After reading the intelligence report in his hands, Might Guy finally understood just how dangerous the situation Jiraiya had mentioned truly was!
After a brief silence, Guy revealed his teeth and looked at Rock Lee and the others.
"You three go out first. There's something I need to discuss alone with Lord Jiraiya."
Hearing Guy's words, Rock Lee, Tenten, and the third member paused for a moment, exchanged brief glances, then nodded gently and turned to leave the Hokage's office.
As the sound of the door closing echoed, Guy turned back to face Jiraiya.
"This matter is probably not as simple as the intelligence suggests, is it?"
"Indeed, it is quite troublesome."
Jiraiya nodded with a bitter smile, not holding anything back.
Despite Might Guy's usual carefree and somewhat dim-witted appearance, being a Jonin who survived through wars, how could he truly be foolish?
Over the next while, Jiraiya explained the general situation to Guy, except for matters concerning Hashirama Senju, which he kept to himself.
"That's roughly the situation, though my opinion is that we should try to avoid crossing paths with Yuto and Neji as much as possible?"
Jiraiya finished speaking in one breath and looked at the silent Guy with a questioning expression.
"So it seems that the First Mizukage Yuto has partially targeted Neji."
Guy fell silent, his usual passionate demeanor disappearing.
"You could say that." Seeing the expression on Guy's face, Jiraiya nodded helplessly.
"In that case, from another perspective, this might be the last chance to bring Neji back. Although the opportunity is extremely slim, and that's assuming the First Mizukage Yuto doesn't take action himself."
A brilliant smile suddenly appeared on Guy's face as he looked at Jiraiya with amusement.
Though he said this, Jiraiya knew very well that even this slim chance was incredibly minuscule.
Neji's departure wasn't because he was forcibly taken away—it was his own choice.
Even if Neji were given another chance to choose, he would likely make the same decision.
"Neji's departure might be due to my failures in teaching him. Regardless, I must personally meet Neji one more time—and not just me, but Lee and Tenten too!"
"Rest assured, even if the worst-case scenario occurs, even if I have to sacrifice my own life, I will protect Lee and the others!"
"This is the oath of Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey!!"
Guy revealed his white teeth and spoke solemnly.
After speaking, Guy turned toward the door. Just as he was about to reach it, he suddenly stopped.
"Lord Jiraiya, thank you for telling Team 3 about this matter."
"Even if we must settle this, whether as his teacher or as his comrades, Lee and Tenten and I need to face this personally."
"Because this is what youth is all about!"
Guy strode out of the Hokage's office.
Seeing Guy emerge, Rock Lee, Tenten, and the Hyuga genin outside the office all raised their heads simultaneously.
"Guy Sensei!"
"Guy Sensei!"
Rock Lee and Tenten spoke first, their eyes shining with anticipation.
Guy nodded gently, but instead of looking at Lee and Tenten, he noticed the Hyuga genin standing nearby.
Before Guy could speak, the Hyuga genin suddenly shrugged and smiled.
"Honestly, as a member of the Branch Family myself, I've always wanted to meet the only person from the Hyuga clan who managed to defect from the Main Family's grasp."
"It's dangerous."
Guy paused for a moment, speaking with a heavy tone.
The Hyuga genin raised a finger to point at the Konoha forehead protector on his forehead, his expression remarkably calm.
"Compared to this thing, what danger is there?"
Hearing the Hyuga genin's words, Rock Lee and Tenten exchanged glances.
Both had surprised expressions in their eyes, as if meeting this new teammate for the first time.
"In that case..."
"Let's go meet Neji together!"
A brilliant smile appeared on Guy's face as he suddenly raised one arm, filled with burning passion.
"Yes!!!"
Three determined voices rang out simultaneously.
Inside the Hokage's office.
"What a bunch of hot-blooded idiots."
Hearing the faint sounds coming from outside the office, Jiraiya took a deep breath, a smile appearing on his face as well.
Recalling the information about the First Mizukage Yuto in his mind, Jiraiya couldn't help but clench his fists slightly.
He hoped the Nara clan's analysis of Yuto's personality wouldn't be wrong!
From the First Mizukage Yuto's secret manipulation of the four great ninja villages' attack on Konoha until now, all of Yuto's involvement had been compiled into a complete dossier by the Konoha leadership and handed to the Nara clan for analysis.
The hope was that the Nara clan could analyze Yuto's personality traits.
Cautious! Proud!
This was the answer the Nara clan provided.
A cautious personality meant the First Mizukage Yuto would not easily fall into an ambush.
Plans involving luring or baiting would have a very low success rate.
Now, Jiraiya's only hope was that Yuto's proud nature would prevent him from easily taking action against Lee and the others—or rather, that he would consider them beneath his notice.
