The fisher girl's home was a simple thatched hut by the sea. After helping to carry Jiraiya to the bed, the fisher girl carefully applied the medicinal powder in her hand to his wound. During the process, Kusuo was careful not to let her touch the black chakra rod. This thing was connected to Nagato's chakra, allowing the latter to track his location at any time. But the fact that Jiraiya had been able to escape and remain unharmed for so long indicated that this chakra rod also had a limited range.
"Alright, leave the rest to me." Kusuo reached out and stopped the little fisher girl's movements. The moment their skin touched, the fisher girl trembled in surprise, then retreated with a pretty blush on her face.
These two are powerful ninja-sama. The ninjutsu she had seen earlier, of taking medicine out of a scroll, had stunned her. And... this boy was so handsome...
After the fisher girl had completely left, Kusuo's expression turned serious. His gaze was fixed on Jiraiya's body, as if a sharp sword wanted to pierce through the muscle and see within.
"Hah!" Kusuo found a thick piece of cloth, wrapped it around the black chakra rod, and with a forceful pull...
Hiss!
The piercing wound instantly became a bloody hole. Dark red blood gurgled out. Jiraiya's face turned pale with pain, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Now, breathe deep!" Kusuo shouted in a low voice, instructing Jiraiya to follow the movements and rhythm of his hands to guide the airflow.
"Alright!" As expected of one of the Sannin. Although Jiraiya was in pain, he didn't make a single sound. He was very tough, frowning as he began to breathe according to Kusuo's guidance.
Hah~ Shhh!
Hah~ Shhh!
Air flowed into Jiraiya's lungs in large gulps. Chakra surged, and with the contraction of his lungs and the beating of his heart, it was transported along with the blood to every cell in his body. With Kusuo's deliberate guidance, a large amount of nutrients and natural energy began to automatically repair Jiraiya's wound.
Time passed slowly. It was a long process. It wasn't until midnight that Jiraiya's body officially reached a state of dynamic equilibrium. As long as he supplemented with a large amount of nutrition, his body could recover on its own with its immunity.
Knock, knock, knock!
A timely knock came from the door. It was the fisher girl, bringing a bowl of steaming hot fresh fish soup. The fish had been pan-fried before being boiled. The soup was a milky white color, its taste fresh and delicious. For a moment, Kusuo even thought he had returned to his previous life, tasting the flavor of soup he had personally cooked there.
"What's your name?"
"Nanako," the fisher girl, Nanako, said in a low voice, her head bowed.
After a simple conversation, the two learned that her parents were also sea-faring people from the Hidden Rain Village who had been fishermen for generations. They had been killed in the war. Afterward, she had been living on her own by going out to sea to fish, struggling to get by until now.
After the fish soup was finished, Nanako obediently took the initiative to clean up the bowls and chopsticks and went out to wash them. Towards these two powerful ninja-sama, she was very submissive.
"Sigh," Jiraiya lamented. It was unclear if it was because of his own injuries, or because of Nanako's plight.
"If you still have the energy to spare, you could take her in as a disciple," Kusuo suggested teasingly. The fisher girl Nanako had saved Jiraiya's life. Taking her in as a disciple and teaching her ninjutsu was nothing.
Jiraiya remained silent, not answering. Perhaps he had been stimulated by the changes in Konan and "Yahiko," and for the time being, he had no mood to take on a disciple.
Kusuo couldn't be bothered with these things. He got straight to the point. "After a few days, when your injuries are more or less recovered, let's set off. The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly; we can't delay." When he had pulled out the black rod just now, Kusuo had deliberately pinched it with his hand and found that, as expected, due to the distance, he couldn't reverse-engineer Nagato's location like Naruto had in the original story.
"No!" Jiraiya's brow was tightly furrowed. The various experiences of the previous battle appeared in his mind. "Pain... that guy is a very troublesome enemy! They are different from any opponent we've encountered before. There's more than one of them! And I can feel that Pain still has trump cards he hasn't used."
"And..." Jiraiya said a lot of discouraging words, describing as best he could how powerful Pain was, wanting to dissuade Kusuo from the idea of rashly breaking in.
However, the latter had his own ways of responding.
Kusuo's eyelids drooped. He looked at Jiraiya calmly and said, "If you don't take me there, I'll just go to the Hidden Rain Village and find them myself."
The moment these words came out, there was an inexplicable confidence and composure in Kusuo's tone.
"You brat... you really are as arrogant as ever." Jiraiya let out a bitter laugh, a kind of helpless frustration in it. Kusuo's strength, he had seen it with his own eyes. Slashes comparable to a Kage-level could be unleashed without a care for his life. His acuity, insight, speed, and strength were all impeccable. Most critically, Jiraiya could feel an unparalleled, powerful self-confidence from Kusuo. That kind of aura that looked down upon the world, that said, "besides me, who else?"
Jiraiya had never felt it from anyone else. Not even from his teacher, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was revered by the ninja world as the "God of Shinobi" and titled the "Professor" of ninjutsu. If one were to say there was truly someone in history who could possess this kind of aura, it would probably only be the legendary God of Shinobi, the First Hokage, and his friend and lifelong rival, Madara Uchiha.
"Three days." Jiraiya's expression was incredibly serious. He held up three fingers. "Three days later, my wounds will have mostly recovered and won't affect my movement. Three days later, if little Tsuna and the others haven't brought reinforcements, I will take you there."
This was a grace period Jiraiya had given himself, given Kusuo, and also given the village. Three days' time. The rest would be left to fate.
Kusuo frowned slightly upon hearing this. He was not willing to waste a single bit of time. Because the Rinnegan... it was better for him to master it in secret. The more people who knew, the more dangerous and troublesome it would be. Even if Jiraiya and Tsunade wouldn't covet such a treasure, it was hard to guarantee that there weren't red-eyed people in the village spying in the dark. The likes of Danzo... would not be lacking in any era, in any place.
But Jiraiya's wound was indeed a problem. Kusuo was not so selfish as to drag a seriously injured Jiraiya to Pain's lair for his own selfish desires. If that happened, even if he himself could come out unscathed, the heavily wounded Jiraiya would surely be ganged up on and killed. The Akatsuki had changed its nature. It was no longer the organization that had once striven for the welfare of the common people, for the peace of a country. The two founders, Konan and Nagato, were no longer the two pure and kind children they once were. To achieve their goals, they would even kill their greatest benefactor and teacher, Jiraiya.
Sometimes thinking about it... this world really had a lot of monsters.
"Alright," Kusuo said. "I promise you. Three days. Just three days' time. At that time, we will set off immediately, without a minute's delay."
Kusuo agreed to Jiraiya's request.
"Alright!" Jiraiya was also very straightforward. Since the time had been set, then he also had to recover from his injuries as soon as possible to avoid causing trouble later.
To this, Kusuo just shrugged.
Three days later, Tsunade had not brought anyone. She must have been held up on the road.
This time, Kusuo held his sword and walked with the largely unhindered Jiraiya to the seashore. Facing the surging tide and the dark waves, his eyes were calm. Kusuo's expression was peaceful.
"Jiraiya-sensei, it's time to set off."
-------
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