with that look of disgust on your face?!" Seeing Yuehua Ai's expression shift from disbelief to a suppressed smirk, Jiraiya immediately grew indignant.

"Ah, it's nothing, just a bit of a contrast. I never imagined that the Toad Sage Jiraiya, who boasts that he's unparalleled in the heavens and on earth, would live in such a 'fine place' that combines cultural atmosphere, historical atmosphere, and a whole lot of garbage atmosphere!"

"What do you mean 'boast'? You know damn well whether what I said is the truth or not. Besides, think about my strength—do you really think I couldn't find a better place if I wanted to?" Jiraiya retorted with a look of disdain.

"I didn't think you were so shallow, Ai! Don't judge this place by its looks. From here, the distance to every part of the village is equal, making it the most time-efficient location!"

"Don't think you can fool me just because I'm young. This building was constructed for wartime defense, wasn't it? Being equidistant to the whole village isn't for convenience; it's for rapid deployment and defense!"

"Uh..." Jiraiya was stunned by Yuehua Ai's analysis. To be honest, very few people in the younger generation knew the original purpose of this building. He truly hadn't expected that after just a casual glance and one sentence from him, Ai could deduce the special significance behind it.

"This place was built during the time of the Second Hokage. Wars were far more frequent back then, and Konohagakure hadn't reached its current scale. To better protect the village, the Second Hokage designated this area as a military defense base. Young, promising ninjas usually chose to live here—not just to show off their status, but to protect the village."

"From here, one can provide support to any part of the village at the fastest speed. Over the decades, countless ninjas who once lived here have sacrificed their lives for the village. This is a true land of heroes."

Speaking of the history, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia.

"I grew up here. Because of the history behind this place, I understood my responsibilities from a very young age. I was born here, I grew up here, and this place holds very important memories for me. That's why, even after I achieved some success, I never moved away."

"Look at those rooms around us. Many of them once belonged to people I knew well. It's a pity that now, there are very few left who still live here..."

Looking at the doors in the hallway, an undisguised sadness appeared on Jiraiya's face.

Pulling himself together, Jiraiya asked Yuehua Ai with "profound meaning": "Some things cannot be judged by their surface. After hearing my story, when you look at this decaying scene, can you feel the glory behind it?"

"Glory? Sure, there's both light and gray..."

Watching the dust motes dancing in the sunlight at the end of the hallway, Yuehua Ai responded with zero sincerity.

Seeing his disciple looking dazed and lost in thought, Jiraiya knew full well that he hadn't listened to a word he said.

The muscles at the corner of his eye twitched. Fighting the urge to give Ai a headbutt, Jiraiya's voice squeezed out through his teeth:

"Don't be so picky at such a young age. If you don't want to sleep on the street, you'll stay here and like it!"

After huffing again, Jiraiya ignored Ai. To be honest, he was actually regretting it now. Why on earth did he feel the need to talk to Ai about "finding one's original heart"?

Great, now the good disciple who could act cute, play obedient, and warm his heart had vanished. The current Ai was just a little brat who was passively annoying and actively sarcastic at every turn!

"Damn it, what's going on? Is the keyhole rusted!?"

Jiraiya twisted the key, but it wouldn't budge. He pulled it out and shoved it back in, repeating the process several times until he grew incredibly irritable.

"This is definitely the right key. It seems it really has been too long since I was back, and the lock has rusted..."

He pounded on the door hard, and the dust falling from the doorframe left Jiraiya covered in grime, making him even more depressed.

"Master, are you sure this is the right place? Don't tell me you got the wrong one!" Yuehua Ai interjected from the side.

"I've lived here for decades, how could I get it wrong!" Jiraiya shot him a look that said he was an idiot.

"Then let me!"

Ai didn't care about Jiraiya's contempt. He volunteered and signaled for Jiraiya to step aside.

"What are you doing?" Jiraiya asked as he stepped to the side.

"Nothing much, just want to be direct. I've been standing all day, I want to get some rest!"

As he spoke, Yuehua Ai took two steps back, then instantly accelerated, using his massive momentum to deliver a flying kick to the solid wood door...

"CRASH!"

Jiraiya heard a deafening bang, and then he watched as his front door was blown wide open, followed by a cloud of flying dust.

"Pfft, pfft~~"

Jiraiya and Yuehua Ai waved their hands to clear the dust. When their vision cleared, Jiraiya's face turned dark upon seeing the state of the doorway.

