The Hidden Lock Village.
Out of all the villages in the entire ninja world, Black Zetsu just had to pick that one!
Fortunately, the Raikage mistook his surprise at such a random choice for shock at the event itself. He had no idea it had actually been Chad's plan.
As for how beneficial it would be for his sister to hold an official council position, anyone with half a brain could understand the far-reaching impact such a promotion would have.
"At the very least, the Raikage didn't mention the pregnancy in front of the ANBU," Chad thought as he finished wrapping a section of his arm.
The surgery to implant Shisui's other eye—still unused with Kotoamatsukami—had been carried out by his clones, while he personally supervised the entire operation through monitors and cameras.
Anesthesia? Please. Chad didn't need that.
Just as he expected, the eye had pushed his body to the point where it could no longer accept another dōjutsu. But for the current situation, it was more than enough. If he really noticed any issues, he could always remove them from his body without hesitation.
Even if, for some reason, he couldn't move, he could just flex his muscles and crush the problem like a grape.
"With Black Zetsu I took a bit of a risk, but I don't think it would work on the other one, right?"
There was a time when Chad seriously considered using Kotoamatsukami on the Sage of Six Paths, but the risk of failure would bring far too many consequences.
So at the end of the day, that other person would be his target.
"Though unlike with the Raikage, I'll have to make bigger changes this time…" he had his clones clean the area to leave no traces. "Ugh, this feeling never gets better."
Every time he added a dōjutsu to his body, he felt sick as his body assimilated it. There were no real risks, but the sensation wasn't much different from having a high fever.
It was a good thing he had gone through the orphanage, the hospital, the laboratory, and the izakaya to put everything in order before the surgery—because he was going to feel very uncomfortable for a few days.
…
Several days later.
He stayed at home "very sick," being cared for by Yugito, Isaribi, Guren, and Yugao, who came by to help while Mabui was busy. Samui even brought him some hot soup—a thoughtful gesture.
The only unfortunate part was that, due to his condition, he couldn't drink alcohol and had to abstain until his body finished adapting.
"So even you, the hospital director, can get sick sometimes, huh?"
"I'm human—what did you expect?" Chad replied, his voice weaker than usual.
In truth, he hated being like this. It felt like going back to his early childhood.
Kiyui and Hibui were visiting after finishing their mission, so as soon as they learned from Mabui that Chad was sick when they turned it in, they came to see him in person.
"We heard you captured Jiraiya," Hibui commented while peeling an apple. Once she finished, she took a bite and chewed happily. "Congratulations!"
Chad stared at her.
Wasn't that apple supposed to be for him?
"I heard the Interrogation Department has been working overtime nonstop, extracting information from Konoha ever since they successfully broke the seals in that guy's mind. They're incredibly motivated," Kiyui added. "At this rate, by the time you examine the old man, he'll probably already be reduced to a mental vegetable."
Considering that every hour of memory extraction from Jiraiya was being paid at five times the usual rate, the best interrogators were competing to see who could gather the most information for the bonus.
"If I'm still like this when they're done with him, I'll have my assistants handle the procedure," Chad shook his head. This adaptation to assimilate Shisui's eye was taking longer than expected—probably because he was at the limit of his tolerance. "We need to squeeze his value out as quickly as possible."
"Your urgency isn't without reason." Hibui finished the apple in her hand. "Today, people from Konoha arrived to retrieve Jiraiya."
"And?"
"How can we return something we don't have?" Hibui smiled beautifully, her lips glistening with apple juice as her sweet breath lingered close to Chad. "The Hokage's son will have to go back empty-handed~."
As Chad once again cursed his weakened state—and Hibui a little too, because he was sure she was provoking him on purpose—his attention was caught by the last detail.
"Konoha sent Asuma?" Chad thought he had misheard due to his condition. "Sarutobi Asuma?"
The guy who left Konoha to play bodyguard to the Fire Daimyo after running away from home like a rebellious teenager?
