Leaf Monkey used Body Flicker to arrive beside Ki.
"Ki, Squad Leader Fox has discovered traces of an Uzumaki remnant. Please follow me quickly."
With that, Leaf Monkey body-flickered away.
Eager to return to the squad leader's side, Leaf Monkey used some chakra from the Cross Seal during his Body Flicker. Combined with the chakra he extracted himself, it made Leaf Monkey appear very fast.
Ki was slightly surprised. He wasn't surprised that Fox could find a Uzumaki clue; Fox was an Anbu elite, so finding clues was normal. He was surprised that an ordinary Anbu ninja like Leaf Monkey possessed such skill.
At the same time, Horned Ox found Lynx and instructed the Lynx Squad to follow him.
The four squads gathered around Yōkō and quickly headed southeast through the Land of Rain.
Beside a certain small town in the southeast of the Land of Rain.
Noon. Jiraiya yawned as he walked out of a wooden hut.
After descending a few steps, his geta sank into ankle-deep water.
"Damn this heavy rain, not a single patch of dry ground. I even fell into a puddle when escaping after peeping last night."
Jiraiya looked down, wondering why his clothes were clean again.
Oh, it must have been Konan who washed them.
The clothes were a bit damp. After two years in the Land of Rain, he was used to this feeling of constant moisture.
He waded through the water to a clearing some distance from the hut.
Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan had already been training for five or six hours.
Jiraiya waved his hand, and the three quickly came before him.
"I'm hungry. Go to town and buy some food."
Jiraiya took out his wallet and tossed it to Yahiko.
He was their jutsu teacher, but in daily life, Jiraiya was very lazy, and the three children ended up taking care of him.
After the three left, Jiraiya suddenly looked to the side.
Three Anbu ninja appeared in the woods to the side.
Jiraiya frowned. Konoha Anbu?
Fox, Lynx, and Ki walked together towards Jiraiya.
Jiraiya looked at the three and said:
"Did the Third Hokage send you to call me back to the village? The war is over, why should I go back now? Tell him I'm not returning."
Yōkō said: "Lord Jiraiya, we are not here to call you back to the village."
"Oh? Then why have you three come?"
Yōkō said: "Lord Jiraiya, the red-haired child you are teaching, I suspect he is an Uzumaki remnant. We will take the Uzumaki remnant back to the village."
Jiraiya's expression instantly turned serious.
If the Anbu came to urge him back to the village, he could ignore them.
But if the Anbu came to take his student, especially the child he believed to be the Child of Prophecy, that was absolutely impossible.
"Fox! I saw you during the Land of Rain war. Weren't you a squad leader under Battalion Commander Yellow Dog?" Jiraiya said. "Go back and tell Yellow Dog that Nagato is my disciple. The Anbu should not interfere in my affairs. And what 'Uzumaki remnants'? If Nagato has Uzumaki bloodline, shouldn't we educate him properly? The back of the Konoha ninja flak jacket bears the Uzumaki symbol! My disciple will not be taken back to the village for interrogation by you."
Yōkō said: "Lord Jiraiya, you really should return to the village and see, to understand the village's current situation. If you were involved in the village's secrets like Lord Orochimaru, you would understand that the Uzumaki remnants are people the village must eliminate."
Jiraiya was stunned. He didn't know why the village would want to kill Uzumaki clan ninja.
"Does Tsunade know about this? Does Tsunade know the village must kill Uzumaki people?"
Yōkō said coldly: "Whether she knows or not, hasn't the Uzumaki clan already been exterminated?"
Ki felt Fox was revealing a bit too much, but considering Jiraiya was the Third Hokage's student, he would find out eventually. Without being clear, Jiraiya wouldn't allow them to take the Uzumaki remnant.
"Nonsense! The Uzumaki clan's extermination was the result of a joint surprise attack by Kumo and Kiri! Shouldn't the village gather Uzumaki ninja to preserve the lineage for our ally, Uzushiogakure?"
"Lord Jiraiya!" Yōkō interrupted him. "If Konoha truly wanted to preserve the Uzumaki lineage for Uzushiogakure, if Konoha were truly Uzushiogakure's ally, why is there only one Uzumaki ninja in the village?! Why is only the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki named Uzumaki?! Can the great Konoha not accommodate a second Uzumaki ninja? Is it really true that the entire ninja world has only one Uzumaki ninja left, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki? Lord Jiraiya, don't act recklessly. The village has its considerations. Everything the village does is for the village's future!"
