"Ah! Paradise~ Paradise~"
In the steaming hot spring pool, a cheerful voice rang out.
Taking a sake flask from a floating tray nearby, Jiraiya poured himself another cup while silently feeling the hot spring wash away all the accumulated fatigue from his body.
"What luck, having this entire hot spring all to myself. It's like a private booking."
After a few cups of sake downed, the Pervy Sage's face had already flushed red. Since he didn't have to worry about other bathers, he even deliberately let down his long white hair, letting it float freely on the water's surface.
In the thick steam, the man occasionally took a sip of sake, then closed his eyes to rest for a while, appearing quite at ease.
Apart from the sound of dripping spring water, everything around was silent.
However, unbeknownst to him, several figures had somehow appeared beside the empty hot spring pool.
They silently lurked in the shadows, their gazes fixed firmly on the man with the hot towel covering his face.
Shing—
The next moment, these figures swiftly emerged and, with perfect coordination, drew their long blades and swung at the neck of the seemingly asleep Jiraiya.
They moved quickly, their sword techniques clean and precise. They even seemed to have deliberately trained in concealing their aura specifically for assassination.
The blades sliced through without resistance, instantly beheading one of the 'careless' Legendary Sannin. To prevent any counterattack, the others also drove their swords through his heart.
Crimson blood sprayed wantonly, dyeing the pool's surface red.
The severed head rolled on the ground a few times, showing no sign of turning into smoke. Its lifeless, unwilling eyes stared fixedly at them.
Just like their previous assassination targets.
'Good! It wasn't a clone technique!'
Then—
"Mission com—"
Just as the leader was about to speak, the walls surrounding the hot spring suddenly began to writhe. The wooden walls, tinged with steam, rapidly transformed into soft, flesh-colored barriers.
"Toad Mouth Binding Technique!"
At that moment, Jiraiya, who had clearly been dead, nonchalantly emerged from thin air. Simultaneously, as he formed hand seals, tendrils of flesh rapidly extended from the soft barriers, capturing all the attackers. No matter how they struggled, they couldn't break free from the restraints.
"Don't bother. The stomach lining of the Rock Lodging is far more resilient than you can imagine."
Jiraiya, wearing only a bathrobe wrapped around his lower body, calmly walked over. He deftly removed the poison sacs hidden in their teeth, then casually walked up to the leader and pulled down his mask.
"Just as I thought, bounty hunters."
He remembered this face, as he had seen it in Konoha's records. It belonged to a Wandering Ninja who made a living taking bounties in the Ninja World.
These guys, though lacking the systematic training of Ninja from the great villages, could use their hyena-like pack hunting tactics to prey on isolated strong individuals.
Of course, the truly formidable ones among them were usually Missing-Nin from some great village.
"But I am still one of the [Legendary Sannin], and they only sent you few? Hey, are you listening?"
Jiraiya waved his hand in front of the leader's face, only to find the man still firmly staring at the headless corpse on the ground that hadn't dispersed, muttering under his breath.
"How is this possible? It clearly wasn't a shadow clone..."
Seeing this, Jiraiya couldn't be bothered to explain and prepared to dispose of them.
These men had taken the bounty from the [Exchange], a certain underground bounty organization.
They didn't know who was behind the bounty, and they were just paid to do the job. Even under torture, they couldn't provide any useful information.
Thinking this, Jiraiya couldn't be bothered to waste more words. He simply walked outside the toad's stomach and dismissed the summoning.
As for those bounty hunters?
They could only await being completely digested by the toad's stomach acid.
If they dare take money to assassinate him, a Ninja, they have to be prepared to be killed in return.
Being attacked right in front of him and not fighting back? Did they really think his title of Sannin was earned through writing?
After dismissing the summoning, Jiraiya pressed his hands together and deployed the [Barrier: Canopy Method Formation], scanning the activity within a several-mile radius a few more times.
Only after confirming no abnormalities did he re-enter another hot spring pool.
As for the original headless corpse… it had already turned into a puddle of multi-colored liquid and flowed into the hot spring pool.
