However, Shikaku's reply doused him with cold water. An hour meant untraceable for the shinobi of their levels.
This left him no choice but to wait for Reko to come back. His revenge could only wait as he got stronger.
…
"Hello! We are Touka noodles and we serve the best noodles in this village. The number one!!
Please tell us what you would like to order."
An old man with clean shaved face and white apron greeted Reko from inside his shop.
He was the noodle shop owner, the proclaimed number one.
Reko was not sure about the title of the number one shot but he decided to try it nonetheless. It was not like he was a food critic. He would eat it as long as it tasted good.
"One bowl of noodles please."
He sat on one of the chairs available, waiting for the order to arrive as he looked around the place.
The place did not have much technological advancements. It did not even have something as basic as a fridge, for the most part.
Though this place did have a good number of brothels, not losing to any big village or city, the numbers could be even higher.
"These villages are so weird. Some of them are equipped with almost all facilities and some just barely survive."
Reko was heading to the next destination marked on his map after he had his food. It was not tiring for him. He quite liked using his almost endless chakra to keep running, jumping and dodging.
This thing was fun as long as he had obstacles in his way. Although it did get a little boring when the roads became plain, he was still able to have fun with his earth release techniques.
He was able to make the ground shoot earth and then used to step on it and kept jumping from one to another to make him feel like running in the air.
It did not serve any purpose in his training but it was fun to do. He already had quite high control of the earth chakra nature.
He had been traveling the last two days. While on the roads, he had visited around seven places. Some of them could be called villages while some were just settlements only.
Fortunately, he did not have to stop a lot at those places. Once he was done checking the bathhouses, saunas, and brothels, he would head to his next destination marked on the map.
Those two or three public places were some of the spots where he could get information as well as the places which Jiraya was very likely to visit.
"I can not even remember how many marks I have left on my way here. Getting back to the village would be very quick."
Although he had run most of the time and barely used his Flying Raijin, he did leave many marks on the way.
Depending on the factors like material, chakra resistance, and human intervention, the marks he left on the various spots could function for months.
Currently, his maximum range reached barely two kilometres. This was the distance which he could cover in less than a minute of time with ease.
That too by just running, no tricks, no fancy techniques, just pure raw strength. If he added chakra, the speed would increase even further, almost equalling the results he acquired with flying Raijin.
However, that was going to change in the upcoming days. He was continuously using marks to go back to certain locations just in case he missed something.
With this practice, he was getting familiar with the long range use of this technique. In another few days, he believed that he would reach five kilometres range.
He was taking it slow because he wanted to get familiar with the technique and not just rush for the results. He desired to customize the technique to use for the long range as well as short range instant teleport.
…
"Hey pervy sage! Are you sure you are okay? Shouldn't we go back to the village and get your injury checked?"
Naruto looked naturally concerned as he asked Jiraya. He looked pitiful, aware that it was his fault that the monster hurt Jiraya.
If he had done better, if he had better control over his body and chakra then it would not have happened.
The injury on Jiraya's body looked life threatening but he never once blamed Naruto for it.
"It's fine! This is just a physical injury. I am perfectly fine."
Jiraya waved his hands, denying the request to go back to the village. If it was serious then he would not have survived.
Since he survived, there was nothing that he could not get fixed by himself. He did not need a medic.
It was a lethal attack by the nine tails but only because Jiraya was vulnerable at the moment. He would not have been injured if not for being caught off guard.
Though he felt slightly drained at the moment, he believed that he would soon get back to hundred percent.
"If you are fine then why are we hiding here and there? We did not do this before the injury!"
Naruto almost shouted, grief and anger evident in his young voice. He blamed himself for the injury on Jiraya's body and wanted to get it checked.
"That's something else. I feel like someone is chasing us. It's not concrete but there's something…"
Jiraya whispered to Naruto in a low voice. He was having this weird feeling that someone was on his trails. He even tried to be careful and avoided visiting his very favourite places for safety.
He was barely able to bring out sixty percent of his combat prowess at the moment and it was not enough for him to keep travelling without care.
However, he was slowly getting better. In about two weeks, he would be back to his ninety percent.
After listening to Jiraya's words, Naruto stood shocked for a second before looking around briefly, trying to check for suspicious activity sneakily.
He had learned quite a lot of basics in these months of training and he could be quite sneaky if he wanted to be.
As he looked around, something did catch his eyes.
Touka noodles.
"Hello! We are Touka noodles and we serve the best noodles in this village. The number one!!
