Chapter 35: Learned It, Learned It, Learned It!
The third day.
Jiraiya spread out a scroll, a map engraved upon it. He glanced up at the nearby surroundings and beckoned, "Itachi, no need to prepare breakfast today. We're going to a nearby small town."
"Is it far?" Uchiha Itachi pointed to the still-sleeping crow and said softly, "Kitahara gets quite hungry in the morning..."
"...Sleeping in again?" Jiraiya had lost his temper. "No need to prepare, we'll be there soon. Just bring it along!"
Jiraiya wasn't lying. They hadn't walked for long before the outline of the small town came into view. There were also more or less wheel ruts on the road.
"This... is this really a small town?" Uchiha Itachi had never seen such a sight before. Dilapidated, decaying, declining... none of these words were sufficient to describe this small town.
Everyone in the small town seemed very tense. There were even two or three crazed women running in the streets, and some fierce-looking men with large sabers patrolling.
Jiraiya had seen too many small towns like this.
He thought that Uchiha Itachi, having grown up in prosperous Konoha, had never witnessed the cruelty of the outside world. This was a good opportunity to let his disciple see the harshness of the ninja world.
As a man passed them, he suddenly shouted at them, "Passersby! Take your kid and scram!"
Jiraiya didn't mind his rough language. Instead, he brazenly greeted him, "Ahaha... Excuse me, where is your inn? We plan to stay here for a day..."
"Don't know! Scram!" After cursing, the man even raised his saber and waved it at them threateningly.
"We are ninjas from Konoha..." The Toad Sage had to swallow his words. The atmosphere here was indeed not very friendly... It seemed it was time for him to make a sacrifice again...
"Itachi, let's find an inn first!" Jiraiya patted Itachi's head, subtly glancing at a corner of the street. "I'll go gather information about this small town tonight..."
Uchiha Itachi shook his head, "Teacher, you rest well. Let me go!"
"No, you're too young... It's not appropriate!"
"Caw!"
For some unknown reason, Kitahara suddenly flew onto Jiraiya's shoulder. It was purely curious about Jiraiya's sources of information... and gather material locations.
"Then can Kitahara accompany you?"
"This crow looks too fierce. Those who can provide information are too timid and can't handle being scared. I can only... cough cough..." Jiraiya shook his head, putting on the airs of a respectable person.
Kitahara didn't care about his attitude, only firmly stating its own, "Caw!"
As a result...
That night, after Jiraiya left Uchiha Itachi at the inn, he could only take the crow out with him. Although he couldn't understand the crow's calls, it didn't stop Jiraiya from sternly declaring, "When we get there, you have to be obedient and not disturb my intelligence gathering, understand?"
The crow obediently nodded. It was just a bird, after all...
It couldn't do anything else... But this Jiraiya fellow really didn't disappoint! Sure enough, Jiraiya casually stopped at the entrance of a lavishly decorated tavern.
The old man smiled and waved at the young girl at the door, looking amiable, "Good evening~ Are you open for business now?"
"You're joking, guest. Since you've already come, then of course we're... open for business!"
"Hahahaha... I'm new here and don't have any friends in this small town. Could you introduce me to a few young people like yourself?" Jiraiya smiled with a simple and honest look.
Kitahara: "..."
Learned it, learned it, learned it!
What damn use is learning it!
Honestly, Jiraiya was indeed very skilled... He quickly made many friends in the tavern, perhaps also because he was the only customer... The crow didn't count.
Jiraiya held a wine bottle in one hand and his newfound friend in the other, "I see the shop isn't very lively. No one has come to play with you all! Is it because something more fun than you all has happened in the small town recently?"
"It's probably because too many children have gone missing in the small town recently! The men all have to patrol the town..." The young girl looked at Jiraiya flirtatiously, "Can't the guest sleep tonight?"
"The weather in April, well, it's still a bit cold..." Jiraiya waved at another new friend, "One always needs a little wine and something else to warm the body!"
Kitahara, watching from the side: "..."
Learned it again, learned it again, learned it again!
Even if it learned, what could it do... This tavern, apart from giving it a plate of beans, didn't even have anyone to look after it. Everyone had gone to fawn over Jiraiya, the big patron!
Although Jiraiya drank a lot in the tavern, he managed to extract quite a bit of information from several young, blooming girls with just a few words.
This small town had recently experienced a string of child disappearances. There had even been instances of children being abducted from the streets at night, which was why the town was somewhat hostile towards outsiders.
No wonder they encountered all sorts of strange things when they first entered the town... That irritable big man was actually being kind!
Another matter was rather strange.
Strange noises were often heard from the mountains near the small town. The residents guessed that perhaps giant wild beasts had migrated here. They formed a group to search, but they all went missing later.
They had also sought help from Konoha Hidden Village or other rogue ninjas, but in the end, those ninja lords found nothing...
"...It's finally over!" Jiraiya tossed a drunken young girl onto the table and beckoned, "Little crow, you go back to the inn first..."
"..." Kitahara looked at him in disbelief.
"Hey! Keep your gaze righteous. I'm going to search outside the small town..." Jiraiya took a swig of wine and continued, "If I haven't returned after two days, you take Itachi back to the village!"
"...Caw..."
It seemed he believed he had already found information about Orochimaru. Kitahara wasn't worried about his safety; it just had to wait patiently for his return.
The Gallant Jiraiya respected everyone who had their own ninja way.
Even if Orochimaru was a rogue ninja, if he didn't harm Konoha, Jiraiya probably wouldn't be ruthless... Besides, whether he could defeat the current Snake Sannin was still a debatable matter.
Orochimaru during this period was truly at the peak of his strength! His life's achievements were no less than anyone in Konoha at present... Ninjutsu, forbidden jutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu – he was proficient in everything!
However, Orochimaru's greatest skill was raising children. Just look at Sasuke's well-toned muscles during his duel with Itachi... After Orochimaru was gone, Sasuke became thinner and thinner...
Its own cub was clearly pitifully thin. Later, it would ask Itachi if he wanted to go out for a late-night snack or something...
Kitahara flew in through the window and looked at the messy quilt on the bed... It just went out for a bit to gain some knowledge, where is my cub?
A gloomy voice emerged...
"Jiraiya has finally left this place..."
A deformed figure suddenly emerged from the ceiling, looking incredibly bizarre. The newcomer looked at the empty room in surprise, "Eh? Where's that little brat..."
"Zetsu, did you forget to leave a clone here? Hurry up and go..." Another figure appeared in a swirl of air. The blaming voice stopped abruptly upon seeing a crow.
Kitahara's crimson eyes widened suddenly, "Caw!"
(End of this chapter)