A Deal with Jiraiya

"Alright, now you're the only one left. Karin, what exactly do you want?"

Yakushi Kabuto had left. Uchiha Shunichi had not told him everything; there were still some matters he needed Kabuto to investigate.

As for Karin, she had not left with Yakushi Kabuto.

"Because I want to follow you, Lord Shunichi!" Karin immediately put on a lovestruck expression and tightly clung to Uchiha Shunichi's arm.

Uchiha Shunichi discreetly pulled his arm away from Karin's chest and said coldly, "You're currently wanted by Konoha. I don't believe you'd dare walk openly through Konoha."

"True, that does seem like a problem! But naturally, I'll leave that problem to you, Lord Shunichi!" Karin eagerly leaned closer to Uchiha Shunichi.

"Unfortunately, I can't solve that problem. More importantly, I don't trust you." Uchiha Shunichi held out a hand to stop Karin from taking another step, making their boundaries clear.

Setting aside the fight they had had the previous night, Karin's inexplicable affection toward him alone was enough for Uchiha Shunichi to feel no trust in her whatsoever.

"Ah, Karin is so heartbroken..." Karin immediately began putting on an exaggerated performance, and tears even welled up in her eyes.

However, rather than feeling sorry for her, Uchiha Shunichi felt that the woman before him was insane.

"If you want to follow me, suit yourself. But I won't trust you, and I won't help you if you run into people from Konoha." Uchiha Shunichi spoke coldly, then lay back in his recliner and took out a book to read.

For now, he had no plans to make a move against Karin. Though he could not trust her, she might still be useful. If Yakushi Kabuto...

Time passed second by second. Uchiha Shunichi became completely absorbed in his book. By the time he finished it, Karin had vanished from beside him without him even noticing when.

Uchiha Shunichi paid it no mind and began his usual physical training for the day. His training intensity was not particularly high, but its effects on his body matched ten times the training volume of an ordinary ninja.

That was because his training was not merely physical exercise. He also used chakra to permanently strengthen his body.

Unfortunately, he had yet to master Senjutsu. Otherwise, Natural Energy would be the best thing for strengthening his body.

After staying home for two days, Uchiha Shunichi still had not received a mission from the Anbu. To further increase his strength, he decided to get in touch with Jiraiya.

Jiraiya was easy enough to find. He only needed to wander around the hot springs, and there was an eighty percent chance he would find him.

Of course, that was assuming Jiraiya was in the village.

"Lord Jiraiya, how about I trade you some information on Akatsuki for some Sage Chakra?" Taking advantage of Naruto's time practicing the Summoning Technique, Uchiha Shunichi appeared directly before Jiraiya.

"So you're the one who's been watching me from the shadows lately. The surviving brat of the Uchiha Clan!" Jiraiya was not surprised. He had noticed Uchiha Shunichi's presence long ago, but had simply ignored him.

"Yes. I discovered the power of Senjutsu in some records, so I hope to trade some information about Akatsuki for your Senjutsu. I don't need you to teach me. I only need to see it."

When facing one of the Legendary Sannin, Uchiha Shunichi did not need to be as wary as he was around Sarutobi Hiruzen. For one thing, Jiraiya did not harbor so many dark thoughts. For another, Uchiha Shunichi's current strength was temporarily enough to protect himself.

"Where... did you get information about Akatsuki?" Jiraiya's expression turned grave.

At this point in time, Akatsuki still operated in extreme secrecy. Since they rarely acted within the Five Great Nations, even Jiraiya knew little about them.

He only knew that Orochimaru had once been a member of the organization, which was why he had begun considering an investigation.

"I possess a pair of special eyes. Lord Jiraiya can think of them as a prophecy, but they are very different from the prophecies of Mount Myoboku." Uchiha Shunichi spoke calmly.

"Mount Myoboku? It seems you really do know quite a lot. But how can you make me believe what you say?" Jiraiya was somewhat surprised, but he was not fully convinced.

"I've seen scenes from your childhood twice. The first was when you went to Orochimaru and pretended to be bandits to trick Tsunade. The second was when the Third Hokage was teaching you Ninjutsu. You scattered a huge number of shuriken and pretended it was the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

"If that still isn't enough proof, then you should have once been engaged to a female ninja or something..."

Uchiha Shunichi directly revealed the things he knew in exchange for Jiraiya's trust.

Though it might cause something like a butterfly effect, compared to changes in the future, his own strength was more important to Uchiha Shunichi.

After all, even if he did nothing, the future with his existence in it would not be exactly the same as the future in his memories.

"Fine, I'll believe you for now. Sage Chakra is simple enough, but that power is extremely dangerous. As for the information you mentioned..." Jiraiya hesitated as he spoke.

"Huh? Shunichi, are you here to see Pervy Sage too?" At that moment, Naruto, who had been working at it for a long time but could still only summon tadpoles, walked over.

"I just have some questions for Lord Jiraiya." Uchiha Shunichi replied calmly.

"Jiraiya? Who's that?" Naruto's face immediately filled with confusion.

"Idiot, I'm Jiraiya." Even Jiraiya was rendered speechless by Naruto's innocent words.

He had taught Naruto for several days and had even taught him the Summoning Technique, yet the kid had not remembered his name...

"Ah! Pervy Sage, that hurt!" Naruto had been hit and quickly covered his forehead as he complained.

"Go keep practicing! You're far too weak right now!" Jiraiya shouted helplessly.

Jiraiya also felt rather helpless when it came to Naruto. His father had been such a genius, so why...

"Lord Jiraiya, don't underestimate Naruto. He's only like this because he hasn't adapted to being a ninja yet. In terms of talent, he's very strong, though learning things is difficult for him right now." Watching Naruto's departing figure, Uchiha Shunichi spoke to Jiraiya.

Jiraiya looked at Uchiha Shunichi with a grave expression. After a long while, he said, "I accept your terms."