Jiraiya nodded to himself. 'Big Brother's method has substance. I was just about to step in.'
Natural energy, if not controlled properly, could kill a person. The countless stone toad statues on Mount Myoboku were all humans who had gone there to train. These living, breathing people had turned into statues because they couldn't control the natural energy. And yet, Minato managed to suppress it so easily? What kind of method was this?
Also, this was what Torifu called "not particularly talented"?
Jiraiya was a bit confused, feeling like Torifu was playing a joke on him. However, he didn't dare to be careless, so he remained seated not far from Minato, continually observing him.
About half an hour later, Minato stopped his training.
"Ai, it's just as Big Brother said, natural energy is sparse in crowded places. I'll have to go to the wilderness," Minato said, shaking his head with a touch of helplessness. There was barely any time to train while executing a mission, yet when he returned home and had the time, he lacked a suitable training spot. There was no helping it; he would just have to squeeze it in. There would surely be a few opportunities to train throughout the day.
Seeing Minato stop training, Jiraiya stopped observing him and turned his attention to his own affairs. He went back inside the room, opened his notebook, and began brainstorming the plot for his novel. He had a rough outline in his head, but it required further refinement before he could put pen to paper.
In this way, with everyone busy with their own tasks, the day officially came to an end.
The next morning, the sunlight streamed into the apartment, waking Jiraiya from his sleep. He stretched and got dressed, then noticed sounds of activity downstairs. Pushing open his door, he found Minato and the others preparing today's breakfast. It seemed they had gone out early to buy it, as some of the food was still steaming hot.
"Jiraiya-senpai, you're awake! Come eat quickly."
"Coming!"
Jiraiya executed a handsome flip and leaped directly down from the second floor, landing steadily. "Haha, what are we eating today?"
Minato pointed at the food on the table and introduced it: "Buns, soy milk, and some specialty soup from Sunagakure, as well as a few small snacks from Iwagakure." The meal was primarily based on what everyone normally ate, with items from the other villages serving only as accents. After eating the food for the past two days, while the cuisine from the other villages wasn't bad, it still felt unfamiliar.
After breakfast, it was time to start today's mission. After tidying up the garbage, the five of them prepared to set off.
Not far after leaving the apartment, Minato ran into a familiar person. Yahiko and Konan were also very pleasantly surprised when they saw him!
"Uncle Kakuzu!" the three children dashed over quickly.
Kakuzu, who was strolling down the street, was momentarily confused when he saw them. He didn't recognize them at first, but the moment he clearly saw their faces, a smile appeared. "Well, if it isn't you three little rascals! The Leader told me you came to the Rain Province, but I've been busy and haven't had time to see you. I didn't expect to run into you on the street."
Minato was full of smiles. "We were planning to see you too, Uncle, but we've been busy executing the mission and haven't had the time."
A long time had passed since they last saw Kakuzu, and Minato, Yahiko, and Konan had all grown up significantly over the years.
"You're all grown up now and can stand on your own. That's excellent."
Kakuzu was a lone wolf, yet he never imagined the children he had taken in would harbor such deep affection for him. He was quite moved, and sometimes, when he couldn't sleep at night, he would wonder what his life would be like if he hadn't joined Torifu's organization and had chosen to leave instead. Kakuzu couldn't imagine it, but he knew it definitely wouldn't be better than it was now. He had a group of trustworthy and obedient subordinates, a Leader who took care of all the major issues, and his job was just to manage the organization's operations. Plus, he had huge amounts of money that he couldn't possibly spend all of. This kind of life was nothing short of paradise.
The Rain Province had been peaceful and stable for many years, only recently falling into chaos in the last few months. However, Kakuzu believed it would be settled soon.
"Uncle, after all these years, why haven't you changed at all?" Minato asked, puzzled. Kakuzu looked the same now as he did when Minato was brought to Konoha as a child. Ten years had passed, and his appearance hadn't changed at all.
Kakuzu didn't know how to answer and simply gave a slight chuckle. "It's because of a ninjutsu."
Minato nodded upon hearing this. He had previously asked Big Brother Torifu what Uncle Kakuzu's ninjutsu was, and Torifu had replied: 'A ninjutsu that can extend life.' But what Minato didn't know was that the prerequisite for extending life was stealing and using others' hearts and lifespans. It was a truly evil jutsu, one that only Kakuzu in the entire ninja world knew how to perform.
"Are you going out on a mission? It seems you've already adapted to the rhythm here."
Yahiko and Konan nodded. "Yes, Uncle. It's a mission our Master assigned, so we definitely need to complete it well."
Kakuzu smiled knowingly. "Good, what you two said is very correct."
At this moment, Jiraiya and Kushina walked over. Jiraiya knew Kakuzu, but they weren't close. Jiraiya had seen Kakuzu on his previous visits to the Rain Province, but given the significant age difference, they didn't have much to talk about. Kakuzu viewed Jiraiya as a little brat, so their relationship had only ever progressed to the stage of mutual recognition.
This time, however, his attitude was different from last time. Seeing Jiraiya approach, Kakuzu pulled a map out from behind his back and handed it to Jiraiya. "I have something here that can help you speed things up and save a lot of travel time. This is a rough plotting of the enemy camps that the Leader drew up yesterday. It's not one hundred percent guaranteed, but you can use it as a reference."
"What! This exists?"
Jiraiya immediately took the map, opened it, and found it was indeed covered with plotted points.
Kakuzu smiled. "You are the first ones to get this. You can seize the initiative. This will be distributed soon, so you'd better clear out as many camps as you can during this time."
The five of them thumped their chests. "Don't worry, we certainly will."
Jiraiya had originally thought Kakuzu was difficult to approach, but it turned out he just looked cold, yet he had a good heart.
Kakuzu waved his hand. "No matter. It was going to be distributed on a large scale anyway. It's no inconvenience to give you a head start. Just remember to mark the eliminated camps and report back to me tonight."