Escape From Konoha

In the rainy forest, the rain fell in a steady stream, covering up the hustle and bustle. Only the sound of the pouring rain echoed in the ears, and the chill brought by the rain.

Jiraiya's figure alone was speeding on the road full of mud and water.

In order to collect information faster, I separated from Kakashi's ANBU team. During the operation, I contacted him at the agreed location every two hours to exchange information.

However, having stayed in the Land of Rain for more than a day, Jiraiya didn't notice anything unusual.

According to the information provided by Minato, there is a large-scale human trafficking organization at the border between the Rain Country and the Fire Country. They take advantage of the collapse of the Rain Country after the war to conduct illegal trade in human beings.

There is a clue that vaguely points to Yuyin Village.

After a day of searching to no avail, Jiraiya had the idea to ask Kanzo, the new leader of Amegakure Village.

If someone from Yuyin Village was involved in the case, then as the current leader of Yuyin, Kanzang would know something.

Or, Kanzang himself is controlling all this behind the scenes.

Jiraiya didn't know much about the exploration and collection, so the above were just his own guesses and could not be used as evidence. Everything needed to be carefully verified.

Moreover, he went to Yuyin not entirely for the task assigned by Minato, he also wanted to go there to find traces of Nagato and others.

Jiraiya was also very worried about the safety of the three disciples who had disappeared.

Whether Nagato and the three are alive or dead, as a teacher, he must personally confirm.

When the forest was about to end, an involuntary chill made Jiraiya stop his progress suddenly.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes slightly, and instead of running fast, approached quietly by walking instead.

He came silently behind a big tree, with rain dripping down his hair and cheeks. He used leaves and weeds to cover his body, and his eyes secretly glanced at an open space not far away.

Five men in black hooded coats stood in the rain, and thirteen bodies fell at their feet.

These fallen corpses were all ninjas. Nine of them were wearing Amegakure ninja uniforms and forehead protectors, while the other four corpses were wearing Konoha Anbu uniforms and strange masks with thick colors on their faces.

A ninja at heart! Immediately, Zilai also slightly widened his eyes.

Although the ninjas of Konoha Nebu and Anbu have the same uniform, their mask styles are very different.

The masks on Anbu's face are limited to animal masks, and the colors tend to be soft and light. The masks worn by root ninjas are solemn and solemn, with rich colors, not limited to animal masks.

Although Jiraiya does not often deal with people from the root, as one of the few jounin in Konoha who can participate in important meetings, he naturally has his own way of identifying root ninjas.

Why are root ninjas here? And who killed the root ninja? Zilai was also full of doubts in his heart.

Although things about roots are not pleasing to the eye, these root ninjas are also part of Konoha.

Being killed here, Jiraiya was also a little annoyed.

But knowing that anger would be useless at this moment, each of these five mysterious people wearing black hooded coats had very powerful auras, and they were at least jounin-level beings. They could not act on their impulses now.

Jiraiya also trusts his own judgment and intuition about the situation.

When fighting, there is absolutely no way to subdue them all in the first place.

You need to wait for the enemy to relax before attacking by surprise and taking it down in one fell swoop.

"Ah, the guy at the root is still as difficult as ever. But luckily it's gone."

In the open space, one of the five mysterious people wearing black hooded coats sighed with emotion.

The other person squatted down and picked up a sealed scroll from the muddy ground.

The texture of the scroll is very good. Even if it was soaked in mud before, after picking it up, there are no stains and it is very clean. This also means that the things recorded in the scroll are very important.

"Destroy the body, don't leave any clues."

"good."

A dozen corpses were piled together, and one person formed a seal with his hands. He quickly spit out a stream of hot flames from his mouth, and burned the dozens of corpses on the spot without leaving any traces.

"Let's go. In this way, the mission will be successfully completed."

The person holding the scroll said, preparing to leave.

The rest of the people have no objection.

Seeing the five people preparing to evacuate after cleaning the battlefield, Jiraiya knew that he could not delay it any longer.

Now is the time when they are most relaxed, and it is not clear if there is anyone else behind them. If they join up with the others, the matter will be more difficult to solve.

