Jiraiya

"How should I put it, he should be somewhat naive. To tell you the truth, the reason why he stayed in the Land of Rain is because he adopted three orphans from the Land of Rain and taught them how to become ninjas. A Konoha ninja, helping people from the enemy country and train them into ninjas, what does that say about such a person? is he not naive?"

Hanzo carefully recalled his impression of Jiraiya and the information he had collected about Jiraiya's activities in the Land of Rain and smiled bitterly.

"Well, he's definitely an interesting guy, worth observing. "

"All alright, it's enough for today, at this, goodbye," Kirito smiled.

With those words, Kirito turned into a cloud of white smoke and disappeared from place.

Seeing this, Hanzo's smile quickly turned cold, and he decisively burned the scroll in his hand with the flame formed by the fire chakra.

Afterward, he walked out of the hotel, looked at the rain that had started falling again outside, and murmured: "Masanari Hattori, I hope everything you said is true. Don't let me see that you have betrayed Amegakure and the Land of Rain. Otherwise, even if I die, I will drag you to be buried with me..."

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The Land of Rain is Amegakure's territory after all, and since Jiraiya is also operating within the Land of Rain, he can't hide it from hanzo.

After Kirito got the exact location, he manipulated Zetsu's avatar to use the mayfly technique to move quickly underground, swiftly approaching Jiraiya's current residence.

It is the same as the residence in the original plot, a lonely house built on the edge of a lake.

He looked at the house from a distance, with a deep impression, and sighed: "There are a lot of creatures like Zetsu here."

Relying on the perception of his soul, he had now discovered that there were five white Zetsu under the house, scattered to monitor every move around the house.

If he hadn't been aware in advance that there might be Zetsu who was secretly protecting Nagato and hadn't shown up around the house, he would have been discovered by these tireless Zetsu by now.

In addition to Zetsu, Kirito also found that there were four ninjas hiding around. Like Zetsu, they all closely monitored the house.

Kirito used the Mayfly technique to sneak closer to the past and found that the four ninjas were all from Konoha's ANBU, which made him suddenly heave a sigh of relief.

He came to Jiraiya as Masanari Hattori, and the most troublesome thing was that the news was leaked.

Once the news was known by Suna, there was no guarantee that Suna would not be suspicious of it, and then react quickly and readjust the strategic layout.

However, the underground agents are a hidden danger after all.

As far as Kirito knows, these white Zetsu are the creation of Uchiha Madara, and he is his helper in stirring up disputes among countries.

He used Hattori Masanari's guise to meet Jiraiya, and these Zetsu would definitely report the news, and Uchiha Madara might put this news into the intelligence black market.

In short, there is still the possibility of leaks.

"Destroy them. As long as you kill them directly this time without reading their souls, it shouldn't trigger the sealing technique imposed on them by Uchiha Madara."

Kirito hesitated for a moment, and he made a decision.

The next moment, a white and transparent Kirito emerged from Zetsu's clone.

Spiritualization !

At this time, the five Zetsu were still conscientiously obeying Madara's orders and carefully monitoring the movement around the house, completely unaware of the impending danger.

After a while, the five Zetsu couldn't even utter a scream, and their souls were annihilated directly, turning into five vegetative people without souls.

Afterwards, his avatar soul quietly entered the room.

Here, he saw Jiraiya, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, who were sleeping soundly.

Kirito just looked at them from a distance, and didn't get close, and didn't even dare to look at Nagato, the current owner of the Rinnegan, too often.

The Rinnegan are the eyes of immortality, also known as the eyes that control life and death.

Kirito has no doubts that if Nagato opens his eyes now, he will see him, who has completed his invisibility in the soul state.

So, he glanced at Jiraiya and the others, confirmed that Jiraiya was among the people inside, then left the house. The clone soul re-entered into Zetsu's clone, and then used the Mayfly technique to drill into the ground, killing the five underground Zetsu bodies. Zetsu packed them all up and took them away.

Next, he manipulated the role of Hattori Masanari, played by his Zetsu's avatar, to slowly emerge from the open space in front of the door of the house.

Although Jiraiya's current strength has not yet reached Kage level, it is already quite close.

As a powerful ninja, his vigilance is naturally very high.

This time, Kirito didn't use his imperceptible soul to sneak up but appeared directly swaggeringly. Jiraiya, who was sleeping soundly, immediately noticed that something was wrong. He quietly opened his eyes, and then, without waking up Yahiko and the others, he quickly got out of the house.

"Oh, what a rare visitor," Jiraiya exclaimed as he opened the door and saw the late-night visitor.

He didn't expect Masashige Hattori to appear at this hour. It had been several days since their last encounter, and Jiraiya was still figuring out how to explain the situation to his teacher. But now, Masanari Hattori's sudden visit surprised him.

Perhaps Masanari's Hattori wanted to negotiate, or maybe he had information to sell to the highest bidder among the ninja villages.

Just as Jiraiya was pondering, a scroll was suddenly thrown from Hattori Masashiro's hand, the guise played by Kirito's clone.

