"Rinjin, Orochimaru... that guy should..."
Jiraiya spoke haltingly.
It was clear he wanted to say something good about Orochimaru, but the experiments Orochimaru had conducted were truly cruel.
Just the human corpses he had seen numbered no less than one hundred fifty.
Recalling the horrific state of those bodies, Jiraiya gritted his teeth hard:
"No matter what, I need to ask Orochimaru face to face! Why did he do such inhumane things?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a cheerful female voice rang out from outside the private room door.
"Jiraiya, I support you! That bastard Orochimaru went too far—give him a good beating for me!"
The next second, Tsunade pushed open the door and strode in boldly.
She first gave Jiraiya's shoulder a heavy punch, then plopped down beside Rinjin and drained his sake cup in one gulp.
Rinjin looked at his crude wife and helplessly covered his forehead.
On the other side, Jiraiya wore an "I knew it" expression, looking at Rinjin with annoyance, as if saying:
Tsunade already knows about Orochimaru's defection, and you're still playing dumb with me!
Glancing at Jiraiya's accusatory stare, Rinjin sighed helplessly and said leisurely:
"Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki organization from Takigakure in the Land of Waterfalls. I don't know much about this organization—it should be a small group organized by young mercenary ninja.
As for Orochimaru's current location, if my intelligence is correct, he should be in the Land of Rice Fields now."
"Land of Rice Fields?" Jiraiya unconsciously repeated, then fell into thought.
Seeing this, Rinjin took a cup and poured himself some sake.
He had no desire to interfere with Orochimaru's affairs.
Immortality held no meaning for him. Without friends, family, or bonds... what would survive in the end would be a monster of the spiritual world, not himself.
Thinking of this, Rinjin sighed and reluctantly continued:
"A small village in the southwestern part of the Land of Rice Fields—I forget the exact name. The village is right next to a river, surrounded by vast plains and farmland.
If you want to find him, look underground. That Orochimaru guy loves digging tunnels!"
Hearing this, Jiraiya nodded gratefully.
Rinjin's intelligence was too detailed. With his help, he was sure to quickly find Orochimaru's hiding place.
Thinking of this, Jiraiya stood up impatiently, bumped fists with Tsunade and Rinjin, then strode out of the tavern.
Watching Jiraiya's departing figure, Rinjin sighed again.
Between two evils, choose the lesser one.
For Jiraiya, between Orochimaru and the Akatsuki organization, Orochimaru was still the less harmful option.
After seeing off Jiraiya, Rinjin helped the lightweight Tsunade (who had terrible drinking habits) home, then slipped away to the village entrance.
At the village gate guard post, Sakumo, who was partnered with Ikegawa, sat on a small stool against the wall with a thermos beside him, leisurely reading a coverless book with great interest.
When Rinjin approached but hadn't yet sat down, Sakumo spoke without looking up from his book, as if prophetic:
"What intelligence did Jiraiya ask about this time?"
Hearing this, Rinjin smiled bitterly and sat on the ground, shaking his head.
"Still that mess about Orochimaru—guy's got nothing better to do than worry about idle matters. Forget about him!
Dog-bro, I've got a new plan recently. Interested in getting involved?!"
"Not interested!" Sakumo refused without thinking.
Seeing this, Rinjin's eyes rolled, and he reached out to put his arm around Sakumo's shoulder.
"Dog-bro, don't refuse so quickly! Let me explain in detail~"
"No!" Sakumo shook his head desperately, his expression strange and his eyes full of suspicion.
Any plan involving Rinjin never led to anything good!
Especially when he was the partner—he'd definitely get screwed over.
They were too familiar; Rinjin had no psychological burden about screwing him over.
Faced with Sakumo's struggle, Rinjin hooked his neck and refused to let go, speaking enthusiastically:
"Good! Worthy of being my brother! Since you're so eager to participate, I'll mercifully tell you!"
Beside him, Sakumo shook his head desperately, speaking rapidly:
"Which eye of yours saw me wanting to participate? Your belly button or your a**hole?
Can't you see I'm about to shake my neck off?!"
However, Rinjin still wore that grinning expression, as if he hadn't heard anything:
"It's like this—I've been so bored lately that I'm planning to change identities and play around in the Akatsuki organization. Dog-bro, what do you think?!"
"I'm not going!" Sakumo's head was about to fall off from shaking.
"Don't think I don't know what you're scheming! That Akatsuki organization you mentioned is full of rogue ninja—I'd rather die than serve such an organization!"
"Don't be like that! We're not going to serve them—we're going undercover!"
"Still not going! I'm not professionally trained for undercover work! Go find Kagami—that guy might be interested."
Faced with Rinjin's persistent pestering, Dog-bro showed great loyalty... uh... determination.
"Kagami won't work—that guy's too distinctive. Plus he's busy watching over his precious grandson all day, no time!"
Speaking of this, Rinjin suddenly changed topics.
"I heard that Gai kid has been making great progress with the Eight Gates lately. Will your Kakashi still be able to beat him in the future?"
Hearing this, Sakumo immediately perked up.
"How could he not beat him? Although that Gai kid is strong, our Hatake family's inherited Body Flicker Technique and inherited swordsmanship aren't to be trifled with!"
"Hehe~" Rinjin laughed with ill intent.
"I don't think so! Look, you're a jōnin, and your most impressive achievement was killing Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law.
But Dai is different! A guy who was a genin forever directly cut the Seven Ninja Swordsmen down to the Lucky Two.
Could you do that?"
"I..."
Sakumo stretched his neck to speak, but suddenly held back when the words reached his lips.
While whether he could win would only be known after trying, the strength of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen was indeed not to be underestimated.
Seven battle-hardened jōnin were no joke, especially with powerful ninja tools backing them up.
Thinking of this, Sakumo suddenly calmed down.
His attitude toward battle was very serious and earnest—he couldn't bring himself to boast.
After thinking for a long time, Sakumo still hesitantly shook his head:
"Not sure specifically. Based on those seven people's strength assessment, my win rate would be about forty percent. If ambushing, the win rate might be around sixty percent."
Hearing this, Rinjin immediately smiled and vigorously patted Sakumo's shoulder.
"See? Your win rate is uncertain, but Dai managed to take down five and scare off two.
Like father, like son—whatever you know, Kakashi knows; whatever Dai knows, Gai knows too.
So Kakashi can't beat Gai."
Hearing this, Sakumo helplessly covered his forehead.
This bastard Rinjin was clearly talking nonsense, yet somehow managed to make it sound logical and self-consistent.
What the hell!
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