Without hesitation, Jiraiya's body rushed over like lightning, clenched his fist, and hit someone from behind.

There is no feeling of hitting the flesh.

The fist passed through the chest from behind, and the body of the man who was attacked by Jiraiya suddenly turned into scorching flames. Jiraiya's expression changed, and a burning pain immediately came from his arm.

Fell into a trap!

The other four people surrounded him and took out their kunai and waved them at Jiraiya mercilessly.

The chakra in Jiraiya's body surged rapidly, his arms escaped the shackles of the flames, and he dodged backwards in embarrassment.

Poof!

After dodging three of the kunai, his chest was still cut open by a kunai, and blood spurted outward.

Jiraiya took a breath with lingering fear and covered the bleeding chest wound. He didn't know whether it was sweat or rain flowing on his face.

If I had slowed down my movements just now, I'm afraid I would have directly told him where he was.

These people's movements are also very sharp and straightforward, without any sloppiness, and they almost complete it in one go.

"I thought it was some little mouse peeking from the side. It turns out to be Master Jiraiya, one of the Sannin of Konoha. I wonder what your purpose is here?"

The man in black holding the scroll smiled at Jiraiya very relaxedly.

The face is hidden under the shadow of the hood, and the appearance cannot be seen clearly.

But judging from his rich tone, he was an adult male.

"It's nothing, I just came out for a walk. But it's a bit unfair."

Jiraiya laughed jokingly, not caring at all that this was a very serious situation for him.

"What?"

"Because only you know me, but I don't know you. Doesn't this seem very unfair?"

Jiraiya stared closely at the five unidentified people in front of him.

"You really forget things, noble people. We should have fought against you Konoha on the battlefield of Grass Country. But to Master Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas, we are indeed inconspicuous little characters. That’s all, it’s normal if you can’t hear our voices.”

The man who spoke with the scroll lifted the hood on his head, revealing a male face. Like Jiraiya, he had white messy hair.

The other four people also took off the hats that concealed their faces. They were not very familiar faces, but they were not strangers.

After Jiraiya saw the faces of the five people, after a brief recognition, he took a deep breath and his eyes became more cautious.

"So it turns out that they are the famous Xuan Yuzhong. You are frequent celebrities in the underground black market of the ninja world."

Xuan Yuanzhong is a bounty hunter group that has risen rapidly in the underground black market in recent years. They are engaged in various employment activities, and they especially cooperate closely with Yanyin Village.

They are called "ninja hunting ninjas" by those who do evil things. Each person has a special secret technique. It is unknown where it comes from, but its ability is strange. It belongs to a special school of ninjutsu that will lead to death.

Since his debut as a bounty hunter, his mission completion rate has reached over 95%, and he has almost never failed.

More than two years ago, when the war between Konoha and Iwagakure broke out in the Land of Grass, the Xuanzhu were hired by Iwagakure more than once to sneak attack on Konoha's supply points, causing great losses to Konoha at that time.

Naturally, Jiraiya didn't have a good impression of this kind of ninja mercenary group that was engaged in various sabotage operations throughout the ninja world.

A group of ruthless executioners who only know how to kill and have no morality in their hearts.

"Since you are here, does that mean you are planning to do something bad again?"

"Taking people's money and eliminating disasters with them is the capital we can be proud of in the underground black market."

Bug Man chuckled.

"It seems that there is no way to negotiate peacefully."

Zilai also said regretfully.

"Don't be so righteous. You ninjas from the five major countries are originally a killer group raised by daimyo. There is no essential difference from us. If so, it means that you are stronger, so you are just. One side.”

Hearing the cold words of the insect man, Jiraiya was about to refute, but the person opposite him had already begun to form seals:

"Water Release·Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A water dragon more than ten meters long rose up from the ground and charged towards Jiraiya's position.

Jiraiya continued to retreat backwards, forming seals with his hands.

"Earth Escape·Yellow Spring Marsh!"

The five insect men immediately lost their footing, and the surrounding land instantly turned into a bottomless swamp, intending to swallow the five people's bodies into it.