"I still don't know how Hashirama Senju's injuries are healing. Tsunade hasn't even sent back any intelligence."
Jiraiya rubbed his somewhat swollen temples again, muttering complaints to himself.
After speaking, Jiraiya bent down and retrieved a massive scroll from under the office desk.
On the cover of this scroll, four characters were clearly written.
"Scroll of Sealing"
This was a forbidden tome guarded by successive Hokage, containing jutsu that could cause great harm or even death to those who used them.
Although he was only the acting Hokage now, he still had the authority to view it.
Jiraiya carefully opened the Scroll of Sealing, his eyes scanning the jutsu recorded within.
When he saw a particular jutsu on the scroll, Jiraiya's gaze stopped, and he spoke softly.
"So this is the 'Forbidden Jutsu—Dead Demon Consuming Seal'?"
In the Land of Hot Water.
In a somewhat dense forest.
While guiding Neji's training, Yuto was simultaneously reviewing the intelligence about the Jashin cult that the Land of Hot Water had provided him.
Although the materials given to Yuto by the Tsuchikage seemed substantial, in Yuto's eyes, there wasn't much truly valuable information.
As for whether the Land of Hot Water was deliberately concealing anything, Yuto wasn't particularly worried.
To offend him over a religion that had already been completely destroyed—the Tsuchininja Village's Kage shouldn't be foolish enough for that.
However, through these materials, Yuto could understand what Hidan's so-called immortality was actually about.
The immortality Hidan obtained was not a blessing, but a curse. To maintain this curse, one had to commit killing.
This was what Hidan often referred to as offerings to the Jashin.
Hidan's immortality was not weak, and Yuto didn't believe the people of the Land of Hot Water could resist such temptation.
Yet until now, in the entire ninja world, only Hidan possessed this ability.
This alone was enough to show that, beyond the need for continuous killing, this curse was not something anyone could endure.
Of course, Yuto's presence in the Land of Hot Water wasn't because of interest in this so-called immortality.
What truly interested Yuto was the Jashin cult itself!
More precisely, it was the so-called Jashin.
According to the intelligence provided by the Land of Hot Water, this so-called Jashin cult was an emerging religion.
But in Yuto's view, this was simply impossible.
How could an emerging religion possess a curse like immortality, and even abilities as bizarre as "Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood"?
These two bizarre abilities were completely unlike something an emerging religion could possess—instead, they gave Yuto a feeling of extreme antiquity.
This was also the reason why Yuto was interested in this so-called Jashin.
In this ninja world, once something was connected to gods, it could generally be linked to the Otsutsuki clan.
However, if one really considered it, the only one in this ninja world who could truly be called a god was Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Neither Otsutsuki Utsuwa nor Otsutsuki Hagoromo counted as gods in Yuto's view.
Following the map provided by the Tsuchikage, Yuto and Neji quickly found the location where the Jashin cult had once been.
It was a cave about two people high.
On the hard rocks around the cave entrance, faint scratches could still be seen.
Clearly, a great battle had once taken place here.
As for the outcome, one could tell from the still-standing Tsuchininja Village and the desolate weeds around the cave entrance that the Jashin cult had been thoroughly defeated.
"Is this the Jashin cult Lord Yuto was looking for?"
Neji surveyed his surroundings, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
"Tsk tsk, I thought this Jashin cult would be built in something like a temple. Didn't expect it to be just a cave. Seems like these Jashin cult guys had it pretty rough back then."
Yuto raised an eyebrow, a strange expression on his face as he remarked.
At this moment, Yuto suddenly remembered when Konan had provided intelligence about the other members of the Akatsuki back in Kirigakure, and the expression on her face when she mentioned Hidan.
Thinking of this, Yuto couldn't help but find it amusing. For someone with Konan's personality to involuntarily twitch her lips—suffice it to say, meeting Hidan for the first time must have been quite memorable.
After all, with Hidan going around recruiting people into the Jashin cult on the streets, even recruiting onto the Akatsuki's doorstep, it would be hard not to leave a lasting impression.
"Since Uchiha Madara has already left Amegakure, the other members of the Akatsuki have probably left too."
"I wonder how Konan and Nagato are doing in Amegakure now."
A gleam of light flashed through Yuto's eyes as his mind wandered in thought.
Hey everyone,
I need to tell you what's actually happening.
I just got hit with mass cancellations. On top of being buried in academics until the 9th. I'm in deep financial trouble right now—like, genuinely don't-know-how-I-cover-next-month trouble.
I want to do more for you. I have another Naruto fic ready to drop the moment this academic hell ends. But I can't keep creating if I can't survive.
I'm not powerless about the work—I know I can deliver for you. But I'm powerless to stop the bleeding alone.
If you've ever thought about supporting, this is the moment. Not "someday." Now.
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