Night.

Konan escaped from the town.

Jiraiya simply couldn't catch up to Konan and had to return to the inn, his mood visibly low. The tall man clearly had a lot on his mind.

"Kagura."

"You go back to Konoha first!"

Jiraiya looked at Akihara Kagura, deciding not to tell him about tonight's events to avoid dragging his disciple into these troublesome matters.

Because Jiraiya planned to investigate in the Land of Rain and the Rain Village, going alone to gather information would likely be smoother, as having his disciple with him might be inconvenient.

How could Akihara Kagura agree?

After all, the recent troubles that had emerged were all orchestrated by Akihara Kagura himself, and his goal was not to return to Konoha!

"What happened?"

Akihara Kagura frowned, immediately deducing the process from the outcome: "Hasn't Teacher Jiraiya been tracking Orochimaru's whereabouts? Did something troublesome come up tonight?"

"It's more troublesome than I imagined..."

Jiraiya remembered his old friend and his disciple joining the same organization, which gave him a headache.

Seeing Jiraiya troubled, Akihara Kagura continued to deduce from the outcome: "I remember Teacher Jiraiya mentioning to me that Orochimaru must have joined a powerful organization, one with very powerful individuals?"

"Not the powerful kind..."

"They are not powerful, but rather very special..."

Jiraiya, holding his forehead, didn't know how to start explaining to Akihara Kagura, but finally, he sighed and revealed some truths.

"Anyway."

"I encountered Konan tonight, which means that Nagato and the others might not be dead and could be in the same organization as Orochimaru."

After Jiraiya finished speaking, he felt relieved and spoke gravely: "I need to infiltrate the Land of Rain and the Rain Village to gather intelligence, this is too dangerous..."

"My power..."

"Should be able to help Teacher Jiraiya, right?"

Akihara Kagura spread his palms, then slowly clenched them into fists: "Last time we saw, Orochimaru joined a powerful organization, another member of that organization is also quite dangerous, luckily I arrived in time..."

Jiraiya had to admit that Akihara Kagura was very strong.

However, this time, if they infiltrated the Rain Village, they might encounter the demi-god ninja Hanzo of the Salamander, whose deadly poison and strength are very dangerous...

"This time, we might encounter Hanzo of the Salamander.”

Jiraiya reminisced about his youth, recalling scenes from the Second Great Ninja War: "Hanzo of the Salamander was a very dangerous enemy indeed…"

Speaking of which…

The title of the "Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha" was actually a disgrace.

This was because Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were called the Three Sannin by Hanzo of the Salamander after they were defeated by him during the Second Great Ninja War.

However, the ninja world did not see it as a disgrace, but rather as recognition from a stronger opponent to weaker ones. Since then, the title of the Three Sannin began to gain fame throughout the ninja world.

"I've heard..."

"About Hanzo of the Salamander, who was known as a demi-god among ninjas."

"If Hanzo of the Salamander was indeed the mastermind behind Orochimaru and those few senior brothers of mine, orchestrating a group to ambush Teacher Jiraiya under his command…"

Akihara Kagura casually framed Hanzo of the Salamander, prompting Jiraiya to envision that scenario, and then continued: "If I were there, I could have been of considerable help, and in critical moments, even escape with Teacher Jiraiya using the Flying Thunder God Technique."

Jiraiya couldn't help but nod.

With just the Dust Release, Wood Release, Lava Release, Flying Thunder God Technique, and Sage Mode, Akihara Kagura could definitely hold his own against a Kage of a village.

Just the Flying Thunder God Technique alone…

This kid is indeed a great help for infiltration and support!

"If it really comes down to it, I can still offer some minor assistance…"

Akihara Kagura seemed like a student considering his teacher's needs, but his next words immediately revealed his true nature: "I heard there's a civil war in the Land of Rain. I could kill more Rain ninjas on the battlefield to draw their attention, making it easier for Teacher Jiraiya to infiltrate and gather intelligence…"

Jiraiya's forehead twitched.

After hearing what Akihara Kagura had said earlier, he thought his disciple had become reliable, but he didn't expect him to still have such outrageous ideas!

"Come with me."

Jiraiya decided to take Akihara Kagura with him, reminding him: "Prepare more kunai for the Flying Thunder God Technique, and let's first mark the surroundings with the Flying Thunder God seals."

"If Hanzo of the Salamander is really behind this…"

Jiraiya sighed deeply, feeling that the situation had suddenly become quite tricky.

Akihara Kagura, not wanting to leak information about Nagato, simply shifted the blame onto Hanzo of the Salamander: "Orochimaru and that guy who uses puppets are very strong… Is the demi-god ninja really that powerful? To have so many people willing to follow him?"

"Very strong!”

Jiraiya nodded seriously.

Even after many years, Jiraiya, no longer the person he used to be, still harbored a deep fear of the danger posed by Hanzo of the Salamander, especially Hanzō's summoning creature, the salamander, capable of releasing a deadly poisonous fog that only skilled medical ninjas could cure.