Yuehua Ai's kick had indeed forced the door open, but the lock hadn't broken; instead, the half of the lock that had been embedded in the wall was now hanging off the door, leaving a sizable hole in the wall where the lock used to be. A chunk of concrete the size of half a head lay quietly on the floor.

Yuehua Ai gave a sheepish laugh, and before Jiraiya could say anything, he launched into a preemptive tirade:

"What kind of quality is this building? Master Jiraiya, you should file a complaint with the property management. Look at this concrete, it crumbles so easily—this is practically a shoddy construction project! Master, you have to realize this isn't just a simple quality issue; it's indirectly poisoning the future flowers of Konohagakure! It's not just an eyesore for the village, but it also creates safety hazards for the ninjas fighting to defend it, holding them back. This is truly egregious—it's even worse than fleecing the village or undermining the Will of Fire..."

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!"

Jiraiya hurriedly interrupted Yuehua Ai. His brain was in a chaotic fog; the strange vocabulary spilling out of Ai's mouth left him completely bewildered, yet it sounded inexplicably profound!

"Alright, Ai, that's enough. I didn't even say I was going to blame you!"

Jiraiya patted the dust off his head and walked into the room with their luggage.

"This building is older than I am—it must have been built nearly forty years ago. The fact that it's still standing is impressive enough, and you're still setting such high standards for it?!"

"What? Built forty years ago!" Yuehua Ai was dumbfounded.

"Truly a place rich with historical atmosphere. If I happen to kick the bucket while living here, at least when I meet the Grim Reaper, I won't die without knowing why..."

Thinking of the scene outside, Yuehua Ai truly couldn't tell that this place was the most dilapidated of dangerous buildings.

"It's not as serious as you think!" Jiraiya scolded with a laugh, sounding annoyed.

"How could Konoha let a building with safety hazards exist for so long? Although this building was constructed quite a while ago, it has undergone several renovations over the years. The problems you're imagining simply don't exist!"

"Alright, stop complaining. I haven't even said anything, so what opinions could a little brat like you possibly have? Come over here, let's clean up the room first. Sigh, I haven't been back in three years, and so many things are unusable now!"

After beckoning Yuehua Ai over, Jiraiya began to mutter to himself.

So it's my fault for complaining? You're the one who kept going on about 'maintaining one's original heart.' My original heart just happens to love luxury...

Yuehua Ai grumbled inwardly while following Jiraiya into the room.

Upon entering the main hall, Yuehua Ai realized what it meant to have a world within a world. He discovered that the space inside was much more expansive than it appeared from the outside; in addition to a hall of nearly a hundred square meters, there were four rooms distributed around the perimeter.

"Yo, this house is the type that hides its true depth—it's got a bit of inner beauty!"

Strolling around the room to take a look, Yuehua Ai couldn't help but exclaim.

"Hmph, hmph." Hearing his disciple change his tune, Jiraiya hummed triumphantly. "You should know that Konoha treats its ninjas very well. This house is just an insignificant part of that."

Mm-hmm. Yuehua Ai nodded without refuting him. What Jiraiya said was the truth; as the most prosperous and powerful ninja village, Konoha excelled in many aspects.

"Come over here, Xiao Ai. This room will be yours. You can clean it up yourself in a bit!"

Jiraiya pointed to a room near the balcony.

After assigning the room to Xiao Ai, Jiraiya pointed to the room directly across from it. "My bedroom is over there. Don't go in without permission, and remember to knock if you need to find me!"

"Can't go in without permission? Is there some secret in there?" Yuehua Ai asked his master directly.

"Uh... there aren't any secrets, it's just that there are things inside not suitable for you to see..." Jiraiya's eyes darted around as he stammered.

"Oh—" Yuehua Ai feigned sudden realization.

"Hm?! You can guess what kind of things they are?"

Seeing Yuehua Ai's reaction, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel curious.

Observing Jiraiya's "there's no way you could know" expression, Yuehua Ai said with a look of disdain:

"Based on my understanding of you, Master Jiraiya, the only things in your room that you're afraid of me seeing are lewd books or erotic magazines!"

Jiraiya: "..."

Ahhh! This is a disaster!

Wailing in his heart, Jiraiya stared at Yuehua Ai in disbelief. Under his disciple's condescending gaze, he felt that his dignity as a master had never hit such a low point as it did right now...