On this side,
Jiraiya, of course, didn't know that his two former disciples were watching the situation from afar.
He was still pondering.
Until after a moment,
He slowly looked up, then took the "Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi" from Kyo's hand, casually flipping through it while chuckling lightly:
"This really does surprise me..."
"I didn't expect that when you recommended this book to Kakashi on the streets of Konoha back then, it was also genuine..."
Jiraiya said with emotion, then suddenly changed his tone, looking at Kyo with a serious expression and said:
"Hmm... Alright, since you're my fan, it seems I don't need to pretend anymore."
"That's right,"
"My visit to Amegakure this time isn't just for sightseeing."
"I'm planning to use Amegakure as the setting for my latest novel, but... well, I'm still lacking some basic settings and such. Although I've looked up a lot of information, I haven't fully figured it out."
"So, I thought I'd come here to do some fieldwork..."
Jiraiya explained methodically with a serious expression.
It really looked like a meeting between a bestselling author and a fan.
However, hearing this,
Kyo immediately rolled his eyes internally.
Fieldwork in Amegakure?
He spoke as if it were true.
If Kyo hadn't skimmed through the Shippuden plot, he might have actually believed it.
Undoubtedly,
Jiraiya's risky infiltration into Amegakure this time was absolutely for the purpose of gathering intelligence on the Akatsuki.
And, if nothing unexpected, he could probably already confirm that this was the location of Akatsuki's headquarters.
Under these circumstances, if he was still unwilling to ask directly...
It meant he was afraid of alarming the enemy.
It seemed,
I'd have to actively disclose it to him myself...
Thinking this,
Kyo's gaze flickered slightly, and he immediately put on an expression of sudden realization.
Then,
He raised a brilliant smile, looked at Jiraiya with sincere eyes, and said:
"Oh! So that's how it is!"
"If you want to gather material on Amegakure, feel free to ask anything!!"
"As a native of Amegakure, I know everything. Whether it's the civil war in Amegakure or matters regarding the Akatsuki, I'll tell you everything without reserve!"
"!?????"
As Kyo's words fell,
Jiraiya across from him was immediately stunned, dumbfounded!
What the hell is going on here???
The civil war in Amegakure? And intelligence on the Akatsuki????
He just said it directly like that?!?!
Jiraiya stared wide-eyed at Kyo before him, as if seeing a ghost.
Originally,
He had planned to draw out this information through some kind of plan.
Unexpectedly...
This Kyo had actually blurted it all out himself!!
After being frozen for a good long moment,
Kyo spoke again, feigning surprise:
"What's wrong? Jiraiya-san?"
"!"
As the words fell,
The bewildered Jiraiya finally snapped back to reality, then immediately coughed twice to hide his embarrassment, saying:
"No... nothing."
"This information you mentioned... you really can disclose it to me...?"
To confirm, Jiraiya asked again.
And Kyo, without hesitation, directly said:
"Heh, of course."
"I'm honored to participate in the creation of your new book."
As the words fell,
Jiraiya was first stunned, then immediately laughed inwardly.
Fans are indeed amazing...
This way,
It completely saved me my original investigation plan...
Thinking this, Jiraiya immediately looked at Kyo and lowered his voice with a smile:
"In that case,"
"Then... I'll trouble you!"
A moment later,
Kyo brought Jiraiya to a small tavern.
The moment they entered,
Quite a few people noticed this strange man in a raincoat with white hair, but they also naturally noticed Kyo beside him.
Instantly, many people began to bow or greet Kyo.
"Kyo-sensei! Long time no see!!"
"Kyo-sama!"
"Wow, Kyo-san!"
Various such sounds continuously rang out.
And Kyo smiled and nodded in response, finally leading Jiraiya into the innermost private room.
And Jiraiya, following behind him, witnessed all this, his gaze flickering.
He could clearly see...
In the eyes of those greeting just now, there was no fear or fright.
Only friendly looks like admiration and respect...
That is to say,
The reason they greeted him wasn't because of status.
But because of heartfelt respect...
Looking at it this way,
This Kyo,
Indeed... didn't seem like a wicked person...
Otherwise, he absolutely couldn't have gained the love of the common people.
And judging by their reverence for him, his status in Amegakure was definitely not low...
Thinking this,
Jiraiya's mindset also began to undergo subtle changes.
One must know,
At the very beginning,
He had always suspected that Kyo and Orochimaru had conspired for the Konoha Crush Plan during the Chunin Exams...
But now, it seemed somewhat unlikely...
Thinking this,
The two had already arrived at the private room.
They sat on opposite sides of the tea table.
Then,
Jiraiya finally took off his raincoat hood, revealing his full face.
And at this moment,
Kyo, while picking up the sake bottle and cup on the table, calmly smiled and said:
"Please begin, Jiraiya-san."
"Uh... ah, okay."
Jiraiya finally snapped out of his thoughts, then immediately pulled out a small notebook from his pocket that seemed to be for recording inspiration.
At this moment, he was like a journalist, pen in one hand, notebook in the other, staring at Kyo and said seriously:
"First, the first question..."
"I noticed you just mentioned 'Akatsuki' and 'Amegakure civil war'. Can you... elaborate?"
"Mm, of course... it's for the new book material."
Jiraiya stated directly, seemingly not intending to beat around the bush.
Hearing this,
It suited Kyo's intentions just fine.
He revealed a gentle smile, took a sip of the sake in his cup, and said:
"The civil war is simple."
"The original leader of Amegakure, Hanzo the Salamander, was overthrown by the later Akatsuki, and a new regime was established."
"In other words, today's Amegakure is no longer Hanzo's Amegakure."
As these words fell,
Although Jiraiya's expression didn't change, his heart suddenly stopped, becoming serious.
Just as I thought...
That legendary great upheaval in Amegakure was indeed related to the Akatsuki.
It was the Akatsuki that planned the upheaval!
This way,
It would explain why the Akatsuki chose Amegakure as its base...
Thinking this,
Jiraiya looked up again at Kyo and said seriously:
"Then, the current Akatsuki..."
"Is it carrying out some special plan, like... cough cough... collecting Tailed Beast Jinchuriki and such..."
"..."
At this point, Jiraiya's tone suddenly became somewhat vague.
He even tried to cover it with a cough.
Clearly,
After asking this question,
He also realized he seemed to be getting ahead of himself.
He had only just started asking and was already touching upon the core issue...
However,
At this moment, Kyo opposite seemed completely unaware of anything wrong.
He remained expressionless, instead putting on a slightly thoughtful expression.
After a moment, he suddenly looked surprised and said:
"Huh, collecting Tailed Beasts?"
"This... I'm hearing about this for the first time,"
"Could it be an operation planned by those traitors who were kicked out of the Akatsuki?"
"…Huh???"