"If you surrender now, there is still time—"

Before Jiraiya could finish his words, the earth boy among the five pressed his palm on the surface of the swamp, transmitting chakra from his palm.

The swamp immediately turned into flat land and disappeared.

Jiraiya looked cautious.

The infusion of chakra re-changed the characteristics of his ninjutsu.

This ability is too weird.

"Let's talk when we wake up. Even the Sannin, alone, cannot be the opponent of the five of us combined."

Although the insect man's words were arrogant, Jiraiya did not refute.

Facing the five-person alliance, he did feel a pressure.

If you are not careful, you may end up overturning here, and you need to fight seriously.

While dodging the fire and water attacks, he also had to pay attention to the earth spears that protruded from time to time under his feet. Jiraiya found that the cooperation of these people was so good that they did not give him a chance to breathe or counterattack.

"Fire Release·Fire Bullet!"

After finally finding an opening, Jiraiya spit out a blazing fireball from his mouth and rushed towards the enemy.

The native man showed no sign of weakness and erected an earth wall from the front to intercept the fireball.

This was also within Jiraiya's expectation. He quickly used the teleportation technique to escape from the sniper range of water type and fire type, and began to form seals.

The insect man recognized that it was the seal sequence of the psychic technique, and the other party planned to summon a giant toad to join the battle.

If you summon that kind of thing, it would be a bit troublesome to fight.

However, it is already within the range of my attack. Insect Man thought so in his heart.

Jiraiya, who was forming seals, suddenly felt his eyes sting.

With the insect man at the center, the surrounding gray rainy scene was immediately rendered with bright colors and a hoarse noise appeared. The images of rain and forest disappeared from his eyes, and Jiraiya felt a very cold feeling. , flows into the body through the eyes.

When the view returned to normal and the rainy scene appeared again, nothing changed.

Illusion? Blindfold? Jiraiya was even more confused about the strange bright light ninjutsu.

But now this situation does not allow him to think too much. To fight these five people, he must summon the toads from Miaomu Mountain to reverse the disadvantage as soon as possible. If he delays, the five of them will run away.

"Psychic... of..."

Jiraiya was halfway through using his ninjutsu, but before his palms were pressed to the ground, his body suddenly stiffened.

He saw a huge insect-shaped lump appearing on his chest, and the clothes on his chest were torn open, which was very scary.

Jiraiya could feel that the chakra in his body was being absorbed by this strange insect-shaped lump.

The insect-shaped lump seemed to be a huge insect with strong vitality. It fed on chakra in Jiraiya's body and rapidly increased in size.

What's this?

When did it enter the body?

Jiraiya's face was no longer calm and calm, and panic appeared in his eyes.

Immediately he remembered the ninjutsu that Insect Man had used before, which was similar to blindfolding, creating strong light to block vision and making noise.

Moreover, something cold entered his eyes and then entered his body.

If something happened to his body, it most likely happened at that time.

Damn it, what kind of ninjutsu is this lump? Jiraiya had no idea what the opponent's ninjutsu was.

But Jiraiya was able to guess one thing, that is, once chakra is used, the insect-shaped lump on the chest will continue to grow, and when it reaches the critical point, the enemy will probably be killed in the form of an explosion.

Jiraiya had a wry smile on his face, he really failed this time.

Even the Sannin cannot fight without the chakra system.

How could it be possible to deal with five jounin-level ninjas without the ability to use chakra?

"It seems that Jiraiya-sama has understood the consequences of using chakra."

The insect man walked over leisurely and smiled at Jiraiya.

As long as the other party cannot use chakra, it does not pose any threat at all.

Even if he uses psychic techniques, when the psychic beast is summoned, it will be the moment when Jiraiya self-destructs and dies.

Jiraiya understood this and stopped using the psychic technique.

Because the psychic technique requires a lot of chakra, that powerful chakra will become the nutrients of the blasting insects, blowing Jiraiya's body into pieces.

"I didn't expect you to possess such despicable ninjutsu."

Jiraiya forced a smile.

"How can you say it is despicable? This ninjutsu requires a long time to prepare, and it is not so easy for people to fall into it. Moreover, the weakness of this ninjutsu is too obvious. If you have seen it once, you will not do it again the next time. Hit."