Yōkō felt a surge of dark satisfaction.
Sowing discord feels so good. Look at Jiraiya's face, as purple as liver, so ugly. Jiraiya, face reality. What kind of person is your teacher, don't you understand yet? Your teacher is scum. The people around your teacher are a bunch of scum. Surprised? Uh... how can I be scolding myself? Even if it's the truth.
These questions arose in Jiraiya's mind for the first time.
Yes, why is there only one Uzumaki ninja in the village? And why is the village's Anbu hunting Uzumaki remnants? Their use of the term 'Uzumaki remnants' already explains a lot.
Yōkō added more fuel: "Lord Jiraiya, we must take the Uzumaki remnant today. If you have any questions, please return to the village and ask the Hokage."
Jiraiya couldn't figure it out, but Nagato was someone he absolutely had to protect.
He snorted. "You will not take Nagato today!"
Yōkō glanced left and right.
Ki and Lynx, understanding the importance of eliminating the root of the problem for Lord Danzo, each nodded.
"Then I'm sorry, Lord Jiraiya," Yōkō said. "I will hold off Lord Jiraiya. You two, capture the Uzumaki remnant!"
"Anbu, are you going to attack me?"
Jiraiya, standing in his geta, instantly exerted force, shooting towards Fox with immense speed.
His front kick was powerful and heavy.
A ripple appeared on the accumulated water surface. Jiraiya's speed was so fast that the displaced air pushed waves through the water.
Jiraiya, the all-rounder, had extremely solid taijutsu.
A Condensed Coiling Snake suddenly appeared in front of Yōkō.
Jiraiya's foot felt as if it had kicked into an ultra-dense, viscous slurry.
The slender Coiling Snake absorbed all the kinetic energy.
His body nearly stalled in mid-air.
Beneath the geta of Jiraiya's flying kick, a gushing, violent stream of water erupted, as if he had burst a water balloon.
By the time he finally pushed through the Condensed Coiling Snake, he had lost momentum and could no longer advance.
Yōkō grabbed Jiraiya's ankle and flung him backward.
Seeing this, Lynx and Ki body-flickered away, pursuing Nagato and the other two.
The Flower Deer Squad replaced them, appearing behind Yōkō with Body Flicker.
Flower Deer was excited. Are we really going to fight one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya?
"Lord Jiraiya, give up. Root and the Lynx Squad have already gone ahead to ambush the Uzumaki remnants. Today, we must take the Uzumaki remnants."
In the rain, Jiraiya subtly shifted his feet, making his geta push aside the mud to find firmer ground beneath.
He said, "Nagato is highly likely to be the Child of Prophecy spoken of by Mount Myōboku. He absolutely cannot be killed by you Anbu! Your actions make me feel like Konoha is the villain fighting against the future of the ninja world!"
Yōkō smiled. "Lord Jiraiya, I must say, your feeling is quite accurate."
Yōkō waved his hand, and the Flower Deer Squad charged forward.
Jiraiya suddenly turned his head, seeing a series of explosive tag detonations in the direction where Nagato and the other two had gone.
The other Anbu are really using lethal moves!
Jiraiya's expression darkened. "I don't want to fight Konoha comrades, even if you are my teacher's subordinates. Don't force me to kill you..."
The Flower Deer Squad paid no heed to Jiraiya's threat.
If Squad Leader Fox gave the order, they would charge forward without hesitation even if Danzo stood opposite them.
Both battlefields instantly turned white-hot.
Inside the trunk of a large tree over ten kilometers away.
"Not good! Lord Madara! The Konoha Anbu are trying to capture Nagato!"
On a wooden chair, the aged Uchiha Madara opened his eyes.
His Three Tomoe Sharingan paused for a moment before regaining their vitality.
White Zetsu had been secretly watching Nagato; even Jiraiya couldn't detect White Zetsu.
Hearing that the Konoha Anbu wanted to capture Nagato, Uchiha Madara slowly stood up and picked up the sickle beside him.
White Zetsu said, "Sir, should we send a few genjutsu-controlled puppets to rescue Nagato?"
"No need. The Konoha Anbu is an organization created by that bastard Senju Tobirama. They have some skill. Since I'm already exposed, I'll go personally."
***
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(End of Chapter)