Chapter 102: Jiraiya: This Is Art!
"Kid, it's obvious you've been living under a rock lately."
Jiraiya grinned and threw an arm around Kenichi's shoulder like they were old drinking buddies.
Kenichi's expression did not change. He simply glanced sideways at Jiraiya, waiting to see what nonsense he was about to sell.
Jiraiya leaned in, voice dropping theatrically. "Let me tell you. According to reliable sources, Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Sannin, is actually a woman."
Kenichi's eyes widened in genuine shock.
He had not expected the rumor to spread that far.
After all, the teacher only used Impure World Reincarnation after leaving Konoha, then took over Yuki's body. In that sense, the teacher really was moving around in a girl's body now.
The problem was, the teacher had always kept using the same familiar face. He almost never changed it. And Kenichi had no idea where the teacher's original body had gone. It was probably preserved somewhere, or disposed of long ago.
Kenichi had mentioned the teacher's current body to Sasori before, and Nagato also knew, but neither of them looked like the type to gossip.
So how did this get out?
And how did it end up in Jiraiya's ears?
Seeing the stunned look on Kenichi's face, Jiraiya's grin turned smug.
"At first, I didn't believe it either," Jiraiya said, waving a hand. "But the rumor kept spreading, so I asked around. Turns out it started with a bounty hunter."
According to the story, that bounty hunter had been on the battlefield between Konoha and Kumogakure. He claimed he saw Orochimaru's face get shattered by Heavenly Demon's technique, revealing the face of a beautiful woman with long golden hair.
Bounty hunters were veterans in their line of work. They had a certain credibility, so people naturally believed them more easily.
Jiraiya still resisted at first, but when enough people repeated the same tale, he had to admit it was not completely impossible. Add in the rain that day, and the fact that he had drunk a little wine, and inspiration struck at exactly the wrong moment.
Fueled by alcohol and reckless curiosity, he wrote a lot in one sitting.
When he woke up the next morning and saw what he had created, Jiraiya went numb on the spot.
But it was already written.
So he decided to gamble and see if it would become a hit.
"So you…" Kenichi started, still stunned. The sheer audacity was hard to process. If the teacher found out, he would probably explode.
Orochimaru had been calmer lately, but that was only lately. Based on what Kenichi understood about him, Jiraiya's outrageous behavior would absolutely set the teacher off.
"Ahem." Jiraiya coughed twice. "It's artistic creation."
He was already thinking about what to write next.
And if he really thought about it, Orochimaru turning himself into a woman was not impossible anyway. That guy was always gloomy, always creepy to look at, always doing dangerous research. Who knew what he had turned himself into by now?
Jiraiya clearly did not realize how close his wild guess was to the truth. Orochimaru really had managed to continue living in the world under a completely new identity after developing new techniques.
"Well, Lord Jiraiya," Kenichi said politely, "you're truly amazing."
It cost him nothing to praise. Jiraiya was the one who wrote it, not Kenichi. If the teacher ever saw that book, the storm would fall on Jiraiya's head.
And if the teacher went after Jiraiya and caused trouble, Kenichi could happily return to doing his research in peace.
With that thought, Kenichi handed the manuscript back and left.
He had no intention of keeping it. If the teacher found it on him later and decided Kenichi was involved, that would be a disaster.
Jiraiya did not stop him. He gathered his papers and headed straight into the black market.
Kenichi felt even more relieved.
He had been genuinely worried Jiraiya might linger, stare a little too long, and notice something off about him. That would be troublesome.
After all, Jiraiya was one of the Legendary Sannin, famous across the ninja world. His combat experience and instincts were terrifying. Even in the stories where he died at the hands of Nagato, he still managed to uncover an enormous amount of information before the end.
There was no question about it.
Jiraiya was dangerous.
"Hopefully you can't actually buy that book in a bookstore," Kenichi muttered, rubbing his chin as he walked. "But the teacher doesn't read leisure books anyway, so it should be fine. Right?"
Just imagining the teacher's expression if he ever saw that manuscript sent a chill down Kenichi's spine.
Orochimaru these days were usually normal, aside from being aloof, quiet, and obsessed with research. Truly honest people.
And honest people were the scariest ones to provoke.
Kenichi used to think the real tough guys were the gangsters with big arm tattoos, the kind you saw in movies like Young and Dangerous.
It was not until later, when an honest old man selling steamed buns in Kenichi's neighborhood suddenly snapped and became frighteningly ruthless, that Kenichi understood the truth.
Honest people were the ones you did not mess with. If you did, it always turned into real trouble.
"Teacher?"
Dragging the unconscious man toward the entrance of the base, Kenichi spotted a familiar figure standing there.
It was Orochimaru.
"It's Kenichi." Orochimaru turned his head slightly, eyes sweeping over him. His gaze also landed on the man Kenichi was carrying, but he did not look surprised. He seemed to treat it as nothing more than another consumable.
Kenichi's expression turned subtly stiff.
In Jiraiya's manuscript, at least in the part he had seen, there was nothing about the teacher's "color" at all, except when Tsunade was involved.
But the Orochimaru Jiraiya wrote was different.
After learning Orochimaru was supposedly a woman, Jiraiya wrote him as almost unnaturally alluring. Every small movement carried an exaggerated, suggestive meaning. Kenichi even remembered one scene where the so called Orochi Princess bent down to pick up a key.
The writing was disturbingly vivid.
Now, seeing the teacher calmly using facial recognition, those ridiculous scenes tried to flood back into Kenichi's mind.
He forced them down and steadied himself in an instant.
Still, with the teacher's beautiful face and long golden hair right in front of him, Kenichi could not help rubbing his nose, equal parts irritated and mortified.
He honestly did not know whether he should admit he had just read someone's "masterpiece" that used the teacher as material.
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