Chapter 34: Some People Are Truly Full of Themselves
Early in the morning, Uchiha Itachi brought fresh water and wild fruits.
"Caw!"
Kitahara cheerfully picked up a fruit, pecking at today's breakfast.
"Itachi, your summoned beast is not up to par..." Jiraiya glanced at the crow holding the fruit and began to count its faults on his fingers, "It can't keep watch at night, nor can it catch fish... And it's not like other scouting ninja beasts... Too lazy!"
Uchiha Itachi handed over a wild fruit, using food to shut Jiraiya's mouth, "Teacher... eat fruit."
He understood Kitahara's temperament very well; it was already good enough that it was willing to accompany him out here, roughing it. How could he demand so much? Besides, before leaving home, Uchiha Mikoto had carefully instructed him to take good care of Kitahara.
"Teacher, where are we going now?"
"Well, I'm going to chase after my companion..." Jiraiya laughed heartily, "He got lost, I'm going to bring him back to the village."
"Is it Orochimaru?"
"Oh, you know him too?"
"One of Konoha's Sannin, the Cold blood Orochimaru..." Uchiha Itachi recalled the scene when he met Orochimaru, "I saw him at the Memorial Stone. He told me that life has no meaning..."
Jiraiya felt completely unwell and suddenly leaned close to Uchiha Itachi, warning, "Don't listen to that guy's nonsense! Not a single word he says is believable! He once promised to help me and didn't complete a single thing!"
"Mm! But I was still young back then. I listened to his words and guessed that if I got infinitely close to death, perhaps I could find the meaning of life..."
"...This guy, he doesn't even spare children!" Jiraiya couldn't help but facepalm, then fiercely lectured, "Are you an idiot with no brain! What happened later?"
Uchiha Itachi stroked the crow's wing, reminiscing involuntarily, "Later, I was saved by Kitahara..."
Tracking Orochimaru was a very dangerous task. Jiraiya didn't take Uchiha Itachi to participate in the battle. If it weren't for the Third Hokage's request, he even planned to let Itachi do some small missions in the village.
Jiraiya looked at the little boy and secretly decided that when they were close to Orochimaru's base, he would leave Itachi in a nearby small town!
According to the intelligence provided by the Third Hokage... it wouldn't take many days to see that bastard!
"The Land of Wind is relatively barren. Most areas are deserts and Gobi, constantly eroded by sandstorms, and resources are scarce... The ninjas of the Hidden Sand Village have a very high understanding of Wind Style."
"Isn't that easily countered then?"
"Silly boy! As a ninja village of one of the Five Great Nations, how could they only have Wind Style! Besides Wind Style, they are also skilled in puppetry, poisons, and a special Kekkei Genkai, Magnet Style!"
"Is it strong?"
"Very strong!" Jiraiya nodded seriously, "I once saw a couple highly skilled in puppetry who caused great losses to Konoha... If it weren't for Sakumo's strong swordsmanship, it would have been hard to say if we would have won."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "Puppet masters are by no means invincible. They have many counters. For example, that woman Tsunade, one punch per puppet... She beat that old hag Chiyo until she had no temper left!"
"...Lady Tsunade is indeed very strong!" Uchiha Itachi agreed with this point. Putting other things aside, at least on the day of the assessment, she sent Jiraiya flying with one punch... It was truly a gratifying sight...
Jiraiya's praise was endless, "Of course, Tsunade is the strongest woman in the ninja world, and also the strongest medical ninja in the ninja world. We used to be teammates..."
"Because of Tsunade, the ninja world began to have accompanying medical ninjas, allowing so many people to survive on the battlefield..."
"Mikoto was Tsunade's younger brother Nawaki Senju's contemporary... Unfortunately..."
"That year, Tsunade almost Date me..."
The crow on the side listened and listened, then cast a disdainful glance at Jiraiya. Some people, while talking, involuntarily start to get full of themselves...
The problem was, Uchiha Itachi didn't know the truth and couldn't expose his words... Thus, the master and disciple got along more and more happily, except for the crow that wanted to cover its ears.
In the entire ninja world, when it came to erudition, whether it was local customs or the characteristic ninjutsu of various countries, there was almost nothing Jiraiya didn't know... And the thirst for ninja knowledge was also something Uchiha Itachi possessed.
One person loved to talk at length, the other loved to listen quietly.
Jiraiya was full of a sense of accomplishment, and Uchiha Itachi gained a lot.
Neither master nor disciple noticed that someone was spying on them. The mysterious Masked Man and Zetsu were hiding far away on a dense tree, concealing their figures.
"That little kid, is he the Uchiha that Jiraiya took as a disciple?"
"His name is Uchiha Itachi." The black and white Venus flytrap-like Zetsu softly spoke the intelligence he had gathered, "Everyone in Konoha knows he has awakened the Sharingan..."
"Even if he's only six, it's not that surprising, is it!" The Masked Man snorted coldly.
"It's said he awakened the Sharingan during Minato Namikaze's inauguration ceremony. Not long ago, after the Ninja Academy started, Uchiha Itachi graduated after only one day of class... The next day, he was taken as a disciple by Jiraiya, who had returned to the village."
"The awakening of the Sharingan must be driven by an obsession with love and hate... In that case, did that little brat named Itachi choose to abandon the Uchiha?" The mysterious Masked Man became slightly interested. He was tired enough of that clan.
Black Zetsu couldn't let Obito act on his whims and interjected, "Obito, Uchiha Itachi is the future clan head of the Uchiha. If he truly grows up, everything you're doing in Konoha will be useless..."
The rift between the Uchiha clan and Konoha's leadership might very well take an unpredictable turn in the future due to Itachi's existence! Their goal was to weaken Konoha's strength, not to watch Konoha rise again...
"Heeheehee... Almost died in Konoha, and ended up achieving nothing!" White Zetsu suddenly chimed in, "Can't say that. At least Obito killed his own teacher... Heeheehee..."
Thump!
The Masked Man punched Zetsu's head into the tree trunk!
"You talk too much nonsense..." The Masked Man gazed at the master and disciple conversing happily in the distance and asked, "Just a little kid. If we get rid of him... Uchiha Fugaku's side probably won't trust the Hokage anymore, right?"
"Heeheehee... So ruthless..." White Zetsu's death-courting heart seemed unstoppable, "He's the clan head's son, after all. Is this really okay?"
Black Zetsu quickly interrupted White Zetsu and got to the point, "Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, is not an easy person to deal with... Obito, your body hasn't fully recovered yet, right?"
"Don't worry about Jiraiya." The Masked Man shook his head, "If I'm not mistaken, that guy must be trying to retrieve the defected Orochimaru. We'll have plenty of opportunities... Ridiculous bonds!"
"..." Zetsu was stunned for a moment and decided to remain silent.
He talks so cheerfully, but who knows who it is that goes to Konoha every now and then, either to visit graves or to peek at a certain white-haired man...
(End of this chapter)