Jiraiya Is Determined to Leave / Returning to the Village

The Senju clan members didn't know exactly who Senju Muzoku Impure World Reincarnation back then, but they had a general idea.

No matter how much they were weakened after Impure World Reincarnation, their numbers were still there; they were stockpiled by the Senju Muzoku for the Fourth Ninja World War.

Here's a joke: all eight major ninja clans actually had members, but back then no one went to ask Senju Muzoku. Firstly, the historical reasons made it difficult for everyone to bring it up, and secondly, the matter itself was difficult to handle.

For example, the Uchiha Clan ultimately failed to retrieve Uchiha Kei, who was known as "Bare-Handed".

After all, when Senju Hashirama Uchiha Madara was alive, Uchiha Madara passed away, Senju Hashirama remained active for many years. The Uchiha Clan truly respected the First Hokage from the bottom of their hearts.

Once Senju Tobirama becomes Hokage, this matter will be even more unmanageable.

Later, everyone simply comforted themselves by saying, "At least it's for the sake of protecting the village," and out of sight, out of mind.

Although South Gate City was destroyed, considering that the main battle area was concentrated in the south, the northern area was actually well preserved, and even the northern city wall was intact.

So the Leaf Village ninja army simply moved into the latter half of the fortress.

Jiraiya wandered around for a while, and finally found a relatively nice house to use as his office.

The first thing he did after starting his work was to summon Uchiha Shingen.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Jiraiya, Who Only Wants to Leave

The room that Jiraiya used as a temporary office was a fairly spacious one. Since it was already dark, he turned on a lamp. The light was dim, and a gust of cold wind suddenly blew in from the cracks in the wall, making the papers on the table rustle.

Jiraiya glanced at the wall with dissatisfaction, pressed down on the corner of the paper with his hand, and continued writing.

Perhaps the environment wasn't right; Jiraiya struggled for a long time, but what he wrote turned out to be utterly tasteless.

"Sigh..." Jiraiya gave up. In this world where war breaks out at the drop of a hat, when will it ever end!

When Uchiha Shingen arrived, he saw Jiraiya sitting at the table with a very melancholy expression.

"Lord Jiraiya, you were looking for me?"

Please don't ask him where the body is again.

Even though we're from the same village, he'll really get angry if you ask too many questions! What's he up to, constantly thinking about that old man from the first game?

"Oh! Shingen, come and sit down." Jiraiya was quite enthusiastic.

Uchiha Shingen walked over and casually glanced at the manuscript...

He was shocked!

I thought Jiraiya was writing something important.

It's all dirty jokes!?

"Lord Jiraiya, what are you doing?"

Uchiha Shingen thought he was blind; was Jiraiya that greasy now?

"Oh? You mean this?" Jiraiya waved the manuscript in his hand without any shame. "Sigh, Shingen, you know, as a writer, I have to take advantage of every opportunity to gather material."

You're not using talent; you're wasting your potential. You shouldn't be a ninja.

The title of ninja is not worthy of you!

"I thought you were writing a war report..."

"I don't need to write that kind of thing," Jiraiya said matter-of-factly. "But you, you can start preparing to write it now. After all, you're at this level, so you still need to do the necessary preparations."

"I want to write too?" Uchiha Shingen was stunned.

I haven't done anything like preparing materials since I became Jonin.

What kind of documents is a combat- Jonin writing? Shouldn't this be the job of administrative ninjas?

"Of course, such important events need to be recounted by the ninja in charge. You were originally supposed to write about the Nine-Tails' rampage, but since everyone was present that time, we'll waive that requirement."

Jiraiya had a "I'm an experienced uncle" look on his face.

"It's alright, just write whatever you want. Just write down the details, and make sure you can write down any Ninjutsu or anything. This is mainly to make it easier for the village to assign you tasks in the future."

Why don't you just say that the village needs to routinely collect information on its ninjas?

Uchiha Shingen curled his lip.

One downside of large villages is the complicated administrative procedures.

Only someone in the administration department would come up with something so formalistic.

Which Jonin would be stupid enough to actually write down how they got into trouble? Who knows when a file theft might be exposed?

"Understood." Uchiha Shingen recalled how Senju Hashirama explained Ninjutsu to others, and he knew what writing style he needed to use.

This is the writing style of the First master, dare you say it's bad?