If one were to be poisoned accidentally...

This time, there would be no one to cure them.

The Land of Rain.

The base of the Akatsuki organization.

Upon returning to the base, Konan's first action was to meet with Pain and report her mission assignment, only to inform him about Jiraiya's trap.

"Jiraiya is still investigating the Akatsuki."

Remembering her encounter with Jiraiya, Konan frowned and said, "This time, he set a trap to lure us in. Although I managed to escape, he has discovered my identity, and it might not be long before he traces us back to the Land of Rain..."

"Teacher Jiraiya..."

Pain's voice carried a hint of nostalgia for the past, yet he also felt regret over his teacher's persistence, believing that his teacher could never become their ally: "If Teacher Jiraiya truly discovers our location and this base, then we'll have to kill him."

As for now...

Killing Jiraiya would not be easy for Pain.

Pain was powerful enough, but killing a ninja and defeating a ninja were two different things, just as he could defeat Orochimaru but not necessarily kill him.

Unless gathering all six path puppets, leveraging the unique abilities of the Six Paths of Pain would make surrounding and killing Jiraiya more feasible.

"Yes."

Konan nodded, obeying Pain's order, but raised a concern, "What about our recent missions? If we encounter another trap set by Jiraiya..."

"Taking on missions is not a problem."

Pain glanced at Konan and instructed softly, "Just assign someone else to handle it. Konan, don't take risks anymore. We will continue to recruit and build our strength."

Meanwhile,

Jiraiya entered the Land of Rain with Akihara Kagura.

Akihara Kagura experienced the unique climatic changes of the ninja world, where it almost always rained in the Land of Rain, causing the rivers to overflow throughout the year.

Due to the intensifying civil war, no matter where one went, floating corpses could be seen in the rivers, making Akihara Kagura lose any desire to fish.

"War is always so cruel."

Jiraiya, looking at the floating bodies, took the opportunity to educate his disciple, "Who knows how many families, left desolate and alone, are behind these corpses..."

"So..."

Akihara Kagura nodded in agreement with his teacher's view and offered his own understanding, "We must eliminate all those who could potentially start wars in the future."

"……”

Jiraiya felt a bit of a headache.

Because his disciple's viewpoints always seemed logical yet somewhat off, making it impossible to refute but also impossible to openly agree with.

Jiraiya gradually realized that his disciple's intentions were actually correct, but putting them into practice appeared to be too extreme.

"One must not throw out the baby with the bathwater."

Jiraiya could only teach Akihara Kagura, hoping the disciple would develop a sense of compassion: "Perhaps those who start wars are also compelled by the need to survive…"

"Teacher Jiraiya, your bias…"

Akihara Kagura immediately caught the loophole in his teacher's words.

"…"

Jiraiya suddenly realized that his words were indeed somewhat inappropriate, as if he was making excuses for those who initiated wars!

For example, the Sand Village...

After all, during every Great Ninja War, the ninjas of the Sand Village were unable to hold on, and their first action was to attack the Konoha Village, aiming to invade the Land of Fire to seize its fertile land.

Who in the Ninja World doesn't know that the Sand Village is desperately poor, having to continually reduce the number of ninjas to sustain itself? But the Konoha ninjas can't compromise the interests of the Land of Fire and their own for the sake of pitying the poverty of the Sand Village, can they?

"So, let's do as I say!"

Akihara Kagura sighed, no longer pursuing his teacher's mistake, and continued, "If someone wants to start a war against the Konoha Village just to survive, then just kill them all. That would solve two problems at once…"

"How does that… make sense?"

Jiraiya looked at Akihara Kagura somewhat bewildered.

Akihara Kagura looked at Jiraiya and explained seriously: "By killing those people, we eliminate the crisis of war erupting and also solve their problem of surviving!"

"…"

Jiraiya felt a bit of déjà vu.

This indeed sounded logical, but still somewhat off. After all, if they're dead, they surely won't have to worry about surviving...

"Let's go to the Rain Village."

Jiraiya gave up on continuing the discussion about war with his disciple.

After all, Jiraiya didn't have a solution to the constant outbreak of wars in the Ninja World. He just hoped for the prophecy foretold by the Great Toad Sage, the prophecy of the child who would change the fate of the Ninja World.

The Rain Village.

This is a village cast from reinforced concrete.

Due to the village's perennial abundance of rainfall, to prevent the wooden houses from soaking and rotting, the village had to be constructed with reinforced concrete.

Furthermore, to facilitate drainage during the long rainy seasons, many interconnected sewer systems were built within the village, with an immeasurable number of drainage pipes.

These drainage pipes were wide enough to allow unobstructed passage. However, due to their sheer number, anyone unfamiliar with them could easily get lost without a guide from the Rain Ninja. It was also easy to run into patrolling Rain Ninja and be surrounded and attacked.

