It Had Still Come

Nothing happened that night...

At dawn, Jiraiya yawned and stretched, shaking off the fatigue of the night.

It was still early, so he planned to wander around and look for some material.

"Speaking of which, that Orochimaru..."

He sat up straight, only to see a wooden door by the window, leaving him momentarily stunned.

"What the hell?"

He rubbed his eyes as the haze of sleep gradually faded from his mind, his gaze becoming clear.

When he gently pushed open the door, Orochimaru and Xuanhui were sitting on the sofa nearby, one talking while the other listened.

"You two are up so early?"

"Yeah. After sleeping all night, I feel completely refreshed."

"You still dare bring that up! We agreed to take shifts! How did you two end up holed up in the library?"

Jiraiya's hair was already messy after waking up, but the mention of last night made it stand on end.

Just as he was about to lose his temper, Xuanhui hurriedly explained.

"Teacher Orochimaru and I came back in the middle of the night, but we saw that you were asleep and didn't have the heart to disturb you..."

"What? You two deliberately came back while I was asleep!"

"Don't put it like that, Jiraiya. We meant well!"

Orochimaru's timely interjection only made Jiraiya even angrier.

He strode over, grabbed Xuanhui with one hand, and viciously poked at his ticklish spots with the other.

Though Xuanhui was not ticklish, he could only laugh along to let Jiraiya vent.

Only when both of them were drenched in sweat did Orochimaru call a stop to it.

"Enough fooling around. It's about time. If we leave early, we can get there before nightfall."

Meanwhile, Teng Ran-yi had also gotten up early, intending to find breakfast for everyone.

As soon as he opened the door, he ran into the three of them in the hallway.

"Good morning, gentlemen ninjas!"

"Good morning. Go gather your people. We'll set off now and arrive before nightfall."

After chatting for a few moments, Teng Ran-yi woke up fully. He pulled himself together, turned around, and got to work.

"Come on, let's buy some breakfast first."

When Orochimaru turned around, he found Jiraiya crouched beside Xuanhui. Their expressions were grave, and they were holding a sheet of paper between them.

Looking closely, the paper was yellowed overall and somewhat stiff, like letter paper.

"What are you two looking at?"

Jiraiya did not raise his head. His fingers clutched the letter tightly, wrinkles spreading across it like ripples.

Xuanhui looked up and spoke solemnly.

"Teacher Orochimaru, Hidden Rain Village and Hidden Sand Village...

have already started fighting."

"So soon!"

The three of them fell silent. After quite a while, Orochimaru slowly spoke.

"A letter from the old man, right? What did he say?"

"Hidden Sand Village's ninja have clashed with the ninja on Hidden Rain Village's border. Hidden Sand Village's ninja have already occupied a small area along the border, and the armies and jonin of both Hidden Rain Village and Hidden Sand Village are rushing toward the border."

Xuanhui told Orochimaru about the situation Hiruzen Sarutobi had mentioned in the letter, while Jiraiya raised his head and stared intently at Orochimaru.

"The old man hopes the three of us can lead a team to the border. Judging by the current situation, the flames of war may spread to Konoha before long."

"Has it really become that serious?"

The atmosphere between the two was especially heavy. To lighten it, Xuanhui quickly changed the subject.

"Let's finish the mission first. If we wrap it up quickly, we can return sooner and discuss this."

Neither of them answered immediately. They exchanged a knowing glance.

"...You're right."

Just then, Teng Ran-yi approached from afar. He had already notified all the members, and everyone would gather downstairs in ten minutes.

"Gentlemen ninjas, what would you like for breakfast? I'll go downstairs and buy it now!"

Xuanhui waved his hand and hurriedly refused. Given the situation, all three of them had things weighing on their minds and had no appetite for the moment.

"Thank you for the offer, but there's no need for now. We'll just have some soldier pills later."

"Oh, oh, oh! All right, then! Everyone will gather downstairs in ten minutes. I'll head down first!"

Teng Ran-yi called out a farewell, passed through the three of them, and hurried downstairs.

"Let's go too."

"Mm."

With worries in their hearts, their steps were heavy. A staircase that took only a minute to descend felt like ten years to Jiraiya and Orochimaru.

They were concerned about the coming war and worried about Konoha's future.

Xuanhui had even more to consider.

Just as he had expected, the Second Shinobi World War was about to break out during this period.

The bad news was that this war seemed to have come a little too early.

First of all, though he was not needed for the war yet, Orochimaru would have to go to the front lines.

Without his knowledge and talent, many of Xuanhui's plans would be delayed.

To solve this problem, he could only complete missions as soon as possible, learn more practical ninjutsu, and earn an opportunity before the Third Hokage to accompany Orochimaru to the front lines.

Secondly, the title of the Three Sannin would be established after their battle against Hanzo the Salamander. At that time, Jiraiya would take three crucial figures as his disciples.

That was Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.

To prevent the three of them from going astray, he needed to meet them and become their friend. At the very least, he had to establish a means of communication with them, so that the forces of the Infinite Tsukuyomi faction could not brainwash Nagato and lead him down a dark path in the future.

He could already vaguely sense an unsettling force stirring within his body.

He currently had no signature skill, leaving him without a trump card that would let him roam the shinobi world freely.

His clan bloodline was useless for now. He decided that once he became a chunin, he would immediately devote himself to developing his bloodline limit!

With his goals clear and his plan laid out, he needed to prepare the prerequisites first...

"Teacher Orochimaru, are you and Lord Jiraiya writing a letter?"

The two of them looked up at Xuanhui at the same time.

"Yes. What is it?"

"Teacher Orochimaru, could you make a suggestion to Teacher Hiruzen?"

"A suggestion? Let's hear it."

"..."

In the Hokage's office, the lines carved into Hiruzen Sarutobi's cheeks spoke of all the hardship he had endured recently.

The ninja who came to deliver the message could not help coughing several times as soon as he entered, choked by the thick smell of smoke in the office.

"Has Jiraiya replied?"

"That's right."

The jonin placed a cute little frog before Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The moment it saw the Third Hokage, the frog opened its mouth wide and spat out a saliva-covered letter from its stomach.

"Oh! They'll be back tomorrow? That went unexpectedly smoothly!"

"They're with Orochimaru and Xuanhui? What a coincidence! No wonder they can return tomorrow."

"...Sigh!"

"Why is there another line in small print? Did Orochimaru write it?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at those two lines, and his eyes instantly widened, his face full of disbelief.

[Old man, Xuanhui said that if he becomes a chunin within a year, could he apply to go to the front lines with me?

I swear on my name as a ninja that nothing will happen to this child.

—Your student, Orochimaru]