Yugakure, a village built beneath a volcano.
Walking on the main streets, you might be subjected to steam attacks rising from underground at any moment.
If you are not a local of Yugakure, or someone who has lived there for a long time, you will very likely... get soaked!
Furthermore, there are hundreds of large and small hot spring establishments here.
Therefore.
This is also the place with the highest concentration of perverts.
"Hehehe! So white!"
At this moment, a man with white, spiky hair was pressed against a wall.
He was observing the scene inside through a small gap in the crack.
The butt sticking up behind him was wiggling back and forth.
Indicating that the owner of the butt was extremely pleased.
"Hey! You stinky old man! Peeping is wrong!"
A loud voice rang out, startling the peeper.
At the same time, it caused a panic inside.
"Ah! There's a pervert!"
Stones, soap, and towels were haphazardly thrown out from inside, causing both the peeper and the person who yelled to flee.
Of course, they didn't flee in the same direction.
"Aoi, didn't Suzune-obasan tell us not to poke our noses into other people's business and to hurry back after buying the grain? Why did you suddenly start shouting at that peeper?"
Aoi, knowing she had done wrong, didn't argue, but merely spoke coquettishly to the boy in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Hiroto-nii, that pervert was just too disgusting, I couldn't hold back and..."
Perhaps he was already used to the girl's mischief, or perhaps her coquetry had worked.
Hiroto gradually relented.
He said helplessly to Aoi.
"Alright, alright. I give up on you. But you can't cause any more trouble now, understood?"
"Understood!"
Seeing that she had been forgiven, Aoi said immediately.
Soon, the two arrived in front of a grain merchant's shop.
"Boss, I'm back again."
The boss, who was calculating accounts behind the counter, heard someone call him, looked up, and immediately rushed out from behind the counter, greeting them with a smile.
There was no helping it; the person who came was a huge customer, buying enough grain to feed nearly a hundred people for half a year every time.
"Oh my! Young Master Hiroto! You haven't been here for half a year. Is it the same order as before this time?"
"That's right, the usual. Hey, Boss, why are your grain prices cheaper again?"
"Alas~, this is all because of what's happening over in the Land of Rain."
"The Four Great Shinobi Villages established a Trade City there, completed last year. Now the journey is shorter, and picking up goods is easier."
"Boss, don't try to fool me. Just because the distance is shorter, you dropped the price that much?"
"Alas, I wasn't finished yet. It really shouldn't have been possible to drop the price so much. But the thing is, the Land of Rain can grow crops now, can you believe it!"
"Everyone knows what the Land of Rain was like before; it rained 300 days out of 365. But guess what happened.
The Kazekage of Sunagakure—didn't the agreement state that each village would be responsible for one section of the road? Other villages just dug tunnels, but Sunagakure directly opened a passage through the Wind-Rain Mountains.
Once that passage was opened, the rain flowed towards the Land of Wind as if a valve had been released. Now, the Land of Rain, especially the west side, has clear skies and fresh air. I heard that even the desert area near the Land of Rain has turned into a marsh, and trees are growing there.
Since it's not raining anymore, the land isn't waterlogged like before. So, people started planting grain in that area. The soil is incredibly fertile, and they don't even need to water it. Once harvested, they just drop it off at the Trade City, and the price they sell it for is much cheaper than what the Land of Fire sells for. That's why the grain price dropped."
"I see." Hearing the boss's explanation, Hiroto also understood the reason.
"It's more than just that. Do you remember what Konohagakure did in the Land of Rain before?"
"Are you talking about..."
"Shh! You can't talk about this everywhere. If you ask me, the Land of Fire shot itself in the foot. Now, goods from the Land of Fire can't be sold in Konohagakure at all; the people in the Land of Rain simply won't buy them. Only traveling merchants like us from other regions buy them, so the price dropped another round."
Speaking of this, the boss couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"If you ask me, the people of Sunagakure are the most honest. Back then, Konohagakure and Iwagakure were openly and secretly seizing things, but only Sunagakure was genuinely saving people. Things like the Black Silk Walker, the Chain Spider, and the Red-Eyed Physician—those titles came out of the Land of Rain."
Hiroto, who was listening with great interest, suddenly heard a keyword, looked sharply at the boss, and asked.
"Boss, what did you just say about chains?"
"The Chain Spider! It's a ninjutsu where four chains sprout from the user's back, allowing them to crawl like a spider and then wrap people up..."
The boss was still speaking with great eloquence.
But Hiroto and Aoi had already confirmed something.
The two glanced at each other and nodded.
That's right, it must be the Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains).
A clan member has appeared in Sunagakure!
"Boss, it's getting late. Please start preparing our order. It's the same as usual."
"Alrighty~, Young Master Hiroto, please wait a moment!"
The boss, whose conversation had been interrupted, wasn't annoyed at all, because the interruption was the phrase he liked hearing the most.
On the way back.
"Hiroto, is it really..."
"There's no mistake. Only the Uzumaki Clan can use the Kongō Fūsa. We need to hurry back and tell Suzune-obasan about this."
That's right, the two of them were survivors of the Uzumaki Clan, and the Suzune-obasan they spoke of was none other than Elder Nana, whom Rumei often mentioned.
Facts proved that Elder Nana was indeed sharp.
Despite being hunted and intercepted by multiple forces, she was still able to save nearly a hundred clan members and ensure they didn't starve—a truly spectacular feat.
However.
What they didn't know was that while they were talking, a toad by the roadside heard their conversation clearly.
"The Uzumaki Clan, huh!"
At this moment.
Jiraiya, who was bathing in a hot spring, received the message from the toad and instantly felt a headache coming on.
That's right.
The person who was peeping just now was none other than Jiraiya.
When Aoi startled him earlier, he sensed that something wasn't right.
Because.
He had seen red hair, black hair, white hair, and yellow hair, but he rarely saw green hair.
This might not mean anything to others, as the Shinobi World has all sorts of strange hair colors, and green isn't unheard of.
But for Jiraiya, who specializes in intelligence gathering and has traveled across most of the Shinobi World.
Green hair should not have appeared here!
Therefore, Jiraiya, out of curiosity, dispatched a toad.
Who knew that by listening in, he would hear such startling news?
So, what should he do now?
Should he ignore it, or should he tell the Old Man?
Given his identity as a Konoha shinobi, he should tell the Old Man.
But when he recalled Tsunade telling him about her previous encounter with Uzumaki Rumei in the Land of Rain, he hesitated.
Immediately, he slapped himself.
"I truly deserve to die!"
"How could I hesitate over something like this!"
"Of course, the choice is to..."
"Look at the young ladies! Hehehe... those legs are so big—ah, no, that whiteness is so great..."