Chapter 302: Jiraiya: Is This Right?
Uchiha Taiichi led his Special Police Squad to the Village Entrance, immediately becoming the focus of the villagers.
He stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the somewhat tense villagers, his voice steady: “My name is Uchiha Taiichi, Captain of the Ageo City Police Special Police Squad. We’ve got a preliminary understanding of the situation. Now we need to immediately inspect the scene and look for clues. Please take us to the place destroyed by the bandits.”
“Taiichi Captain, I’m the Village Chief of Gunma Village!” Village Chief Oiwa hurried forward, his face showing respect and expectation: “You can just call me Oiwa. We’ll take you there right now!”
As he spoke, he gestured for the villagers to clear a path.
At that moment, Uchiha Taiichi’s sharp gaze swept over Jiraiya and Konan standing not far away, especially Konan’s prominent Rain Village headband on her forehead, making his eyes narrow slightly.
He strode toward the two, saying: “You two, you don’t seem to be from this country. Please show your travel permits.”
Konan nervously glanced at Jiraiya, saw him nod slightly, then took out the two temporary travel permits from her small bag and handed them over.
Uchiha Taiichi took the documents, carefully verifying the information against their faces, especially giving Jiraiya a few extra looks, as if sensing his aura was unusual.
But he only paid a bit more attention, then handed the documents back to Konan, his tone still flat but carrying a warning: “Documents are in order. You’re ninjas too. Since you hold temporary travel permits, please strictly obey the laws of the Land of Stars while here. If there’s nothing special, I suggest you don’t linger near the crime scene to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.”
With that, he said no more, turned, and led his three team members, following Village Chief Oiwa, quickly heading toward the crime scene at the village edge.
Watching Uchiha Taiichi’s departing back, Jiraiya stroked his chin and muttered under his breath: “Tch, truly the Uchiha clan’s inherited… arrogance.”
Konan blinked curiously and asked softly: “Uncle, do you know them? That leader’s eyes seemed to turn red just now…”
Jiraiya’s gaze followed the young man’s back as he explained: “The leader kid is a ninja of the Uchiha Clan. That clan is notorious for being paranoid and arrogant, but behind that arrogance is their innate confidence, those Sharingan eyes called the ‘Mirror of the Mind.’ Who would’ve thought that in the Land of Stars, even Uchiha clan members have become police maintaining public order…”
The villagers crowded around Uchiha Taiichi and his group, heading to the robbed farmer’s house.
Elder Yamashita walked over, warmly inviting: “Little Konan, Lord Jiraiya, it’s getting dark soon. If you don’t mind, stay at my place tonight. My wife passed away a couple years ago, and my grandson is boarding at the school in the city. I’ve got two empty beds just right.”
Jiraiya, wanting to observe more of the Land of Stars’ operations, immediately smiled and agreed: “Then we’ll trouble you, Elder! But right now, we also want to go check out the crime scene. Maybe… we can help out somehow.”
Seeing their enthusiasm, Elder Yamashita couldn’t refuse and nodded: “Alright then, follow me.”
When Jiraiya and Konan followed Elder Yamashita to the crime scene farmer’s house, a crowd of villagers had already gathered outside.
The two exchanged a glance, tacitly leaping up and landing lightly on the rooftop of a nearby house, observing the situation below from above.
It was a simple earthen house at the village edge, its bamboo fence wall smashed to pieces, the yard a mess with scattered chicken feathers and signs of struggle—clearly, the few chickens and poultry in the house had been taken.
Several victim villagers were surrounding Village Chief Oiwa and Uchiha Taiichi, emotionally recounting the incident while crying.
These male villagers all had injuries of varying degrees; bruised and swollen faces were the mildest, one even clutching a leg bent at an unnatural angle, his face pale with pain, sweat pouring down.
The short black-haired female team member knelt down, her hands glowing with soft green chakra light, starting emergency treatment on the severely injured villager.
Her movements were still a bit clumsy, clearly having just learned medical ninjutsu not long ago.
Uchiha Taiichi listened intently to the villagers’ accounts, occasionally asking key questions.
The other two male team members were busy with their tasks.