No... not the pool.
Because even that pool itself was slowly liquefying and melting, along with the surrounding 'air'.
All the matter transformed into flowing ink, which, with a flick of Jiraiya's finger, merged back into his body.
"Ah... this fruit really is convenient... much easier to use than shadow clones."
That's right. The Jiraiya from just now who could talk, drink sake, and even bleed when beheaded, along with the entire hot spring pool, walls, and air, were all creations painted by the power of the Inku Inku no Mi.
Compared to the certain Root's member's painting Ninjutsu, the ink clones created by the Inku Inku no Mi were far more realistic.
They also wouldn't revert to ink upon sustaining heavy damage. The practicality of the two was simply not on the same level.
Ever since Naruto and the others left this world, Jiraiya had enjoyed practicing this ability whenever he had free time.
After all, it was a power system completely different from Ninjutsu. For someone like Jiraiya, who had nearly exhausted the potential of his own Ninjutsu, another path to power was obviously very appealing.
Besides—
"It really is convenient."
Jiraiya flicked his finger again, and countless colored inks materialized under his control into many big sisters wearing light clothing.
While massaging Jiraiya-sama's shoulders and legs, they also served him tea and sake.
"Jiraiya-sama, aah~"
Eating the fruit handed to him by a big sister drawn in ink, bearing an eighty percent resemblance to a certain Medical-Nin, Jiraiya's face instinctively assumed a lecherous expression.
This really wasn't his fault.
Ever since he constantly trained this ability until it broke through some barrier, the ink creations he produced had undergone a qualitative change in realism.
Whether it was the lifelike Jiraiya decoy or these big sisters who seemed to possess their own will, they weren't actually being meticulously controlled by Jiraiya himself.
He only gave them a rough instruction when creating them, while everything else was 'thought' up by them.
Really, it was fortunate that this old man's self-control was strong enough.
Otherwise, he would probably have suffered from kidney deficiency long ago...
While enjoying the shoulder and leg massages, Jiraiya's thoughts never ceased.
"...Sure enough, those people have noticed my tracking and have started counterattacking this way."
"But just this level... is it to lull me... or..."
Jiraiya pondered, simultaneously recalling the events at the very beginning.
It was the first week after Naruto left.
At that time, the Tailed Beast Team had disbanded, and everyone had returned to their respective homes.
Jiraiya, as the 'guardian' of the newly formed Uzushiogakure, lived there in seclusion, protecting the place from intrusions by wandering bandits and mountain thieves.
Life was easy and pleasant, especially for a great author like Jiraiya. This kind of life stimulated an endless flow of creative inspiration.
Later, according to previously agreed terms, the remnant people of the Roran, led by Queen Sara, arrived at this fertile land with water and soil.
The residents of Uzushiogakure welcomed the Roran's remnants, who are vouched for by Naruto and Jiraiya, very warmly. Besides, this place was inherently sparsely populated, so there was no need to worry about outsiders squeezing their living space.
In fact, they hoped for more people.
Only with a larger population could the Land of Whirlpools be reestablished sooner.
However, Queen Sara brought not only her people but also a piece of news for Jiraiya.
The Four-Tails' Jinchuriki, Roshi, had been attacked by an unknown force!
Fortunately, he had already returned to the vicinity of Iwagakure at the time and, thanks to Onoki's timely support, avoided being captured as in his original fate.
But this undoubtedly served as a warning to the other Jinchuriki.
Under Onoki's direction, this news quickly spread to Sunagakure and Konoha. Under the orders of the village leaders, the information was passed on to Sara, hoping to establish contact with Naruto and his group, who were far away in the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.
As for why Konoha didn't send someone directly to the Land of Whirlpools... it was precisely because of the complex relationship between Naruto and the village.
Until Naruto actively contacted them, they would not rashly set foot in the Land of Whirlpools' territory.
This had almost become a consensus among the Five Great Nations… of course, what their ignorant or ambitious Daimyos thought was beyond their control.