The Identity of a Charlatan Can't Be Shaken Off

"Orochimaru has already left." The Third Hokage looked somewhat dejected. "In the end, he really did complete that forbidden technique for stealing another person's body."

Jiraiya fell silent. His thoughts were in turmoil, yet he had no idea what to say.

Kakashi, however, did not get caught up in the unfortunate fate of their teacher's disciples. Instead, he asked Tahm curiously, "Tahm, how do you know so much? Could you really be the so-called prophet?"

The Third Hokage, who was also one of Tahm's listeners, put aside his sadness and looked at Tahm expectantly. Jiraiya, on the other hand, looked utterly baffled, but he followed their lead and turned his gaze toward his cheap junior brother.

"Haha. Well, about that..." Tahm could only force out a few dry laughs as he braced himself to uphold his "ironclad predictions" reputation. "I can indeed see certain things from time to time. It works sometimes and not others, just like the Great Toad Sage. Senior Brother Jiraiya, you know that too."

Jiraiya was extremely surprised. "You also have the Great Toad Sage's prophetic abilities?"

"Uh, more or less."

"It doesn't seem like prophecy." Kakashi explained what he had witnessed. "The moment Tahm saw those three people who had just appeared, he was able to reveal their secrets. It seems more like a terrifying intelligence-gathering ability."

"Oh?" The Third Hokage looked at Tahm with even greater anticipation. If predicting the future was too mysterious to be fully trusted, then the ability to identify a person's weaknesses at a glance was incredibly frightening to a ninja. Just like Sasori and Kakuzu earlier, the secret arts they had spent their entire lives mastering had been laid bare by a toad they had only just met. Tahm had practically given a public lecture on how to kill them.

Tahm had no intention of being used as a human detector by Konoha in the future. Besides, he really did not possess the ability to reveal everything about everyone he met. His "prophecy" only worked on people who had roles in the original story.

He had no choice but to explain his ability with a serious expression. "It's not actually that powerful. I can't control this ability myself. I only suddenly learn a great deal when I encounter certain special people or situations."

Everyone expressed their understanding. If such a bugged ability had no restrictions, how would ninjas who specialized in secret techniques survive?

The Third Hokage, however, found another point of interest. "Tahm, can you see anything about the organization Orochimaru belongs to? An organization capable of gathering so many super-S-rank missing-nin is probably plotting something huge."

Tahm felt his scalp prickle again. If he revealed all of the Akatsuki's information to the Hokage in advance, who knew what might happen? It could even trigger a Shinobi World War ahead of schedule. Tahm still wanted to build up his strength during this peaceful period.

Thus, Tahm answered vaguely, "I only saw the identities of those three people. As for their organization, I only vaguely saw a figure possessing the legendary Rinnegan."

"The Rinnegan?" Jiraiya suddenly cried out.

Damn it, how could I forget that Jiraiya knows about the Rinnegan? Nagato was trained by him! But I already let it slip during the earlier verbal sparring to buy time. There's no way to patch that up now.

"What is it?" the Third Hokage asked.

"Nothing. I just thought of something." Jiraiya had formed a terrifying conjecture, but he did not want to voice it.

"How are we getting back now? Should I teleport everyone away one at a time?" Tahm seized the opportunity to shift the subject.

"Can your teleportation ability only take one person at a time?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Yes."

"That's still very impressive, especially over such a long distance." The Third Hokage sighed. If Tahm had been present during the previous Shinobi World War, they could have air-dropped Kage-level experts wherever they were needed, making multi-front warfare effortless.

Come to think of it, long-distance teleportation and powerful healing—this guy was incredibly useful to Konoha. With his wealth of experience, the Third Hokage instantly imagined a hundred ways to use Tahm. Before he knew it, his eyes were practically glowing as he looked at Tahm, prompting Tahm to grumble inwardly that the old man truly was worthy of being Orochimaru's teacher.

"I suggest we return together to the territory of the Land of Fire," Kakashi said. "There are three super-S-rank missing-nin, along with the mysterious organization behind them. I'm worried that if we teleport back one by one, they might launch a surprise attack on us. That would be troublesome."

Everyone agreed with Kakashi's idea. And so, this golden lineup of the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, and Kakashi set off together with Tahm, swaggering all the way back to the Land of Fire.

Along the way, the three of them kept asking about the various strange abilities Tahm had displayed, giving him a massive headache. After Tahm explained his abilities in detail, their evaluations of him rose by another great deal.

While dealing with their questions, Tahm also summed up everything he had gained from this mission:

First was the mission reward. After paying Konoha's cut and repaying his debts, he still had enough money for four small goals. He had absolutely gotten rich overnight!

Next were the benefits he had looted from the experience piñata Sasori, which brought his gold total to a full 1,021 coins. His level had also reached Level 8, and his physical attributes had improved greatly:

Health: 3,188 (average jōnin level: 3,000) Regenerates 24 points per second.

Chakra: 1,682 (average jōnin level: 2,000) Regenerates 13 points per second.

Available skills:

Normal skills: Mount Myoboku Style: Tongue Lash, passive: An Acquired Taste, Devour, Alpha Strike, Starcall, Cure for Scurvy, Time Warp, Giant Tongue Lash, Thick Skin

Ultimate skills: Riftwalk, Divine Protection, Abyssal Dive.

Overall combat power: 328 (average jōnin overall combat power: around 300)

With his basic physical attributes alone, Tahm could already fight a jōnin head-on, not to mention the useful skills he had learned during this trip. In particular, the combination of Divine Protection and Abyssal Dive gave Tahm an inescapable escape technique.

As expected, wealth was found amid danger! Although he had nearly been taken back by three monsters to be dissected, have his heart stolen, or be turned into a puppet, the final gains were enormous.

The four traveled at a decent speed. They crossed the broad deserts of the Land of Wind in only half a day. Finally, when they entered the territory of the Land of Fire, the ninja squad sent to receive them was utterly dumbfounded—the Third Hokage, the Mad Jiraiya, and Sharingan Kakashi. Was this lineup returning from the Land of Wind after fighting a war to annihilate an entire country?

"We should be able to teleport safely from here," Tahm said. Then he suddenly thought of something and turned his gaze toward Jiraiya. "Senior Brother Jiraiya, are you returning to Konoha with us?"

Jiraiya thought for a moment, then struck an exaggerated pose. "I'm not going back. My journey to gather material has only just begun!"

But Tahm still felt vaguely uneasy. Before they parted, he warned Jiraiya, "Senior Brother, if you're going to investigate this organization, please be careful!"

Jiraiya gave a bitter smile. "You saw through me after all. I'll be careful."

"I'm serious!" Tahm wore a solemn expression. "I saw death in your eyes. Please, whatever you do, don't venture into danger alone! If you really discover anything, contact me first. I might be able to see something more." Tahm had developed quite a favorable impression of this cheap senior brother who had helped him so much. He did not want Jiraiya to die alone in the Land of Rain as he had in the original story.

"All right." Jiraiya responded seriously as well. After all, this was a warning from Tahm, the "prophet" who had already demonstrated his divine abilities before everyone and earned their trust.

I'll try to write fewer status panels and the like in the future. It's enough for everyone to know Tahm's general level of strength, so I hope readers who insist on rigorous analysis won't hold me to the numbers. After all, this novel isn't a rigorously data-driven story. Besides, I have plenty of ways to pad the word count. There's no need to fill it with such low-quality fluff. (/ω＼)