Lord Jiraiya, I understand

Ninjutsu infused with natural energy bombarded the forest.

The area occupied by the Cloud Ninja force looked as though it had been plowed over. Not a patch of ground remained intact.

By the time the bombardment ended, every Cloud Ninja was covered in wounds, as though they had just fought through a large-scale ninja war.

A Cloud Ninja missing limbs crawled up to the leader and tugged at his trouser leg.

"Sir, Konoha... Konoha definitely sent elite jonin."

The Cloud Ninja leader's expression shifted uncertainly. His men had suffered heavy losses, but if he gave up now, all their previous efforts would have been wasted.

Not only would information about their assassination of the daimyo leak, but they would also lose the Hokage's son as a bargaining chip.

Just as the Cloud Ninja leader wavered, he spotted a white-haired figure and immediately ordered a retreat.

"Can't keep going?"

Zou Hyuga looked at Oto Uchiha and asked with concern.

Although Oto Uchiha possessed the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, her chakra reserves were rather limited. A few uses of the modified Fire Release had consumed most of her chakra.

Those Great Fireballs were only a little larger than usual, and they were still C-rank ninjutsu.

Oto Uchiha nodded lightly, resting both hands on her hips. Casting Zou Hyuga's modified Great Fireball was more exhausting than using A-rank ninjutsu. If it hadn't allowed her to strike enemies from a distance, she would rather have picked up the Short Sword and fought at close range.

After a pause, Oto Uchiha looked toward the distant battlefield and asked, "Did that take care of all the enemies?"

"Pretty much, I suppose." Zou Hyuga gazed at the Cloud Ninja corpses lying in the distance and the fleeing Cloud Ninja force, feeling uncertain.

After all, these were the troops pursuing Asuma. Surely there was at least an elite jonin among them.

They shouldn't have been afraid of a few measly C-rank ninjutsu.

Was Asuma not worth thirty million yet?

"Why don't we go take a look... There might be quite a bit of loot over there."

Oto Uchiha made the suggestion quietly. Both she and Zou Hyuga were fairly good at taijutsu. Although they always lost to that freakish green-clad genin in the village, they should still have had a decent chance against wounded Cloud Ninja.

Zou Hyuga nodded lightly and crept toward the enemy's position with Oto Uchiha.

After sneaking along for a while, Zou Hyuga spotted the fleeing Cloud Ninja. They were kneeling before a middle-aged, white-haired man whose forehead protector, marked with the character for "oil," looked very familiar.

That... that couldn't be Jiraiya of the Sannin, could it?

I don't want anything to do with Jiraiya. Better slip away first. Yes, slip away.

Zou Hyuga nudged Oto Uchiha's shoulder, signaling for her to sneak away with him.

Just then, Jiraiya vanished from beside the Cloud Ninja and appeared in front of Zou Hyuga with the Body Flicker Technique, eyeing him and Oto Uchiha with mild suspicion.

"You're Konoha ninja, aren't you? Why run when you see me?"

Jiraiya had an imposing presence. Though usually carefree, he was extremely serious on the battlefield.

Taking a deep breath, Zou Hyuga dared not look at Jiraiya. Although he had already deactivated his Sage Mode, there was still a risk of being exposed.

More importantly, being remembered by Jiraiya was equivalent to being remembered by the Konoha High Command.

That was dangerous, and it was not something he wanted.

After a moment's thought, Zou Hyuga raised his head, revealing the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead. He first glanced around, then adopted the expression of someone who had narrowly escaped death.

"Lord Jiraiya, we're genin from the village. The Cloud Ninja were chasing us just now, and we thought we were going to die. Thank goodness we ran into you, Lord Jiraiya..."

Zou Hyuga sounded utterly sincere, and Oto Uchiha folded her arms and nodded in agreement.

Seeing the Caged Bird Seal, Jiraiya relaxed a little. The seal on the young man's forehead was genuine, and there was no possibility of the Hyuga Branch Family betraying Konoha.

Although the girl beside him wore goggles, the way she held her kunai looked unmistakably Uchiha.

But why would a member of the Hyuga Branch Family be together with an Uchiha? The two clans were clearly at loggerheads within the village.

Jiraiya's gaze moved between them a few times, puzzled.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Jiraiya noticed signs that one of the captured Cloud Ninja was trying to escape.

He was about to flicker over to stop him when foam spilled from the Cloud Ninja's mouth. The man had killed himself.

What a shame... Looking at the Cloud Ninja leader's clothing, Jiraiya surmised that he must have commanded this Kumogakure unit and possessed considerable intelligence. If only he could have extracted some of it through interrogation.

He had also wanted to use the opportunity of returning to the village with intelligence to gather material at the Konoha Bathhouse.

At the thought of all that pale, bare flesh, Jiraiya couldn't help salivating.

"Lord Jiraiya, did you cast all those ninjutsu? They were amazing!"

While Jiraiya indulged in his fantasies, Zou Hyuga had already made his way over to the Kumogakure corpses and begun searching for valuables. He had his eye on the leader who had died of poison in particular. The leader was bound to carry plenty of valuable items, and even his head could fetch a considerable sum.

"Watch out for the corpses..."

Jiraiya was just about to warn his juniors from the village when he saw the bulging veins around Zou Hyuga's Byakugan and slowly lowered his hand.

This crop of genin is pretty good. They even know the less obvious battlefield precautions.

But none of those ninjutsu had been cast by him. Although he could cast all of them, he really hadn't done it.

The traces left by those ninjutsu were precisely why he had been on his guard earlier.

Ninjutsu on that scale required at least a jonin to perform successfully. There had to be a jonin hiding nearby.

Instinctively, Jiraiya turned his gaze back toward the Hyuga and Uchiha in front of him.

But their attire marked them unmistakably as genin, and he had already confirmed their identities as Konoha ninja.

Could Konoha really have ninja with jonin-level strength masquerading as genin?

After carefully searching the surrounding area, Jiraiya captured several gravely wounded Cloud Ninja, but never found anyone who might have cast the large-scale ninjutsu.

By the time he returned, Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha had already cleared the battlefield and gathered all the valuables.

After a brief inner struggle, Zou Hyuga picked up a sack and walked over to Jiraiya.

"What are you doing? There's no need to thank me. I might not have been the one who saved you. It could have been someone else."

Jiraiya scratched his head. He could readily accept other people's gratitude, but this really had nothing to do with him.

"No..." Zou Hyuga shook his head and said, "These are all your spoils, Lord Jiraiya, and this is our way of expressing our thanks. You must have your concerns, Lord Jiraiya. I understand, I understand."

As he spoke, Zou Hyuga winked and opened a corner of the sack, revealing a discount card.

"A Konoha Bathhouse Discount Card!!!"

Jiraiya's eyes lit up. He folded his arms and hesitated for a moment before finally snatching the sack and keeping it on his person.

"Then I'll reluctantly accept it. It is your way of thanking me, after all. If you run into trouble in Konoha in the future, invoke the name of Jiraiya the Gallant. As long as it doesn't violate Konoha's rules, I can help."

As long as it doesn't violate Konoha's rules? You might as well have said nothing... Zou Hyuga grumbled inwardly, regretting the loss of his discount card.

He had spent tens of thousands of ryo to get that card. Unfortunately, after the strange markings appeared on his body, he had never had another chance to visit.

Now he could only use it to do someone a convenient favor.

And just then, Asuma arrived with the Konoha force and caught sight of Zou Hyuga's exchange with Jiraiya.

Recalling what had happened earlier, Asuma looked suspiciously at Zou Hyuga. For a moment, the atmosphere became rather delicate.