The Second Great Ninja War had finally come to an end.
It was hard to say who the real victors were, the dead were dead, the wounded were wounded, and no one seemed to have gained any true advantage.
Jiraiya searched for a long, long time but still couldn't find any trace of Pain.
Today, he planned to go to the bookstore to buy Pain's new release, only to be told it wasn't available yet. So he headed to the largest publishing house in the Land of Fire and found their boss.
The publisher wore a gloomy face. "It's not that I'm not selling it. He came three days ago and said he won't write books anymore."
"Look me in the eye, why? Tell me why? Answer me!" Jiraiya's pupils contracted as he grabbed the publisher by the collar and asked.
The publisher suddenly felt his feet leave the ground and was lifted up. Forgetting his pride, he answered sorrowfully, "A girl won't let him write anymore."
"..."
Jiraiya fell silent and gently put the publisher down.
He felt like he'd lost his life's purpose, his hope.
No, there was still something, for the sake of the shinobi world, and to find the Child of the Prophecy.
Was the girl... Pain's girlfriend?
Damn it, what's so great about having a girlfriend? She says stop writing, and he just stops? When Tsunade told me not to peek at her bathing, didn't I still look anyway?
He apologized to the publisher, turned around in dejection, and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Jiraiya-sama, I hope you'll wake him up, for the sake of the shinobi world and for our entire publishing house."
Suddenly, Jiraiya felt someone tugging at his sleeve. It was the publisher, begging desperately.
Let's not even talk about the revenue Pain's books brought to the publishing house. The plots, the forbidden allure, they made this bookworm feel like he was under a genjutsu, like he was the main character himself. Without realizing it, he had read the whole book.
Jiraiya felt the same.
The first time he read it, he even shouted, "Holy crap!" Then quickly disrupted his chakra flow, thinking he'd really been caught in a genjutsu.
"That slacker, where is he now?"
"Probably in Yoake. I have the coordinates."
---
Yoake had just lost a major source of income.
Yahiko had no choice but to look elsewhere. He decided to make Konan's life harder, as the more capable one, she had to work more. They brought in a full camera rig to shoot soap operas and movies to make money from fans.
Before the production was finished, he built a gatehouse outside the village and took up the job of gatekeeper himself.
The Uzumaki clan dispatched a specialized team of barrier and sealing experts. It was a good fit.
Not to brag, but Yahiko swore: if Madara could still sneak in with White Zetsu, he'd eat his own...
But anyway, what made the most money?
He sat in the gatehouse, deep in thought.
"Yuki, let's play 'Catch the Missing-nin!'"
What the hell... What kind of game is that? Game...
He had it!
It was Sunday, and as he watched the nearby kids playing, he made a fist with his right hand and pounded his left palm.
"Takeshi, come... I mean, come here, come on!"
He waved the children over.
Among them, Takeshi, Yuki, Nobita, Kantaro, Gian, and several Uzumaki kids, all ran over.
Not bad. He had named all these kids himself.
He had a real knack for naming. He hoped these children would one day grow into the pillars of Yoake, resolving crisis after crisis from the shadows.
Yahiko came back after a quick trip, holding several sets of colorful cards he'd gotten from Konan.
"Anyone know how to play Uno?"
He spread out a deck, cards numbered 0-9 in four different colors: red, blue, green, and yellow, plus special action cards.
"It's simple. Match the color or number of the card on top. First person to get rid of all their cards wins."
He dealt seven cards to each player and placed the deck in the center.
"When you have one card left, you have to say 'Uno!' Got it?"
"Got it!" The kids were fired up.
The first few rounds went smoothly. Yuki won the first game, Takeshi the second. The kids were having fun learning the rules and strategy.
But as they continued playing, a pattern emerged. Yahiko seemed to have an uncanny ability to predict which cards to play and when to use the special cards like Draw Four and Skip.
"How did you know I had a red seven?" Nobita asked suspiciously after Yahiko played a red card that forced him to draw more.
"Lucky guess!" Yahiko grinned, shuffling the cards for another round.
By the fifth game, the kids were getting frustrated.
"You always win!" Kantaro complained.
"Maybe we should play something else," Yuki suggested.
"One more round?" Yahiko asked hopefully. He was having more fun than he'd admit.
"Fine, but if you win again, you have to teach us your strategy!" Takeshi declared.
Yahiko paused, realizing he'd been a bit too competitive. "Deal. And if one of you wins, I'll buy everyone candy from the new shop."
Three minutes later, Yahiko had won again.
"No more cards!" Takeshi declared, throwing his remaining cards down in frustration. "You win every time!"
The other kids nodded in agreement, clearly ready to move on.
Yahiko scratched his head sheepishly. "Alright, let's play marbles."
Conveniently, he had a full box of them.
In less than half an hour, the kids ran off crying again.
Konan came over, speechless, with a few children behind her who were there to complain. Yahiko's face darkened.
What the heck?
"Alright, I won't play like that anymore." Yahiko raised his hands in surrender.
"You're really something..." Konan gave Yahiko a reproachful glance and walked away.
"Let's play with this," said Takeshi, holding a wooden spinning top.