Insect Man sighed.

Jiraiya also saw that these five people had some strength, but their hard power was not as strong as imagined and they could not be dealt with.

The troublesome part for them is the mysterious and unpredictable secret technique of death at sight.

Once caught, there is basically no way out.

Jiraiya also understands this. The opponent's secret technique of swelling is to use vision to make the enemy hit.

As long as you close your eyes when the ninjutsu is being performed, you can ignore the threat of this ninjutsu.

Jiraiya, who knew this major secret, also knew what would happen to him next.

"Then, farewell, Master Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas. After all, you know the secret of my ninjutsu, so I can't let you leave alive. Besides, your body should be sold for a lot of money."

The insect man picked up the kunai from his ninja bag, and with Jiraiya's unwilling eyes, he swung it at his neck without hesitation.

A brilliant lightning flashed, and the broken kunai only made a shallow bloody cut on Jiraiya's neck.

The insect man's face was dull and he seemed to have no reaction.

The expressions of the four native men changed one after another, and they wanted to step forward to help.

"Don't move, or I'll kill him."

The cold voice came through the cold air, causing the four native men to stop.

Kakashi, wearing an Anbu costume and an animal mask, appeared behind the insect man with a white fang sword in his hand, put it on his neck, and threatened the other four members of the Xuanmen.

Three other Anbu also appeared at Jiraiya's side, protecting Jiraiya closely and looking at the four native men with vigilance.

"I'm careless. I didn't expect that there are Konoha Anbu wandering around. Moreover, being able to sneak up behind me silently is really a textbook assassin. Right, Hatake Kakashi? The second generation Konoha White Fang. "

The insect man's voice was helpless.

Kakashi said nothing and tightened his grip on the White Fang dagger.

"It seems that our side is still superior."

Jiraiya smiled happily and wiped the sweat from his face.

If Kakashi had come a step later, he would really explain it here.

Among these five people, except for the insect man, the other four are not very strong, but the cooperation between the escape skills is very troublesome.

Even the insect man with the most terrifying abilities will be greatly reduced in threat as long as he knows the characteristics of ninjutsu.

The outcome is decided.

"snort."

The insect man snorted harshly.

When the four native men saw the insect man being subdued, hesitation appeared on their faces, and then they looked at each other, as if they had made a tacit decision.

After giving Konoha and the others a hard look, he used the teleportation technique to disappear from the place.

The four people left so simply, but Jiraiya and the others did not relax, because the leader of the Xuan Yuans was in their hands, and the four disappearing people would never let them go so easily.

I'm afraid it won't be too safe on the way back.

◎

In the cave.

Jiraiya lay flat on the hay, his face twisted and in pain, it was difficult to open his eyes, and his breathing became rapid, as if he might die at any time.

Kakashi and others on the side all knew that Jiraiya was enduring some kind of unbearable pain.

The huge insect-shaped lump on Jiraiya's chest was ferocious and terrifying, and it made people's scalp numb just by looking at it.

None of them expected that the legendary Sannin would meet such a tragic end at the hands of a group of bounty hunters.

It also proves from the side that Xuan Yuanzhong is by no means an ordinary bounty hunter.

The insect man had his hands and feet tied up, leaning against the wall of the cave, seeming to be sneering.

"It's useless. Even the three ninjas can only wait to die if they are hit by my ninjutsu."

Kakashi ignored him and took out a scroll from the insect boy's ninja tool bag.

Kakashi then handed the scroll to another ANBU.

"Give this scroll to Hokage-sama for confirmation."

Kakashi's implication was that he would not leave with them.

These three Anbu were all new-generation ninjas. They were trusted confidants supported by Minato himself. They were different from the Anbu who had been recruited by the third generation, so they could be trusted.

"Captain, won't you leave with us?"

the ANBU asked.

Kakashi looked at Jiraiya who was almost unconscious in pain and said: "No, I want to lead this leader of the Xuan Yuans to divert the pursuers from behind. Master Jiraiya is now seriously injured and must go back for emergency treatment. Otherwise, your life will be in danger. Please."