Iwaro Tetsuya, wearing black-rimmed glasses and slim build, was bent over the ground, carefully examining the messy footprints and fight marks, trying to analyze the bandits’ numbers, physical characteristics, and escape routes.
Meanwhile, the slightly chubby, amiable-looking Yamazaki Shota held a notebook, listening to the villagers while quickly jotting down key case details.
Soon, the preliminary inspection and analysis yielded results.
The three quickly regrouped with Uchiha Taiichi.
Iwaro Tetsuya adjusted his glasses and reported calmly: “Captain, judging by footprint depth, stride length, and types, there were at least five of them, generally sturdy builds, with two having light steps, likely with ninja basics.”
Sakura Maki finished the initial treatment, wiped sweat from her brow, and added: “I sensed very faint chakra residues on the broken fence and ground, mixed natures. Can confirm their group has ninjas, possibly more than one.”
Yamazaki Shota closed his notebook, pinching his chin as he analyzed: “From their behavior, they violently robbed and injured resisting villagers but didn’t assault or abduct the women, targeting food and valuables clearly. Combining Tetsuya and Maki’s intel, we can preliminarily judge this bandit group mixes defeated ninja soldiers in a startled state, desperate for supplies. But current info can’t confirm if they’re Sand Village or Stone Village defeated soldiers.”
On the rooftop, Jiraiya, with his exceptional hearing, caught every bit of the analysis and dialogue below.
A flash of approval in his eyes, he whispered to Konan: “These little guys are young, but their scene inspection and intel analysis skills are quite professional.”
At the same time, he silently sensed the chakra of the four below.
Aside from Uchiha Taiichi clearly having genin-level chakra reserves, the other three—Iwaro Tetsuya, Sakura Maki, and Yamazaki Shota—even fell short of traditional genin standards.
Yet, for some reason, the steady, capable aura and tacit teamwork they exuded made Jiraiya feel they were tougher than many ordinary wandering genin or even genin from major ninja villages.
His gaze fell again on their deep blue uniforms, the seemingly ordinary clothes faintly outlining an internal structure similar to Star Ninja chakra armor from the border, but seemingly more focused on support.
Uchiha Taiichi synthesized all the intel, his eyes sharpening as he quickly issued orders: “Situation clear. Tetsuya, you handle tracking, find their lair’s general location. Maki, Shota, with me. We center on Tetsuya, keep about fifty meters distance, fan out forward for dragnet search! We must root out this scourge!”
“Yes!” The three responded in unison without hesitation, immediately moving per orders, swift and orderly.
Jiraiya and Konan leaped down from the rooftop, seeing the villagers much more reassured by the police’s arrival, even starting to discuss how to thank them.
Village Chief Oiwa was calling villagers to slaughter a chicken and a duck, bring out treasured dried mountain goods, and prepare a proper meal to reward the Special Police.
Konan watched the scene and couldn’t help asking curiously: “Village Chief Oiwa, these Land of Stars police help you exterminate bandits without needing employment commissions? In other countries, hiring ninjas costs a lot.”
Village Chief Oiwa smiled and explained: “Ninja Lord, it’s different here from other countries. Police Officers and army ninjas are official Land of Stars government staff with fixed salaries; bandit extermination and public order maintenance are their duties. The taxes we pay include security management.”
“Of course, we can’t just watch the Lords risk their lives for us without showing anything. Using our village’s specialty products for a home-cooked meal to express gratitude is only natural. But we can’t be too extravagant, or the inspectors above will trouble us and the police.”
His explanation was clear and logical, clearly very familiar with these rules.
Jiraiya grew more interested, eyeing this much younger Village Chief Oiwa than most he’d seen, and asked: “Village Chief Oiwa, you’re not old, yet you know so much?”
Village Chief Oiwa showed a simple smile and explained: “To be honest, things have changed a lot. Two years ago, a bear entered the village; I led some friends to drive it off, so everyone elected me Village Chief.”
“Before that, we were sent to the city school for months of literacy and basic government classes. Learned to read, understand the law, and go back to the city government academy for half a month of training each year. See more, learn more, naturally know a bit.”