Please tell us what you would like to order."
As soon as Naruto looked at the shop for a second. The man inside the shop began waving his hands enthusiastically, smiling and inviting him for a meal.
"You blonde kid! It seems like you want at least two bowls to fill up your belly. Why don't I add some extra eggs for you?"
The shop owner saw that the kid looked easy and decided to give him an enticing offer. An offer the kid could not reject.
"Extra eggs? You sure?"
Naruto looked at the shop, checking if it looked like a scam, then smelled the aroma of food being cooked before asking suspiciously.
To his surprise, the owner nodded. It was a really good offer.
"Fine! Give me two bowls then."
He instantly leaped onto one of the seats available and ordered his meal, almost drooling.
"Hahaha give me two bowls too! With extra eggs of course."
Jiraya smiled from ear to ear. He too was happy to have found such an offer. Good food with less money always felt good to eat.
However, the shop owner did not seem to like Jiraya for some reason. He looked at the burly figure of Jiraya from head to toe in disgust, frowning.
"You? Aren't you quite old to want such benefits? I gave it to this kid only."
He spat the vicious words as he ignored Jiraya, focusing on making the kid's order.
"Make it only one bowl then!"
Jiraya sighed with a soft voice. It was not much but one bowl would be enough. He would not be paying anyways.
"What a miser…."
The shop owner looked at Jiraya, frowning, not having expected this from an adult. He decided to add another bowl for Jiraya.
"Won't even spend on food!!"
Although, he kept muttering curses as he cooked.
"Thank you for the meal!!"
Naruto thanked the shop owner, bringing a vibrant smile to the man's face.
…
"So? How was it?"
Nagato asked Konan. He had sent her on a mission to look for new members for their group.
The location was kind of filled with many rogue shinobi and outliers.
"The journey was good. There is barely any problem for me if I wish to travel to a place."
Konan leaned on the wall as she answered. With her paper release, she could literally fly in the air. She did not have any inconveniences in the journey.
"Hmm. Any results?"
Nagato nodded. He was aware of the talent she possessed. One of the few very rare affinities. The paper release.
"For reasons unknown, the Mizukage was present in that place."
She explained. She had seen that red haired Lady. It was very unexpected for a Kage to leave their respective village.
"The Mizukage? Did you have a fight?"
Nagato seemed intrigued as he questioned. He too was surprised by this coincidence. Who could have expected that a Kage would visit such an unorthodox place.
The place was filled with crimes and criminals. He would have not sent Konan there if not for Tobi's suspicious recruiting habits.
"She sent her guards after me but I knocked them out and left. We did not fight against each other."
Konan shook her head. She was not that dumb to fight against a Kage. She knew her strength and did not want to have unnecessary battles.
She had escaped soon after the incident.
"I see. Not bad. She must be there to eliminate some of the rogues of her village."
Nagato appreciated the sequence of actions. He too would have done the same. No need to fight against such figures.
"Also, I feel like I encountered him, Jiraya. He was with a kid, most likely Naruto Uzumaki. The nine tails Jinchuriki."
She sounded unsure but she decided to speak out anyway. Both of the people seen were pretty important in their mission, their goals.
"You did? That's a surprise."
Nagato did not doubt her intuition. If she did see him then it was most likely that person.
"It's good that you did not try to act against him. Even Itachi and Kisame combined, decided that it would be very difficult to win against him."
Nagato knew that Konan had a grievance with Jiraya. She was dissatisfied that he did not come back, that he did not take them in.
It would not have been a surprise if she had fought him.
He turned around to face her and took a good look at her body, checking for injuries.
"I know his level very well. It is very difficult for me to win against him head on. But there's no need for me to expose my existence."
Konan scoffed, dissatisfied with Nagato's actions. She knew she was weak and would most likely lose against him in one on one.
But this also meant she was smart enough to know the difference in their strengths and weaknesses.
She would not just begin to attack him if she happened to catch him. That was not even in her list of things she would do after encountering Jiraya.
…
"These days have been fun! But it's already been seven days. How long would it take for me to find him?"
Reko muttered as he played with his food on the table. A whole week has passed as he kept travelling, running in search of Jiraya.
It was very much fun honestly. He got to visit so many places and so much new food. Some of the places were so good that he kept jumping back to these places when he wanted a break.
"I have even tried going back to some places out of the locations that Shiksku provided."
He had even decided to do extra. Currently, he was in one such place which Shikaku did not mark.
...
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