Their arrival at the capital went without any complications, and they even had extra time to do a bit of sightseeing. Since Chad had always avoided the place to not waste time on the daimyo's random summons, Hibui—far more familiar with the capital—took on the role of tour guide for Chad and Kiyui.
Chad refrained from pointing out the city's poor management and instead focused on spending quality time with his squadmates. They had free time until the party the next day and had already prepared their outfits.
At the moment, they were chatting while feasting at a yakiniku restaurant.
"I thought, hopefully, you'd forget about the bet," Kiyui said, puffing out her cheeks as she flipped a piece of meat, knowing she'd have to pay the bill later.
"Ah, this piece is almost done."
"Listen to me!" Kiyui jabbed Chad's cheek with her chopsticks. "Did you really need to order five plates of premium beef?"
Being the capital, everything here was more expensive, and even though Kiyui had plenty of money from her concerts, intelligence reports, and missions, her wallet still hurt spiritually.
"She says that, but each of you has eaten two plates!" Chad thought as he brought a perfectly cooked piece of meat to his mouth.
Although it tasted good, it didn't compare to Sea King meat.
"Waiter, five more plates of premium beef!" Hibui shouted after taking a swig from her beer mug.
"Coming right up!" the employee smiled, knowing today would be an especially profitable day.
"What?" Hibui wasn't intimidated by Kiyui's gaze as she placed another piece on the grill. "Money is meant to be spent on yourself; hoarding it without purpose is foolish."
Unlike Kakuzu, who smiled watching his savings grow, Hibui liked earning money so that it could be used whenever needed or wanted.
"Well, you're not wrong…" Kiyui murmured, taking a long sip of beer herself.
Chad was the only one not drinking beer during the meal. He had particular tastes in beverages, and the place, like the meat, clearly didn't meet them.
But that just meant more room for meat!
In the end, the restaurant ran out of stock, so they had to leave.
"I still don't understand how your stomach doesn't explode from eating so much," Kiyui poked Chad's solid abs with her finger. "Even the Akimichi clan would be bedridden if they ate half as much as you."
She knew the only time he ate at a relatively normal level was when he had Sea King meat—but even then, a large chunk of that meat disappeared between his teeth.
Keep in mind, if a jonin ate a steak-sized piece, they would usually have no appetite for the rest of the day.
"Benefits of having a decent level of medical ninjutsu," Chad shrugged. "Hibui, are there any hot springs nearby?"
Since they needed to look presentable tomorrow, they might as well take a bath before going to sleep. The journey hadn't made them sweat or anything like that, but it wasn't an excuse.
"A few blocks from here are the Auspicious Clouds Hot Springs," Hibui pointed to a large chimney in the distance with a long line of steam rising from it. "It's a fairly big and well-known business in the capital. The emerald-colored baths are quite popular, and they also make steamed eggs in them. The result is similar to tea eggs, and it's said that eating an even number after the bath brings good fortune."
It was a clever marketing strategy, and from her visits, the taste was quite good. The mineral composition of the water allowed the eggs to absorb just the right amount of salt through the shell, even before being peeled.
Upon entering, each of them paid five hundred ryo and headed to their respective sections.
Chad ignored the nervous and jealous looks he received as he stripped down and wrapped a towel around his waist, washing his body. Only when he submerged himself up to his chest did the other men let out a secret sigh of relief, consoling themselves mentally.
Some couldn't handle it, feeling their egos and self-esteem severely wounded, and ran to the changing rooms, shedding tears along the way.
"The temperature is perfect," Chad sighed as he felt the warmth penetrate his muscles and joints.
For a while, he forgot everything and simply leaned back lazily, letting go of any distractions. Perhaps later he would buy some eggs; he was curious if they really were as good as Hibui claimed.
Twenty minutes later, he opened his eyes and frowned, turning his head toward the female side of the hot springs—specifically, toward a nearby rooftop just above the dividing fence.
"Could it be…?"
Chad focused, and in the distance, identical eyes to his own began appearing on the surfaces of walls and roof tiles. They rotated while scanning the surroundings, then closed and reappeared elsewhere.
Soon, he saw a white-haired man in red clothes aiming a spyglass at the female section, laughing lewdly with a fixed grin on his face.
…
Hibui didn't expect to encounter several acquaintances upon entering the water: wives of men with different statuses and from different sectors, people she sometimes dealt with and manipulated.
At the same time, Kiyui was recognized by several female fans, and before anyone realized, two groups had formed, with both of them at the center trying to remain polite.
They suddenly remembered why they loved Chad's private hot spring section in the village so much—going to public baths always brought these kinds of awkward situations!
As Kiyui spoke with twins who aspired to follow her path as singers and Hibui tried to gather information on the guests for tomorrow's daimyo party through the gossiping women, both suddenly sensed a dense, heavy killing intent coming from the other side of the fence, followed by a splash in the water.
Both recognized the chakra signature that had just been released.
"Chad!" x2
Though they didn't know what had happened to make Chad so angry, they immediately used a teleportation technique to retrieve their clothes and belongings, equipped themselves in seconds, and hurried after him.
…
"Heheh," Jiraiya wiped drool from the corner of his mouth while holding his spyglass expertly, observing in detail the "scene" emerging from the steam of the hot springs. "Inspiration in the Land of Lightning always has that unique touch—so electrifying and exciting…"
For a moment, his instincts told him he was being watched. He lifted his head to look around but saw nothing.