Jiraiya quickly caught the scroll. Out of caution, he didn't open it immediately but looked at Kirito, questioning: "What does this mean?"

"It's a gesture of sincerity. I want you to see it first. I wonder if one of the Sannin, Jiraiya, dares to take a look," Kirito said indifferently.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiraiya decisively opened the scroll.

The first step in any negotiation is to establish trust.

In order to improve relations between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire and pursue peace, Jiraiya was willing to take some risks.

Besides, he believed Masashige Hattori wasn't foolish. If Hattori knew his name, he must also know that Jiraiya's teacher was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.

If something happened to Jiraiya, it could lead to conflict between Yuyin Village and Konoha.

Ultimately, Jiraiya opened the scroll unguarded because he trusted in his own abilities. He believed that even if there was a trap, he could handle it.

To his surprise, the scroll contained information about a hidden material warehouse arranged by Suna on the battlefield.

Looking up at Kirito in surprise, Jiraiya asked, "Is this true?"

"Whether it's true or not, Konoha will verify it. With your village's capabilities, you'll soon find the warehouse based on the information provided," Kirito replied indifferently.

"What do you want in return? Let's talk it out, or we can find a tavern nearby for a drink. It's late, but the tavern should still be open," Jiraiya suggested, noticing Kirito's hostility toward Konoha.

"That won't be necessary. If the information proves accurate, bring me a copy of the torture ninjutsu inheritance and resources to train thirty jonin. You must come alone. If I sense anything amiss, the deal is off."

"Also, Don't bother to resort to petty tricks. I'm aware of the shadowy maneuvers of your Konoha root, and you only get one chance," Kirito declared coldly after rejecting Jiraiya's invitation.

With that, he tossed a marked sign to Jiraiya and promptly disappeared into the ground, leaving the location swiftly.

Jiraiya also observed Kirito's swift departure and understood that retracting his words was necessary if he wanted to maintain any semblance of rapport. With a wry smile, he remarked, "It seems Hattori Masanari holds a deep prejudice against Konoha."

He had already anticipated this inwardly. After all, Konoha had recently dealt a significant blow to Ame, plunging the Land of Rain into turmoil. Hattori has turned into a renegade. This might explain why the other party initially chose to engage with Iwa instead of Konoha.

Furthermore, Hattori Masanari appeared to have a background rooted in caution, which was evident in his approach to the transaction with Konoha. Although Jiraiya wasn't well-versed in the workings of Danzo's Root division, he understood it to be a unit responsible for underhanded operations on behalf of Konoha. Their modus operandi was clear: protect Konoha at all costs, regardless of the means.

Hattori Masanari's apprehensions were well-founded. Once the leader of Root, currently held deep within Konoha Prison, caught wind of this development, they might dispatch an elite team to acquire the information from Hattori Masanari at any cost.

"Let the teacher handle this matter. I'll take charge of disseminating the information this time," Jiraiya decided after careful consideration, shaking his head resignedly.

With that, he swiftly employed the shadow clone technique to create a duplicate, dispatching the clone to return and rest within the house. The gravity of the information at hand was undeniable. Once confirmed, it would undoubtedly sway the balance in the ongoing conflict between Konoha and Suna, potentially offering Konoha a crucial advantage.

In order to ensure the safe delivery of the information, Jiraiya decided to personally accompany it back to Konoha this time. He harbored reservations about the Anbu ninjas dispatched by Konoha, as rumors suggested that Root members might infiltrate their ranks, although confirming such suspicions was impossible.

Regardless of the truth, Jiraiya couldn't afford to take any risks, especially with the potential involvement of Root in the matter. To prevent the Root leader from learning of the information and jeopardizing their plans, he had to exercise utmost caution.

Upon the return of his shadow clone to the house, Jiraiya promptly summoned the four Anbu ninjas responsible for maintaining contact with the village.

"You four will accompany me to send the information back," Jiraiya instructed, his tone carrying a subtle but unmistakable authority.

The Anbu ninjas responded in unison and immediately prepared to depart.

In the blink of an eye, Jiraiya and the four Anbu ninjas vanished from sight, speeding toward Konoha with swift and purposeful strides. Their journey aimed to conclude before the break of dawn.

"Jiraiya is indeed meticulous. When dealing with him in the future, I should keep conversation to a minimum to avoid revealing anything," Kirito remarked as he emerged from the ground where Jiraiya and the others had just departed. Using his soul perception, he monitored their swift departure and acknowledged Jiraiya's thoroughness in handling matters.

By personally escorting the information back to Konoha and taking along the four Anbu ninjas privy to their encounter, Jiraiya had taken significant precautions.

Kirito's extermination of the white zetsus further minimized the risk of information leakage.

In the end, if the news still found its way out, it would be deemed an act of fate.

However, there existed another foolproof method, one that Jiraiya were unaware of: utilizing Danzo and his Root operatives for the secure transmission of information—a decision Kirito would readily make if circumstances necessitated it.