"Whew! That was close, I almost died!"
Kyusuke wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
At that moment, the blade had been just an inch away from him. He had been so close to death!
"He held back. If he had wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead."
Konan also let out a sigh of relief.
That slash had been too fast. There was no way to dodge or avoid it.
What terrifying speed!
Fortunately.
"Luckily, he didn't chase us. Otherwise, even I wouldn't have been confident of escaping without alerting too many people."
The orange-haired young ninja finally caught up from behind.
Thinking about the situation earlier, he couldn't help but exhale softly: "Sensei's new student is truly terrifying. By the time he reaches our age, he might even become the next White Fang of Konoha."
"I heard sensei has another student. It's a shame we came too late and didn't get to meet him."
Konan sighed.
Yahiko nodded: "I heard he went to Iwagakure."
Then, he sighed.
"What a pity!"
Yahiko sighed again, then sat down in the cave.
"It's a shame there were too many people around. If we could have met privately, we could have asked him to help us contact sensei."
"Why do you suddenly want to contact sensei? Before, you always said that the affairs of the Land of Rain should be resolved by us Rain ninjas, and we shouldn't rely on sensei for help."
Konan was utterly confused.
Kyusuke also paused and looked at Yahiko.
In recent years, they had been working hard to protect civilians in the Land of Rain. Some ninjas who shared their ideals had joined them, and Kyusuke was one of them.
However, some time ago, Yahiko suddenly said he wanted to come to Yugakure to find Jiraiya.
Konan and Kyusuke didn't understand, but they still accompanied him.
"Hmm."
Yahiko pondered for a long time, then said, "I have a feeling that sensei has changed."
"Changed?"
Konan was puzzled.
Yahiko explained: "If Konoha sent sensei to Yugakure to take charge, it means sensei is behind this. The sensei from before wouldn't have done something like this."
He paused, then shook his head: "No, that's not the right way to put it! To be precise, I feel that this is the true form of achieving peace through 'dialogue.' That's why I want to learn sensei's current thoughts and ideas."
Yahiko's ideal was to achieve peace between the Land of Rain and its neighboring countries through dialogue and mutual understanding, thereby changing the tragic state of their country.
The multinational dialogue happening in Yugakure had given him hope!
Konan's expression changed slightly after hearing this.
Yahiko, being highly perceptive, noticed: "Is there a problem?"
"No, it's just that while what you said makes sense, it feels a bit off. It doesn't seem like sensei's style."
...
What a fast blade!
Yamashiro Aoba rubbed his eyes, then whispered, "Are you sure this guy isn't Kakashi?"
"No, Kyohiko's speed is incredible. His timing and target selection are excellent, but his swordsmanship... well, the basics are very solid."
Namiashi Raido thought for a while before finally coming up with a somewhat positive description.
Kurenai's lips twitched.
"It must have been hard for you to think of that. Kyohiko has only been practicing the sword for about two months. His skills are indeed just at the level of solid basics."
"T-two months?"
Might Gai, Yamashiro Aoba, and Namiashi Raido all turned to look at Kyohiko in unison.
Holy cow!
This level of skill after just two months?
Namiashi Raido's hand instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword. He pursed his lips, unable to hide the envy on his face.
He wished he had that kind of talent too!
"What are you all talking about? Aren't you coming in?"
Kyohiko teleported back.
He had gone to observe Yahiko and the others as they left.
There were many traps along the way, making pursuit difficult, so he decided to return.
"We were waiting for you."
Kurenai's gaze was filled with concern. "Are you hurt?"
"No, the traps weren't dangerous. They probably didn't want to escalate the situation."
They entered the room.
After sitting down, they chatted for a while.
The war had ended just a few years ago, and most ninjas had already been promoted to chunin. Those who had recently graduated were mostly not strong enough.
For safety reasons, only their two teams were participating.
"Since there aren't many of us, you can rest here for now. We'll make arrangements once Jiraiya-sensei arrives."
"Alright."
...
Evening.
Kyohiko had been waiting for Jiraiya to return, but—
He first received a notification from the system.
[You've used the right people and led effectively!]
[Under your strategic guidance, the village has gained compensation and significant reputational benefits]
[Reward: Clone Technique leveled up by 1]
Clone Technique?
Kyohiko was surprised.
Then, he vaguely understood the reason.
For events that benefited the village, the reward was usually an upgrade to one of his existing techniques. However, this incident didn't bring much actual benefit to Konoha.
It was more about damaging Iwagakure's reputation.
Moreover—
Onoki likely didn't care.
Iwagakure had recovered quickly, and according to Jiraiya, the war faction had been growing stronger in recent years.
War was inevitable.
In comparison, Kirigakure might be the one with more headaches.
However.
For him, the reward was more important...
With the Clone Technique at the master level, he might one day achieve an effect similar to Shisui's Body Flicker.
Inside the room, Kyohiko carefully contemplated the master-level Clone Technique.
He had been secretly studying the Clone Technique recently but hadn't made much progress. To truly improve, he would need to learn more genjutsu and master more genjutsu knowledge and techniques.
That would take up a lot of his energy.
Getting the upgrade now saved him some trouble.
"More precise control, using genjutsu methods to guide chakra and influence the enemy..."
With this in mind.
Kyohiko came up with several plans.
At the moment, reaching Shisui's level was quite difficult. He might have a chance if his genjutsu reached the grandmaster level.
A more reasonable plan was—
Reducing the number of clones.
Additionally, he could incorporate shadow clones to create confusion.
"It's worth a try!"
Kyohiko smiled slightly.
"What are you thinking about? You're smiling."
At that moment, Jiraiya's voice came from outside.
Kyohiko snapped out of his thoughts and opened the window.
Jiraiya was crouched on the eaves outside, a smile on his face. He seemed to be in a good mood.
As the window opened, he jumped inside.
Kyohiko said, "Sensei, I was just thinking about combining the Clone Technique and Shadow Clones with the Body Flicker Technique to create a more deceptive effect."
"Combining Clones and Body Flicker..."
Jiraiya thought for a moment and understood Kyohiko's idea.
If used correctly, this tactic could be terrifying, but it required an extremely high level of skill in the Clone Technique.
"That would require a Grandmaster-level proficiency in the Clone Technique."
"That's why I wanted to ask for your opinion on whether it's feasible. Also, sensei, today we encountered some Amegakure ninjas..."
Kyohiko explained his thoughts and then mentioned the encounter with Kyusuke.
At first, Jiraiya didn't react.
But.
When he heard about the paper ninjutsu...
He immediately stood up, unable to hide his surprise and shock.
"It's her. Why would they come to Yugakure?"
"You know them, sensei? No wonder. I felt like they had a purpose but no ill intentions. So they're your old acquaintances. That makes sense."
"Yes, it's a story from after the war."
Jiraiya's expression became distant, but he still shared the past events—
He believed Kyohiko had the maturity and judgment to handle this information.
"Hmm, sensei, based on what you've said, do you think they might be here for the Land of Waves agreement?"
"Huh?"
"Using communication and mutual understanding as a bridge to achieve peace—isn't that Yahiko's ideal, as you described?"
"Well..."
Jiraiya felt that his recent actions didn't align with communication and mutual understanding.
But.
Upon closer thought, there was a connection, though the method of communication was more about using alliances and force to make the other side agree.
So.
Yahiko came to learn from him?
However, his recent actions were entirely influenced by Kyohiko.
If he were to meet Yahiko and Konan, should he bring Kyohiko along?
Jiraiya looked at Kyohiko, his gaze gradually becoming strange.