Chapter 48 - I Have No Self in My Heart!

In the Land of Hot Water, where hot springs are plentiful, men and women from all over, including some dressed as ninjas, wandered the streets and alleys.

“It seems relatively safe around here. If no one has any objections, we can stay in the town for the night and wait for the teacher to come find us. It'll be safer this way.”

“As you say, Senior.”

The group had just survived a fierce battle, and even though they'd eaten soldier pills, they couldn’t recover their energy quickly. Resting here was a reasonable choice.

“Then I’ll go arrange for lodging.”

Nodding, Minato took the lead.

After a while, Minato gathered the three of them in a room at the inn.

He then took out a scroll and solemnly wrote down the details of their attack, specifically only recording the events as they happened, without adding any personal opinions.

Afterward, he bit his finger.

A moment later, chakra spread out, and a small toad appeared within the seal.

“Take this scroll to the teacher for me.”

“Understood!”

The toad nodded and then bit the scroll, disappearing.

At the Hidden Hot Springs Village

Jiraiya sat across from the village elders, Genji and Tōdai, pouring tea for them, filling the room with the fragrance of tea.

Just as Genji was about to speak, a small toad leapt out from Jiraiya’s side.

He paused mid-sentence.

“This is from Minato, Jiraiya,” the toad said.

“Got it.”

Jiraiya nodded, took the scroll, opened it, and his heart immediately shook with shock.

Attacked?

Ninjas using Earth Release.

Jiraiya looked up at the two elders and pondered the possibility of which village could have been behind the attack.

The chances of Cloud Village having Earth Release users were low.

What about Mist Village…?

Jiraiya tucked the scroll away and smiled, “I’ve been away too long. The village wants me back. Looks like I won’t be able to join you for tea.”

“No worries, the Chūnin Exams are still a few days away,” the two elders replied, seeing him off.

Back at the Inn

Minato finished cleaning up and reflected on the situation.

The enemy ninjas were clearly targeting Kyōen. This wasn’t a simple matter.

At that moment, Kurenai and Guy were next door, cleaning their rooms.

Minato turned to Kyōen.

The teacher had said his new student was very intelligent and full of ideas.

“Kyōen, do you have any thoughts about these ninjas?”

“Their intentions are very clear. As for who exactly took action, it’s hard to say, but one thing is certain: since my graduation, I’ve only fought with ninjas from the Mist Village,” Kyōen replied.

“The Mist Village?” Minato thought back to the news in the village.

This kid, at his age, had already caught the likes of an elite Jonin like Piāza Jūkō by surprise.

The Mist Village must be wary of him, and it’s not impossible that they leaked information or sent someone to ambush him.

Assassinations of geniuses like him happened during wartime in every village.

But in times of peace, such things were rare, and…

“Every village has spies, so it’s hard to prove they were behind this.”

“Why prove it?”

Kyōen looked at him with some confusion.

“Why? Oh…” Minato realized what Kyōen meant. If they were looking to seek an explanation from the Mist Village, they would need evidence. But if they weren’t after an explanation and simply wanted to retaliate or cause trouble for the Mist Village…

Then they didn’t need evidence.

He thought for a moment, then gently shook his head. “It’s a time of peace. It’s not wise to do such things.”

Then Minato sighed deeply, feeling a mix of admiration and sadness. Kyōen was only around seven or eight years old!

What was I doing at that age?

I was probably still at school with Kushina, learning ninja techniques, occasionally studying the sealing techniques Kushina taught me.

But now… kids these days are so driven!

Minato sighed and checked the time before standing up.

“Go take a bath. We’ll discuss things in more detail when the teacher arrives.”

“Understood!”

Even Jiraiya needed two to three hours to travel from Hot Water Village to the town at the border of the Land of Hot Water.

Kyōen and Minato had already finished their baths.

The two of them were inside the room, discussing the key points of the Body Flicker Technique.

Although Kyōen had mastered it to a master level, everyone applied ninja techniques differently, and their insights into the Body Flicker Technique were not always the same.

Minato, for instance, had a naturally fast reaction.

His use of the Body Flicker was more about setting up killing opportunities with kunai or the Rasengan, making sure to time his strikes perfectly.

To reach Minato’s level, Kyōen figured he still needed to refine his White Fang swordsmanship.

Moreover, he had shamelessly stolen some of Shisui’s ideas for his own Body Flicker technique.

Minato couldn’t help but admire his creativity.

The two of them had planned to discuss how to combine the Shadow Clone, Clone Technique, and Body Flicker to achieve an effect similar to “Shisui's Body Flicker.” But unfortunately…

Jiraiya had arrived!

“I’ve understood the situation. Minato, Kyōen, you’re the ones who experienced it, so tell me your judgments,” Jiraiya said as he looked at the two of them.

Minato and Kyōen shared their thoughts.

Minato added, “If the teacher asks for my personal judgment, I’d lean toward it being the Rock Village’s ninjas. The skill and scale of their Earth Release users—there’s no other village I can think of besides Rock Village.”

“It’s possible. The Rock Village has been recovering quickly in recent years, and some of Ōnoki’s subordinates are quite restless,” Jiraiya nodded.

He then turned his gaze to Kyōen.

“What do you think?”

“Teacher, here’s my take: whether or not Ōnoki knows about it, and whether or not it was the Rock Village, we should condemn it. And we can link this attack to the disruption of the sea trade agreements…” Kyōen shared his humble opinion.

An attack on a Leaf Village genin wasn’t a huge issue, right? It could just be an apology or some scapegoat.

But…

Disrupting peace talks between villages, especially sabotaging the joint Chūnin Exams, that was a different story.

We could guide the public opinion and escalate this issue.

Such tactics were common in my past life, but this was a new move in the ninja world. Jiraiya and Minato hadn’t considered it before, but now they were both left stunned.

However, being experienced Jonin, they quickly understood the implication.

Jiraiya smiled, “I thought you’d take this chance to ask me to teach you life-saving techniques, but you’ve been thinking about what I should teach you instead.”

“Of course not, teacher. I have no self in my heart!” Kyōen said with a firm tone.

Jiraiya chuckled lightly.

Minato wiped the sweat off his forehead.

This kid really only thinks about the big picture, completely forgetting how dangerous things were today.

Even Minato felt a bit of fear after his bath, but Kyōen seemed unaffected.

What a big heart he has!

“They can deny it or blame rogue ninjas,” Minato continued analyzing.

Jiraiya, with more information and intel, began to stir with ideas.

“Other villages might not even help us. They could be pleased to see us clashing with the Rock Village. But like you said, there’s a high chance that Mist Village is involved.”

Though there might be spies, their travel route was on the east, and the Rock Village had few spies in this area. It was more likely that the Mist Village had been conducting espionage and reconnaissance here.

Mist Village is definitely involved!

Evidence?

We don’t need evidence!

In the current situation, this is all about forcing Mist Village to stay out of the sea trade agreements. Any retaliation is possible.

Whether it succeeds or not, it can plant the seeds for future action.

The strategy was clear.

How to proceed with it, though, would require some thought.

Jiraiya thought to himself.

He was a lover of peace, but now that the enemy had attacked his student, was he supposed to keep calm and peaceful with them?