"Alright, Kushina, no need to waste time on him. Let's hurry to the next one."
Kushina spread her hands and pouted helplessly. "Fine, I was hoping to play with him a bit."
Before leaving, the group disposed of the bodies using a special ninja technique for destroying corpses. Otherwise, leaving them there could lead to a plague, which was no laughing matter.
"Alright, children, the first stop today was a success. We're moving on to the next location."
Jiraiya did not engage in combat from start to finish. He only watched from the side to prevent any attack by a Kage-level ninja on the children. However, until the very end, no one came to attack them.
Following the locations marked on the map, the five of them practically cleared out all the rogue camps in the western area. Yet, looking at the dense array of red dots on the map, the job they did today was still minuscule. But the five were already very satisfied; a single person's strength was limited, and eliminating nearly a hundred camps in one day was already a huge feat.
Moreover, they weren't fighting alone. If all the ninjas in the Central City received this map, their efficiency would surely be exceptionally high.
"They're packed so close together; it looks like well over ten thousand. What exactly are these guys planning? A human wave strategy?"
But Jiraiya only saw them as sacrificial pawns. These so-called rogue camps were merely paper targets, easily shattered upon contact. They served absolutely no purpose.
"Who knows? Let's just maintain this pace. Tomorrow, we can clear out a place that's further away."
Minato looked at the map, pointing with his finger. "How about we go here tomorrow? The immediate outskirts of the Central City will have all been cleared out. If we move quickly right after the map is distributed tomorrow, we should be able to eliminate a few camps before others get to them."
Yahiko and Konan naturally had no objection; they would simply follow the arrangements of Jiraiya and Minato. As for Kushina, she found such planning tedious and headache-inducing; she only cared about the direction Minato set, and she would focus on execution.
Jiraiya pondered for a moment before finally nodding. "Alright, let's go with what Minato suggested." He then glanced at the sky. "The clouds are still so thick, aren't they? It's still early, so we can set aside some time for Minato to train before heading back to the Central City."
Everyone agreed. Clearing out the rogues was important business, but Minato's training was equally pressing.
"Thank you, everyone," Minato said, smiling warmly. He was grateful that they were willing to give up their own time so he could train. Everyone had been traveling all day, so they were undoubtedly tired, yet they still waited for him to practice, which he greatly appreciated.
With that, he used a jutsu to clear a patch of clean ground, drying the mud with a Fire Release jutsu, and sat down cross-legged. Conditions in the wilderness were rough, so he had to make do.
As Minato began training, the others didn't just stand idle; they all moved to find something to do. Since the downpour from the sky was all absorbed by the Cloud Orb, they didn't have to worry about getting wet. Konan and Yahiko, with nothing else to do, started a sparring session. This was their first time practicing together since arriving at the Central City. Jiraiya watched the spectacle for a while, and once he got bored, he picked up a pen and paper to start writing his new novel. As for Icha Icha Paradise, he planned to write that later to maximize readers' anticipation, ensuring the novel sold well! Kushina started playing a game out of boredom. With everyone busy with their own tasks, time gradually slipped away.
Over an hour passed quickly. During this time, Jiraiya constantly observed Minato's training progress. He could clearly feel that Minato's Sage Mode cultivation had improved. Sure enough, the wilderness was much better than inside the city.
However, today's training time was over. If they didn't return soon, it would get dark. This was not the Land of Fire, and they were unfamiliar with the area; if they got lost here, they would have to wait until the next morning to get back.
"Alright, children, let's get going. Pick up the pace, or we'll be spending the night in the wilderness."
"Understood, Jiraiya-sensei, we'll set off now!"
[T/N: For a Mentor, sensei term fits.]
Hearing Jiraiya's command, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, gathered together, and began heading back toward the Central City. The trip back was uneventful; nothing happened, and no one attempted an ambush.
But upon returning to the city, Jiraiya noticed something amiss. Many of the ninjas in the city bore injuries, some even having thick bandages wrapped around their arms. This wasn't an isolated case; it was widespread. The ninjas' faces were no longer relaxed; they looked extremely serious, and some were even crying profusely with regret. A bad feeling rose in Jiraiya's heart.
At the same time, Minato and the others noticed the situation as well.
"Jiraiya-senpai, could these people be..."
Minato clearly had his own guess but didn't finish his sentence. Jiraiya completed it for him: "Ah, they must have encountered new enemies."
"Let's go find Big Brother."
Hearing what Jiraiya and Minato said, the other three also felt a sense of dread. What kind of enemy could have injured so many ninjas? The city was filled with jonin and chunin, the main fighting force of a village—its pillars, no less. For them to be so badly battered was highly unusual.
The five of them arrived beneath the office building, where many ninjas were rushing in and out, all with serious expressions. The guard saw Jiraiya and the others and bowed. "Jiraiya-sama, the Hokage and Kakuzu-sama have been waiting for you for a long time."
Jiraiya nodded. "Good, we're going up now."
The group went up to the office. Inside, besides Torifu and Kakuzu, there was no one else. The two of them did not show the same seriousness or urgency as the other ninjas; they were very calm. Torifu was even sipping tea.
"You five are here. Did you encounter any dangers on your trip?"
"No, Big Brother. We headed west today and cleared out over a hundred camps. We even let the boy Minato practice for a bit. We didn't find anything unusual."
Hearing this, Torifu and Kakuzu looked slightly confused. "You didn't run into any Kage-level ninjas in the west? That's a bit strange. Were you in the immediate outskirts of the Central City, or did you go deeper?"
"The outskirts. We eliminated all the enemies in the western direction today, so there shouldn't be any rogue camps in the immediate outskirts of the Central City now."
At this, Torifu understood. "In that case, it seems the Kage-level ninjas are only appearing farther out from the Central City, closer to the borders of the Land of Rain. With such a large number of Kage-level fighters, this must be Blaze's work."
Jiraiya and the other four were still mostly in the dark about the current situation.