The Righteous Tahm, Plagued by Trouble

While Tahm was racing the seasoned veteran Jiraiya through the pleasure houses of the Land of Hot Water in the spirit of criticism, Konoha had already been thrown into chaos because of him.

Tahm had originally only planned to chat with Jiraiya. Before leaving, he had merely told Hinata that he would be out for a while. But after arriving, he discovered that Jiraiya really had found something. Then, with Jiraiya inviting him to stay, Tahm became so engrossed that he forgot to go back and tell anyone.

First, the Anbu responsible for monitoring and protecting Tahm began to panic when he suddenly vanished from their surveillance. A long time passed without him reappearing.

Next, Root and the Konoha Military Police Force launched a grand-scale special operation to search for the missing toad.

The various spies who had been drawn in by Tahm's reputation also vaguely sensed that something was wrong, and an intelligence-gathering frenzy began.

In the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage felt a terrible headache coming on and asked the Anbu, "Do you know where he went?"

An Anbu member replied, "We questioned everyone connected to Tahm, but none of them had any definite information. At present, we can only confirm that he used that long-distance teleportation ability."

This is troublesome. The Third Hokage knew how far that ability could take him. That toad could be anywhere in the Shinobi World now.

Vanishing without even saying a word—he was being utterly undisciplined and disorganized!

The office door was knocked on, and Danzo entered with a gloomy expression.

"Sarutobi, I told you long ago that we needed to strengthen our control over Tahm." Danzo made no attempt to conceal the word "control." "Now he has vanished. Do you know how serious an impact this could have?"

The Third Hokage felt extremely uncomfortable being challenged like that, but he could not deny Danzo's words. The previous report could no longer be retracted, and Konoha had simply taken advantage of Tahm to launch a round of political propaganda, elevating him into Konoha's new trump card and giving everyone a higher opinion of Konoha's strength.

If such a symbol vanished and never returned, the impact would certainly be considerable.

"He may have simply gone out to enjoy himself. After all, with that ability of his, he can go wherever he wants." The Third Hokage forced the words out.

"Where could he go?" Danzo's sinister voice rang out. "After arriving in the Shinobi World, he has stayed in Konoha the entire time, hasn't he?"

"The only place he has visited is the Land of Wind, and the only person he knows there is the daimyo of the Land of Wind, who gave him a billion."

The Third Hokage's brow twitched. He understood the implication behind Danzo's words. After hesitating for a moment, he firmly rejected the idea. "That's impossible! He is, after all, a toad from Mount Myoboku!"

"I heard that he is actually an unknown individual who merely has his name registered at Mount Myoboku," Danzo said. "Someone with such abilities, yet we have no way to restrain him. You should know how great a hidden danger that is!"

The Third Hokage's brows furrowed tightly. He could already tell that Danzo was once again considering dark methods such as placing a curse seal on him.

"Don't bring this up again!" The Third Hokage finally showed a resolute expression. "Danzo, even today, you still don't understand that the thing that truly binds people is the bond between them? Tahm isn't someone who can be trapped by something like a curse seal."

"Hmph!" Danzo expressed his usual disdain for his old friend's ideas.

After leaving, Danzo went to Root's secret base.

A handsome young man with black hair and black eyes was waiting for him. When he saw Danzo return, he said, "Lord Danzo, you summoned me at this time. Has there been some change in the plan?"

"Itachi." Danzo called out the name of this Uchiha genius. "The original plan and conditions remain unchanged. However, when the operation truly begins, I need to add one variable."

"Who?" Itachi asked coldly.

"Tahm." Danzo's gaze deepened.

Based on Danzo's analysis of Tahm, his ability to escape was extremely powerful, but there was no record of him ever facing a powerful genjutsu. And Itachi already possessed the strongest genjutsu.

Danzo gently stroked his bandage-covered right eye. Healing, teleportation, foresight—such power absolutely had to be held in Root's hands!

At the Ninja Academy, classes ended as evening approached.

"Where did Boss Tahm go, anyway? Why did he suddenly disappear?" Naruto asked several of his friends.

Hinata looked terrible, her face filled with deep worry. "I don't know either. He only said he was going out for a while, and then he—"

"The Anbu even came directly to the school to ask questions just now. Could something really have happened?" Sakura also felt that something was wrong.

"The Anbu have been dispatched to investigate this so quickly. It definitely isn't a minor matter." Shikamaru analyzed the situation rationally. "The last time the village's Anbu directly conducted a search was when a jonin defected."

"Defected?" The heavy word startled all of them.

"Tahm would never abandon me and leave!" Hinata and Karin said in unison, glaring at Shikamaru angrily.

What? I was just making a casual analysis. Women really are troublesome.

Thinking this, Shikamaru decided that he would be better off going to the rooftop to watch the clouds..

But Tahm, far away in the Hidden Hot Water Village, had no idea how much trouble he had caused. As far as he was concerned, he had merely spent a perfectly normal afternoon with his senior brother Jiraiya.

Yes, perfectly normal.

The pretty young women who had been called in immediately surrounded the wealthy regular customer Jiraiya like the moon surrounding the stars, drinking and laughing with him. As for Tahm? Wasn't he just the summoning beast brought by that generous ninja customer?

Thus, the pure-hearted Tahm ate delicious food while using his abundant positive energy to harshly condemn Jiraiya's corrupt and depraved behavior in his mind.

No wonder Tsunade has kept you as a backup for her whole life. You're this corrupt—who would be willing to marry you?

Time gradually passed. It was not until the glow of the setting sun slanted through the windows that Jiraiya finally let the young women accompanying him leave.

Seeing the righteous expression on Tahm's face—that of someone saying, "I can't believe you're this kind of person. I'm ashamed to associate with you"—Jiraiya patted him on the shoulder and laughed. "A man's charm is very important. Junior brother, you have to work hard!"

What kind of man's charm do I have? The toad Tahm silently complained.

"It's time to act, right?" Tahm asked.

Jiraiya also put on a serious expression. "I'll take you to familiarize yourself with the terrain first. According to my intelligence, the gathering of that cult won't begin for several more hours."

"Let's go!" Tahm wanted to set off as quickly as possible. As an upright young man with the Four Virtues, how could he stay in such a filthy place any longer?

"There is one more very important matter." Jiraiya still wore the reliable expression of someone fully focused on a mission.

"What is it?" Tahm asked curiously.

"I've been gathering intelligence here these past few days..." Jiraiya paused.

"And?" Tahm sensed that something was wrong.

"I've been staying at this pleasure house the entire time, and I've spent all the money on me."

"Junior brother Tahm, I heard you made ten billion last time..."

Tahm: "..."