"Tsunade!! Stop!!"
Jiraiya's shout rang out beside the cold-faced woman.
In the next instant, chakra surged again into her right hand, monstrous strength gathering as she slammed her fist into the ground ahead.
Crack—!
The earth bulged upward. Shuriken followed in rapid succession, thudding heavily into the terrain.
"Damn it… that was close."
In ninja combat, once things escalate, it's easy to lose control.
That punch from Tsunade had nearly killed all three of them on the spot.
Fortunately, Nagato's Shinra Tensei collided head-on with her monstrous strike, neutralizing the worst of it.
Even so, the residual shockwave sent all three flying.
After steadying himself, Nagato looked at Yahiko, who was coughing up dust.
"Yahiko, we should've explained everything from the start. There was no need to act like ninjas one last time."
—Yahiko had wanted to show their teacher how much they had grown.
Their luggage had already been packed.
They were only waiting for Jiraiya's group to arrive, based on information provided by Amegakure.
After all, Konoha brought no real benefit to the Rain Country.
If secrets were going to be leaked, they would be leaked.
"That woman's strength is insane," Konan muttered as she climbed up, brushing dirt from her knees.
"I'm not just strong."
Before Yahiko could respond, the gray dust finally settled.
A blonde woman in combat armor emerged from the smoke, staring directly at the three of them.
"Where is my brother?"
"And where is that man?!"
"Speak. Or I'll kill you."
The killing intent in Tsunade's final words was unmistakable.
A veteran of the Second Shinobi World War, her hands were stained with more blood than could be counted.
On her forehead, the Strength of a Hundred Seal lay dormant—yet even unopened, her presence already radiated Kage-level pressure.
Her chakra surged outward.
The mud, pebbles, and fallen leaves across the ground began to tremble.
Yahiko and Konan stiffened instantly.
That gaze—locked onto them like a predator—felt like compressed air pressing down on their bodies, crushing their ability to move.
Only Nagato fared slightly better.
After a second of effort, he broke free and could move again.
This was absolute power.
A Kage-level shinobi didn't need to act—
Just standing there was enough to rob weaker ninjas of resistance.
"Tsunade! That's enough!"
Jiraiya approached from the lakeside and stood beside her, Orochimaru following close behind.
Tsunade shot Jiraiya a glance.
The ferocity in her eyes was something neither Jiraiya nor Orochimaru had ever seen before.
Both froze.
"Whoever touched my brother—"
"I'll kill them."
"Even if I have to become a missing-nin."
"Tsunade…"
Jiraiya finally understood her resolve.
After a pause, he turned to the three youths.
"Nagato. Yahiko. Konan. You were once my students."
"Please tell us."
"Where is Nawaki now? And why did you join that man's organization?!"
Nagato knew he couldn't indulge Yahiko's hot-bloodedness anymore.
He explained everything—
How they were forcibly pulled in by the "Director,"
How he spoke of peace,
How they eventually abandoned the path of ninja to become merchants instead.
—The Director had said they could say anything.
For the sake of his companions' lives, Nagato recounted their experiences truthfully.
And it was true.
They had been forcibly recruited.
"Then where is Nawaki?!" Tsunade demanded.
"Where did my brother go?!"
Seeing her fury, Jiraiya's heart ached.
Nagato and the others exchanged glances, then shook their heads.
"We don't know," Yahiko said.
"After making us auxiliary members, the Director took Jōnin Nawaki and left."
"He didn't leave us any way to contact him."
"At the time, Nawaki was able to move freely."
"That's impossible!" Tsunade snapped.
"My brother would never go with him willingly!"
If Nawaki had even a chance to escape, he would've fled across the border.
Since he hadn't—
There was only one explanation.
—The experiment had already begun.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya exchanged a look.
Then Orochimaru asked calmly,
"Did that man say what kind of experiment he planned to do on Nawaki?"
"We don't know."
"He mentioned senjutsu… but we don't really understand what that is."
"Senjutsu…" Orochimaru murmured.
His thoughts immediately ran far deeper—but crookedly so.
"What do you know, Orochimaru?!" Jiraiya pressed.
Orochimaru smiled faintly, then—under Tsunade's glare—reluctantly spoke.
"He's likely researching how to enter Sage Mode."
"After all, Nawaki is the First Hokage's grandson."