"Who else? The Third Hokage's eldest son died long ago, and his wife also died the night of the Nine-Tails. That only leaves 'Mr. Disappointment,'" Hibui stepped back, stopping her teasing. "Though you're right about one thing—it's strange that he's the one who came."
With his track record and political awareness, who would assign an actually important mission to that chain-smoking slacker?
"Maybe it's just a symbolic demand," Kiyui offered her perspective. "Maybe they don't know if it was really Kumo, but Jiraiya did disappear. They have to show they're looking for him at the very least, right?"
"If a Sannin disappeared like that, the last thing they'd want is for the entire ninja world to find out," Hibui shook her head, rejecting the theory. "It's like the fall of the White Fang."
"Most likely… it's Mount Myoboku's doing," Chad said, his throat dry as he accepted a glass of water Kiyui kindly handed him.
That was precisely why he was in a hurry to deal with Jiraiya—more time meant more variables outside his control.
"Did he come with his students?" he asked while drinking.
"The Ino-Shika-Cho group? No, he came with other adults."
That only alarmed Chad further—he had a bad feeling about this!
"Then Asuma…?"
"It could be a distraction," Chad said, his voice stronger after drinking. He took a deep breath. "I'm not taking that risk."
He formed a hand seal.
"What are you doing?" Hibui smacked the back of his head. "Don't use chakra when you're this sick!"
"It's fine…"
He had already done what he needed anyway.
…
"Ma, are you sure Jiraiya-boy is around here?" Fukasaku asked as they snuck into Kumo's Interrogation Department. "I think this is the second time we've passed this area."
Maintaining the technique to avoid detection by sensor ninja wasn't easy!
"Are you doubting me, Pa?" Shima shot her husband a glare. "My Zessenbaku (Linked Battle Tongue) knows the scent of that brat Jiraiya—he's at the end of the hallway, no doubt!"
What she didn't say was that she smelled a lot of blood. Jiraiya's condition was probably not good.
It seemed they'd have to trouble Gamatsuki to heal Jiraiya again. She still remembered how devastated he had been upon learning he would never be able to have tadpoles again.
He hadn't even wanted to eat his famous insect cuisine—that's how affected he had been!
"Well then, let's not waste time, Ma," Fukasaku urged. "The son of little Sarutobi won't be able to keep up his act for long!"
"Wait, Pa," Shima stopped him with her arm. "Something's happening…"
Both toads hid inside a ventilation grate and peeked out just enough to see several Kumo ninja running out of the interrogation room where Jiraiya should be—panic written all over their faces.
"Did Jiraiya-boy break free on his own?" Fukasaku asked hopefully.
"I didn't hear any fighting," Shima said, confused. "So it's best if we—"
KA-BOOOM!
An inferno of blazing flames roared out from the interrogation room, fire licking the surroundings as the explosion left those fleeing stunned and disoriented. Even the metal doorframe was completely warped by the force of the blast.
"SHIT!" shouted one of the ninja who had been extracting information from Jiraiya just moments ago. "I THOUGHT WE REMOVED ALL THE SEALS FROM HIS MIND!"
It was clear the explosion had temporarily messed up his hearing.
"Stop shouting! There weren't any seals left in his mind," growled a long brown-haired woman, rising unsteadily from the floor. "That bastard must've had some kind of backup plan—he probably wanted to take us down with him!"
As the Kumo ninja recovered from the shock, Ma and Pa were left stunned.
From their position, they could see a vaguely humanoid chunk of charred remains still burning within the flames of the interrogation room.
If they had advanced just a few more meters—or worse, if they had been inside when the explosion happened…
"I never thought Jiraiya-boy would go this far," Fukasaku sighed inwardly. "He was loyal to his village to the very end."
As for why he hadn't done this earlier, Fukasaku assumed it was probably due to his injuries—perhaps only now had he recovered enough to activate this final desperate measure.