After saying goodbye to Orochimaru, Gekko Chizan returned to Konoha.
His return was immediately reported to Namikaze Minato.
"Hey, Minato, do you really have to summon me the moment I get back? Can't I rest for a bit?"
"I just returned..."
Gekko Chizan slumped onto the sofa in the Hokage's office, his entire body collapsing into it. He was truly exhausted.
After spending so long in the Land of Water sightseeing—no, carrying out missions—it had worn him out completely.
Minato was already used to this. And this time he hadn't come alone to ask questions; the three advisors were present as well.
"Alright, Gekko Chizan, stop changing the subject."
"You know why we called you here."
"A large-scale battle broke out in the Land of Water a few days ago. We believe you must know something, so tell us—what exactly happened there?"
"And what's the deal with the Akatsuki organization?"
Koharu Utatane's attitude was extremely forceful. Hearing her speak made Gekko Chizan feel like slapping her.
Who does she think she's yelling at? Doesn't she know who Gekko Chizan is???
Of course, he couldn't actually slap her. After all, she was still a Hokage advisor.
He should still give the proper respect—after all, he was counting on Minato to take the lead for him later.
"Koharu, watch your tone. Chizan did go to the Land of Water for the sake of the village."
"The village was previously attacked by unidentified individuals, and the consequences were severe. We cannot allow such powerful enemies to keep hiding in the shadows. That would be very detrimental to the village's development."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude was much better. He had already spoken separately with Jiraiya and Tsunade.
They both knew about the boy who possessed the Rinnegan. A powerful enemy harboring hostility toward Konoha—if they couldn't understand his situation, that would be terrible.
"Look at that—now that's how you talk."
"Advisor Koharu, if I were you, I'd learn a bit about the charm of language."
"The meaning might be the same, but when you phrase it differently, the implication changes completely. Understand?"
Gekko Chizan rolled his eyes at the old woman in front of him, his tone clearly displeased.
He had been risking his life out there, and what had this old fossil done? Yet she sat here pointing fingers.
"Chizan, stop messing around."
"Just tell us."
Minato pulled a box of cigarettes from his drawer and tossed it over.
Catching the cigarette pack, Gekko Chizan showed a trace of curiosity. Well now—Minato had started smoking?
Noticing Gekko Chizan's puzzled look, Minato shook his head helplessly.
"The work pressure is too much, and Naruto is too noisy. I'm really worried."
"Now that you're back, I'll have to ask you for some advice later. Raising a kid really is a science..."
"But for now, let's talk about the Land of Water."
Gekko Chizan lit a cigarette. Not bad—actually quite a good one.
"Alright then, I'll start talking."
"Let's begin with how the Land of Water encountered pirates from Kumogakure."
...
He spoke for half an hour.
From how Kumogakure had plundered the Land of Water, to how he encountered Orochimaru and fought him, and finally how he discovered the Akatsuki organization in the southern part of the Land of Water and fought them as well.
Aside from the part about Orochimaru in the middle—which was fabricated—the rest was mostly true.
Of course, he left out the part where he personally joined in the looting. Those were spoils he took with his own ability—no need to mention it.
After hearing his account, Minato and the three advisors all fell silent.
Especially after hearing the news that the Fourth Mizukage had been controlled and ultimately died.
"I never expected that even a Mizukage could be controlled. Luckily you helped—otherwise the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, might have caused a catastrophic disaster."
"But with the sudden death of the Fourth Mizukage, the Land of Water will probably fall into chaos."
While listening to the story, Hiruzen Sarutobi had also joined the smoking group.
He, Minato, and Gekko Chizan had effectively turned the Hokage's office into a smoke factory. Now the entire room was filled with smoke.
Combined with several people holding a meeting here, it looked exactly like some kind of underworld gathering.
"That's true. But right now the Land of Water has suppressed the information."
"If it weren't for our intelligence network, we probably wouldn't have learned this so easily."
"We really have Chizan to thank for that. The intelligence network has now completely become the village's eyes."
"Major events in the shinobi world can hardly escape our sight."
At this point, Minato paused.
Even so, there was still no information about the Akatsuki organization.
That made the Fourth Hokage sigh inwardly at just how deeply Akatsuki had hidden themselves.
"But Chizan, after going through several major battles, are you alright?"
"Whether it's Orochimaru or those members of Akatsuki, they all possess Kage-level strength. For example, Kakuzu—that guy is a notorious criminal on the bounty list."
"He even killed the previous village leader of Takigakure, Saibon."
Gekko Chizan rolled his eyes again and replied irritably:
"Only now you think to care about me?"
"I did suffer quite a few injuries. Fighting Orochimaru wasn't really a big deal though, since he had no intention of fighting me to the end."
"He ran away halfway through. As expected of my sensei—he's very wary of the Flying Thunder God."
Gekko Chizan exaggerated his sensei's strength as much as possible. After all, Orochimaru's status as a rogue ninja was right there.
Sure enough, when he mentioned Orochimaru, a trace of conflict appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face. After all, that had once been his most beloved student.
Now that he had betrayed Konoha, it weighed heavily on his heart.
"Alright, old man. You should actually be glad that Orochimaru doesn't harbor much hatred toward Konoha."
"Otherwise, if he had joined the Akatsuki and attacked me together with them, you probably wouldn't be seeing me right now."
His words were a bit exaggerated, but in order to elevate his sensei's reputation, he didn't mind.
Sure enough, everyone's attention was drawn in.
"As for the Akatsuki organization—the Rinnegan wielder got ambushed by me at the end. He probably won't survive."
"But the Rinnegan should have been preserved."
"You're all experts—you should know that eyes like that can be kept and transplanted."
"So that's not good news."
"Secondly, the one with the Mangekyō Sharingan was extremely troublesome."
"I don't really have a way to deal with that kind of space-manipulating dōjutsu."
"In that battle, I relied entirely on two kekkei genkai and the Ryūchi Cave sage arts to fight head-on."
"Although I killed Kakuzu, the condition of the three Snake Princesses isn't very good."
"For a short time, I probably won't be able to use sage arts anymore."
Gekko Chizan deliberately made his situation sound miserable—like he couldn't use sage arts anymore, like he had been psychologically traumatized by the fight.
After all, lying wasn't illegal these days.
So why not say it?
"Down there—I'll head over immediately."
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