Yahiko was still smirking when he suddenly had a thought and quickly took it from Takeshi's hand.
Uh... isn't this just an ordinary spinning top?
Nope, not happening.
The children looked pitiful and wronged again. He sighed, created a slingshot with his hands, and took them bird hunting.
"Pong~" A window shattered.
"Ah, uh-oh..."
"Takeshi, what happened? Why did you break a villager's window? That's not good. Konan, don't be mad. I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose."
"I didn't! Konan-sensei, please listen to me, I really didn't!"
"Lying isn't something good children do, Takeshi."
The other kids just stood there and said nothing, even though they knew Takeshi wasn't lying.
Just like in the shinobi world, sometimes people don't stand up for what's right when it matters.
---
Over a month later, some merchants came to deliver goods. Under Yahiko's planning, Yoake opened a new toy factory that outshone all others in the shinobi world.
Products included: Frogs toys endorsed by Mount Myōboku, colorful glass marbles from skilled craftsmen in Suna...
Hashirama-brand spinning tops, Hashirama-brand slingshots... And round cards printed with famous ninjas of the shinobi world, all with maxed-out Attack and Defense stats.
Even though Yahiko had no idea what the Attack and Defense stats were for, the kids in the village loved them.
Especially Takeshi, if those two kids, Gian and Kantaro, used high-stat cards to beat him, you'd definitely hear Takeshi bawling in the streets.
Thanks to good quality and low prices, and kids loving them, he successfully opened up the market.
Watching teams of merchants entering the village from the main road to pick up toys, Yahiko, now head of security, beamed with joy.
Kids' money really were easier to earn than adults'.
With the toy factory, he had made himself a small fortune. Many of the village's projects could now proceed smoothly.
A portion of the money was allocated to the construction team to improve the commercial street.
"Yahiko-sama, someone has infiltrated the village. The squad leader says their chakra is extremely strong."
At this moment, a member of the barrier team from the Uzumaki clan reported in.
Yahiko frowned, Why sneak in? Wouldn't it be better to come openly? What are they up to?
Not good. Something's definitely off.
Could even be Madara.
He instructed him to organize an evacuation for the families, while he rushed back to protect the village himself. This village was his own creation, and no one had deeper feelings for it than him.
He was ready to sacrifice himself for the village.
Where the tree leaves dance..., pfft!
---
A small toad hopped around on the ground. It seemed to sense a familiar presence among its kind in this village.
How strange.
Suddenly, the toad opened its mouth bizarrely, and a hand reached out from inside.
Next, a body slowly squeezed out bit by bit.
First the shoulders, then the chest and abdomen.
Looks like infiltration was successful, Jiraiya thought.
For this operation, he had disguised himself as a Kusa ninja.
If word got out that he beat up Pain just to read the next volume of his novels, what would the shinobi world think of him?
What would Tsunade think of him?
So he had no choice but to sneak in, and let a Kusa ninja take the blame.
But just as he emerged, he was momentarily stunned.
A barrage of paper cones mixed with two paper spears shot at him with overwhelming force.
Who would've thought the ninjas in such a small village would see through him?
Unable to dodge, he took both paper spears directly to the chest.
Immediately after, a water dragon came roaring toward him. He leaped like a frog and barely dodged.
The water dragon didn't stop after missing, it punched a hole through the ground behind him, forming a small pond.
No time to be surprised, he looked up. His hands, just about to form seals, froze mid-action.
Why was it Yahiko and the others? Was this a misunderstanding?
History always repeated itself in such strange ways.
"Hey, you guys! It's me!"
The next second, an invisible force blasted him like a kite with a snapped string, sending him flying straight into the pond created by the water dragon.
He struggled up from the water, coughing, "I said it was me! And you still attack?"
No way... could it be his students actually want him dead?
The three of them appeared next to him in a flash, expressionless.
"Fire Release: Great..."
Yahiko looked at the "Kusao" before him. Who would've thought that guy would come here?
Can't let him live!
He began forming hand signs.
"It's me, it's me!"
"Akeno!"
Yahiko was startled, Jiraiya?
He quickly swallowed the fire, no, quickly formed a release seal.
Damn it!
That year, Jiraiya disappeared for days, wandering into... inappropriate places.
He went to look for him, and was hugged and kissed by a drunk hostess named Akeno.
Jiraiya had laughed and teased her at the time, asking if she'd wait until he grew up.
"Great—"
"Mikasa!"
"Fireball!"
"Nezuko!"
"..."
Yahiko bitterly regretted not learning how to use Great Fireball without hand signs, then maybe Jiraiya wouldn't have dodged it.
Jiraiya smacked his forehead. Why didn't he just cancel the transformation jutsu?
"Tch..." He sucked in a cold breath, even Konan had gotten stronger after a year. Those paper spears nearly killed him.
He pulled the two paper spears out of his chest. Seeing this, Konan awkwardly came over to treat Jiraiya with healing ninjutsu.
"Jiraiya-sensei, why did you disguise yourself as Kusao?"
Any other ninja from a different village would've at least tried talking first before attacking.
But of all people, he just had to choose that guy...