"Oh?!"
Kakashi looked down at the book's cover, his normally languid eyes instantly sharpening.
The cover featured a hot, dark-skinned older sister and a delicate, charming white-haired loli!
"Mm-hmm-hmm~"
The reserved Kakashi let out a strange laugh, tucking the book into his ninja tool pouch, ready to enjoy it slowly when he had time.
As for the manuscript fee, Kakashi, before heading back to Konoha, found a time when no one was around and gave it to Bai Mo.
"Oh right, those Snow Ninja from before, and Dotō Kazahana, were they dealt with by you?"
Kakashi was about to leave when he suddenly remembered the strange phenomena during the previous battle and casually asked.
"Oh, that's a secret technique from someone in our organization called 'Jashin's Ritual: Blood Manipulation'. Its effect is..."
Under Kakashi's astonished gaze, Bai Mo, just as he had told Ōnoki before, informed Kakashi about Hidan's Jashin's Ritual: Blood Manipulation, the collection of blood, and the intelligence that the goal was deterrence.
"...I just asked casually."
Kakashi's mouth twitched.
Originally, even if Bai Mo had refused to answer, Kakashi wouldn't have found it strange.
But Bai Mo not only answered but also explained it in such detail, completely throwing Kakashi off.
This was troublesome again.
Kakashi's joyful mood, having just received the new 'little yellow book', instantly vanished.
When he returned this time, he would have to report to the Third Hokage again.
A few months passed in a flash.
The Mutual Aid Alliance, composed of Snow, Earth, Water, Wave, and Rain, developed well.
Raikage, as Bai Mo had said, indeed challenged the Land of Lightning's Daimyō upon his return, seizing considerable power from him and beginning to develop the Land of Lightning.
However, unlike the countries in the Mutual Aid Alliance, which had concrete plans prepared by Bai Mo to refer to, Raikage had to grope his way forward on his own.
At first, Raikage was only focused on seizing power and forgot to delegate it.
He was so busy he was practically killing himself.
If he weren't a Taijutsu-type ninja, he would have literally died of exhaustion.
Fortunately, he received intelligence from the Land of Earth in time, and Raikage delegated unimportant powers, entrusting them to his left and right-hand men.
Only then did Raikage have a chance to rest.
Raikage learned that Konoha was about to hold the Chūnin Exams, but he had no intention of letting Kumogakure's Genin go to Konoha for the assessment.
Raikage was walking through Kumogakure when he heard villagers whispering on the roadside, seemingly mentioning him and his brother Bee, and Raikage immediately became alert.
He had also been subjected to several assassinations by petty criminals during the Land of Lightning's reforms these days.
Raikage wasn't afraid of assassinations; he was afraid that if an assassination failed, the perpetrators would throw caution to the wind, collude with outsiders, and betray the interests of their own people.
So Raikage chose to follow them, continuing to eavesdrop.
He eventually discovered that the two were only discussing a novel, and he was greatly disappointed but also relieved.
Raikage frowned at why his and Bee's names appeared in the novel, used a Transformation Jutsu to buy a copy at a bookstore, and planned to read it in his spare time.
"Author, Kakashi Hatake, hmph, Konoha."
Raikage snorted, looking at the author's name on the cover.
Half a day later.
Raikage, who had read a small portion of the novel, had a face as gloomy as Black Zetsu's backside.
Raikage called his subordinate and told him to inform his brother Killer B that he could leave the Cloud Gorge and operate near Kumogakure.
The summoned Kumogakure ninja was very surprised.
Ever since the Third Raikage's death, the succeeding Fourth Raikage had always maintained an attitude of perfectly protecting Killer B, even if it implied house arrest, he would not allow Killer B any possibility of harm.
For some unknown reason, things had changed today.
After the Kumogakure ninja left, Raikage looked at the novel.
The disgust and disdain in his eyes were hard to conceal, but in the end, he still didn't throw it away.
Raikage's change in attitude towards Killer B was mainly due to two reasons.