Faced with Kakashi's solemn entrustment, the three Anbu subordinates were deeply affected.

The Xuan Yuans are not weak people. In order to rescue the leader, their return will inevitably be hindered. If the time is delayed, Jiraiya will die suddenly on the way.

Therefore, in their view, Kakashi was determined to die to find a way out for his subordinates and Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas.

Originally, they were still unconvinced about the younger Kakashi being the captain, but now they are convinced.

Jiraiya, who was speechless in pain, couldn't help but feel guilty towards Kakashi.

Unexpectedly, as a Sannin, I would one day become a liability and need to be rescued by the young people in the village.

He could only pray in his heart that Kakashi was okay.

"Understood, Captain. We will work hard to get this scroll to the Hokage-sama, and Jiraiya-sama will be sent back to the village safely for treatment as quickly as possible."

Hearing their assurances, Kakashi nodded and left the cave carrying the insect boy who was bound by the rope.

The three Anbu didn't rest either, carefully carrying Jiraiya on their backs and rushing back towards the Land of Fire.

◎

It was raining in the sky, and it was still in the land of rain. Kakashi carried the insect boy on his back to a tree hole.

There were four people sitting there, burning a bonfire and lighting up the tree hole.

It was Tu Nan and the four of them.

Seeing Kakashi coming in with Insect Man on his back, Fire Man took a bite of the freshly roasted chicken leg and said hello to them:

"You two are finally here. We're almost ready for dinner here, and we're just missing you two."

Kakashi used a kunai to cut the rope around the insect boy, freeing his body.

The insect man stretched his muscles, touched the stiff back of his neck and said, "Really, you kid doesn't know how to make the binding more comfortable. My hands and feet are almost numb."

Kakashi took his share of the roasted chicken without hesitation. He hadn't eaten for most of the day and was indeed a little hungry.

Halfway through eating, Kakashi asked: "Speaking of which, why are you in the Land of Rain?"

The insect man replied: "The mission issued by the leader asked us to intercept the important evidence of human trafficking between Genji and Amegakure, and then hand it over to the fourth generation Hokage Namikaze Minato in an anonymous form, which caused conflicts among the top management of Konoha to intensify. Take care of other things."

"Then it doesn't matter if you let Jiraiya go? Your blasting insect ability will be exposed."

Kakashi frowned.

Exploding bugs are the biggest killing weapon of the Xuan Yuans. Even the five shadows will be killed by the bursting bugs in unfamiliar situations. It can be said that it is a strange secret technique that will kill you on sight.

If such an important ability is leaked to Konoha, it will inevitably cause huge losses.

The insect man smiled and said: "That was originally false information that was deliberately induced by Jiraiya. Exploding insects are not as simple as you think, and prevention is even more difficult. When the time comes, Konoha will take what he thinks is correct. Intelligence, but everyone knows that it was originally a fatal trap set by me."

"That's right. And the blasting bugs used by the boss now are old products from the past. The military will send new blasting bugs soon, which are more difficult to guard against and more powerful. We can defeat Jiraiya once, The result will be the same the second time, nothing will change.”

The native man said with confidence.

"Since you think this is okay, then do as you say."

Kakashi didn't ask any further questions. The Xuanzu were originally a secret force of the Demon Country's military. The only people who knew the true secret of the Exploding Bugs were themselves and those three people.

"Although the process of this mission was a bit tortuous and a bit beyond the original plan, the results are still good. I was still worried about how to use the evidence to achieve the best effect and make the top management of Konoha start to fight. Now. With Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, as a guarantee, everything will fall into place."

The insect man then turned his attention to Kakashi and showed a meaningful smile:

"Congratulations in advance, Kakashi. For saving Jiraiya, the Sannin, your future road in Konoha will be smooth. I wish you a safe journey in Konoha."

"I accept your good words."

After Kakashi finished eating the roast chicken and filled his stomach, he walked out of the tree hole.

"By the way, don't forget to get some injuries on your body. People will be suspicious if you come back clean."

Bug Man reminded from behind.

Kakashi nodded wordlessly and disappeared outside the tree hole.