The entire Rain Village was heavily guarded.

Tall water pipes were manned by duty-bound ninjas.

Jiraiya lifted his head to look at the heavily guarded Rain Village and began to test his disciple: "If we want to sneak in now, do you have a way?"

"Plenty."

Akihara Kagura was well-versed in infiltration and reconnaissance and could easily come up with a host of methods: "Find a Rain Ninja, leave a Flying Thunder God mark on him, and directly use the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport in."

"Not bad..."

Jiraiya nodded in approval.

His disciple's thinking was still quite normal.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Jiraiya formed the summoning hand seals and softly said, "I'll teach you a new method. As long as you summon a toad from Mount Myoboku, you can hide in their stomachs, let the toad swim underwater to pass through, this way no one will notice…"

Before he finished speaking.

A green toad appeared within the summoning circle, and this green toad suddenly opened its huge mouth, which was disproportionately large for its size, and swallowed Jiraiya whole.

"Kagura."

Jiraiya, hiding in the spatial stomach of the toad, continued to instruct his disciple without delay: "Try the method I taught you, make good use of the Summoning Jutsu I taught you, and sneak into the Rain Village without alerting anyone."

[System Prompt]: [New Task (Jiraiya), make good use of your summoning creature, sneak into the Rain Village without alerting anyone.]

After saying this, the green toad made its way into the water on its own and swam through the sewer pipes into the Rain Village, unnoticed by anyone.

When this toad appeared inside the Rain Village, it slowly opened its mouth, and an arm forcefully extended out, followed by the rest of Jiraiya's body!

"The infiltration went smoothly."

Jiraiya crouched on the water surface, very satisfied with the successful infiltration, and curiously said, "Hmm? Hasn't Kagura's little toad infiltrated yet?"

Outside the Rain Village.

Akihara Kagura was not keen on using this method.

He even felt it necessary to make Jiraiya, his teacher, give up on teaching him this method.

"Summoning Jutsu!”

Akihara Kagura quickly clasped his hands together to form a seal and summoned a massive toad. The Great Toad Sage looked drowsily at the person who had summoned it through spirit invocation.

"I need to sneak in without alerting anyone."

Akihara Kagura pointed towards the misty Rain Village in the distance, casually placing a pot on Jiraiya's head: "This is a test from Teacher Jiraiya. Surely, the Great Toad Sage can handle such a small matter, right?"

...

The Great Toad Sage remained silent for a while, seemingly never having considered that such a trivial matter would come its way, as it was always concerned with the major affairs affecting the ninja world.

After some thought, the Great Toad Sage mysteriously produced a crystal ball and slowly said, "Favored by nature, spirit of the sage, I will use this crystal ball to observe and guide you along a safe path..."

This was the Great Toad Sage's tool for observing the ninja world. By using the crystal ball, it could view the outside world and, in most cases, locate a person by their chakra.

For the Great Toad Sage, finding a stealthy path into the Rain Village was too easy.

Even...

The Great Toad Sage could personally escort Akihara Kagura inside.

"There's no one on this path..."

"This pipe behind can hide me..."

"There's a ninja in this street; we should hide first..."

"We must not alert anyone."

Akihara Kagura emphasized the mission requirements and explained softly, "Moreover, when sneaking in, we need to use the toads from Mount Myoboku, but the Great Toad Sage should know I'm not familiar with the other toads..."

"Teacher Jiraiya's test is not easy, indeed..."

The Great Toad Sage sighed, spending a long time observing the Rain Village through the crystal ball, feeling the difficulty of this test: "Let's go through this passage; it should allow me to enter."

"This crystal ball's ability is truly exceptional..."

Akihara Kagura praised, seemingly with an ulterior motive.

"Sometimes, it can't observe specific individuals."

The Great Toad Sage shook its head, gasping for breath as it revealed the crystal ball's limitation: "Some people, whose fates cannot be observed, always elude its sight..."

Today's exercise...

Was undoubtedly significant for the Great Toad Sage.

After all, the Great Toad Sage was already over a thousand years old.

Using the observation crystal ball, the Great Toad Sage found a defensive flaw in the Rain Village and, after much hardship, finally escorted Akihara Kagura to Jiraiya.

"Ah, this is..."

Jiraiya's jaw almost dropped.

"Great Toad Sage."

Akihara Kagura looked at the Great Toad Sage beside him and rarely took the initiative to praise: "The summoning toads of Mount Myoboku indeed greatly aided in stealth and reconnaissance. We didn't alert anyone on our way here, almost as if we walked in directly..."

"Huff huff... It's been a long time since I've exercised like this..."

The Great Toad Sage, looking at the astonished Jiraiya, gasped for air before dissolving the summoning, suggesting to Jiraiya, "Little Jiraiya... next time... could you possibly arrange tasks that are suitable for us to perform together…”