Chapter 28

Xuan Zhe used his hoe to lift a piece of bloodstained cloth beside the field ridge.

"These dogs caught a few fools who didn't know better just now. Made a convenient lunch for them."

Just as the Aburame Clan played with insects and the Uchiha Clan raised birds.

The Hatake Clan's summoning beasts were usually dogs.

But Xuan Zhe never relied on them in a fight.

He knew few ninjutsu, and the Summoning Technique was one of them.

They neither patrolled nor fought. He used them purely as oxen.

"Th-that's the Hayate Clan's crest?!"

Jiraiya looked at the pattern on the scrap hanging from the hoe, swallowed, and his expression changed completely.

The Hayate Clan's bloodline had secured its foothold in Konoha through its Transparent Release.

The members of this clan excelled at concealment and reconnaissance.

They mainly worked in the Anbu and the Intelligence Department.

To put it plainly, those two departments were blades in the hands of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō.

So the Gekko Clan could essentially be called one of the clans the Hokage trusted most.

"If they weren't **, who would sneak around watching a hero who made such great contributions to Konoha?"

The corners of Xuan Zhe's mouth lifted, and black flames instantly burned that watcher away without a trace.

"Speaking of which, I noticed someone watching me a week ago. Someone that persistent had to be from an enemy village. Surely Lord Hokage wouldn't send someone to watch me?"

Xuan Zhe spoke with a grin.

Standing beside Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze's back was drenched in cold sweat.

A week ago?

Wasn't that the two days I spent watching him?

He turned to look at the Ninja Dogs plowing the fields with iron plows on their backs. Blood that had yet to dry still clung to their mouths.

Minato Namikaze felt a chill around his neck.

If he had continued his surveillance then, he would probably be the one lying in those dogs' bellies now.

"A new student?"

Xuan Zhe noticed the young man beside Jiraiya and roughly guessed what was going on.

Jiraiya took several deep breaths before barely steadying himself and saying in a low voice:

"...Yes. I brought it up with old man Sarutobi myself."

"You're the Hokage's student, so Minato is his grandstudent. Heh, that's an interesting set of generations."

Xuan Zhe smiled and said nothing more. He turned and walked into the field, beginning to turn the soil and sow seeds.

In truth, he still spent most of his time practicing his swordsmanship.

Farming was more of a way to relax for him.

Neither Jiraiya nor Minato Namikaze spoke along the way.

Only after they entered the village gates did a woman carrying a newborn baby pass them and greet them first:

"Ah, hello, Lord Jiraiya."

Jiraiya paused. "You are..."

When he saw the Hayate Clan crest on her clothes, his expression shifted.

"My name is Gekko Shin. This is Yuzuki's and my child, Gekko Hayate."

The woman bowed slightly in greeting.

"Yuzuki, Yuzuki Yuzuki? I remember he's the head of the Gekko Clan, isn't he?"

Jiraiya frowned, thought for a moment, and asked.

"Yes, my husband serves under Lord Hokage."

Gekko Shin frowned as well and said with some confusion:

"But I don't know what's been going on. He's been coming home very late these past few days..."

At that, she bowed to Jiraiya again and apologized.

The lady from the Gekko Clan bowed deeply, her voice full of apology. "How rude of me, complaining in front of one of the Sannin like yourself. I must be going. I still have to prepare Yuzuki's dinner at home."

Jiraiya opened his mouth but could not say a word.

Minato Namikaze froze on the spot too.

The two simply watched the woman carrying her baby walk away. Neither spoke first.

After a long while, Minato Namikaze finally forced out the words with difficulty. "Teacher... could that person earlier have been the head of the Gekko Clan?"

"Don't ask, Minato!"

Jiraiya cut him off, his face frighteningly dark. He took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "Go home and rest. I have something to take care of."

Minato Namikaze stood rooted to the spot, only able to stare blankly as Jiraiya hurried away.

The image of that mother and child kept turning over in his mind.

That man would never return home.

No, he had long since become food in someone else's bowl.

If Xuan Zhe had been there and learned that the baby was named Gekko Hayate, he probably would have let out a long breath.

That was close. I nearly wiped out another prominent extra from the original story.

A sin, a sin.

The next day.

As usual, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the Hokage's office.

He held his pipe in one hand and leafed through intelligence sent from the border with the other.

Konoha and Sunagakure had officially signed an armistice.

The Second Shinobi World War was finally over for good.

At last, he could breathe a sigh of relief.

The only thing weighing on him was that mess involving his eldest son.

But had it really only been an accident?

Lately, he had been spending longer and longer in his office.

He had no choice. Because of what had happened to his eldest son, his wife Biwako had not shown him a pleasant face once.

His second son, Asuma, knew nothing of the complications behind it, yet had already started opposing him.

Outside, the ministers bickered all day. Back home, everything was a mess too.

That was the life Hiruzen Sarutobi was living now.

Thankfully, the war was over. Otherwise, he really might have worried himself to death.

"Strange. Why is Yuzuki taking so long to return today?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned.

After Minato Namikaze became Jiraiya's student, he temporarily stepped down from his Anbu duties and no longer had to watch Hatake Xuanzhe.

So Hiruzen Sarutobi sent an Anbu squad leader-the head of the Gekko Clan, Yuzuki Yuzuki-to take over.

The Gekko Clan possessed the secret technique Transparent Release and excelled at infiltration and reconnaissance.

Moreover, when Hiruzen Sarutobi had become Hokage, the Gekko Clan had been among the first to come forward in support of him.

So in his heart, Yuzuki Yuzuki had always been one of his most trusted confidants.

Unfortunately, while the man's reconnaissance abilities were beyond reproach, his strength was somewhat lacking. He could not serve as commander.

Then again, if he were too powerful, Hiruzen Sarutobi would not have dared to use him.

What if he threatened his position one day?

Someone kicked open the Hokage's office door, sending it crashing against the wall with a bang.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, seated behind his desk, froze for a moment.

He looked up and furrowed his brow. "Jiraiya?"

"Are you waiting for Yuzuki Yuzuki?"

There was not a trace of a smile on Jiraiya's face, and his voice was frighteningly calm.

For someone who usually laughed and joked, spouting corny jokes whenever he opened his mouth, this expression was as good as announcing outright that he was furious.

"Hmm?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed even deeper.

How did he know?

Before he could ask.

Jiraiya suddenly reached behind his back, pulled something out, and hurled it straight at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi instinctively reached out and caught it.

He looked down.

It was a bloodstained scrap of cloth-the corner of an Anbu vest.

"Jiraiya, this is..."

He raised his head and stared at this student who still cherished their bond as master and disciple.

"What Xuan Zhe's Ninja Dogs left of their meal."

Jiraiya sneered.

If witnessing that bloody scene at noon had not yet made him completely lose his reason.

Then when he returned to Konoha with Minato Namikaze and saw Gekko Shin, who had lost her husband, and the baby named "Gekko Hayate," who had lost his father just after being born-

For someone as softhearted as Jiraiya, the string in his mind snapped on the spot.

The grudges between Xuan Zhe and old man Sarutobi.

He could not be bothered to meddle in them.

But dragging innocent people into their mess was something Jiraiya could not tolerate.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils abruptly contracted.

From those words alone, he already understood what had happened.

"Has that bastard really become this brazen?!"