A man with red hair, a face covered in a red beard, and a forehead protector from Iwagakure, looking to be in his thirties...
He gazed at the sea before him.
"That must be Uzushiogakure over there," Roshi murmured. "How did those rumors even spread?"
He was extremely curious!
After all, apart from ordinary civilians, every shinobi on the battlefield knew...
Konoha had been thoroughly screwed over by Uzushiogakure early on. In the end, to stabilize the village, they had no choice but to push the Uchiha clan forward.
But for some reason, the entire shinobi world still spoke of Uzushiogakure's righteousness.
Even now, those rumors hadn't faded.
And...
The investigations by the ANBU had turned up nothing.
It was as if these rumors had appeared out of thin air.
So, Roshi was very curious about all this. He wanted to know exactly how Uzushiogakure had managed to spread its good name throughout the shinobi world.
Coincidentally, shortly after the war ended, he had a falling-out with the Third Tsuchikage and was now wandering the world alone.
"Let's go take a look," Roshi sighed inwardly. "I hope the Third Tsuchikage won't regret this."
And also...
"Four-Tails," Roshi lowered his head, as if looking at the seal beneath his clothes, and muttered, "I should start training seriously."
During his travels across the shinobi world, he would learn to control the Four-Tails and develop compatible jutsu.
That way, at least in the future...
He could still be of use to the village.
"How hypocritical," a disdainful voice suddenly echoed in Roshi's mind. "You humans are truly hypocritical!"
Then...
It fell silent again.
Roshi shook his head and didn't respond, turning his gaze back to the faint outline of the island in the distance.
How should he get across?
Just as Roshi was pondering whether to walk on water or swim...
A steamship was sailing from Uzushiogakure toward the border of the Land of Fire.
Roshi frowned slightly and began walking toward the direction the ship was heading, first checking if it was indeed coming from Uzushiogakure.
...
"Are you really one of the Sannin?" Nagato looked at Jiraiya with disdain. "Though I've never seen the Sannin, I've heard from people who came from outside that the Sannin are all talented, smooth-talkers, and incredibly strong. But you..."
"You're just a broke loser!"
Hearing Nagato's words, Jiraiya's face stiffened, and he retorted angrily, "It's all because of you people..."
"Everything costs money here. At this rate, even the Toad Sage won't be able to handle it!"
"Oh," Nagato nodded understandingly. "So you're a lawbreaker."
"..."
What a damn brat!
This year, he'd have to be extra careful.
Because...
If anything went wrong, he'd really end up in prison, unable to gather any more intel on Uzushiogakure.
So...
"Do you know any way to make money?" Jiraiya stroked his chin, looking at Nagato. "The legal kind, of course."
The illegal kind...
Would be risky. Jiraiya strongly suspected that Uchiha Fugaku was watching him from the shadows, just waiting for him to slip up so he could take revenge.
After all...
No matter what, he was still the old man's disciple!
"Legal?" Nagato thought for a moment. "In Uzushiogakure, there are many ways to earn money."
"Carrying bricks, cutting trees, making glass."
"Tailoring, fishing, teaching."
"All these jobs pay wages." Nagato glanced at Jiraiya. "Though I can't tell how strong you are, you're probably a shinobi. If you're a shinobi, you can also get subsidies."
"So many options?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin, muttering, "Shouldn't shinobi be doing missions?"
Why would they do these kinds of jobs?
"It's a new era of socialism now," Nagato said disdainfully. "If civilians can do it, why can't shinobi?"
"You need to update your old-fashioned thinking." Nagato shook his head and sighed. "Otherwise, you'll get into trouble here easily."
"..."
This kid...
Jiraiya stared speechlessly at Nagato. Were all Uzumaki this smug?
But Jiraiya figured that since he was here to gather intel, he should probably familiarize himself with Uzushiogakure's laws. Otherwise, constantly running into problems wouldn't do.
The Toad Sage had a reputation to uphold. If he got arrested again...
As one of the Sannin, the Toad Sage, and the dream of countless girls across the shinobi world, he'd surely disappoint his fans.
So...
"Is there any way to make money faster?" Jiraiya rubbed his hands together sheepishly. "This sage doesn't have much time to work."
"You..." Nagato sighed in disappointment. "Our teacher taught us not to aim too high or cut corners."
"Only by being down-to-earth, seeking truth from facts, focusing on fundamentals, and being pragmatic..."
"Will we have a future."
Now Nagato was even more suspicious...
Was this white-haired, spiky-headed guy really one of the Sannin?
No matter how he looked at it, he seemed more like a scammer!
"Well..." Nagato thought for a bit and decided to say, "There is a legal way to make money quickly."
Just as Jiraiya was about to lose hope, he perked up, eyes wide with excitement. "Where?"
There was really such a method?
"That is..." Nagato looked Jiraiya up and down, narrowing his eyes. "Sell..."
"Chakra!"
Better let this scammer earn some money first.
Otherwise, how would he pay back the 5,000 ryo Nagato had lent him earlier?
That was years of his saved-up allowance!
If this guy hadn't claimed to be the Toad Sage, one of the Sannin, who had fought the Demigod of the Shinobi World, kicked the Hokage of Konoha, and was now in trouble and needed help—offering to teach him an ultimate jutsu in exchange for 5,000 ryo...
Nagato would never have lent him the money.
But now...
It seemed he'd been scammed.
...
On the steamship...
"Dear passengers, welcome aboard this voyage. The ship will depart shortly. The journey will take three hours. We wish you a pleasant trip."
Roshi curiously looked at a large box nearby. The voice had come from there.
"How interesting," Roshi stroked his beard, murmuring. "It seems this trip to Uzushiogakure will be quite fun."
When boarding, he hadn't hidden his forehead protector.
It was peacetime now.
Unless you caused trouble in another country or village, no one would arrest you.
Of course...
His status as a jinchūriki had to remain hidden.
He glanced at a few other shinobi nearby, also wearing forehead protectors. Some were from other villages, others were missing-nin.
It seemed they were also heading to Uzushiogakure.
A seat on the ship wasn't expensive. The standard fare was only 1,000 ryo, though the private cabins were pricier, ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.
As a wandering monk, Roshi felt there was no need to waste money.
"Hey, old timer," Roshi said to the family of three sitting next to him. "Are you citizens of Uzushiogakure?"
When boarding, he'd noticed that while there were shinobi on the ship, most passengers were ordinary civilians. In this era, unless you had money to hire shinobi for protection, ordinary people didn't travel much.
What were these civilians going there for?
"Us?" The man in his thirties was startled that a shinobi was talking to him. He shook his head cautiously. "No, Lord Shinobi."
"We're just from a poor village near the Land of Fire. We're going to Uzushiogakure because a relative there invited us."
"They say there's work and wages there."
"If you work hard and endure hardship, food and clothing won't be a problem."
"You can even eat meat once a day!"
The man licked his lips and patted his child's head. Though they hadn't died pointlessly in the war...
Hunger and cold still haunted them.
Whether in peacetime or wartime.
So...
If Uzushiogakure was really as his relative described, how wonderful would that be?
"I see," Roshi frowned, muttering to himself. "What is Uzushiogakure..."
"Trying to do?"
"Why recruit so many civilians? Are they really just making them work?"
Food and clothing secured??
That's not how the shinobi world works!
Why did shinobi fight wars?
Wasn't it for more land, resources, and food?
Was Uzushiogakure already so wealthy?
Roshi was filled with doubt.
He...
Would see for himself what this supposedly poor country had become.
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