The Land of Hot Water, also known as a paradise for hot spring enthusiasts, lived entirely off tourism and the naturally occurring hot springs that flowed throughout the country.
The money was invested in importing essential goods from abroad, and it was a uniquely neutral place compared to lands like the Land of Iron, making sure not to take sides or stand in anyone's way.
As a leisure destination, it ranked among the most visited places in the Elemental Nations, but its military power was practically nonexistent—especially after Yugakure, its local ninja village, was dissolved and turned into just another ordinary town.
So irrelevant was the country in times of war that when it later became part of a battlefield, the entire nation had to be evacuated to avoid casualties, and the Daimyo merely shrugged and asked where they were supposed to go.
Needless to say, as a neighboring country to the Land of Lightning and an important border with the rest of the nations, Kumo had an enormous number of spies stationed there.
The man serving drinks, the woman changing the sheets in a room, the painter making portraits for visitors—they covered a wide range of jobs to act as the village's eyes and ears.
And among the Five Great Villages, this was common knowledge.
At first, the spies immediately noticed Jiraiya, but for a while they doubted whether he was the real one. Not only because he made no effort to hide himself, but because—unlike what the intelligence gathered about the sannin suggested—he hadn't tried to "seek inspiration" since arriving, and his voice didn't sound right; it was higher-pitched.
Even the way he walked seemed more… delicate?
He hadn't even visited his usual establishments and drinking companions!
The Toad Sage had been a VIP in the area for years, for obvious reasons.
So with his current behavior, it was perfectly reasonable for the spies to believe he was someone using a Transformation Technique to resemble Jiraiya.
It was only after a week of multiple subtle probes, observing the smallest and most unlikely details, that they managed to confirm he was the genuine article. They immediately sent the information back to the village.
"At last!" Jiraiya sighed in relief upon hearing from a tiny blue toad that Kumo's spies had finally reported his location. "What's wrong with them? I'm so handsome it's impossible to mistake me for someone else…"
"Could it be because you didn't spy on the women's baths for an entire week?" Gamahana, the strawberry-sized blue toad, looked at his contractor in confusion. "Seriously, Jiraiya, what happened to you?"
All he knew was that several weeks ago, Ma and Pa had rushed off to fetch the medical toad Gamatsuki when Jiraiya returned injured to Mount Myoboku through an emergency Reverse Summoning.
But knowing how skilled Gamatsuki was in medicine, any wound should have disappeared after so much time, right?
When Jiraiya heard Gamahana's question, he subconsciously felt how his underwear now fit far too loosely, and his mood plummeted, his face darkening completely.
Sure, he could go take a peek—but it just wasn't the same anymore. His "inspiration" had completely withered beyond recovery.
He had even started worrying about money, because if he didn't finish his next book soon, he wouldn't be able to keep funding his information network or his travels to find Orochimaru.
"You're too young—you've barely stopped being a tadpole and you still have bits of your tail! You wouldn't understand!" Jiraiya dismissed him while grabbing a mug of ice-cold beer and downing it in one long gulp, aware that days would pass before the information reached Kumo and any response came back. "Let's not talk about that. Any news?" He grabbed some salty snacks and tossed them into his mouth.
For some reason, ever since the "incident," he had been hungrier, and his weight had started to increase.
"Nothing," Gamahana shrugged. "I mean, we found out things about that guy, Chad, because he's pretty well known, but we haven't found why he's so determinedly got it out for you," he reported seriously. "Actually, people won't stop praising him."
That was all the blue toad knew: the one who had caused his contractor's severe injuries was the Kumo ninja known as the Dodomeki of Kumo. The strange part was that no matter how much they investigated, it didn't seem like Jiraiya had ever crossed paths with the man—not even during the last war.
Combined with the information gathered among several toads, Gamahana was even more confused. By all accounts, Chad was practically a patron saint who looked after mothers and children whenever he visited the Land of Hot Water.
Could it be that there had been some huge misunderstanding between them?
Maybe if they sat down and shared a bowl of juicy bugs, everything would be resolved…
"There's no hatred without reason…" Jiraiya tightened his grip on the glass mug as he stared into its bottom. He couldn't forget Chad's gaze that day—and the dense killing intent.
It was clear he was hated with fervent passion, but no matter how much Jiraiya thought about it while recovering from his "losses" on Mount Myoboku, he couldn't recall ever meeting him or what reason there could be for such a reaction.
He had even broken one of the codes between men!
Besides, the Kumo front had been handled by Orochimaru back then…
His only reasoning was that some mission, action, or decision of his in the past had terribly harmed that man. He simply couldn't connect what it might have been. Over the course of his life, the time he had spent inside the Land of Lightning had been very limited.
In fact, he had almost always been in the Land of Fire or to the west.
But what ninja who reaches his age doesn't have a few hundred enemies scattered around the world?
Even though their fight had been brief and it was clear Chad had been too agitated to fight properly with a clear mind, Jiraiya had already thought of a possible way to counter that strange ability of his to make limbs appear.
It was truly troublesome!
At the same time, thanks to his hard-earned cultured scholar's mind forged through years of research and observation, Jiraiya envied that ability infinitely when thinking about the possibilities!
"Whatever the case, a guy like that is far too dangerous for Konoha!" he muttered resentfully to himself. "Everything I do is for the village!"
Jiraiya strongly suspected that the Scroll of Seals had been taken by Kumo under Chad's leadership and in collaboration with the deserter Yugao, despite what his sensei claimed.
For someone like Yugao to have turned out to be a Kumo spy, Jiraiya still couldn't understand how people like Kakashi had failed to notice sooner.
To think she had once been a candidate for ANBU captain!
Then again, Orochimaru knew that scroll by heart—it made no sense for him to steal it.
Suna? They wouldn't have been capable of pulling it off even if the Hokage building had been opened wide for their inspection.
And Kumo standing aside and silently watching the fight without interfering… he didn't believe that for a second. Those brutes loved a fight, whatever the reason.
So his plan and mission were simple: lure Chad—or a group of jonin—take them hostage after giving them a taste of Konoha's superiority, and demand that Kumo hand over Yugao in exchange for their safe return.
Once they extracted her memories, Jiraiya was certain they would uncover the truth and the real culprit. Of course, given what had happened, if the one who fell into his hands was Chad, Jiraiya needed to "settle the debt" at the very least!
He would also leave him crippled enough to force him to abandon his ninja life. If his intuition wasn't failing him, judging by the blows they had exchanged, Chad might be dangerously close to Kage level.
If he did nothing, in a few years Kumo would have another formidable ninja who would cause Konoha headaches—and likely many casualties.
"If there's nothing else, I'll head back," Gamahana said, pulling Jiraiya from his thoughts. "My mother must be waiting for me for lunch."
Jiraiya shuddered at the memory of the cuisine when he had trained and lived with Ma and Pa, trying—with only partial success—to achieve Sage Mode.
"Yes, thanks. Good work," Jiraiya dismissed him.
Once alone, he lay down staring at the ceiling of the room where he was staying.
He had small toads everywhere. As soon as a response from Kumo arrived at this place, he would know. If Chad really took the bait…
"I'll have to go with killing intent. I won't have another choice."
The guy was tough—surely he could withstand a few hundred of his blows.
"And even so, I have a bad feeling about this." Jiraiya frowned, annoyed by the sense that something was—or would go—wrong.
But he didn't want to contact the village until he resolved this matter. If he gave his sensei the opportunity, he would be capable of pinning him down and tying him to the Hokage's chair before he even realized it.
How many women's hearts would break if they found out he could no longer visit them so often? That would be far too cruel. So he had to fight to remain free of that hat.