Jiraiya's face had turned almost as black as the bottom of a pot.
"Boss Chiba, you deceived all of us!"
Looking back, Tetsuya had lived in the village for so many years, and everyone had thought he was just an ordinary ramen shop owner without any talent as a ninja.
But who could have imagined that the kindly owner everyone knew was actually a powerful ninja?
And a ninja that powerful had lived in Konoha for so long.
"All I can say is, life is a play, handsome."
Tetsuya said with a smile.
"If I hadn't appeared before you today, wouldn't I still be that same Boss Chiba in your memories even after you died?
Why get hung up on whether I deceived you?"
"What exactly are you trying to do?!"
Jiraiya questioned Tetsuya. Even as one of the Konoha Sannin, the White-Haired Boy who served under the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, he felt a surge of panic deep inside.
Who was Chiba Tetsuya? The greatest merchant in the shinobi world, the founder of the Chiba Commerce Association, the Daimyo of the Land of Grass, and the initiator of the Small Country Alliance.
He had spent years undercover in Konoha, learned its ninjutsu, and stolen its Scroll of Seals.
He had hidden himself for so long and laid out such an elaborate scheme. What exactly was he after?
"What am I trying to do? That's a good question."
Tetsuya clapped his hands and suddenly vanished from Jiraiya's sight. An instant later, a figure appeared behind him.
"We're just having a conversation. Why are you trying to pull something? Keep that up, and I won't be happy."
As he spoke, Tetsuya held a toad in his hand. A slip of paper was still clamped in its mouth.
Without even