Jiraiya's words gave Akashō a rough idea of things.
From the looks of it, an S-rank in the Kokushibo template was roughly equivalent to a weaker Kage-level in this world, while S-rank itself was probably around an average Kage-level.
"By the way, what level is your strength? Kage-level?"
While traveling, Akashō asked Jiraiya curiously.
Uchiha Fugaku had quasi-Kage strength, yet he addressed Jiraiya with such respect—so at the very least, Jiraiya had to be Kage-level too, right?
"Hahaha, that's right!"
Jiraiya laughed proudly.
"We Sannin of Konoha—each of us has Kage-level strength. In the ninja world, we're three living legends!"
The Sannin of Konoha?
Akashō narrowed his eyes. Based on how the system calculated reputation, quasi-Kage strength was probably around the five-digit mark. As for true Kage-level… that would likely earn tens of thousands of reputation points.
And in Konoha alone, there were at least four Kage-level fighters—far more valuable than squeezing everything out of an entire Sand Village camp.
Once he got to Konoha, maybe he should stir something up.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Akashō noticed Jiraiya had been laughing for nearly half a minute.
"Tch. And yet you still didn't become Hokage."
Akashō mercilessly shot him down.
Jiraiya's laughter froze. He tapped Akashō on the head in annoyance.
"Can't you say something nice for once? All you do is tear me down."
"Oh."
Akashō nodded. "Wow, you're actually Kage-level. That's really strong. Too bad you didn't become Hokage."
"Uzumaki Akashō!!"
"My name is Akashō!"
...
After two nights of pushing forward and three more peaceful nights, Akashō finally laid eyes on the true appearance of one of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
"The hell is this? A village?"
"It's practically a whole damn city!"
Following behind Jiraiya, Akashō looked around at the buildings with wide-eyed curiosity, like a country bumpkin entering a grand estate.
It wasn't that Konoha was more magnificent than modern skyscrapers, but its almost ancient architectural style—with a subtle twist—made it especially intriguing to him.
In particular, on a distant cliff face, three enormous stone-carved faces were etched into the rock, incredibly eye-catching.
"What the hell is that?"
"Oh, that? That's the Hokage Rock. It bears the faces of the three Hokage since the village was founded."
"Each face represents a great leader from a different era in Konoha's history."
Seeing Jiraiya actually explain things seriously for once, Akashō felt a bit surprised.
Looks like, in his heart, the Hokage held a very high position.
"Let's go. I'll take you to meet your clansmen first."
Just as Jiraiya was about to bring Akashō to find Kushina, a black-robed figure wearing a mask suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Jiraiya-sama."
The masked figure bowed respectfully. "The Third-sama is looking for you."
"The old man?"
Jiraiya frowned and glanced back at Akashō.
"If you've got something to do, go handle it. I'm not in a hurry."
Akashō waved his hand casually.
"Alright then."
Since Akashō said so, Jiraiya didn't hesitate. He turned to the masked figure.
"Please arrange something for him. I'll come find him after I'm done talking with the old man."
"Understood, Jiraiya-sama."
The masked figure nodded and watched Jiraiya head toward the Hokage building. Then he turned to look at Akashō, who was staring back at him.
Tch. Jiraiya said to "arrange" something, but didn't say what exactly.
Should he just stand here with this kid and wait for Jiraiya to come back?
"Hey, it's hot as hell. Aren't you dying in all those layers?"
Akashō walked over and tried to chat, but the masked figure ignored him.
Akashō wasn't embarrassed at all and kept going.
"Why are you wearing such an ugly mask? Is it because your face is ugly?"
"Why aren't you talking? Are you mute? No, that's not right—you were just talking to Jiraiya."
"Are you annoyed with me or something? Say something already, damn it."
The masked figure suddenly snapped, "Shut up!"
"Oh ho."
Akashō raised his chin arrogantly.
"Do you even know who I am? And you dare talk to me like that?"
Hearing this, the masked figure's blazing anger instantly cooled.
This kid was brought back by Jiraiya—his relationship with him was probably not simple. Could he be Jiraiya's new disciple?
If so… then this was someone he really couldn't afford to offend.
After a moment of hesitation, the masked figure lowered his head slightly and said in a muffled voice, "Sorry."
"If apologies worked, what would we need the guard force for?"
Akashō rolled his eyes at him.
The masked figure's lips twitched. "So… what exactly is your relationship with Jiraiya-sama?"
"No relationship at all."