"Forget it, there's no one here who can detect my hiding technique, perfected over so many—"
He got goosebumps as his instincts screamed at him. Reflexively, he leapt to another rooftop just in time to see the spot he had been standing on explode.
"That's a bit of an overreaction," Jiraiya's eyelid twitched. "I'm just looking for inspiration, not like I'm doing anything wrong!"
Normally, he would have left to avoid tarnishing his reputation as a learned gentleman, but the intent to kill emanating from the other side was enough evidence that he couldn't escape so easily.
Bad luck—overly possessive husband, perhaps?
"That's what you thought I'd think, huh?"
Jiraiya spun and ran across the rooftops without hesitation. They were in the capital, civilians were everywhere, and they weren't far from the daimyo's mansion. That was one of the main reasons he dared to seek inspiration here.
As long as he put some distance between them, there was no way—
"Suiton: Bakuha Unagi Tsuiseki! (Water Release: Explosive Pursuit Eels!)"
Dozens of water-formed eels, each over two meters long and covered in electricity, shot at Jiraiya from the smoke at full speed.
"Oi, oi, aren't you overdoing it?!" Jiraiya's eyes widened as he stopped to quickly form hand seals.
"Doton: Doryū Kabe! (Earth Release: Earth Wall!)"
A three-meter-thick wall rose from the rooftop to block the ninjutsu, taking multiple hits that the wall barely withstood.
"That was close," Jiraiya wiped imaginary sweat from his brow.
If he had just tried to dodge the attack with agility, it might have been possible, but that ninjutsu would have destroyed two or three buildings and killed anyone inside.
"Don't you know moderation?!" Jiraiya shouted at the smoke with moral superiority. "What if I hadn't—? Wait, why are you naked?!"
Jiraiya felt his eyes burn at the sight.
During that brief moment of agony, Chad appeared in front of him and began attacking with taijutsu: punches, kicks, palm strikes—everything he could!
"What's wrong with this guy?" Jiraiya resisted as confusion grew.
After such a close look, Jiraiya, Konoha's master spy, had already deduced the identity of his attacker. But he couldn't understand why the killing intent was so strong.
They hadn't even met once before today!
Moreover, the attacks weren't a joke.
He could feel it—the weight of every strike and the hardness of the flesh revealed that Chad was using Earth Spear Technique to harden his body to diamond level. The dark color of Chad's skin had simply hidden when it was activated.
The palm strikes were undoubtedly chakra scalpels. If they hit, especially on his arms, Jiraiya would be in serious trouble. Forget joint cuts—he might lose the limb entirely.
Not to mention Chad was cheating!
Jiraiya dodged one punch, blocked another, and before he could counter, a third arm emerged to attack him—from Chad's shoulder, stomach, and even back.
Not from Chad's body, from his own!
"No, I have to keep my distance!" Jiraiya felt his limbs growing heavy after only a few exchanges. Resisting blows with his body when facing one of Kumo's brutes was never a good option.
"Raiton: Enrai Jin! (Lightning Release: Cutting Swallow Lightning!)"
"Fūton: Fūrin! (Wind Release: Wind Bell!)"
A dome of air solidified by chakra fell over Jiraiya just as he managed to distance himself momentarily, while electricity-composed birds rapidly dove at him.
"Damn it, I thought I was alone!" Jiraiya struck the rooftop to make a hole and escape under the bell, jumping from the balcony of the lower floor to another roof.
Not because he couldn't escape inside, but because if he did, they would bomb the entire building directly!
"Kiyui?" Jiraiya recognized the acclaimed singer from Kumo, her beauty hard to forget. "And Hibui, the Red Abacus of Kumo."
Does that mean they were…?
Tch! What a shame, he hadn't seen them in the hot springs.
Wait, why weren't they stopping Chad?
Shouldn't they be trying to reason with him?
This was the capital of the Land of Lightning!
No, wait—they were starting to release a growing killing intent too!
What the hell?
But he hadn't even seen anything!
If he had, at least he wouldn't feel so insulted.
"Ladies and gentleman, I think there's a misunderstanding," he said, though it didn't seem like they were calming down. He certainly didn't want to create trouble for Konoha. "How about we calm down and talk?"
The best course was a strategic retreat!
Taking advantage of the brief pause while they decided…
"Reverse Summoning Technique!" Jiraiya slammed the ground decisively.
At the same time, Chad extended both hands and made a grabbing-and-tearing gesture.
"Chadon: Kettō Senmetsu! (Chad Release: Bloodline Annihilation!)"
In the next second, the summoning smoke erupted, and by the time the wind carried it away, Jiraiya was gone.
Hibui and Kiyui approached Chad and breathed a sigh of relief seeing he was unharmed, though his emotional state was still calming down.
"I didn't expect to run into that bastard!" Kiyui complained, hugging her arms and shivering at the thought of having been watched by that pervert. "Usually he stays in the Land of Fire, gathering intel on his lover of indeterminate gender."
Yes, Jiraiya's obsession with Orochimaru was world-renowned.
"Too bad he got away," Hibui shook her head. "If we'd had a minute, we could have prepared some things." She looked around. "Better move. I don't think it'll take long for him to investigate what happened."
"Chad?" Kiyui called, worried.
Did the last technique fail?
"I'm fine," Chad exhaled deeply as blood trickled from inside his fists. "Let's go back; I need to recover my things. Today I've only covered a small part of my objective."
With one movement, he threw two tiny objects toward a group of nearby birds, which broke out into a dispute. The three only returned once they were certain the birds had finished eating and dispersed.