Promoted to an A-Rank Mission

"All right, Obito. I'll contact Jiraiya-sensei, but once you've finished investigating, get out of there immediately."

Minato gave Obito a meaningful look as he warned him.

Obito knew Minato had likely heard his speech and was worried that he might truly get involved with that organization.

He was concerned for him. It had to be said, Minato was a very good teacher.

"Sensei, I will. Don't worry!"

Obito Uchiha nodded.

Minato nodded as well, then vanished in an instant.

Obito looked enviously at Minato's Flying Thunder God. He could go anywhere he wanted.

If he couldn't win, he could just go home, sleep, and come back to fight another day.

The Flying Thunder God's marks would never disappear.

"What are you envious of? Your own Kamui can do that too."

Obito regretfully rubbed his eye.

He had originally wanted to awaken his eyes by killing someone, but it turned out to be completely useless.

A trace of anxiety rose in Obito's heart. He was genuinely worried that, because he had transmigrated, he might be unable to awaken his eyes at all.

With those thoughts weighing on him, Obito slowly fell asleep...

During the days that followed, Obito Uchiha completely blended in with the Akatsuki members.

Obito's humorous, entertaining, and eccentric personality made everyone enjoy talking with him.

On top of that, Obito was the youngest among them, so he quickly became Akatsuki's beloved little brother.

Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato all treated Obito like their own younger brother.

The four of them rapidly grew closer.

Obito even personally designed Akatsuki's uniforms and organizational emblem.

That's right! It was the classic red-cloud outfit from the original story's later era!

Using some of his transmigrator knowledge and promotional slogans, Obito quickly gathered a large group of loyal followers for Akatsuki.

Obito Uchiha gradually took on the role of Akatsuki's "military strategist."

He pointed Akatsuki in the right direction.

Akatsuki also began openly confronting Hanzo of the Salamander!

It became one of the Land of Rain's major forces opposing Hanzo of the Salamander!

Even the Land of Rain's daimyo secretly contacted and supported Akatsuki, because he simply could no longer tolerate Hanzo of the Salamander's dictatorship.

The Kage of other villages at least showed their daimyo some respect, but Hanzo of the Salamander truly dared to lay hands on his daimyo!

When Akatsuki learned that the daimyo wanted to support them, every one of them was greatly encouraged!

They saw hope!

This weeping country could still be saved!

At a women's hot spring, steam swirled through the air.

"Hehehe..."

A tall, white-haired middle-aged man peered through a small hole at the tempting sight inside with a lecherous grin.

"Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!"

The Frog behind him kept croaking.

But Jiraiya was completely immersed in his peeping!

After a while, the Frog was clearly growing impatient.

Did he really think a Frog from Mount Myoboku, one of the Three Sage Regions, was so easy to bully?

Water Iron Bullet!

The Frog immediately condensed a small water projectile and fired it at Jiraiya.

With a sharp whoosh!

Came a soft thud!

"Ah!"

Jiraiya cried out in pain.

He had been sneaking closer to the women's hot spring, hoping to catch a glimpse, but something suddenly struck him, making him grimace in pain.

That sudden cry instantly shattered the tranquility of the women's hot spring.

The women enjoying the hot spring inside immediately became alert, all turning toward the source of the sound.

"Not good! There's a pervert!"

Someone was the first to shout, her voice full of terror and fury.

In an instant, the entire women's hot spring erupted into chaos.

Screams rang out!

"Ah!!!!"

They seemed capable of piercing the heavens, deafeningly loud.

Seeing this, Jiraiya immediately realized things had gone terribly wrong and grabbed the little Frog before fleeing.

He turned and ran in a fluster, wishing he knew Flying Thunder God so he could escape this place in an instant.

Several people soon rushed out of the hot spring, glaring furiously at Jiraiya.

"Catch the pervert! Catch the pervert!"

However, how could those frightened women possibly let Jiraiya off so easily?

They shouted for someone to catch the pervert as they quickly got up and chased after him. For a time, the scene was utter chaos.

Jiraiya sprinted desperately ahead while a group of furious women relentlessly pursued him from behind.

Transformation Technique!

Jiraiya turned into an alley and used the Transformation Technique.

He escaped that heart-pounding "pursuit" and kept running until he was panting heavily, finally shaking off the crowd that had been chasing him.

Bracing himself against a large tree, he gulped down breaths as he watched the figures in the distance gradually disperse. Only then did he let out a relieved sigh.

Then he grabbed the little Frog.

"You! You almost got me killed!"

Jiraiya squeezed the Frog hard.

"Pah! The Great Toad Sage was right. You really are a good-for-nothing who only knows how to chase women."

The Mount Myoboku Frog mocked.

Embarrassment flashed across Jiraiya's face as his composure instantly shattered, and he became flustered.

"Hey! It's one thing for the Great Toad Sage to say that, but why are you saying it too?!"

"Looks like I'll have to show you the might of Lord Jiraiya, Frog Sage of Mount Myoboku, today!"

Bang!

"Quit fooling around. Your disciple Minato sent intelligence!"

The Frog leaped up and punched Jiraiya in the knee.

The moment he heard it concerned his disciple Minato, Jiraiya put away his childishness and instantly turned serious.

Whenever Minato was mentioned, pride appeared on Jiraiya's face. That was the disciple he had acknowledged! The one he firmly believed would bring change to the Shinobi World in the future!

As someone who had once been dead last, with talent deemed ordinary during his days at the Ninja Academy, he had never expected to raise such a genius disciple.

"Oh! Let me see."

The Frog spat a scroll from its mouth and handed it to Jiraiya.

"Akatsuki?"

Jiraiya took it and began reading rapidly.

When he saw the names Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato, shock filled Jiraiya's eyes, and memories of the past instantly surged into his mind!

"I never thought they were still alive..."

Joy appeared in Jiraiya's eyes. Previously, a piece of intelligence had informed him that those three children were already dead.

Yet they were alive now, and had even founded the Land of Rain's largest organization opposing Hanzo of the Salamander!

Nagato's image appeared in Jiraiya's mind once more, along with those eyes...

"Could Nagato be..."

Jiraiya could not help but place Nagato alongside Minato among the candidates for the Child of Prophecy once again.

Jiraiya immediately wrote back to Minato.

He stated that Akatsuki had nothing to do with him, but that he had indeed once accepted Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato as his disciples!

"Well! I never thought they really survived. Thank heavens..."

Jiraiya felt somewhat more at ease.

After all, when he had learned of the three children's deaths back then, he had even wondered whether, as Orochimaru had said at the time, he should have simply killed all three of them cleanly.

Now that he knew the three were alive and well, Jiraiya finally breathed a sigh of relief.