Minato felt a pang of regret at having to part ways with his mentor so soon after the formal apprenticeship began.
However, the warmth of the scroll tucked against his chest quickly chased the gloom away. He hardened his resolve; in a year or two, when Jiraiya finally returned to the village, Minato vowed to have mastered every word within that scroll and earned his promotion to Jonin.
This was his pact with Jiraiya.
During their long talk the previous night, Jiraiya had put Minato through a series of tests and discovered the boy possessed a rare, innate talent for space-time ninjutsu. To encourage him, Jiraiya made a daring promise: if Minato could fully digest the contents of the scroll by the time they reunited, Jiraiya would personally petition the Hokage to grant Minato the forbidden technique developed by the Second Hokage—the Flying Raijin Jutsu.
The Flying Raijin—the very technique that had earned Tobirama Senju the title of the fastest man in the shinobi world.
Because the jutsu was so preternaturally complex and the risks of learning it were so high, no one had successfully mastered it since the Second Hokage's passing.
Though Jiraiya had been a "dead last" in his youth, he shared the same unshakeable, bordering-on-reckless confidence found in the likes of the future Obito and Naruto. After finding his way to Mount Myoboku and skyrocketing to the rank of Jonin, he too had harbored the grand ambition of learning the Flying Raijin.
Unfortunately, neither he nor Orochimaru—who was considered even more naturally gifted—had been able to crack it.
Still, the time they spent researching it hadn't been a total waste. Seeing Minato's god-tier talent for ninjutsu and a spatial affinity that surpassed even Orochimaru's, Jiraiya's old ambitions flared up once more.
The scroll he gave Minato contained the fundamentals of Wind, Fire, and Lightning nature transformations, but it also included the secret research notes he and Orochimaru had compiled on the Flying Raijin.
In Jiraiya's estimation, if Minato could master the scroll in two years, he had at least a sixty percent chance of learning the Flying Raijin itself. Given that the technique was so "broken" that even the author, Kishimoto, eventually decided it could only be balanced by giving it to dead men, a sixty percent success rate was staggeringly high. It was enough of a gamble for both Jiraiya and Hiruzen Sarutobi to go all-in.
The moment they left the secluded hideout of Jiraiya and the orphans, Hatani shifted into a state of total high alert.
He couldn't help it—Dan Kato still had that "Death Necklace" hanging around his neck.
Hatani had witnessed the lethality of that cursed jewelry firsthand. If he didn't know for a fact that no one would believe him—and that a simp like Dan Kato would sooner give up his life than the necklace Tsunade gave him—Hatani would have snatched it and chucked it into a ravine the moment they left.
After all, the last time he had thrown the necklace away, their flight had been miraculously smooth. Aside from one stubborn Rain squad that tried to hoard the credit for themselves, they hadn't encountered a single threat.
No matter what anyone else thought, Hatani was convinced: throwing away the necklace was the only reason they were still breathing.
"Damned rain."
A few dozen miles away, sheltering under an umbrella tree, Aburame Shikuro cursed under his breath as the downpour intensified.
The Land of Rain was a nightmare environment for a member of the Aburame clan. Setting aside the fact that the rain washed away the pheromones used by his bugs, the water itself was a physical obstacle.
During a light drizzle, the Kikaichu could still fly with some effort. But in a heavy storm like this, with thick, dense droplets, the bugs couldn't even take flight. Even if they tried to crawl along the ground, their speed was halved, and they were constantly being knocked about by the impact of the rain or drowning in puddles.
With no choice but to wait out the storm, Shikuro's sensory range was effectively neutralized. He was so blind to his surroundings that he didn't notice the figure cutting through the curtain of rain until the uninvited guest was practically on top of him.
Shikuro's body tensed instantly.
The intruder was none other than the Iwa Jonin, Fumikawa.
Driven by the same objective as Shikuro, Fumikawa's team had been searching the area around Mistrain City relentlessly since obtaining their intel. The Land of Rain was small, and by narrowing the search to the Mistrain outskirts, they had been able to "plow" through the territory with efficiency.
Fumikawa had been confident that within a day and a night, he and his four subordinates would locate the target. From there, they could decide whether to launch a direct assault or use a diversion to lure the guardians away.
What he hadn't expected was to find a Konoha ninja so quickly—only to realize it wasn't the one he was looking for.
"Water Style: Water Trumpet!"
Recognizing Shikuro's distinctive Aburame attire through the rain, Fumikawa didn't hesitate. He wove a rapid string of signs and leaped into the air, unleashing a blast of high-pressure water.
This was precisely why Fumikawa had been chosen to lead the mission. In a village like Iwa, dominated by Earth Style users, he was one of the few who specialized in Water Style—the perfect cover for a man pretending to be a Rain ninja. Every member of his hand-picked squad followed suit; even if they weren't primary Water users, they all had a strong secondary affinity for it. It made pretending to be Ame shinobi effortless and gave them a home-field advantage in the wet climate.
Poof!
Shikuro's "body" was blasted backward, only to transform into a wooden log mid-air.
Despite escaping with a Substitution Jutsu, Shikuro didn't release his Kikaichu as he usually would. The heavy rain made a swarm attack ineffective. He needed to close the distance.
"Haha! An Aburame? Consider this your unlucky day!"
Fumikawa let out a mock-villainous laugh, sensing the environment's disadvantage for the bug user. "Before we sign that treaty with your village, consider this death a small 'down payment' on the debt Konoha owes us!"
While an Aburame's life was worth less than their primary target, Senju Nawaki, the death of a major clan ninja was still a perfect catalyst to drive a wedge between the Leaf and the Rain.
"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!"
Following a rapid set of seals, two high-speed, rotating water drills erupted from the puddles created by his previous jutsu, spiraling toward the newly reappeared Shikuro.
"Hmph. You? You aren't nearly enough to take me down," Shikuro spat.
Already frayed by the constant irritations of the Land of Rain, he let out a sharp retort. He stomped his feet against the muddy earth and launched himself into the air, evading the water drills with pure, unadulterated physical prowess.
But as Fumikawa watched him jump, he didn't look disappointed. On the contrary, a predatory glint of triumph flashed in his eyes.