Chapter 141: Orochimaru: “teacher Sarutobi, What Double Standards!”
Jiraiya, who had returned to Konoha Village, already had two toads standing on his shoulders, but of course he had not activated Sage Mode.
“It’s been a long time since I came to Konoha. I really miss it!” Sage Fukasaku, the green-skinned toad with a white beard, white eyebrows, and white hair, sighed.
“Child’s dad, I remember you’ve only been to Konoha twice. Is a place you’ve only visited twice really worth missing?”
Sage Shima, who had a head of purple hair and naturally purple lip color, was also a green-skinned toad.
“Toad…”
“It spoke!”
At that moment, a sudden voice attracted Jiraiya and the two toads’ attention: “Lady Tsunade, those two toads, they spoke! Toads can talk! Hic~”
“Tsunade?” Jiraiya was stunned for a moment, turned his head, and saw Tsunade supporting Shizune, who was flushed red in the face and reeking of alcohol all over.
Although Tsunade looked a bit drunk, it wasn’t as severe as Shizune’s; her eyes were just a little glazed over.
This…
What a coincidence!
But how did Tsunade’s disciple get so dead drunk?
Jiraiya remembered that Shizune didn’t seem to like drinking much.
Tsunade hadn’t expected to run into Jiraiya here either. She glanced at the two toads standing on Jiraiya’s shoulders, and facing the doubt on Jiraiya’s face, Tsunade casually explained.
“I was in a bad mood today, so I went to the tavern to drink my fill, but this girl Shizune was afraid I’d get drunk and directly snatched the sake jug from me, then gulped down all the liquor inside in one go.”
“That was over fifty-proof strong liquor. Even I need to savor it little by little slowly, but this kid who isn’t good at drinking chugged it all at once and ended up like this.”
Jiraiya suddenly understood.
Then, Tsunade frowned curiously and asked: “These are toads from Mount Myōboku, right? They look a bit familiar… Who are they?”
“Sage Fukasaku.”
“Sage Shima.”
Jiraiya introduced: “You’ve met them before. These two are elder-level sages from Mount Myōboku, second only to Great Toad Sage Gamabunta, and they’ve lived for over eight hundred years.”
Tsunade was stunned. She recalled for a moment and seemed to have some impression. She suddenly asked: “Then what’s their purpose in coming to Konoha?”
“This…” Jiraiya also didn’t know if he could say.
“The purpose is to meet Uchiha Ikeizumi.” Sage Fukasaku showed a slight smile and directly told Tsunade the truth: “The Great Lord said—there’s a ninja in Konoha named Uchiha Ikeizumi who has eyes that can foresee the future. We’re just following the Great Lord’s orders to check if it’s true or false.”
Tsunade pursed her lips: “Great Lord?”
“That’s the Great Toad Sage.” Jiraiya immediately added the explanation.
“Oh!”
Tsunade suddenly understood: “The Great Toad Sage who tricked you into wandering aimlessly, getting you roasted by Ikeizumi!”
Jiraiya: “…”
Jiraiya immediately broke out in a sweat. He hurriedly glanced left at Sage Fukasaku, then right at Sage Shima, afraid that Tsunade’s irreverent words would displease the two sages.
“It’s fine.”
Sage Fukasaku shook his head, then looked at Tsunade in front of him and asked: “Didn’t Uchiha Ikeizumi also say that the Child of Prophecy truly exists? Then why say the Great Lord tricked little Jiraiya?”
Sage Shima also spoke up: “I recognize you. You’re the child who made a contract with the Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest, right? Even the Slug Sage wouldn’t be so impolite in front of the Great Lord.”
Tsunade supported Shizune with one hand on each side, pursed her lips and said: “Tricking Jiraiya this fool into searching the entire ninja world for some so-called Child of Prophecy—isn’t that a form of trickery? Entrusting the future peace of the ninja world to a so-called Child of Prophecy savior—it’s really a laughable notion.”
“Just as that kid Ikeizumi said, one savior can’t bring change to the ninja world. Once the ninja world improves, naturally everyone can become a savior. Only when countless saviors work together can the ninja world truly change.”