"Perhaps he could—"
Suddenly, Tsunade's aura surged again, cutting him off.
Orochimaru fell silent and turned back to the three.
"Then why did you attack us?"
He raised a kunai.
"By the laws of war—"
"Rain ninja acting this way gives us the right to treat it as a declaration of war."
The three exchanged looks.
Then Konan stepped forward, backpack on her shoulders, hands gripping the straps.
"We are now legal merchants of the Rain Country."
"We are under Amegakure's protection."
"You illegally invaded our home."
"That's what truly violates shinobi regulations."
"..."
Silence.
Orochimaru went quiet.
Tsunade paused.
Jiraiya stared at them, dumbfounded.
"You… gave up being ninjas? Became merchants?!"
Merchants meant daily business, not missions.
No battlefield experience. No traditional growth.
Yet through Kaito's unconventional training methods, the three could still train while running a business—sometimes progressing even faster than ordinary ninja.
Nagato nodded.
"Yes, Jiraiya-sensei."
"You once told me that peace might one day come through me."
"But from that man, I learned something."
"Peace…"
"Cannot exist through a single person."
"Nagato…" Jiraiya murmured.
"True peace," Konan continued,
"Begins with survival."
"Only when people are fed—when everyone can eat—will conflict truly decrease."
Yahiko followed up.
"In the Rain Country, many can't even afford food."
"Orphans don't even have proper shelters."
"What we want—"
"Is to change that."
"Using the money we earn."
Orochimaru nodded unconsciously.
"He's right."
"Jiraiya, it seems your teaching was inferior to his."
"Shut up, Orochimaru!" Jiraiya snapped, blushing.
Then he asked, more urgently,
"Do you know which direction he went?"
"The Director is too fast," Nagato replied hesitantly.
"No matter the direction, you probably won't catch him."
"Fast?" Tsunade folded her arms. "How fast?"
"He took two days and two nights," Yahiko said,
"to go from us to Konoha—and bring back a man."
"Two days… round trip?!"
All three Sannin froze.
Even at their fastest, they couldn't do that and still retain combat capability.
"And he did it both ways."
"…Doesn't he fear dying from the fall?" Jiraiya muttered.
With no route, no leads, and no proof, the Sannin could only withdraw.
Jiraiya vouched for the children with his identity as a Konoha ninja.
Tsunade had no choice but to let it go—for now.
Besides, their business partner was Fukuyama Sawa of Konoha.
They would meet again eventually.
Time passed.
Half a year went by.
A red-haired child who had lost his parents in war grew older—
At thirteen, already planning something in secret.
Meanwhile—
In the Capital of Wind, the heart of the Wind Country—
The city was vast, even larger than Konoha.
Antiques, clayware, street food, inns, taverns, casinos—everything existed here.
Yet compared to the Land of Fire, its infrastructure was crude.
Inside a proper tavern, Kaito sampled the local alcohol.
It was expensive.
Full of impurities.
Terrible taste.
"A rip-off," he muttered.
Honglian sipped fruit juice beside him, her disgust obvious.
Three thousand ryō per cup.
Disgusting and overpriced.
"No wonder this country's poor," Kaito sighed.
Across the table, Nawaki drank his overpriced water.
"One liter. Six hundred ryō."
"…You gonna tell me what we're doing now?" Nawaki asked.
Kaito lifted his glass.
"Experiments require trust."
"So I gave you half a year of free travel."
"You should be grateful."
"Grateful? More like corrupted," Nawaki muttered.
"Think what you want."
"Being a traveler beats a boring ninja life, doesn't it?"
A conversation started behind them—two merchants.
"…Have you heard? That booming city lately."
"Oh, Loulan?"
"Mechanical puppets, precision crafts—huge money."
"But recently, a minister there canceled cooperation with Wind Country firms."
"Restricted entry."
"No ninjas allowed."
Nawaki stiffened.
Another man laughed.
"That An Lushan guy is impressive."
"Appeared five years ago."
"Turned the ancient kingdom of Loulan into this."
"Deserves praise."
Kaito smiled beneath his mask.
"Well then," he said softly, raising his glass.
"Looks like we've got our next destination."
Nawaki hesitated, then clinked his cup.
"…But they don't allow ninjas."
Kaito's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Relax."
"I'll handle it."
—Next stop: the Ancient Kingdom of Loulan.
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