Refuse to Admit

The arrival of Sunagakure’s envoy in Konoha drew the attention of many people. When Sarutobi Hiruzen saw the stern letter of accountability written by Pakura, he was stunned for quite some time.

Jiraiya had always been fairly reliable in the past, so why had he gone so crazy this time?

He had abducted someone for interrogation near another village, and after getting the information, he had simply dumped the person on the road. He had not even bothered to hide them or silence them.

Had he discovered some vital intelligence that forced him to abduct and interrogate someone?

Sigh!

"The matter your village speaks of is, in my view, nothing but baseless slander. Though Jiraiya is indeed a Konoha Ninja, he has rarely returned to Konoha in recent years. I hope Sunagakure will not use a Konoha ninja who is away from the village to stir up trouble. That would benefit neither side."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke with righteous conviction. Though he had sent Jiraiya there, he absolutely could not admit it, and Sunagakure had no conclusive evidence.

"You—"

The Sunagakure envoy was instantly enraged by Sarutobi Hiruzen’s shameless expression. Would Sunagakure ninjas really lie under the accusation of leaking intelligence just to slander Jiraiya?

"Is this Konoha’s attitude!?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen calmly took a puff of smoke. "I am merely reminding your village that ninjas from some other village may be muddying the waters and sowing discord between allies."

Shikaku, standing nearby, also spoke. "That is right. The possibility cannot be ruled out. Mr. Envoy, among the Five Great Ninja Villages, only Konoha and Sunagakure are allies. This could very well be a scheme by another ninja village."

And you had the nerve to mention being allies?

The Sunagakure envoy’s chest heaved with rage. Appearances could be muddled with the Transformation Technique, but could ninjutsu be faked as well? Other than Jiraiya of the Sannin, who else could use ninjutsu to turn someone into a frog!?

Not long ago, Konoha’s Anbu had tried to infiltrate Sunagakure territory, and Sunagakure had yet to settle that score with them.

Konoha’s attitude clearly showed that they had no intention of resolving this matter. They only wanted to shirk responsibility.

"Fine. I will relay the Third Hokage’s words to Lord Kazekage exactly as they were spoken!"

After leaving those words behind, the Sunagakure envoy departed the Hokage Tower at once, preparing to return to Sunagakure. Sarutobi Hiruzen’s conduct had made it clear that they would rather deny it than admit to this matter.

After the Sunagakure envoy left, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed with a headache. "What is Jiraiya doing?"

"Perhaps Lord Jiraiya discovered intelligence that he absolutely had to obtain, so he had no choice but to act."

Shikaku spoke up. With the Sunagakure envoy gone, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no need to hide from him the fact that Jiraiya had gone to Sunagakure to gather intelligence.

The changes in Sunagakure indeed needed to be investigated as soon as possible. If possible, Shikaku even hoped the Anbu could sow discord between Sunagakure and the Yasunori Trading Company, thereby preventing the Yasunori Family from joining Sunagakure.

However, that would be extremely difficult to pull off, and if anything went wrong, they would likely offend both a massive trading company and Konoha’s only ally.

Shikaku asked, "Hokage-sama, has Lord Jiraiya sent back any news?"

"No. He only went to Sunagakure not long ago."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke with concern. Jiraiya had only been in Sunagakure for a short time before being discovered, and last night, a teacup Jiraiya had given him had suddenly developed a crack. That cup was Sarutobi Hiruzen’s favorite, and it had pained him for quite a while.

Now, hearing that Jiraiya’s tracks had been discovered by Sunagakure, the combination of those two events gave Sarutobi Hiruzen a rather unpleasant thought.

"I hope that fellow is all right."

Shikaku reassured him, "With Lord Jiraiya’s strength, Sunagakure should have no way of dealing with him." Sunagakure’s forces were currently spread extremely thin, with many carrying out missions in other small countries. This was intelligence that all the major ninja villages could uncover.

Given how hollowed out Sunagakure’s internal strength currently was, it would be difficult for them to assemble a powerful pursuit force.

Soon afterward, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Danzo entered the Hokage’s Office. Seeing this, Shikaku immediately took his leave.

What came next had nothing to do with him, and Shikaku did not want to involve himself too deeply in politics. Though he served as the head of the Jonin class, that position would only truly become useful during wartime.

After leaving the Hokage Tower, Shikaku looked up. The sunlight was perfect today, and it felt wonderfully comfortable against his body.

"I should go have tea with Choza."

Tea Country—Hyuga Mirai had originally poured a great deal of effort into the Experiment Base here. Both the country and the area were well suited for focused research. If not for the Dragon Vein in Rōran, this place might have become Hyuga Mirai’s main base.

The research equipment and instruments here were the most advanced in the Ninja World. Many of the instruments did not exist anywhere else in the Ninja World; Hyuga Mirai had Android 18 acquire the site before researching and manufacturing them himself.

Moreover, since the Dragon Vein was in Rōran, it was inconvenient to establish some large-scale research facilities there. Thus, Hyuga Mirai would sometimes come to the Experiment Base in Tea Country.

For example, for his clone.

This clone was the first one Hyuga Mirai had created after mastering Clone Technology. Previously, with Android 18 as his assistant, she could handle nearly everything for him perfectly, and Hyuga Mirai had practically used her as a Shadow Clone.

However, while Android 18 could excel at finding omissions, filling gaps, and offering reminders, she was somewhat lacking when it came to developing new technological products. Hyuga Mirai also needed to cultivate senjutsu and Yin-Yang Release to improve his strength, which was why he had decided to create a clone to replace his original body in researching and manufacturing new technological products.

The clone body was nearly complete as well. After Android 18’s repeated calculations, its growth time had been greatly shortened. However, the clone body’s strength was at most equivalent to that of an ordinary person who had undergone training; it was not a combat-oriented type like Orochimaru’s clone bodies.

When Hyuga Mirai arrived at the Experiment Base in Tea Country, he first checked the Clone Body’s growth progress. It would be complete in three more days. This Clone Body had not been deliberately cultivated with its own consciousness; Hyuga Mirai intended to use it as a clone.

By splitting off a portion of his soul with the Spirit Transformation Clone Technique, he could completely possess the Clone Body. Since its genes and flesh were no different from Hyuga Mirai’s original body, once Hyuga Mirai’s soul clone entered it, he could control it just as he controlled his own body.

A Physical Clone of flesh and blood.

After checking the Clone Body’s progress, Hyuga Mirai decided to stay here for a few days and leave only after he had placed his Spirit Transformation clone into the Clone Body.

Then Hyuga Mirai thought for a moment and took out a case of specially brewed shochu offered by Gato, intending to check on Tsunade.

This shochu was brewed from a fruit unique to Rainbow Country. That fruit was extremely scarce, and throughout Rainbow Country, only the Daimyo was qualified to enjoy it. Brewing it into liquor brought out its fruity fragrance even more. Even Gato had only managed to acquire fifteen bottles. He kept three for himself and gave the rest to Hyuga Mirai.

Hyuga Mirai did not enjoy drinking, so he had not paid much attention after accepting them. He only remembered them today when preparing to visit Tsunade. If they tasted good, he would send someone to Rainbow Country to collect a few cuttings and transplant the fruit trees to Tea Country.

However, when he reached the door, Hyuga Mirai took half the shochu from the case and put it back, bringing only six bottles for Tsunade.

Six bottles of shochu would not get Tsunade drunk, yet would put her in just the right mood. If he gave her all twelve bottles at once, Tsunade would surely drink herself into a drunken stupor and then go rest, wasting an entire day of research time for nothing.