Some People Are Truly Full of Themselves

In the early morning, Uchiha Itachi brought clean water and wild fruits.

"Caw!"

Beiyuan cheerfully picked up a fruit and pecked at its breakfast for the day.

"Itachi, your summoning beast isn't very qualified..." Jiraiya glanced at the crow holding the fruit, counting on his fingers as he criticized, "It can't keep watch at night, nor can it catch fish... and it's not like other reconnaissance ninja beasts... too lazy!"

Uchiha Itachi handed over a wild fruit, stuffing Jiraiya's mouth with food: "Teacher... eat fruit."

He understood Beiyuan's personality very well. It was already good that it was willing to accompany him out to rough it, so how could he demand more? Moreover, before leaving home, Uchiha Mikoto had carefully instructed him to take good care of Beiyuan.

"Teacher, where are we going now?"

"Well, I'm going to chase after my companion..." Jiraiya laughed heartily, "He's lost, I'm going to bring him back to the village."

"Is it Orochimaru?"

"Oh, you know him too?"

"One of the Konoha Sannin, the cold Lord Orochimaru..." Uchiha Itachi recalled the scene when he met Orochimaru: "I saw him in front of the Spirit Consolation Monument, and he told me that life has no meaning..."

Jiraiya felt terrible. He leaned close to Uchiha Itachi and warned him, "Don't listen to that guy's nonsense! Not a word he says is trustworthy! He promised to help me with things, and he hasn't completed a single one!"

"Mm! But I was young back then, and I took his words to heart, guessing that if I approached death infinitely, I might be able to find the meaning of life..."

"...This guy, he doesn't even spare children!" Jiraiya couldn't help but press his forehead, then sternly lectured, "Idiot, don't you have a brain! What happened later?"

Uchiha Itachi stroked the crow's wings, reminiscing involuntarily: "Later, Beiyuan saved me..."

Chasing Orochimaru was a dangerous task, and Jiraiya didn't bring Uchiha Itachi into the fight. If it weren't for the Third Hokage's request, he had even planned to have Itachi do some small tasks in the village.

Jiraiya looked at the little boy and secretly decided to leave Itachi in a nearby town when they got close to Orochimaru's base!

According to the intelligence provided by the Third Hokage... he would meet that scoundrel in a few days!

"The land of the Land of Wind is relatively barren, with most areas being deserts and Gobi, constantly eroded by sandstorms, and resources are scarce... The ninja of the Sand Village have a high understanding of Wind Style."

"Isn't that easily countered?"

"Silly boy! As a ninja village of the Five Great Nations, how could they only have a single Wind Style! Besides Wind Style, they are also skilled in puppetry, poisons, and a special kekkei genkai, Magnet Style!"

"Is it very strong?"

"Very strong!" Jiraiya nodded seriously, "I once saw a couple skilled in puppet jutsu who caused great losses to Konoha... If it weren't for Sakumo's swordsmanship being very strong, it would have been difficult for us to say we would win."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "Puppet Masters are by no means invincible; they have many weaknesses, like that woman Tsunade, who could take down a puppet with one punch... She didn't give that old hag Chiyo any chance to retaliate!"

"...Lady Tsunade is indeed very strong!" Uchiha Itachi agreed with this. If nothing else, at least on the day of the assessment, she punched Jiraiya away with one blow... it was truly satisfying to watch...

Jiraiya's praise was endless: "Of course, Tsunade is the strongest woman in the ninja world, and also the strongest medical ninja in the ninja world. We were teammates..."

"Because of Tsunade, the ninja world began to have medical ninja accompanying them, and so many people could survive on the battlefield..."

"Mikoto was a contemporary of Tsunade's younger brother, Senju Nawaki... unfortunately..."

"That year, Tsunade almost caught up to me..."

The crow on the side, listening, threw a disdainful glance at Jiraiya. Some people started to get carried away when they talked...

The problem was that Uchiha Itachi didn't know the truth and couldn't expose his words... Thus, the relationship between the master and disciple became more and more pleasant, except for the crow that wanted to cover its ears.

In the entire ninja world, in terms of erudition, whether it was customs and traditions or the unique ninjutsu of various countries, there was almost nothing Jiraiya didn't know... And the desire for knowledge about ninja was something Uchiha Itachi possessed.

One person liked to talk at length, and one person liked to listen quietly.

Jiraiya felt a sense of accomplishment, and Uchiha Itachi gained a lot.

The master and disciple didn't notice that someone was watching them. The Masked Man and Zetsu hid their figures far away on a lush tree.

"Is that child the Uchiha that Jiraiya took as a disciple?"

"His name is Uchiha Itachi." Black and white skin mixed, a pitcher plant lightly spoke the intelligence he had gathered: "Everyone in Konoha knows that he awakened the Sharingan..."

"Even though he's only six years old, it's not that unusual!" The Masked Man snorted coldly.

"It is said that he awakened the Sharingan at Namikaze Minato's inauguration ceremony. After the Ninja Academy opened not long ago, Uchiha Itachi only attended classes for one day before graduating... The next day, he was taken as a disciple by Jiraiya, who had returned to the village."

"The awakening of the Sharingan must have involved obsessions of love and hate... In that case, did that little brat named Itachi choose to abandon the Uchiha?" The Masked Man became slightly interested; he was tired of that clan.

Black Zetsu couldn't indulge Obito's temperament and advised, "Obito, Uchiha Itachi is the future clan head of the Uchiha. If he truly grows, what you're doing in Konoha will be in vain..."

The rift between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha's higher-ups might lead to unpredictable developments in the future because of Itachi's existence! Their goal was to weaken Konoha's strength, not to watch Konoha rise again...

"Hehehe... I almost died in Konoha, and yet I didn't accomplish anything!" White Zetsu suddenly interjected, "You can't say that. At least Obito killed his own teacher... Hehehe..."

Bang!

The Masked Man punched Zetsu's head into the tree trunk!

"You talk too much..." The Masked Man stared at the master and disciple chatting happily in the distance and asked, "He's just a child. If we eliminate him... Fugaku Uchiha won't trust the Hokage anymore, right?"

"Hehehe... ruthless..." White Zetsu's desire to court death seemed endless: "After all, he's the clan head's son. Is it really okay to do this?"

Black Zetsu quickly interrupted White Zetsu and got down to business: "Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, is not someone easy to deal with, is he? Obito, your body hasn't fully recovered yet, has it?"

"Don't worry about Jiraiya," the Masked Man shook his head. "If I'm not mistaken, that guy must be going to chase after the rogue ninja Orochimaru. We have plenty of opportunities... What a laughable bond!"

"..." Zetsu was stunned for a moment and decided to remain silent.

He talked so cheerfully, but who knows who goes to Konoha for no reason, either to visit graves or to peep at the white-haired man or something...

I'll make up for yesterday tonight. It's probably going to be very late. It's midnight, and I'll fix it during breaks between matches. The time has been set.