A New S-Rank Rogue Ninja

Jiraiya had discovered a refreshing new drink that tasted great—lemonade. Its sweet-and-sour flavor was just like his mood.

Over this period, he had once again experienced the feeling of a genius disciple leaving his teacher with nowhere to start... Only their after-dinner chats each night let him recover a little confidence.

The problem was that what he taught was no different from what the chunin instructors at the Ninja Academy taught... perhaps just more detailed...

Whether it was ninjutsu or sage arts, in the two areas he excelled at most, Uchiha Itachi was already capable of surpassing the old generation.

"What else can I teach him?"

Jiraiya took a sip through his straw and watched the little boy sit cross-legged, synthesizing sage Chakra, while the crow pecked at watermelon beside him... A wave of melancholy rose within him...

Uchiha Itachi had no such awareness. He was still training diligently, his brow tightly furrowed. His eyes unconsciously began to turn red, and a dark aura gradually spread over his body...

This was the sign that natural energy was exceeding its limit. If he continued, the dark aura on his body would turn into black feathers, and then he would become a real crow.

"Caw!"

Kitahara lightly guided the sage Chakra into Uchiha Itachi's body. Clusters of dark aura rapidly gathered behind his back, forming the shape of a pair of black wings that gradually became solid.

Every time he saw this scene, Jiraiya felt heartache, exhaustion, and bitterness all at once: "..."

"I failed again."

Uchiha Itachi opened his eyes and stared at the wings behind him. His training goal was to enter Sage Mode independently.

Jiraiya crossed his arms and walked over to him, consoling him. "Itachi, being able to reach this point is already very good. We'll return to Konoha tomorrow and officially begin taking ninja missions!"

After all, Jiraiya himself, as his teacher... still could not extract natural energy on his own!

Besides, there was no need to rush Uchiha Itachi's Sage Mode training. He could train anytime, anywhere, and with a great sage helping him like an accessory, he could be as willful as he pleased...

"Are we finally going back to the village?" A smile crossed Itachi's lips. He truly missed his family.

"Caw?"

The freshly minted crow great sage heard Jiraiya's words and flew down onto Uchiha Itachi's shoulder.

Why had Jiraiya suddenly decided to return to Konoha?

Naturally, it was because there was nothing left for him to teach. There were only two ninjutsu he could still pass on...

The Rasengan was a technique developed by the Fourth Hokage, and Jiraiya had no right to teach it without permission... As for Toad Oil Flame Bullet, it was Mount Myōboku's signature technique. He could not possibly teach it to the representative of a crow sage...

After thinking it over, he decided to bring Uchiha Itachi back to the village, let him take some ninja missions, and raise his disciple's rank while they were at it.

As one of the Legendary Three Ninja, he certainly could not take low-level missions like finding cats and walking dogs from the mission hall. At the very least, they would be direct missions or orders issued by the Third Hokage.

On one hand, this would quickly help Itachi adapt to the life of a ninja. On the other, it would help him grow closer to the village.

There was one more matter: Jiraiya had always been preoccupied with searching for information about the Child of Destiny, and perhaps the answer would fall on this crow.

According to the confirmations of the Great Toad Sage and Sage Fukasaku, they believed Kitahara was highly likely to know about the Child of Destiny. Even if it leaked only a tiny clue, it could save Jiraiya a great deal of time.

However, this matter could not be handled rashly. Someone needed to act according to the situation... Jiraiya had taken it upon himself to pry out the information.

After all, Mount Myōboku had no other suitable candidate.

If Kitahara knew the information they wanted, it would probably welcome their questions, right? After all, when it came to the Child of Destiny, it knew best, no matter which aspect they asked about...

Even if they asked about the Child of Destiny's beloved, Kitahara could talk and analyze it until Naruto grew up, then package up the brat at home and throw him out!

Uchiha Itachi was eager to return home, and Kitahara also missed the Uchiha family... It had now mastered sage arts, so it no longer had to fear that little brat at home!

Their journey back to the village was not particularly fast. After all, there was quite a distance from the border of the Land of Wind to Konoha...

But Kitahara learned some less-than-good news...

When the Konoha ninja stationed at the border outpost of the Land of Fire encountered them, he briefly mentioned the situation in the village.

Shimura Danzō had once again become a Hokage advisor and regained control over the ANBU training class... and it had been less than half a year since Hiruzen Sarutobi had stripped him of that authority.

In addition, Konoha had announced another S-rank rogue ninja.

Jiraiya had already received the rogue ninja's information. He flipped the wanted poster over and over in confusion. "A Flying Thunder God user? Defected?"

Other than his eldest disciple, Namikaze Minato, had another Flying Thunder God user emerged in the village?

The stationed ninja replied, "Yes, Lord Jiraiya. It is said that he was a member of the ANBU training class and exceptionally skilled in the Flying Thunder God Technique. He defected after failing to assassinate the Hokage..."

"A Flying Thunder God user failed to assassinate the old man..." Jiraiya's words always sounded rather unsettling. Looking at the portrait, he could not help complaining, "Isn't he way too ugly?"

Kitahara curiously flew onto his shoulder and saw the simple portrait on the wanted poster... The person's skin was starkly black and white, and his appearance was extremely strange...

He looked familiar... Hmm, like Zetsu, whom it had nearly killed that night... Wasn't this the appearance it had taken with the Transformation Technique when it attacked Kakashi and the other ANBU?

How exactly had Konoha's higher-ups defined a nonexistent person as a rogue ninja?

The stationed ninja quickly explained, "This rogue ninja secretly colluded with Orochimaru to conduct human experiments, which is why he looks like this..."

Kitahara: "..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō were truly impressive... Or rather, Shimura Danzō was simply too formidable. He had forcibly created a ninja who did not exist and conveniently dumped a blame on him.

The reasoning was sound, and it was utterly convincing.

"Orochimaru..."

Jiraiya lowered his head and stared at the wanted poster in his hand. For the first time, he found his close friend a little frightening...

Orochimaru had actually used human experimentation to help a ninja master a space-time ninjutsu... It was simply unbelievable... After all, the Flying Thunder God Technique relied purely on talent!

If that was the case, perhaps Orochimaru himself might become a Flying Thunder God user in the future... Jiraiya could only pray that Orochimaru had no intention of taking revenge on Konoha.

Orochimaru, who had just destroyed one of his bases, suddenly had two more accusations added to his name: conducting illegal human experiments to create inhuman creatures, and ordering someone to assassinate the Hokage.

Perhaps Shimura Danzō felt he had too many burdens to carry himself, so he gifted two of them to Orochimaru...

Jiraiya was very interested in this Flying Thunder God user turned rogue ninja. "Is there any recent information on this rogue ninja?"

"Lord Jiraiya..."

Ordinarily, this stationed ninja could not casually leak intelligence, but the village's movements had presumably long ceased to be a secret.

The stationed ninja simply revealed everything. "The previous garrison squad was transferred to the border of the Land of Grass, and we came to replace them... The village has already gathered quite a few ninja squads near the Land of Grass."

Kitahara's eyes gradually went blank. "..."

It seemed Orochimaru was not the only one taking the blame!

Second update... Good evening. The weather is getting cold, so wear more clothes.