The first reason was that this novel contained a story about him and Killer B. Raikage didn't even dare to recall the process of the story, but the "ending" was that Killer B died.
That's what the villagers were discussing earlier.
Killer B had been confined to the Cloud Gorge for over ten years.
It wasn't a problem for the villagers to suspect Killer B was dead because of the plot in this novel.
However, if it were only for this, Raikage would not have changed his mind.
The main reason was a plotline within it that reminded Raikage of the previous Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, and what Minato Namikaze had told him.
To find something to fill the Jinchūriki's inner void.
—
Konoha.
Kakashi informed the three in the training ground, helped them register for the Chūnin Exams, told them the time of the Chūnin Exams, and then left.
On his way back, Kakashi pulled out the novel and started reading it.
Today, Kakashi finally finished it.
That's right, it was the first time, he had just finished it.
Kakashi could read Icha Icha Paradise from the age of eighteen until now because he reread it repeatedly.
Kakashi took so long to read this novel for the first time because every time he encountered certain plotlines, he always couldn't muster the courage to continue reading.
Each time, he had to go through a psychological struggle, coupled with intense curiosity, to make him continue.
This novel had a similar name to Icha Icha Paradise — "Jing Man Paradise".
It tells a story set in an alternate world similar to the Ninja World's background.
This world had no Five Great Shinobi Villages, but it had Five Great Sects.
Still Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, and Lightning.
The protagonist of the story, Lei Ai, lost her fertility when she was young while trying to save a fellow female ninja.
The female ninja felt extremely guilty. To repay Lei Ai, when she was on the verge of death during a mission, she had the accompanying medical ninja transplant her purple bow and arrow to Lei Ai.
Lei Ai cried as she accepted it and declared that she would definitely live on with the female ninja's purple bow and arrow, to experience this world.
The youth chapter ended.
Lei Ai, having received the female ninja's purple bow and arrow, forgot her emotions and began to cultivate diligently.
With Yin and Yang in harmony, Lei Ai's strength soared, and she quickly became the Sect Leader of the Cloud Blue Sect in the Land of Lightning, as well as an object of admiration for everyone.
Lei Ai's body was robust and pure.
Cold in appearance, yet deeply concerned for the safety of her disciples, she was known throughout the Ninja World as the "Aloof Immortal Fairy."
She was the dark-skinned beauty on the novel's cover.
Next came the Sect Wars.
Lei Ai's father had died at the hands of the Sect Leader of the Rock Sky Sect in the neighboring Land of Earth.
The Sect Leader of the Rock Sky Sect was named Da Mumu, who was the short, white-haired loli on the cover, her age unknown.
Then came various entanglements of love and hate, unending.
For example, when Lei Ai, accompanied by her junior sister Qiku Bi, went to war with the Leaf Assault Sect of the Land of Fire, she had an indelible mark carved onto her body by a yellow-haired man who always wore a gentle smile.
When leaving the mark, he also left a line, "You are the most beautiful girl from the Land of Lightning I have ever seen," and reminded her to fill the inner void of her junior sister Qiku Bi.
After the grand finale, there was a preview for the next book: Lei Ai lets go of her hatred and, with Da Mumu and other Sect Leaders, works together to fight against the ancient demoness Radama, who has been resurrected by resentment.
Kakashi felt that he hadn't had enough after reading it.
Many details could not be described.
For example, Lei Ai and Qiku Bi practiced an extremely terrifying technique called "Thunder Raccoon Crushing Hot Crotch."
To perform it, one first makes two "V" signs with their hands.
These represent Lei Ai and Qiku Bi, and the enemy's head would be directly crushed by the force of their collision.
....
The journey continues right now for our Jade Dragons! 🐉
For just $6/month, you can step into the advanced chapters and never face a cliffhanger again. Gain instant access to 50+ chapters immediately, support the story you love, and help decide its course.
🔗 Become a Jade Dragon:
patreon.com/J_Dragon