At this time, those foreign missions hiding in the alleys and peeking must have been frantically sending news back.
"Konoha has a close relationship with Akatsuki."
"Konoha is basically the supporter behind Akatsuki."
"Jiraiya's influence on Land of Rain far exceeds expectations."
"..."
This information will definitely be sent back to each ninja village in the shortest possible time.
When he reached the steps of the mansion, Kakuzu suddenly turned sideways and made a gesture of invitation.
"Lord Jiraiya, Minister Senju The reception banquet has been prepared. The leader is waiting inside."
Jiraiya had regained his composure at this time. No matter what the reason was, Konoha had a big reputation anyway. So he stepped up the steps with a proud look on his face.
Kakuzu took two steps slowly, followed Senju Chen, and walked two steps side by side with him.
The moment he passed by Kakuzu--
"Boss." Kakuzu's lips barely moved, and only Senju Chen could hear his voice, "This scene is okay. I'll pay for it later."
Senju Chen raised his eyebrows, ignored the money-hungry guy, and followed Jiraiya straight towards the mansion.
At this time--
A voice came from deep inside the mansion.
"Jiraiya teacher?"
Jiraiya looked up suddenly.
From the door above the steps, a young man with orange hair came out.
Red cloud robe on black background.
Her ears and face were covered with black ornaments.
Familiar faces.
A familiar smile.
Just those eyes...
Purple eyes with concentric circles.
Jiraiya was frozen in place.
He looked at that face.
Countless memories flooded out of my mind - the cave of Land of Rain, the three skinny children who were so hungry, the orange-haired boy raised his fist and said, "I want there to be no more wars in this country."
"Mi... Yan?"
"Yahiko" smiled slightly, walked down the steps and stood in front of Jiraiya.
"Long time no see, Teacher Jiraiya."
Jiraiya's lips moved, but no words came out.
He stared into those purple eyes, and his heart seemed to be gripped by something.
Because those eyes shouldn't appear on Yahiko's face...
Jiraiya stared at those eyes, his mind was in a mess.
Rinnegan of the legendary Sage of Six Paths.
He couldn't see it wrong. He even accepted several people as disciples back then, and a large part of the reason was because of these eyes.
Nagato's eyes looked like this back then - purple pupils with concentric circles.
But even though he hadn't seen the face in front of him for many years, he could vaguely recognize it. The person in front of him was obviously Yahiko.
Yahiko's face, Nagato's eyes.
Why do these two things appear in the same person at this moment...
"Teacher?"
"Yahiko" called out again, in a natural tone, with a sense of reunion after a long absence, "You may have been caught in the rain, come in quickly."
Jiraiya's mouth opened and closed, closed and opened again.
He wanted to ask.
Who are you? What's wrong with Yahiko? Where's Nagato? Where's Konan? What's wrong with these eyes?
He had a hundred questions on his mind.
But "Yahiko" didn't give him a chance to speak.
"Land of Rain This damn weather doesn't stop all year round." Yahiko turned his head and glanced at the sky, his tone so casual that he didn't sound like he was talking to a teacher he hadn't seen for many years, but more like he was talking to his next door neighbor about whether he should hang the laundry today.
"Go ahead and change into dry clothes. The reception banquet is all ready."
After saying that, "Yahiko" moved his eyes away from Jiraiya's face and fell on Senju Chen.
"Minister Senju, thank you for your hard work."
Senju Chen nodded slightly. "The leader is polite."
The two looked at each other for less than a second.
Senju Chen glanced sideways at Jiraiya.
The old man stood at the foot of the steps, his hair wet on his face, and one hand froze in the air - probably wanting to reach out to grab Yahiko's shoulder, but he put it down.
"Lord Jiraiya." Senju Chen said softly, "Let's go in first."
Jiraiya came to his senses.
He glanced at Senju Chen, then at "Yahiko", and finally said nothing and walked up the steps in silence.
When passing by Yahiko, his steps were obviously half a beat slower.
Yahiko stepped aside to give way, always wearing a decent smile.
Anko pulled Senju Chen's sleeve and whispered, "Chen, there seems to be something wrong with Lord Jiraiya's face."
"We'll talk about it later." Senju Chen's voice became even lower.
"The Riddler!" Anko curled his lips and quickly followed in without asking any more questions.
Yamato walked at the back, looked at "Yahiko", and nodded imperceptibly.
"Yahiko" arranged for two members of Akatsuki to lead the way and take the Konoha delegation to the guest courtyard on the east side of the mansion.
The specifications of the guest house are obviously higher than the ordinary reception standards - independent courtyard, four main rooms, the bedding in each room is brand new, and there are fruit plates and tea sets on the table.
Anko threw himself on the bed as soon as he entered the room. "I can finally lie down for a while."
Yamato first checked the structure around the room, then touched the windows and doorways to confirm that there were no monitoring devices before starting to clean up the room.
Senju Chen sat down and poured a cup of tea.
The tea is hot. It seems that Konan has done a good job in logistics and deserves praise.
In the next room, Jiraiya is sitting alone in front of the window.
The rain is still falling.
He hadn't changed his clothes, and his wet white hair was dripping with water, leaving a small dark stain on the floor.
He was thinking about what happened many years ago.
In the cave. Three children. Yahiko, Nagato, Konan.
He taught them Ninjutsu for three years. When they left, Yahiko stood at the entrance of the cave and waved to him, smiling brightly.
Nagato stood next to Yahiko. He didn't speak much, but his eyes were full of expectations for the future.
And now, Yahiko's face has Nagato's eyes.
Jiraiya clenched his fists and then unclenched them.
He is not a fool.
There is only one explanation he can think of now - that is, Nagato is no longer here, and he gave his eyes to Yahiko before he died...
He didn't dare to think about anything else.
There was a knock on the door.
"Lord Jiraiya, do you want hot water now?" It was the Akatsuki member who just led the way.
"Leave it alone for now." Jiraiya's voice became hoarse.
He cleared his throat and said again, "Let it go first."
The footsteps went away.
Jiraiya leaned against the window frame and closed his eyes.
The rain pattered on the eaves, making a loud noise.
West courtyard.
The residence of the Iwagakure mission.
Four people squeezed into a room of less than 20 square meters.
The leader, a middle-aged man named Tsuchiishi, is a close confidant of Ōnoki. This time he is on a mission to Land of Rain on behalf of Iwagakure.
He stood by the window, looking at the independent east courtyard in the distance, his face as gloomy as if it was about to drip.
"Master Tsuchiishi." A young ninja behind him lowered his voice, "I just found out that the east courtyard was originally Hanzō's private residence, the most luxurious place in the entire mansion."
"Then what?" Tsuchiishi asked with a frown.
"It's for Konoha people." The young ninja nodded, "And I heard that all the facilities inside are prepared according to the highest standards, and even the tea is Land of Rain's best cloud tea."
Tsuchiishi turned around and glanced at this simple room.
The four beds are right next to each other, leaving only a barely passable aisle in between.
There is also a pool of water stains in the corner of the wall. I don't know whether it is a rain leak or underground water seepage.
"..."
The young ninja lowered his head and did not dare to speak.
Tsuchiishi took a deep breath and strode out of the room.
"Master Tsuchiishi, where are you going?"
"Go to Akatsuki and ask them." Tsuchiishi said without looking back, "I want to see what they mean."