Encountering Jiraiya

"Finally… it’s almost completely digested."

Over the past two years, Yota had focused on the Eight Gates and trained it to the Seventh Gate. His Haki and physique had also grown at an astonishing rate.

After all, opening the Eight Gates was itself a form of extreme training. Given Yota’s physique, he had mastered the Third Gate as soon as he started. Afterward, he opened the Eight Gates almost every day, even training directly while the Eight Gates were open.

If it had been Guy or Lee, they probably would have trained themselves into cripples within two months, because there simply would not have been enough time to recover from their hidden injuries.

But for Yota, who possessed the Munch-Munch Fruit and an unbelievably strong physique, this was instead the best possible training method. His extraordinary body allowed him to endure the Eight Gates for extended periods, even using them as part of his training. Meanwhile, the Munch-Munch Fruit ensured that no matter how far he pushed himself, as long as he still had one breath left, he would not die or suffer any lasting injuries.

Taijutsu like the Eight Gates had to be trained by the original body to truly be effective. The remaining ninjutsu and such were naturally left to his Shadow Clones.

By now, Yota had mastered the standard Five Elements Ninjutsu. However, that was merely part of his reserves. What his Shadow Clones had truly spent vast amounts of time studying was Hashirama Senju’s Wood Release.

Even without counting his Devil Fruit abilities, Haki, and physical strength, he dared say that he already possessed Super-Kage Level strength. If his pirate-world abilities were included, even Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha might not be his match.

"I’ve laid low for this long. My strength is now truly the greatest in the ninja world. It’s time for the next round of hunting!"

After leaving his base, the first thing Yota did was show his face at the Black Market. First, to gather intelligence; second, to see whether he could hook some fish.

After all, he had done so many major things. He refused to believe the other forces in the ninja world had shown no reaction at all to his reappearance.

When Yota stepped into the Black Market once more, the entire place instantly fell completely silent.

The owner, who had been sitting behind the counter polishing a wineglass, did not wait for Yota to approach this time. He hurried over with a fawning expression. "Lord Black Shadow Ninja, is there anything you require?"

Wearing a black mask, Yota snorted. "Bring me all the intelligence from the past two years."

With that, he tossed out a small leather case filled with money.

The owner, who used to carefully count the money every time, did not even touch the case this time. He immediately put it away, then called for his subordinates to bring out a large amount of intelligence and place it before Yota.

Yota picked up the reports and flipped through them one by one. In a short time, he had read through nearly all of them.

"The ninja world is still the same as ever." Yota set down the intelligence. His black mask made him look somewhat cold. "It seems the wings of this butterfly haven’t caused much of a deviation."

There had been some changes, of course. The Uchiha clan had not been driven by Konoha into some remote corner—after all, without Danzo’s interference this time, the Uchiha clan had participated in the battle from beginning to end.

Even Fugaku Uchiha had nearly died during his clash with Yota, losing both of his Mangekyo Sharingan. Under those circumstances, even with the irrefutable evidence of the Sharingan in the Nine-Tails’ eyes, Konoha could not possibly target the Uchiha so harshly.

"Still, it’s only a matter of time before the Uchiha clan falls on hard times… Danzo suffered heavy losses this time, so he simply hasn’t come out to stir things up yet."

No matter what, the Sharingan pattern had appeared in the Nine-Tails’ eyes. That was solid proof that an Uchiha had controlled the tailed beast. They had definitely come under suspicion. At most, people had previously suspected the entire Uchiha clan of rebellion, whereas now they only suspected that someone within the Uchiha clan harbored ill intent.

"Something happened in the Land of Rain, and it’s now closed off from the outside world? The Rain Ninja Village has completely sealed itself off and no longer interacts with other ninja villages?"

"Looks like Akatsuki has transformed from its original mutual-aid organization into a terrorist organization. Hanzo should have already been taken out, right? Nagato Uzumaki is now the leader of the Land of Rain?"

After reading the intelligence, Yota walked straight out of the Black Market. Only then did the previously silent market erupt into noise. Soon afterward, repeated popping sounds rang out as an unknown number of Summoning Beasts were summoned away. Within three hours, news of Yota’s appearance would likely spread throughout the ninja world.

"I wonder who will be the first to come looking for me?" Yota glanced at the sky and pondered inwardly. "But whoever it is, I should still head toward my target first—the Land of Rain."

Though he said he was heading toward the Land of Rain, Yota was not actually rushing there. At a ninja’s pace, he could probably reach it in a day. If he hurried over, how was he supposed to fish?

Besides, Nagato Uzumaki was different from Konoha. Because his legs were crippled, Nagato had always concealed himself and used puppets for all his battles. Even if Yota stormed into the Land of Rain, he might find nothing. Therefore, he had no intention of using violent methods this time.

Three days later, after leaving a town and entering a forest, Yota spoke calmly. "Come out. You’ve been following me for over an hour, haven’t you?"

The moment he finished speaking, a tall man wearing wooden clogs and sporting a wild mane of white hair stepped out. His eyes were fixed intently on Yota.

Yota tilted his head slightly. "So it’s you—Jiraiya of the Three Ninja. I didn’t expect Konoha to be the first to come knocking."

"I thought Konoha wouldn’t dare come looking for trouble now!"

"Konoha is Konoha. I am me." Jiraiya’s voice was low, with a faint trace of sorrow beneath it.

"What? You want to fight?" Black mist slowly rose from Yota’s body. "If it’s just you alone, I’m afraid you’re not strong enough."

"I want to know the truth. That day… what exactly happened? How did the Nine-Tails break free from its seal?" Jiraiya asked, enunciating every word.

To be honest, although Jiraiya was still a Konoha ninja, what he cared about more was his disciple Minato Namikaze—the Child of Prophecy in his eyes—not Konoha’s losses.

Come to think of it, Jiraiya had lived a miserable life. At first, he believed Nagato Uzumaki was the Child of Prophecy who could bring change to the ninja world, but not long afterward he heard news of Nagato’s death. Then he placed his hopes on Minato Namikaze, only for Minato Namikaze to die as well.

Upon hearing Jiraiya’s question, Yota silently withdrew the black mist around him. Given the goodwill Jiraiya had earned from the manga in his previous life, it was naturally best if he could avoid fighting this man.