At this point, Tsunade paused, then continued: “Jiraiya, what saves the world is never one person, but a positive ideology that can gain everyone’s recognition.”
“Like that kid’s Absolute Justice.”
“And besides, it’s precisely because I’m from Shikkotsu Forest that I say this about that Great Toad.” Tsunade tsked: “Mount Myōboku, Ryuchi Cave, Shikkotsu Forest—the ninja world’s three great sacred sites clearly have three sages, yet only that Great Toad likes to stir up all sorts of trouble.”
“A toad that’s lived this long doesn’t know to take a break, and the other two sages aren’t as troublesome as it is. Is it truly thinking of the ninja world, or is it full of ambition?”
“Probably only he himself knows for sure!”
With that, Tsunade waved casually at Jiraiya while supporting Shizune.
“We’ll chat up to here for now. I still need to take this kid back. She snatched my booze and got blackout drunk—aren’t you afraid some sleazy peeping old man with bad intentions will pick her up?”
Jiraiya: “…”
Sleazy peeping old man—why does it feel pointed?
Watching Tsunade’s departing back, Sage Shima’s eyelids twitched slightly: “Little Jiraiya, child’s dad… Are all the inheritors of Shikkotsu Forest this impolite now? Doesn’t the Slug Sage check their character when taking inheritors?”
“Shh! Shh!” The sweating Jiraiya hurriedly whispered: “Sage Shima, drunk Tsunade is not to be messed with. If it comes to it, the one getting beaten will be me!”
Sage Fukasaku said faintly: “Once we find the true Child of Prophecy, and the Child of Prophecy brings true change to the ninja world, this child will realize that the Great Lord was right.”
“Little Jiraiya, we’re not in a hurry to meet that child Uchiha Ikeizumi first. After all, he’s in Konoha Village and can’t run off anywhere. List out the names of the children you think might be the Child of Prophecy for us to review.”
“Phew! Okay.”
Jiraiya let out a breath.
…
Inside the Ninja Academy.
“School’s finally out!” Naruto rushed excitedly out of the classroom, then turned back and shouted loudly to Sasuke: “Sasuke, hurry up! We need to quickly find Senior Izumi and have her take us to enforce justice in Konoha Village!”
“Don’t shout so loudly.” Sasuke’s mouth twitched slightly. He felt many gazes looking over, which made Sasuke feel a bit uncomfortable all over. Doesn’t this dead-last realize at all how embarrassing his behavior is?
Just as he was about to follow, his steps suddenly paused, and he turned his head to look at Yamanaka Ino not far away, who was carrying a delicate little schoolbag.
“Hey.”
Sasuke proactively invited: “Do you want to come along too?”
His small face serious, he said: “Your understanding of justice is deeper than mine and the dead-last’s, and from your previous attitude, you should really agree with Teacher Ikeizumi’s Absolute Justice, right? If so, we should be companions, and as companions, we have the duty to let you join in.”
“Right, dead-last?”
He glanced at Naruto.
“Right!” Naruto nodded heavily, then suddenly reacted and gnashed his teeth at Sasuke: “Did you say the word ‘dead-last’ to me a bunch of times today?”
Sasuke shifted his gaze.
A little guilty.
But more so, using the term “dead-last” to mask his inferiority in front of Naruto. Yes, after Naruto had once unleashed the Nine-Tails’ power in front of Sasuke, Sasuke had developed a sense of inferiority in terms of strength.
He didn’t know why himself, but he instinctively didn’t want to be outdone by Naruto. This strange instinct sometimes made Sasuke feel puzzled, leaving him without an answer.
Maybe…
A sense of unwillingness?
“No.” Ino shook her head, her small face carrying some complexity as she said: “I need to hurry back to the Nara Clan Residence to help Father and the others deal with the corpses that haven’t been processed yet.”
“Corpses?”
Sasuke was stunned.
Ino explained: “The villains killed by Lord Uchiha Ikeizumi, as long as their heads are intact, most are sent to our Yamanaka Clan. The Yamanaka Clan uses our unique secret technique to search the memories of the slain criminals, striving to collect all evidence of their crimes in life, so the village can better handle their illegal gains from before.”
Sasuke roughly understood.
