The third day.
Jiraiya spread out a scroll with a map engraved on it. He looked up at the surrounding environment and beckoned: "Itachi, you don't need to prepare breakfast today, let's go to a nearby town."
"Is the distance far?" Uchiha Itachi pointed to the crow who was still sleeping, and said softly, "Beiyuan will be hungry in the morning..."
"...still sleeping in?" Jiraiya lost his temper: "No need to prepare, we'll be there soon, just bring it with you!"
Jiraiya wasn't lying. They hadn't walked for long when they could already see the outline of a town, and there were more or less ruts left on the road.
"This... is it really a small town?" Uchiha Itachi had never seen a sight like this before. Dilapidated, decayed, and declining... were not enough to describe this town.
The people in the whole town seemed extremely tense. There were even two or three madwomen running on the street, and some large fierce-looking men patrolled the streets wielding big knives.
Jiraiya had seen too many small towns like this.
He believed Uchiha Itachi, who had grown up in prosperous Konoha, had never seen the cruelty of the outside world. This was just the right opportunity to let his disciple experience the cruelty of the ninja world.
When a man passed by them, he suddenly shouted: "Passing through? Take your kid and get lost!"
Jiraiya didn't mind his foul language and instead greeted him cheekily: "Ahaha... Where's the hotel? We're planning to stay here for a day..."
"I don't know! Get lost!" After cursing, the man picked up his knife and waved it at them threateningly.
"We're ninja from Konoha..." Jiraiya had to swallow his words. The atmosphere here really wasn't friendly... It looked like he would have to sacrifice himself again...
"Itachi, let's find a hotel first!" Jiraiya patted Itachi's head and glanced vaguely at a corner of the street: "I'll go gather information about this town tonight..."
Uchiha Itachi shook his head and said, "Teacher, you should rest well. Let me go!"
"No, you're too young... not suitable!"
"Gah!"
Beiyuan, for some reason, suddenly flew to Jiraiya's shoulder. It was purely curious about the source of Jiraiya's information... and where the food was.
"Then can Beiyuan accompany you?"
"This crow looks too fierce. Those who have information are usually timid. They'll be frightened... cough..." Jiraiya shook his head and put on a serious face.
Beiyuan didn't care about his attitude, insisting stubbornly: "Gah!"
In the end...
That evening, after Jiraiya settled Uchiha Itachi in the hotel, he could only go out with the crow. Although he couldn't understand the crow's calls, Jiraiya solemnly instructed it: "When we get there, you have to behave, don't mess up while I'm gathering information, understand?"
The crow nodded obediently. It's just a bird...
It couldn't do anything else anyway... But Jiraiya truly didn't disappoint! Sure enough, Jiraiya stopped at the door of a magnificently decorated sake house.
The old man smiled and beckoned to the girl at the door with an affable look: "Good evening~ Are you open now?"
"Guest, you're joking. Since you're here, of course we're... open for business!"
"Hahahaha... I'm new here and don't know anyone. Could you introduce me to a few young folks like yourself?" Jiraiya smiled honestly.
Beiyuan: "..."
Learned, learned, learned!
Learned what exactly?!
To be honest, Jiraiya really was talented... Before long, he made a bunch of friends in the sake house, probably because he was the only guest... the crow didn't count.
Jiraiya held a wine bottle in one hand and a new friend in the other: "It doesn't seem lively here, no one's playing with you! Is there something more fun happening elsewhere in town?"
"It's because too many children have gone missing recently! The men have to patrol the streets..." The girl looked Jiraiya up and down flirtatiously: "Guest, won't you be lonely tonight?"
"It's still a bit chilly this April..." Jiraiya waved to another new friend and said, "Bring more wine and something to warm me up!"
Beiyuan, watching: "..."
Learned, learned, learned!
But even if it learned, what could it do... Other than getting a plate of beans, there wasn't even a single person left to take care of it—everyone had gone to entertain Jiraiya, the big customer!
Although Jiraiya drank a lot in the sake house, a few young girls were still caught by his words, and he managed to gather a lot of information.
In this small town, there had been a spate of missing children recently, even kidnappings happening directly on the streets at night. That's why the town was so wary of outsiders.
No wonder when they first entered the town, they saw so many strange things... That grumpy big guy was really very kind in comparison!
Another thing was quite odd.
In the mountains near the town, strange noises often came from the woods. The townsfolk guessed it might be a giant beast that had moved nearby. Groups had gone to investigate, but none ever returned.
They had sought help from Konoha or wandering ninja, but in the end, none of those ninja found anything...
"...Finally done!" Jiraiya threw a drunk girl onto the table, waved and said: "Little crow, go back to the hotel first..."
"...Gah..."
Beiyuan stared at him incredulously.
"Hey! Stop looking at me like that, I'm heading out to search beyond the town..." Jiraiya took a sip of wine and said, "If I don't come back in two days, take Itachi and return to the village!"
"...Gah..."
It seemed that Jiraiya thought he had found traces of Orochimaru. Beiyuan wasn't too worried about his safety—just quietly waited for him to return.
Hero Jiraiya, respected everyone who had their own ninja path.
Even if Orochimaru had become a traitor, as long as he didn't endanger Konoha, Jiraiya wouldn't fight him to the death... Besides, whether he could even defeat today's Orochimaru was still uncertain.
Orochimaru at this time was truly at his peak! His life force was as strong as anyone in Konoha... ninjutsu, forbidden techniques, genjutsu, taijutsu—he had perfected everything!
However, Orochimaru's real specialty was raising children. Just look at how skinny Sasuke got after following him...
His own little cub was still pitifully small. Jiraiya thought maybe when he got back, he should ask Itachi if he wanted to sneak out for a late-night snack or something...
Beiyuan flew back through the window and looked at the messy quilt on the bed... They had only gone out for a little while—where was his cub?
A gloomy voice suddenly rang out...
"Jiraiya has finally left..."
A deformed figure suddenly emerged on the ceiling, appearing extremely strange. The intruder looked around the empty room in surprise: "Huh? Where's that kid..."
"Zetsu, didn't you leave a clone here? Why are you still so careless..." Another figure appeared midair, but the scolding voice abruptly stopped when he saw a crow.
Beiyuan's red eyes widened fiercely: "Gah!"