"None of this matters. There are administrative staff in the military anyway. If you really don't want to write it, just tell them verbally and let them write it themselves." Jiraiya knew exactly what kind of people the administrative staff were. This was something the administrative staff came up with to avoid trouble.

It's understandable that the administrative staff would have reservations about asking a Kage Level ninja about their mission completion process.

"Compared to that, Shingen, have you considered which department you'd like to join?" Jiraiya finally got to the point.

"Leaving aside the Nine-Tails' rampage, after this war, you've become the village's symbol of strength. Unless you plan to take over the Police Force, it's not appropriate for you to stay there, you know that, right?"

"I know that." Uchiha Shingen nodded in agreement. "So, what are the village's plans for me?"

"Well, if it's my personal suggestion, I think it would be best for you to join the Jonin Council. But well, it depends on how Minato and Fugaku negotiate. After all, you're still with the Police Force, so even if you're transferred, there will still be procedures to follow."

"I have no problem with that, as long as I don't go to the ANBU."

"Shingen, you don't like the ANBU?"

"Of course not, it's all about getting things done. I just don't like that kind of work atmosphere." Uchiha Shingen gestured as if putting on a mask. "My personality is actually quite difficult to deal with; the ANBU are too serious."

"Don't worry, no matter which department you go to, you should prioritize your own opinion," Jiraiya said.

The Legendary Sannin were always wandering around and never actually went to work. Only Orochimaru had ANBU as Shimura Danzō.

Who would have thought that resigning from this position would lead to trouble?

After the Orochimaru incident, Leaf Village will definitely not associate Kage Level combat power, a symbol of strength, with the ANBU under any pretext.

Ultimately, the nature of work in the ANBU is inherently less than honorable and prone to generating negative influences.

The five major villages all treat Kage Level figures in the same way: providing them with the best resources and maximum freedom, and ignoring the orders of anyone other than the Kage.

The village's leaders also show the utmost respect to their own Kage Level, as these are all treasures of the village. There's no way they'd be assigned to do anything just because of a transfer order.

For a ninja to reach this level is the pinnacle of the ninja profession; even the village kage doesn't have it as easy as they do.

Just like in Sunagakure, the Fourth Kazekage, one of the Five Kage, didn't earn much salary and had to personally go to sea to pan for Sunagakure's financial hole. But what about the Kage Level of Sand Village? They didn't work during the day, drank tea at night, and always signed the bill.

The only pitiful thing is that the Fourth Kazekage's hands cramped up from panning for gold.

It is said that the Fourth Kazekage considered retiring early, but when he looked around, there was no one who could succeed him.

That's really lame.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the same reason: poverty.

Leaf Village is not poor, so the Kage Level are very understanding of the Hokage's difficulties and never take advantage of the village in terms of personal spending.

I can't afford to lose face.

"Lord Jiraiya, is that all?" Uchiha Shingen felt that Jiraiya was being a bit too optimistic. Although the Cloud Ninja had retreated to the Land of Frost, it didn't mean they had given up.

It's just that there's one less Jinchūriki; it doesn't mean the Jinchūriki can't be won.

"Yes, that's it." Jiraiya nodded. "As for Cloud Village, they'll probably just withdraw like this. They won't fight if they can't gain anything, so we probably won't have to withdraw for long either."

"This time, the village should be able to make some money off Cloud Village." Uchiha Shingen felt an inspiration strike him. "Back when Cloud Village and Kinkaku Ginkaku, Cloud Village didn't compensate Leaf Village. Now that the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki is in our hands, we should be able to squeeze some money out of them, right?"

"That's not necessarily true." Jiraiya spent so much time in Leaf Village's decision-making circles, he had a fairly clear understanding of Leaf Village's long-standing strategy. "Cloud Village can't be weakened too much either. Instead of that, you should think carefully about how to spend those 50 million ryo."

Despite his smiling face, Jiraiya was thinking about something else entirely.

Uchiha Shingen said he freed the Senju Muzoku Impure World Reincarnation) of the Senju Muzoku, so the group mentioned in the top-secret files that attacked Cloud Ninja was probably also freed, right?

One can only imagine how the Kumogakure, which had suffered excruciating pain from the Senju Muzoku, would react.

Those Cloud Ninja who aren't very quick-witted might actually think that Senju Muzoku are still alive.

Hopefully, their reaction won't be too strong.