In Absolute Justice, Teacher Ikeizumi is responsible for investigating cases, breaking them, and executing villains. The Yamanaka Clan collects more evidence in the background and compiles reports on criminal behavior.
“Then…” Sasuke suddenly thought of something: “You… have you also seen the memories of those villains killed by Teacher Ikeizumi?”
If he remembered correctly, those villains’ heinous crimes were extremely shocking.
He had only heard about them and already felt chilled to the bone all over; if witnessing them firsthand…
“No, I haven’t learned it yet.” Ino said frankly: “I just help Father with some handiwork.”
With that, Ino left directly.
“No wonder she feels a bit more mature than us.” Sasuke muttered.
“Eh? Why do you say that?” Naruto outside the door asked in surprise.
Sasuke said: “She’s seen many things we haven’t, and dealt with darker things than we’ve encountered. Perhaps that’s why she understands justice more deeply.”
Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
…
“Ino… Ino!”
Not long after Yamanaka Ino left the Ninja Academy, a familiar voice from behind made Ino pause. Turning back, she saw Haruno Sakura panting as she jogged over.
“Huff, huff…”
Little Sakura supported her knees and panted heavily a few times. After catching her breath a bit, she raised her head, her small face full of confusion as she asked: “Ino… why don’t you like Sasuke anymore?”
“I, I feel…” Little Sakura pursed her lips, mustered her courage and said: “I feel like you’ve changed so much I don’t recognize you anymore. You don’t seem like the Yamanaka Ino in my impression.”
“This change happened recently, and I’ve been watching you change. Did you… run into something bad?”
Once, because of their “rival in love” relationship, it made Little Sakura’s heart all twisted up.
Even though she cared about Ino’s changes, she stubbornly refused to ask.
Until she realized Ino seemed to no longer like Sasuke.
Only then did she finally abandon that twisted mentality.
“No bad things happened… well, temporarily homeless excepted. But Father and the clan elders are already contacting Konoha’s construction teams. It should only take a little over a year for the Yamanaka Clan Headquarters to be restored to its original state.”
Ino shook her head, her voice childish as she said: “As for why I no longer like Sasuke…”
“I used to like good-looking boys. Now I like good-looking boys who aren’t childish. Boys who are too childish give me a weird feeling, I don’t know how to describe it.”
Ino frankly admitted she was just looks-obsessed.
Of course.
Now she had added a new condition to her looks-obsession. Clearly, current Sasuke didn’t meet this new condition.
“Little Sakura.” Ino took a deep breath. Ever since getting over Sasuke, her view of Little Sakura had normalized too.
Ino said seriously in a tone without hostility: “Here’s some advice! The time learning at the Ninja Academy… might be one of the few precious years you’re isolated from this dark and twisted ninja world. You… had better not waste this precious time on pointless one-sided crushes.”
“Otherwise, after you graduate from the Ninja Academy and become a Konoha genin, once you initially encounter the ninja world’s darkness, you won’t have enough strength to protect yourself from being corroded by it, nor a strong enough mindset to keep from falling into darkness.”
Ino paused, then added: “These are some words Father once said to me. Now I’m just relaying them to you.”
Little Sakura stood frozen in place.
Maybe it wasn’t Sasuke becoming childish from hanging with Naruto, but Ino becoming far more mature than her peers.
Although Ino said nothing happened, Little Sakura felt she was hiding something.
It was because she and Ino were no longer in the same world that Ino wouldn’t confide the truth to her.
Little Sakura fell silent.
…
“Yamanaka Ino, the only daughter of the Yamanaka Clan leader. She’s a new suspected Child of Prophecy candidate I added this morning.”
Not far away, Jiraiya standing behind a tree said to Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima: “Because her Yamanaka Clan is very close to Uchiha Ikeizumi. It could even be said their relationship is now inseparable.”
“Do you think Yamanaka Ino could be the Child of Prophecy?”
Sage Shima squatted on Jiraiya’s left shoulder, rubbing her chin: “The Child of Prophecy who will bring peace and change to the ninja world’s future must possess extraordinary talent beyond ordinary people. Is this Yamanaka Clan child a genius in Konoha?”