Jiraiya listened dumbfounded; this method of selecting and training grassroots managers through education was unheard of.
It defied the Ninja World’s millennia-old basic order.
Raised with ninja education, deeply ingrained with concepts of commoner, ninja, noble, daimyo classes, Jiraiya’s mind flashed with deep doubt.
Then, recalling some rumors, he couldn’t help frowning and pressing: “Then… what about the previous Village Chief? Executed?”
Having received ninja education, Jiraiya instinctively rejected such radical change.
But Village Chief Oiwa shook his head, pointing to a somewhat silent middle-aged man not far away helping with the fire: “There, that’s Ozawa. Now he works and lives with us.”
Jiraiya looked at the quietly busy former Village Chief, his face darkening, brows furrowing tighter.
Everything the Land of Stars showed him was utterly different from his known world, like being in another world.
The impact of this systemic change far exceeded mere military victory, shocking him to the core.
Just then.
Boom!
A massive explosion came from outside the village, shattering the evening quiet!
Jiraiya and Konan reacted instantly, leaping back onto the rooftop.
The villagers panicked, running toward the village center.
Jiraiya focused northward on Gunma Mountain, seeing smoke rising midway up, faint figures scrambling out of the blast zone—it was Uchiha Taiichi and his squad!
Among them, the tracker Iwaro Tetsuya was worst off, several kunai embedded in him, blood staining his uniform, being supported by the struggling Yamazaki Shota.
Over a dozen ferocious-faced bandits rushed out from the mountain forest, surrounding the four.
A sharp-featured bandit yelled at the burly leader: “Leader Fuyama! You guessed right! Those commoners really called Star Ninjas! But… how come only four kids? And just one with a Star Ninja headband?”
The man called Leader Fuyama was tall and muscular, wearing Stone Village standard vest, his Stone Village headband crossed by a deep slash, marking him a rogue ninja.
Beside him stood four ninjas with auras unlike ordinary bandits, two even in Sand Village attire!
Fuyama spat and grinned ferociously: “Who gives a damn who came! Since they dare show, slaughter these ignorant brats! Then head down, massacre that village, grab what we can!”
“Rawr!” The bandits and rogue ninjas howled bloodthirstily, waving weapons and charging.
On the rooftop, Konan nervously grabbed Jiraiya’s sleeve: “Lord Jiraiya! They’re in danger!”
Jiraiya’s face turned serious, saying gravely: “Of course I see! At a time like this, how could the Great Toad Sage stand by!”
The two moved, rushing to the battlefield.
However, just as Jiraiya thought the surrounded Uchiha Taiichi and team would face bitter fighting or peril, the scene unfolded beyond his expectation.
Facing enemies far outnumbering them, Uchiha Taiichi, Yamazaki Shota, and the lighter-injured Sakura Maki quickly formed a back-to-back circle, protecting the heavily wounded, unconscious Iwaro Tetsuya in the center.
“Ninja tools, launch!” Uchiha Taiichi ordered calmly.
Instantly, dense kunai and shuriken rained toward the charging enemies, precisely suppressing the front rank bandits’ advance.
Yamazaki Shota flicked his wrist, his arm’s chakra capacitor device glowing faintly, activating ninjutsu almost instantly.
“Earth Style: Earth Surge Spears!”
Pff! Pff! Pff!
Several sharp stone spears erupted from under the bandits’ feet, piercing them instantly!
Screams rose one after another.
At the same time, Sakura Maki swiftly drew a strangely shaped “kunai gun” from her leg holster, aimed at the fastest-charging rogue ninjas, and pulled the trigger.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several explosive tag-bound kunai shot out, landing accurately amid the rogue ninjas.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Successive explosion firelights engulfed them, sending them tumbling.
Leader Fuyama stared dumbfounded, shocked: “What the hell! These kids aren’t even genin, right? How can they use ninjutsu without hand seals? And what weapon is that?!”
A Sand ninja rogue who’d fought Star Ninjas before shouted fearfully: “Fuyama! Told you these Star Ninjas are weird! Their armor stores chakra for quick jutsu! Even weak-chakra folks can use that kunai gun! Don’t treat them like ordinary genin!”
