Chapter 24

Hatake Sakumo had not understood any of it, while Shinku Yuhi had seen through it but chose not to say so. He remarked casually:

"I heard about that too. Carrying out Super S-Rank Missions like that isn't easy for any of you. Go home and get some rest."

Back when Hatake Sakumo had failed his mission and the entire village had condemned him.

Shinku Yuhi had already sensed something was wrong.

How could a Super S-Rank Mission, one of the village's most closely guarded secrets, have become common knowledge?

Ninjas failing missions was nothing unusual, but the abuse Hatake Sakumo had received this time had been outrageously excessive.

Then there was what he had heard from Shikaku Nara-Xuan Zhe had volunteered to team up with Sarutobi Shinnosuke and head to Sunagakure to strike at the Second Kazekage.

Putting all those clues together.

Shinku Yuhi already had a rough idea of what had happened.

But he still played dumb despite knowing the truth.

With his strength and standing, he could not meddle in waters this deep.

Hearing that, Jiraiya knew he would get nothing more out of them. He nodded to the two men, turned, and left.

"Jiraiya's expression looked off. Did something happen?"

Hatake Sakumo looked utterly bewildered.

"Sakumo... if you have some time, eat more walnuts. Give that brain of yours a boost."

Looking at his old friend, whose strength was off the charts but whose political sense was little better than a child's, Shinku Yuhi sighed and patted his shoulder.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Hatake Sakumo was not pleased.

"Come on. Let's take our families out for barbecue."

Shinku Yuhi smiled and changed the subject.

"Dad, can we invite Big Brother Xuan Zhe too?"

Kurenai Yuhi's eyes shone, her face full of anticipation.

"Hmm? Why?"

"He's handsome!"

Stars practically sparkled in Kurenai Yuhi's eyes.

Shinku Yuhi felt a pang, as though the soil around the precious little cabbage he had worked so hard to raise was starting to loosen.

The Senju Clan compound.

"Hello, Lord Jiraiya."

"You're here to see Princess Tsunade, aren't you, Lord Jiraiya? Just turn right up ahead."

Wisps of cooking smoke rose over the Senju Clan's residential grounds.

"Lord Jiraiya, these buns just came out of the steamer. Want one?"

The clan members greeted their visitor warmly.

Jiraiya smiled and waved them off, but a trace of complicated feeling stirred within him.

Once, the Senju and the Uchiha had stood as equals. How glorious those days had been.

But now...

He glanced at the ordinary clan members around him. They had no chakra fluctuations and did not qualify as even the most basic ninjas.

How could these people possibly uphold the weight of the Senju name?

Tsunade was the only one left who could truly fight.

That kid Nawaki?

He had talent, but he was still a long way from shouldering the clan.

As for the Senju's current standing in the village, never mind great clans like the Sarutobi, Uchiha, and Hyuga.

Even the Ino-Shika-Cho clans stood above them.

Without a Kage Level powerhouse like Tsunade holding things together, even third-rate clans like the Gekko and Shiranui would probably dare to treat them with contempt.

The Clan Head's Mansion stood in the most secluded corner of the clan grounds.

Jiraiya had heard that after the First's battle with Madara Uchiha, his injuries had been so severe that he had needed absolute quiet.

That was why the residence had been moved to the outskirts.

But after the upheaval a year ago, the Senju clan members had died or scattered, and now the entire clan grounds were frighteningly quiet.

Before he even entered, the aroma of sukiyaki drifted out.

Then came Nawaki's laughing voice:

"Brother-in-law, you're incredible!"

"You killed Sarutobi Shinnosuke without leaving them a single thing to use against you!"

"That old man Hiruzen Sarutobi must be banging his head against the wall at home right now! Hahaha-"

In the courtyard, an earthenware pot sat on a stone table.

Steam billowed up, and the aroma of beef rolled through the air.

Xuan Zhe, Tsunade, and Nawaki sat around it.

Alcohol and hot steam had already flushed Tsunade's cheeks, and she was a little drunk.