Jiraiya shook his head: “From my observations, her talent is only middling to upper. Her future limit might be an ordinary jonin.”
“Then it’s not her.” Sage Shima said: “A Child of Prophecy with poor talent can’t change the ninja world.”
Jiraiya nodded.
He shifted his attention from Ino to another Ninja Academy student who walked out and passed by the stationary Haruno Sakura.
Jiraiya said: “Neji Hyuga is also on the suspected Child of Prophecy list. This child’s talent is very high; he’s considered the top genius in the Ninja Academy. Even as a second-year, he can already fight second-years to a draw. Although he hasn’t had much contact with Uchiha Ikeizumi, he’s had plenty of contact with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.”
“Neji Hyuga…”
Sage Fukasaku held a list recorded by Jiraiya in his hand, stroked his beard with the other, and looked at Neji Hyuga not far away.
“We can try contacting him first.”
Sage Fukasaku said.
…
Meanwhile, at a certain inn in Konoha.
A man dressed as an out-of-town merchant walked back into the inn room.
After closing the door, he bit his thumb and slammed his palm on the ground, black curse seal patterns spreading out in all directions.
With a “poof,” as a puff of white smoke flashed, a black python as thick as a thigh appeared before him.
The man said to the black python: “Tell Lord Orochimaru that all the spies he placed in Konoha Village have vanished without a trace. Very likely they’ve been captured by Konoha, or possibly killed.”
“However…”
He paused, then continued: “I haven’t investigated yet how exactly they were exposed. Logically, they didn’t know each other’s identities and had no possibility of contact. Even if one was caught, the others shouldn’t have been exposed, but they all just disappeared.”
The black python’s pair of cold eyes stared at the man, it flicked its tongue, then “poofed” and vanished again.
Orochimaru, far away in a secret lab base somewhere in the Land of Fire, learned this intelligence in less than half an hour.
“Heh heh, no wonder no new intel has come from Konoha.”
Orochimaru’s golden eyes narrowed slightly. The man who summoned the black python in Konoha Village was none other than the new spy Orochimaru had placed there.
The purpose was to probe information about Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Because after Zetsu had come directly to him that day, Orochimaru realized that Uchiha Ikeizumi must possess something the Akatsuki feared.
Possibly some item, or some intelligence, or some powerful force.
“Heh heh, the secret you want to know, I want to know too! If I can acquire that secret before you do, maybe I can use it to control the Akatsuki? Even if I can’t control them, holding it as leverage wouldn’t be bad.”
Orochimaru stuck out a long tongue and licked his lips.
How could Orochimaru obediently follow Akatsuki’s orders?
He had way too many schemes.
“However…” Orochimaru suddenly restrained the grin on his face, a flash of astonishment in his eyes: “Uchiha Ikeizumi’s growth speed is much faster than I imagined! Even Shimura Danzo died by his hand, and even Teacher Sarutobi’s two biological sons were buried by him.”
A mocking curl at the corner of Orochimaru’s mouth.
“His two biological sons killed by Uchiha Ikeizumi, yet he can still tolerate Uchiha Ikeizumi. But I only did some necessary experiments for my purposes, and they tried every way to stop me, even wanting to kill me.”
“Teacher Sarutobi… one standard for me, another standard for Uchiha Ikeizumi?”
“Heh heh…”
A flash of anger in his eyes.
…
Juzo Biwa ultimately made a decision—he didn’t want to offend either Uchiha Obito or Konan. He decided to bury the secret he heard today deep in his heart.
To the outside, he’d claim he failed the mission.
Anyway, that woman Konan only said that if he completed the mission and the intel was useful to the organization, he could directly become a core member.
She didn’t say failure meant expulsion from Akatsuki.
Juzo Biwa also decided to leave Konoha today!
He didn’t want to stay in this damned place a moment longer; Uchiha Ikeizumi’s existence made him feel a trace of unease.
“That guy knows too many secret intel. Does he also know a lot about me? Am I someone he could one-shot anytime in his eyes? Just like how he knows the weakness of Uchiha Obito’s intangibility ability.”
“Phew! Feels like staying in Konoha one more day multiplies the risk to personal safety several times over.”