Because he just wanted to finish this job quickly so he could get to do something more serious.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Returning to the Village

Jiraiya's prediction was correct; on the second day after the Leaf Village ninja army was stationed at South Gate City, the envoy from Kumogakure arrived.

They got very straight to the point, proposing that both sides suspend military conflict.

He neither put on a brave face nor showed any undue weakness.

The envoy from Kumogakure) went straight to the point, explaining to Konoha (Kumogakure) the reasons why a Ninja World was the optimal solution, based on intelligence gathered by Leaf Village.

Both the Iwagakure and the Sand Village are stirring with activity.

The number one gold prospector in the Land of Wind stopped prospecting for gold after the war between Leaf Village and Cloud Village started, and now he's in meetings Tenten.

Moreover, the envoy from Kumogakure presented a reason that Leaf Village would find difficult to refuse.

It's just a temporary ceasefire. The Fourth Raikage will personally go to Hidden Leaf Village when the time is right to discuss and sign a treaty with the Fourth Hokage. The Two-Tails Jinchūriki will also be retrieved at that time. Meanwhile, Kumogakure will also provide additional support, and a batch of supplies is already en route as ransom for the return of South Gate City.

That's a nice way of putting it, of course. South Gate City was completely destroyed by Uchiha Shingen, leaving only a back wall and a few dilapidated houses. What's there to redeem?

Essentially, it's an initial compensation payment from Kumogakure to Leaf Village.

However, Leaf Village didn't care.

As the old saying goes, treat those who come to spend money with the warmth of a spring breeze, making them feel comfortable spending their money.

Even in war, the spirit of Leaf Village must not be forgotten.

Furthermore, after this battle, the significance of Kumogakure to Leaf Village has changed. It is no longer an enemy. After losing two Jinchūriki and thousands of ninjas, Kumogakure has transformed from a threat to Leaf Village in the north into a nominal Leaf Village but a de facto ally, capable of relieving Leaf Village of the pressure from Cloud Village and Sand Village.

This is also the norm in the five great ninja villages.

As the village second only to Leaf Village in wealth, Cloud Village attracts just as many covetous eyes as Leaf Village.

This is also a very important reason why the Hawks was able to dominate in the Cloud Village.

The strength of Leaf Village is due to innate genes, while the strength of Cloud Village comes more from hard work. Kumogakure has never lacked the ability to adapt flexibly.

In short, the two sides had a very pleasant conversation.

Before leaving, the Cloud Village envoy made a special trip to say goodbye to Uchiha Shingen.

"Shingen, you are welcome to visit Kumogakure you have the chance," he said, seemingly unaware that the man before him had just killed a bunch of Cloud Ninja and destroyed the city beneath his feet two days ago.

"Yes, I personally really admire the scenery of Kumogakure," Uchiha Shingen said with a smile.

I just want to go dance in front of Old Man Silly's grave.

I'm not going to dig up the grave. I really don't want to touch it this playthrough, and there's no need to.

I've also heard that the girls in the Land of Lightning are particularly enthusiastic, but I don't know if that's true.

"That would be for the best." The envoy from Kumogakure calmly looked at Uchiha Shingen and said, "Although Cloud Village and Leaf Village have misunderstandings, they certainly have a bright future."

"Of course, Your Excellency is welcome to visit Leaf Village anytime." Uchiha Shingen said magnanimously, "Leaf Village warmly welcomes guests from afar."

The Kumogakure ninja didn't respond, but simply smiled politely, then bid farewell to the Leaf Village Jonin and left.

Less than half an hour after they left, the supply convoy from Kumogakure arrived. The convoy, carrying supplies, formed a long line and was escorted all the way to the city wall by a Cloud Ninja army.

However, judging from their measured advances and retreats, anyone who believes this is a second-tier team from the rear would really have something wrong with their head.

Who Jonin in their transport team?

Clearly, the Cloud Ninja had two plans in mind.

After receiving and inventorying the supplies, the Leaf Village ninja army spent the night in South Gate City and broke camp the next morning, embarking on their journey home.

They arrived with great fanfare and returned in high spirits. Overall, everyone was satisfied with the trip, and the Jonin) also made a lot of money.

However, due to the need to transport supplies, the return journey was not so quick.

Uchiha Shingen also used this journey to process what he had gained during this period.

The harvest was considerable.