"That was a brilliant move, brother-in-law!"

Nawaki refilled Xuan Zhe's cup and his own, his eyes shining:

"That old fox spent his whole life playing political games, only to fall flat in the very thing he was proudest of!"

"The Land of Rain is fighting the Lands of Fire, Wind, and Earth all at once. There are ** everywhere."

"Who could ever track down one more Sarutobi Shinnosuke?"

The more Nawaki spoke, the more excited he became, his face bright red.

It was not the alcohol making him red, but excitement.

Xuan Zhe raised his cup and took a small sip.

His gaze casually swept toward the gate, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly:

"No."

"Choosing the Land of Rain to make my move was precisely what left a flaw."

"A flaw even I hadn't anticipated."

"That loose end has already come knocking."

"Jiraiya, care to join us for a drink?"

The moment Xuan Zhe finished speaking.

The hazy drunkenness clouding Nawaki and Tsunade vanished completely.

Both turned toward the gate in unison.

Jiraiya stood there, his face a tangle of expressions-shock, anger, sorrow, and apprehension, all twisted together.

He walked into the courtyard, one step at a time.

"Xuan Zhe, so... you really were behind it."

Jiraiya seemed to force the words out through gritted teeth.

What Xuan Zhe had told Hiruzen Sarutobi was that he had set out from the Land of Rivers with Sarutobi Shinnosuke, then encountered Jiraiya in the Land of Rain.

The three of them had then infiltrated Sunagakure together to ** the Second Kazekage.

In the end, Sarutobi Shinnosuke had been killed by the Kazekage.

But what Jiraiya had witnessed with his own eyes was nothing like that.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke had never gone to the assassination site at all.

Jiraiya had even met him right at the beginning.

Jiraiya had already had his suspicions.

Those few remarks from Nawaki just now had slapped the ** right in his face.

The evidence was plain to see. There was nothing left to doubt.

"Ah-man's plans really are no match for fate. Who would've thought I'd run into you in the Land of Rain of all places?"

Xuan Zhe smiled and took another bowl and pair of chopsticks from beside him.

"Sit down and eat. We can talk over the meal."

Jiraiya was in no mood to eat or drink.

Nor was he the only one. At the sight of him, Tsunade and Nawaki had both set down their cups.

The hostility emanating from the siblings was faint, yet it left Jiraiya deeply uneasy.

"Tsunade, Nawaki, you... you knew from the start?"

Jiraiya furrowed his white brows, his voice a little uncertain.

"I guessed when he said he was going with Sarutobi Shinnosuke to kill the Kazekage."

Tsunade looked grim. She picked up her cup again and drained it, her voice cold as ice.

"It really was a coincidence, though, you running into him."

"Senior Jiraiya, are you planning to report this to Hiruzen Sarutobi?"

Nawaki was even more direct, the hostility on his face undisguised.

Ever since the disaster that had struck the Senju Clan last year, he had stopped calling Hiruzen Sarutobi "Hokage."

At least, he never called him that behind his back.

In his eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not deserve to share the same title as his two grandfathers.

"Nawaki, I..."

For a moment, Jiraiya did not know what to say.

"On your way here, you must have seen what's become of the Senju Clan, haven't you?"

The hatred on Nawaki's face deepened as he continued:

"Almost all our men are dead. Hiruzen Sarutobi only lost one son. What right does he have to compare his losses to ours?"

"We suffered far more than he did!"

Jiraiya opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

In last year's incident, all the Senju Clan members involved had perished.

Because the Intelligence Department's information had been wrong, they had inadvertently fallen into an enemy trap and been wiped out.

Tsunade and Nawaki's parents had been among them.

The Intelligence Department's top position was actually controlled by the Shimura Clan.

Even though Jiraiya had still been in the Land of Rain at the time, training those three future members of Akatsuki, he had vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

Nawaki was even more direct, laying it out in the open-

The entire affair had been orchestrated behind the scenes by the senior Decision-Making Council!