Juzo Biwa’s expression flickered uncertainly.
Uchiha Ikeizumi… this was absolutely the man he feared most besides that Konoha genin Might Duy.
He instinctively didn’t want to be enemies with him.
Thus, at the moment night fell, Juzo Biwa ignored the other Village of Rain ninjas and immediately sneaked out of Konoha, his whole person quickly vanishing into the dense forest outside Konoha.
But just less than ten kilometers from Konoha, Juzo Biwa suddenly sensed something off about the surrounding atmosphere. This made him stop immediately, his eyes vigilantly scanning all around.
The Executioner’s Blade on his back had been unstrapped at some point and was now tightly gripped in his hand.
The dim moonlight was completely blocked by dense branches.
Making everything ahead pitch black, unable to see what lurked in the shadows.
But years of combat experience and the ominous premonition it birthed still made Juzo Biwa furrow his brows, not relaxing his vigilance one bit.
A cruel grin tugged at his lips as he coldly barked into the air ahead: “A bunch of mice hiding in the shadows, too cowardly to show yourselves—have you been waiting for me here a long time?”
Juzo Biwa demanded: “How did you know I was leaving Konoha tonight? Do you have spies in Konoha?”
At that moment, a sudden voice entered Juzo Biwa’s ears, making his pupils contract slightly: “You’ve been found out. As expected of one of the Hidden Mist’s Seven Ninja Swordsmen; this crisis perception is one of a kind in the ninja world.”
Juzo Biwa almost unhesitatingly drew two kunai from his waist and instantly hurled them toward the direction the voice came from.
At the same time, he cast a cruel gaze in that direction.
But the next second, Juzo Biwa was shocked to see his thrown kunai pass straight through a figure’s body. The kunai didn’t embed in flesh but pierced out the back, slamming heavily into a large tree behind.
Rumblerumblerumble!!!
Rumblerumblerumble!!!
Two deafening explosions accompanied by firelight erupted simultaneously, and the unlucky tree was blasted in half, crashing down!
Clearly, those two kunai had explosive tags bound to them.
Juzo Biwa also used the explosion’s firelight to see the other’s attire—a Akatsuki member wearing a strange mask and a black robe with red clouds!
“Lord Madara, it’s not that his perception is sharp, but you leaked your killing intent. In that situation, any well-trained ninja with rich combat experience could sense something wrong.”
Suddenly, another voice rang out from the opposite direction.
Juzo Biwa looked toward the sound and saw another man in a black robe with red clouds. This guy looked even stranger.
Exaggerated pitcher plant-like decorations on both shoulders, and that face was half extremely pale, half extremely black.
“Lord Madara…”
Pondering this special title, cold sweat gradually beaded in Juzo Biwa’s palms. He glanced at the masked man: “…You’re ‘Uchiha Madara’?!”
“Looks like even though I haven’t been very active in the ninja world these years, the ninja world’s juniors still remember my name.”
The masked man’s hoarse voice carried steadiness: “Since you know it’s me, why haven’t you dropped your weapon? You’ve got quite the guts.”
“Ha, maybe I’m just bold by nature.” Juzo Biwa said nonchalantly, but he was already sweating profusely in secret.
Damn it!
Uchiha Madara… no! Uchiha Obito! Why is this guy here?
Could he be lying in wait here like waiting for a rabbit, for me to come?
Has he already learned I contacted Uchiha Ikeizumi and got some of his secrets, and now wants to come silence me?
Or is it just a sudden appearance to bluff me? As long as I act normal, nothing will happen?
A sliver of hopeful wishful thinking remained in Juzo Biwa’s heart.
“Juzo Biwa, you made the wrong choice.” Until Obito’s hoarse, cold voice shattered his hopes: “Whether you learned anything or not, the moment you accepted that woman’s mission and came to Konoha, your fate was sealed.”
Zetsu: “…”
It wanted to say something, but felt a bit tired.
Obito directly saying this didn’t it make clear that Uchiha Ikeizumi might have a secret threatening him in hand, one he absolutely couldn’t let others know?
Whatever.
Anyway, Juzo Biwa was to be killed. Just kill him and pretend Obito never said that.
