Seeing Jiraiya leave, An Yan breathed a sigh of relief. He never liked being the bad guy, but when it came to his future happiness, he had to do what was necessary. It seemed to have worked.
"So, how was I as a knight in shining armor?" he asked Tsunade with a smile.
Tsunade gave him a thumbs-up and a brilliant smile.
"Big Brother An Yan is the best!"
An Yan blushed. Just then, Hiruko appeared, put an arm around his shoulder, and whispered devilishly in his ear:
"Big Brother An Yan is the best."
An Yan, embarrassed and angry, threw Hiruko to the ground with a shoulder toss and followed up with a flurry of Wing Chun-style chain punches.
"Hey, I was wrong, I was wrong! I'm sorry, An Yan!" Hiruko cried out, deflecting the blows as best he could.
An Yan wasn't serious. He wasn't even using chakra. They were just playing around.
Tsunade watched them with a smile, not feeling shy at all.
Orochimaru walked over and squatted down to look at Hiruko on the ground.
"Hiruko, it's been a while."
Seeing Orochimaru, Hiruko pushed An Yan away and sat up to greet him.
"Orochimaru, long time no see. What have you been up to?"
Orochimaru answered honestly, "I've been training with Teacher Sarutobi and doing some simple missions. What about you guys?"
Hiruko looked like he was reliving a nightmare.
"We've been doing nothing but suppressing bandits. We've had over a dozen missions in a month. I've killed so many people I feel sick. I have nightmares every night. Luckily, An Yan gave me some counseling, otherwise I don't know what I would have become."
Orochimaru was surprised, but then he realized it made sense. "An Yan has always had his own way of thinking. It's normal for him to be able to comfort people. But... why are you having nightmares after killing a few people?"
"Empathy for our own kind," An Yan interjected.
The group chatted for a while. Since both teams happened to be free, the four of them decided to go for barbecue.
In the Hokage's office.
Through his crystal ball, Hiruzen Sarutobi had seen the whole exchange. He took a drag from his pipe and fell into thought.
It seems Jiraiya hasn't formed a bond with Tsunade. In fact, he's just annoying her. Did I make a mistake with the team assignments?
No, my assignments were fine. Tsunade is my student. An Yan is on her side, so he's one of us. By extension, so is Hiruko. In the end, they will all be staunch inheritors of the Will of Fire.
Danzo Shimura had also seen what happened. A slight smile touched his lips. Although it was a small matter, his student had beaten Hiruzen's and gained the upper hand. It was a very satisfying feeling.
"Jiraiya doesn't seem to have any redeeming qualities, Hiruzen. What do you see in him?" Danzo asked. It was a question, but the subtext was clear: My student is full of virtues. How can yours compare?
Hiruzen took another puff of his pipe and said slowly, "When that boy finds his goal and establishes his own ninja way, he will grow at a speed beyond our imagination. Who knows, he might even surpass us in the end."
Danzo's lips curved downward. He didn't agree with Hiruzen and thought he was just being stubborn.
"Even if Jiraiya reaches the peak of his strength, I don't think he can surpass us, let alone a genius like An Yan, who can learn any jutsu just by seeing it."
Hiruzen tapped the ash from his pipe and mentioned casually, "That Jiraiya boy... he has the aptitude for Sage Mode. That was a part of the First Hokage's great power."
Danzo fell silent. Sage Mode was indeed on a level above ninjutsu. Even Tobirama hadn't mastered it, let alone him. That reckless fool... why him?
Danzo was unhappy, which, in turn, made Hiruzen happy.
"Jiraiya recklessly used the Summoning Jutsu and accidentally ended up on Mount Myoboku. He met the Great Toad Sage and signed a contract with them. He's now preparing to train in Sage Mode."
Danzo's face darkened. He started thinking about what kind of summoning beast would suit An Yan and where he could get one. Otherwise, the next time they fought Jiraiya, if he summoned a giant toad, An Yan would be at a disadvantage.
Unfortunately, I only have one summoning beast myself. Otherwise, I could have given it to An Yan. Should I ask Teacher Tobirama? He might have a way.
Danzo made up his mind. He handed his documents to Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado and left the office.
Seeing her workload increase, Koharu was about to lose her temper. She saw Hiruzen still spacing out and threw Danzo's leftover work at him.
You're having a pretty leisurely time as Hokage. You can do your own work.
Hiruzen was startled. He exchanged a look with Homura, and they both smiled wryly and got back to work.
After a short break, An Yan continued to go on missions with Danzo's team.
After a few more C-rank bandit suppression missions, Danzo suddenly took on a B-rank mission.
Missions in the ninja world were divided into five ranks: S, A, B, C, and D.
D-rank missions were the lowest, usually harmless tasks like picking up trash. C-rank meant there was a possibility of injury, usually involving fighting bandits or wild animals. B-rank meant a likely confrontation with other ninja. A-rank was a definite confrontation with other ninja, usually between nations. S-rank missions were extremely difficult, such as stealing state secrets or assassinating an enemy's Jinchuriki.
The B-rank mission Danzo had accepted was to hunt down and kill a rogue ninja. Konoha had many rogue ninja, but they were usually commoners, not from ninja clans. They had a hard time in Konoha and defected to other villages.
Small villages like Amegakure or Kusagakure would gladly welcome a ninja from one of the five great villages, promoting them from Genin to Chunin, or Chunin to Jonin.
Being a hard-working Chunin in Konoha was certainly not as good as being a powerful Jonin in a small village.
This time, the rogue ninja was codenamed "Nighthawk." He was an ANBU member from a commoner family. After coming into contact with the Sword of the Thunder God, created by Tobirama Senju, the young man, who had never seen such a thing, thought it was a great weapon and ran off with it.
An hour later, the changing of the ANBU guard discovered his disappearance. After an investigation, it was confirmed to be a defection.
Danzo immediately led An Yan and his team in pursuit.
-------
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