As the rogue ninjas were stunned by the counterattack, Uchiha Taiichi seized the chance, hands forming seals, chest expanding.
“Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!”
A massive fireball with scorching waves hurtled straight at Leader Fuyama’s face!
Fuyama’s face changed, hands slamming the ground: “Earth Style: Earth Return!”
A thick earth wall rose instantly, barely blocking the fireball, but shattered with flying gravel.
For the moment, with superior gear, teamwork, and Uchiha Taiichi’s Sharingan insight, the four-person squad barely held off the dozen-plus bandits and rogue ninjas.
Seeing brute force failing and losses mounting, Fuyama changed tactics, roaring furiously: “Stop holding back! All explosive tags out! Blast them with ninjutsu! If not now, we’re done for!”
The surviving rogue ninjas reached into their clothes for explosive tags or began complex seals, aiming for area ninjutsu coverage.
“Wild Lion’s Mane Technique!”
“Release Seal: Shuriken!”
Jiraiya and Konan finally arrived!
Jiraiya’s white long hair whipped out like living serpents, instantly wrapping two seal-forming rogue ninjas and slamming them to the ground.
Konan summoned countless sharp shuriken from sealing cards, storming toward bandits on the other side, forcing them to flee heads covered.
“Bad! They have reinforcements!”
“Leader Fuyama! What now?!”
The rogue ninjas panicked, shouting.
But looking back, the Fuyama who’d just threatened to massacre the village was already fleeing desperately into the mountain forest depths!
“Boss ran!”
“Retreat!”
With the leader fled, the remaining bandits and rogue ninjas’ morale collapsed; ignoring the fight, they scattered bird-like, fleeing after Fuyama.
The battlefield temporarily fell quiet.
Uchiha Taiichi panted heavily, Sharingan locked on Fuyama’s escape direction, then glanced at his heavily wounded, unconscious teammate Iwaro Tetsuya on the ground, eyes filled with self-blame and anger.
Just then, the single tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly, the blood-red pupils evolving a second tomoe!
Under extreme emotional stimulus, his Sharingan evolved!
Uchiha Taiichi forcibly suppressed his churning emotions, quickly deciding: “Maki! Stay, care for Tetsuya, emergency wound treatment! Shota, with me to pursue! Can’t let that leader escape!”
Sakura Maki, though worried, immediately replied: “Yes! Captain, be careful!”
Jiraiya and Konan approached.
Jiraiya eyed Uchiha Taiichi’s newborn Two-Tomoe Sharingan, inwardly sighing at the Uchiha Clan’s talent, and said: “Need help? That leader looks tough.”
Uchiha Taiichi looked at Jiraiya, still carrying Uchiha pride but tone more solemn: “Thanks for the aid. Please watch Maki and Tetsuya for us. As for pursuit… we must go.”
He paused, gaze sharply toward the bandits’ flight path, analyzing calmly: “Now’s when their morale is lowest; that rogue leader has only a few loyalists left. If we don’t take him now, once he regroups defeated soldiers or flees elsewhere, catching him will be hard.”
Uchiha Taiichi’s gaze swept the nearby Gunma Village with lights starting to glow, voice low but firm: “Moreover… given their vicious nature, they’ll definitely retaliate against the village. We can’t leave this threat.”
Jiraiya looked at this fifteen-year-old boy already showing excellent squad leader qualities, pondered briefly, and stopped dissuading.
He patted his chest, promising solemnly: “Fine then, I won’t stop you. Leave your teammates to us! Guaranteed by the Great Toad Sage Jiraiya’s reputation, they won’t suffer more harm!”
“Thanks!” Uchiha Taiichi gave Jiraiya a deep look, said no more, nodded to Yamazaki Shota; the two moved like leopards, following the bandits’ traces, vanishing swiftly into the darkening mountain forest.
Jiraiya watched them go, then turned to Sakura Maki fully treating Iwaro Tetsuya’s wounds with lingering fear on her face, and this Land of Stars village so different from his knowledge, sighing deeply to himself:
“Looks like the Uchiha Clan lives more integrated here than in Konoha.”
“Old man… exactly how did you force the Uchiha Clan like this…”