“Hey hey hey!”
Juzo Biwa sidestepped, subtly retreating half a step, staying vigilant against the masked man suspected to be Uchiha Madara and the pitcher plant man he’d never seen in Akatsuki.
He took a deep breath, trying to stall: “We’re all Akatsuki members; no need to go for the kill, right? Besides, aren’t you curious what I heard from Uchiha Ikeizumi? Maybe there’s intel you’d be interested in?”
“Not interested.”
After Obito’s killing intent-filled words fell, his whole person shot toward Juzo Biwa like a released arrow, and suddenly a sharp ninja sword emerged from thin air from his right hand!
In an instant closing to point-blank, Obito slashed at Juzo Biwa’s throat.
Clang!!!
The sound of metal clashing rang out abruptly. The grim-faced Juzo Biwa barely managed to block Obito’s attack with the Executioner’s Blade.
The next second, Juzo Biwa felt movement under his feet.
Before he could shift his gaze down, over a dozen vines thicker than thighs burst from the ground. The mass of vines slithered up Juzo Biwa’s ankles like pythons, wrapping his entire body, then instantly tightened, trying to strangle Juzo Biwa to death.
Boom!!!
Juzo Biwa’s body burst apart from the strangling, but what splashed out wasn’t scarlet blood, but clumps of water droplets!
The Executioner’s Blade “clanged” and fell to the ground.
“Water clone?” Zetsu’s eyes narrowed, his gaze shifting to a direction: “Even abandoning ninja tools just to mislead us?”
“Chase him!” Obito ordered: “He’s fleeing toward Konoha Village! Don’t let him reach Konoha!”
With that, Obito chased first.
…
“What is this kid doing out so late at night instead of going home, sneaking to the edge of Konoha Village?” Jiraiya, following closely behind Neji Hyuga, suddenly had this doubt.
Yes, Jiraiya had been secretly tailing Neji for over three hours.
The purpose was to let Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima observe if Neji Hyuga could be the Child of Prophecy.
Sage Fukasaku said: “Along the way, he seems to have been asking passersby about something. He didn’t come here aimlessly for no reason; he’s more like searching for something.”
Sage Shima suddenly said: “Child’s dad, little Jiraiya. This kid seems to want to sneak out of Konoha. That means what he urgently wants is currently outside Konoha.”
Jiraiya frowned: “He can’t slip past the patrolling ninjas nearby. Even if he sneaks out, he probably won’t get more than a few hundred meters before being caught by patrols.”
Sage Fukasaku chuckled: “We can help him out.”
With that, it jumped down from Jiraiya’s shoulder.
One hop, and it vanished.
…
“He left Konoha… and if the last person I asked wasn’t lying or mistaken, then the direction he left in is this way. If I just keep going this direction, I should catch up to that man.”
Under the night, Neji Hyuga took a deep breath.
He took out a white ribbon and silently tied up his long hair, making the hair at the back of his head less obstructive.
“Neji Hyuga…”
“What exactly are you doing?”
This sentence wasn’t said by anyone else. It was Neji talking to himself, to himself.
“There’s no need for this at all.”
“But…”
Neji gritted his teeth: “If I don’t do something eye-catching, how can that man get a deep impression of me? How can he realize how determined I am? How can he understand how much I crave justice?”
What Sasuke said to him during the day didn’t discourage him; instead, it stimulated Neji.
“Two first-year newbies can believe in Absolute Justice, why can’t I? I’m not entirely believing in Absolute Justice just for power either. I’m also choosing Absolute Justice to seek justice for my father.”
After muttering to himself, Neji quietly sneaked out of Konoha Village.
Until panting as he ran two kilometers outside the village, Neji himself felt astonished. Borrowing the moonlight, he couldn’t help looking back and saw no one behind him.
Because he’d thought he’d need to play some cat-and-mouse with Konoha’s patrolling ninjas. If unlucky, he’d be caught and scolded badly.
But he hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly.
The patrolling ninjas seemed to have vanished.
…
Meanwhile.
Not far behind Neji.
“This kid seems to be looking for Ikeizumi…” Jiraiya murmured.
“Ikeizumi…”
“He left the village?”
…
…
