Land of Wind, Border.
The scorching sun scorched the boundless sea of sand, and the air was twisted into transparent ripples, as if the entire world was melting under the high temperature. In the shade of the sand dunes, there were scattered corpses of a few Sunagakure ninjas that had not been buried by the wind and sand, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of blood and burnt.
"Ha--it's finally solved."
Jiraiya sat down on the hot sand, untied the huge scroll behind him, picked up the water bottle, and drank it all. He wiped his mouth, but couldn't help but glance at the female medical ninja who was treating the injured companion not far away, and grinned with a trademark, slightly lewd smile.
"Minato, look at that..."
"Teacher Jiraiya." Minato Namikaze interrupted him gently, his golden hair swaying slightly in the hot wind, and his blue eyes with a hint of helplessness, "The battle has just ended, please pay attention to the impact."
He had just finished a high-speed battle, but his body was still clean and tidy, as if the life-and-death fight between Iron Sand and the puppets was just a relaxing exercise.
At this moment, a communication falcon from Konoha circled down sharply and landed accurately on the outstretched arm of Minato Namikaze.
Minato untied the scroll tied to the eagle's leg and slowly unfolded it.
The hustle and bustle of the desert seemed to freeze at this moment.
The gentle smile on Minato's face gradually faded away, and was replaced by a rare look of astonishment. His eyes stayed on certain lines of the scroll for a long time.
Defeat the elite Iwagakure... severely injure Four-Tails Jinchūriki... capture Five-Tails Jinchuriki... Wood Release... Black Lightning...
"Black Lightning?" Minato Namikaze muttered to himself subconsciously.
The description in the battle report of the elusive Space-Time Ninjutsu who took the general's head in the midst of thousands of troops made him feel inexplicably familiar.
This... isn't this how Flying Thunder God Technique is used?
It reminds me of the scene where the other party asked me for advice on how to use Flying Thunder God at home.
Little Chen Has he... not only learned it, but also been able to use it so skillfully on a battlefield of such a scale?
A complex and unspeakable emotion surged in Minato's heart. There was the pride of having made an unparalleled contribution to his companions, the admiration for the talent of his "junior", and the wonderful feeling of being chased or even surpassed. He recalled that in the village, in just a few days, this young man used Ninjutsu, which he had developed for many years, and revealed the key to breaking through the development bottleneck of his own Rasengan.
It can be said that without the other party, I might not have successfully developed it yet.
At that time, he knew this kid was a genius.
But he never thought that a genius could reach this level.
"Hey, Minato, what makes you look like this?" Jiraiya looked at his disciple's strange behavior and came over curiously, grabbing the scroll in his hand.
"Let me take a look at the battle report over there at Land of Rain. That guy Hanzō should join forces with us... uh..."
Jiraiya's voice stopped abruptly.
His eyes, which were always somewhat cynical, were now as wide as bells. His mouth opened unconsciously, enough to stuff a Toad into it.
The scroll slipped quietly from his Hand Seals hand, which was famous for its stability, and fell onto the hot sand.
"Are you... are you kidding?!"
An earth-shattering roar broke the tranquility of the desert, frightening the medical ninja not far away to shake his hand and almost stick his needle.
Jiraiya grabbed the scroll, put his face close to it, and repeatedly confirmed each word, as if he wanted to see flowers from the ink marks.
"Prisoner...Five-Tails Jinchuriki?!!"
That kid Senju Chen?! That kid who always follows Tsunade and calls himself 'Uncle Jiraiya'?!
In his mind, the figure of a child with soft black hair, always wearing a shy smile, and delivering tea and water to Tsunade suddenly appeared. Then, this figure overlapped with the terrifying existence in the battle report that imprisoned Tailed Beast as Wood Release, roamed the battlefield with Space-Time Ninjutsu, and was named "Jinchūriki Hunter".
This strong sense of violation and impact made Jiraiya feel like his brain was about to shut down.
"Child of Prophecy...Child of Prophecy...Child of Prophecy..." Jiraiya muttered to himself in confusion as he looked at the scroll.
He suddenly felt that not accepting Senju Chen as his disciple before Orochimaru was probably the biggest mistake he had made in so many years.
Land of Rain, secret research base.
Orochimaru and Senju Chen stood side by side, looking at Five-Tails Jinchuriki han who was connected to countless pipelines on the experimental platform and was still in a coma.
"... So, teacher, if you combine this kind of Chakra active cells with my cells to a limited extent, is it possible to create an 'enhanced soldier' that can quickly repair injuries without being backlashed by Wood Release?" Senju Chen was recording the data skillfully while putting forward his own idea.
Orochimaru licked his lips, his eyes full of approval. "Little Chen. Your ideas always bring me new surprises. However, Wood Release Cells is too corrosive and the balance point is difficult to find, but this is indeed a direction worthy of in-depth study."
Their conversation had completely left the realm of ordinary ninjas and entered a crazy and taboo realm.
After turning Iwagakure's war situation into a mess and pinning the old man Ōnoki to the negotiating table and the quagmire of domestic bandit suppression, Senju Chen knew that he no longer needed to devote all his energy here.
"Teacher, I'm going out for a while." Senju Chen put down the record book in his hand.
"Okay." Orochimaru looked at the data in front of him, without looking back, and responded perfunctorily.
Senju Chen returned to his room and contacted Hatake Sakumo, who was in charge of intelligence.
Senju Chen, through Hatake Sakumo, is preparing to meet the early "Akatsuki", that is, to see the still alive Yahiko and the young Nagato, Konan. Of course, the main purpose is to meet the legendary pair of Rinnegan.
He didn't see Land of Rain last time. This time, with plenty of time, he wanted to get in touch with these people in person and make some plans for the future.
He knew that his reckless contact might attract the attention of Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu, who had not yet died of old age. Senju Chen did not want to be a savior.
But we just went to make friends.
"Make friends" is Senju Chen's definition of this meeting.