To remove Tsunade's doubts as quickly as possible, Jie left Konoha and rushed straight to the Land of Rain with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He had already left a Flying Thunder God mark on Nagato. That was why he had been willing to let Nagato return to the Land of Rain so easily before. As long as the mark remained, Nagato could not truly leave his sight.
Nagato was startled when Jie suddenly appeared, but he quickly calmed down.
Jie glanced at him and noticed that a new pair of eyes had appeared in Nagato's empty eye sockets. He was a little surprised, but only for a moment. In the ninja world, replacing a pair of eyes was not the strangest thing.
Nagato noticed his gaze and thought Jie was wondering about the eyes, so he explained on his own.
"These are Yahiko's eyes."
His voice was calm, but the emotion behind it was difficult to hide.
"Yahiko is gone, but I want to use his eyes to see the ninja world that is about to move toward peace."
Jie nodded casually.
Whose eyes Nagato used had nothing to do with him. He had come to the Land of Rain for only one purpose.
He wanted to learn the Magic Lantern Body Technique.
Nagato was slightly taken aback when he heard the request. This technique was something he had developed using the special properties of the Rinnegan. It was useful for long-distance contact, but it required a medium to work.
That medium was the set of rings once worn by the members of Akatsuki.
Back then, Nagato had used the Rinnegan and the Gedo Statue to create those rings. Through them, Akatsuki members could gather as projections no matter how far apart they were. With the rings acting as the medium, the users did not need the Rinnegan themselves. They only needed to connect their chakra through the prepared medium.
Now that Akatsuki had already dissolved, keeping the rings was pointless. Nagato did not hesitate for long. He took out all the rings, handed them to Jie, and explained how to use the technique.
After testing it with Nagato and confirming that the Magic Lantern Body Technique could be used successfully, Jie finally relaxed.
With this technique, he wanted to see what excuse Tsunade could still use to stop him.
Before leaving, Jie looked at Nagato again. "I've given you enough time. The matters in the Land of Rain should be almost settled by now."
Nagato lowered his eyes slightly and did not deny it.
Jie continued, "Come to Konoha as soon as possible. I've already arranged a place for you and Konan, and Jiraiya should want to see you now."
Jie had not brought up Jiraiya for no reason.
After what happened in Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya's mood would probably remain unsettled for a while. If Nagato and Konan arrived in Konoha now, at least he would have something else to focus on.
For the sake of leaving Konoha smoothly, Jie felt he had worried more about these people than they worried about themselves.
Nagato was quiet for a moment before asking, "Will Teacher still accept us?"
"He will," Jie said. "Jiraiya has been waiting for you to return."
Jie did not stay in the Land of Rain after that. Once the matter with Nagato was settled, he returned to Konoha through the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Learning the Magic Lantern Body Technique was only the first step. If Tsunade could not use it, then the technique would be useless for his plan. After all, a one-sided projection meeting was no different from talking to himself.
The problem was Tsunade.
Jie had full confidence in her medical ninjutsu and chakra control, but whether she still had the patience to learn a new technique at her age was another matter. Still, for the sake of his long-awaited freedom, he could only place some faith in the former Sannin.
When he returned and told Tsunade that he had really found a long-distance communication technique, she did not believe him at first.
But disbelief quickly turned into suspicion, and suspicion soon became a decision to see the technique with her own eyes.
Tsunade did not intend to test the technique alone.
She called Orochimaru over, dragged in Jiraiya, who had only recently returned from Mount Myōboku, and gathered several senior officials from Konoha.
If Jie was telling the truth, this technique would not be a small matter. If he was lying, then everyone present could help block his latest attempt to run from work.
Jie acted as if he had not noticed their suspicion. He simply took out several Akatsuki rings and placed them on the table.
"Put them on."
Tsunade picked up one of the rings and looked at it for a moment before putting it on. Orochimaru was much more interested, turning the ring between his fingers as if he wanted to take it apart on the spot. Jiraiya stayed unusually quiet. After returning from Mount Myōboku, he clearly had not sorted out his thoughts yet.
Once everyone had a ring, Jie began explaining the Magic Lantern Body Technique.
The technique itself was troublesome, but the rings removed most of the difficulty. They had already been prepared by Nagato as mediums, so the users did not need the Rinnegan. As long as they could connect their chakra through the ring and stabilize the projection, the technique could be used.
Jie demonstrated it first.
A moment later, his projection appeared in the room. It was not a Shadow Clone, nor was it an ordinary illusion. The figure had no real body, but it could appear clearly, move naturally, and speak with them in real time.
Tsunade's expression changed.
If this technique could be used properly, then distance would no longer be a problem for meetings or urgent information exchange.
After seeing the result with her own eyes, Tsunade finally stopped doubting it and began trying the technique herself.
She might have spent years away from the battlefield, but she was still one of the Sannin, and her chakra control had never weakened. After four or five attempts, she managed to form a stable projection through the ring.
Tsunade was genuinely shocked.
The ninja world was changing faster than she had expected. A technique like this was not just convenient. In the right hands, it could change how a village handled command, intelligence, and emergency decisions.
According to Jie, the Magic Lantern Body Technique had almost no distance limit. As long as the ring acted as the medium and the user supplied enough chakra, people in different places could meet through projections as if they were standing in the same room.
Its only real flaw was the need for the rings.
Tsunade looked at Jie with a complicated expression.
This brat was truly something. Just to skip work and wander around the ninja world, he had actually dug out a technique this useful.
With the Magic Lantern Body Technique in hand, Tsunade no longer had a solid reason to stop him.
Jie could attend important meetings even from outside the village, the Secretariat could handle daily affairs, and Itachi could take over the work that required someone to stay in the Hokage Building.
With Tsunade watching from above and Itachi gaining experience below, Konoha would not fall apart just because Jie was not sitting behind the desk.
In the end, Tsunade could only agree.
But she still set a condition. Once every month, Jie had to use the Magic Lantern Body Technique to attend a meeting with Konoha's senior officials. No matter where he was, he had to report his situation and deal with any important matters that had piled up.
Jie agreed almost too quickly.
To him, one meeting a month was already a huge victory compared to being trapped in the Hokage's office every day.
Tsunade looked at his satisfied expression and suddenly regretted agreeing so soon, but the words had already been spoken. In the end, she could only wave him away and pretend she did not see his face.
That night, after everything had been arranged, Jie left a letter behind and disappeared from Konoha with Izumi.
No guards, no official procession, and no farewell.
By the time the village realized that the Hokage had left, he and Izumi were already gone.
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