"Ugh, the smell of blood everywhere… and the bodies will start rotting soon. We can't stay here."
After torturing the other two to death, Akashō looked at the mutilated corpses on the ground and felt a headache coming on.
"By the way… how did they even find this place?"
Akashō let out a sigh and pulled up Kokushibo's template.
"Just a few more tens of thousands… I need to hurry. I'll try to unlock the second template tonight."
He reverted to his original appearance. There was still some time before sunset, so it was better to leave before then.
He stripped off his tattered clothes, rummaged through a corner to find his pack, changed into a fresh set, grabbed the bag, and headed toward the cave entrance.
But halfway there, he stopped.
Not far ahead, a tall figure blocked his path.
Another ninja from the Sand Village?
Akashō became alert, ready to switch into Kokushibo at any moment. Then, with a scraping sound, a fire starter was struck and lit up the darkness.
"Hm? A red-haired kid?"
The sudden light made Akashō squint. "Oh? A white-haired creepy old man."
Jiraiya froze for a moment, then laughed. "Kid, you've got quite the sharp tongue."
"Heh, and you've got quite the foul mouth yourself, old man."
Akashō shot back without hesitation. The man in front of him wasn't wearing a ninja headband… could he just be an ordinary person?
"Hahahaha!"
Jiraiya stepped forward, laughing as he patted Akashō on the head, which immediately drew a dangerous smile from him.
"Interesting kid. What's your name?"
"What's it to you?"
Akashō slapped his hand away and curled his lips. Why was this guy acting so familiar?
"Heh, don't you want to meet your own clan?"
Akashō paused, looking at Jiraiya strangely. "My clan?"
"Yeah. The Uzumaki clan—the one known for red hair."
"Uzumaki…"
His thoughts immediately went to the so-called Uzumaki Constitution shown on his system panel.
In a ninja world like this, it was very likely something similar to a bloodline limit.
Which meant… this overly familiar guy probably wasn't bluffing.
Maybe he could use this chance to figure out the true background of this body—and what the Uzumaki Constitution actually did.
Looking at Jiraiya's grinning face, Akashō suppressed the killing intent in his heart for now.
"You can help me find my clan?"
"Yeah."
Jiraiya nodded. "She's probably your only remaining clan member in this world—unless there are others like you scattered somewhere out there."
"Interested in coming with me?"
Akashō pretended to think for a while before nodding. "Alright."
"Then wait for me at the cave entrance, okay?"
Akashō looked at him suspiciously, his attention snapping back from the Uzumaki topic.
"Old man, you'd better not go further inside… or you might get scared."
"Oh?"
Jiraiya became a little interested. He had been distracted by Akashō's red hair and almost forgot why he came here in the first place.
"Oh right, kid—what's your name?"
"Akashō. And you?"
"Me?"
Jiraiya suddenly grinned smugly. He tossed the fire starter into the air, did a backflip, caught it as it spun down, then dramatically flipped his spiky white hair over one shoulder and struck a bizarre pose with his arms spread wide.
"Excellent question!"
"I am the one who can handle anything with ease, unmatched across all lands—east, west, north, and south—the legendary one of the Sannin—"
"Yeah, I've lost interest."
Akashō stood on his toes and clamped a hand over Jiraiya's mouth mid-speech, cutting off his grand self-introduction. Then he stepped past him and walked straight toward the cave entrance.
"Hey!?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened as he reached out to grab him.
"Come on, don't be like that—at least let me finish! Hey, hey…!"
And just like that, Jiraiya chased after Akashō out of the cave, once again completely forgetting why he had come in the first place.
Not long after, under Jiraiya's lead, the two arrived at a camp atop a mountain. Inside, people were coming and going—every one of them wearing Konoha headbands.
So this overly familiar guy—no, Jiraiya—was a Konoha ninja?
Akashō secretly glanced at him. A guy this unserious… actually a ninja?
"Jiraiya-sama."
At that moment, a passing ninja stopped in his tracks and respectfully greeted Jiraiya.
Jiraiya… sama?
Akashō couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Well, damn… looks really can be deceiving. This guy was actually a high-ranking figure in Konoha?
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