The pattering rain poured down, flowing off his cloak as Yueshu walked through the rain, wearing a cloak he had picked up.
Half a day had passed since Yueshu arrived here. The surrounding area looked like a battlefield where the fighting had just ceased, with Ninjas in their cloth armor lying silently on the ground.
"Little guy, are you lost?"
Yueshu looked up, raindrops dripping on his face, as a man's voice came from behind him.
Turning around, his gaze shifted, and Yueshu saw someone he was very familiar with.
With slightly long white hair and two oil marks painted on his face, there was no doubt that the person in front of him was Jiraiya, one of the Sannin.
Watching Jiraiya approach, Yueshu remained silent.
"Why the unhappy expression? The war is over."
Jiraiya drew closer, crouching in front of Yueshu, his gaze parallel to Yueshu, who was in his child form.
A sensation came from above his head, and Yueshu knew it was Jiraiya stroking his head.
"Mission triggered: Enter Konoha with Jiraiya's help. Reward: one lottery draw."
An electronic voice sounded in his mind; the system's mission had been triggered once again.
Yueshu looked at Jiraiya, still unable to figure out how to get Jiraiya to take him back to Konoha.
"Little guy, are you from Konoha?"
Jiraiya suddenly asked, and Yueshu was momentarily stunned. When he fought that Genin earlier, the Genin also said he was from Konoha, and Yueshu had no idea what was going on.
Jiraiya reached for Yueshu's foot and then held up a Konoha forehead protector in front of him.
"When?"
Yueshu was bewildered; he hadn't noticed at all that a Konoha forehead protector was tied to his foot.
After waking up, he had transmigrated, and he knew nothing else.
"It's not yours? I thought Konoha had produced another genius. No wonder I don't remember."
Jiraiya stood up.
"My name is Jiraiya, and I'm a Konoha Ninja. What do you say?"
"Do you want to come back to Konoha with me?"
Jiraiya smiled. He had done this more than once; he usually extended a helping hand to these war orphans whenever he saw them.
Yueshu was stunned, not expecting the mission to be completed so easily. He hadn't anticipated it at all.
"Can I?"
"Of course, Konoha welcomes you."
The rain continued to fall, and the figures of one large and one small walked side by side into the distance.
Following Jiraiya, they soon reached a camp, and at that moment, the rain also stopped.
"I'm back."
Jiraiya lifted the camp's curtain and walked straight in, with Yueshu quietly following behind him.
"Jiraiya, you're running around again."
A girl's voice came over, and Yueshu looked inside.
There were quite a few familiar faces: the quietly sitting Snake Uncle, the still-young Tsunade. The young Sannin were all here.
At this time, they had just been conferred the title of Sannin by Hanzou.
Besides them, there was also a white-haired man nearby, very similar to the original Kakashi, but slightly more mature.
This was Hatake Sakumo, known as Konoha White Fang, the biological father of Hatake Kakashi.
"My apologies, my apologies, I was a bit bored, so I went for a stroll."
Jiraiya chuckled, leaving everyone helpless.
"Who is that child?"
Tsunade's gaze fell on Yueshu; she had noticed Yueshu from the beginning.
"I just met him. He should be from Konoha; he had a Konoha forehead protector tied to his foot when I found him."
Not just Tsunade, but the others also looked over, and Yueshu felt a little flustered. The four people in front of him were all powerful figures, each more formidable than the last.
"Is that so?"
Tsunade's voice softened considerably, and she sat back down after saying a word.
"Alright, the current mission is to evacuate. The war is over; it's time to return to Konoha."
Hatake Shu Mao glanced at Tsunade, then spoke.
"It's finally over. It's truly exhausting."
Orochimaru interjected leisurely from the side.
"All in all, everything is almost packed. Take your comrades; it's time to return to Konoha."
As Hatake Shu Mao's words fell, the people in the camp weren't particularly happy; instead, they seemed somewhat gloomy, especially Tsunade.
Jiraiya said nothing, quietly observing everything, then sighed and turned to walk out.
Yueshu followed behind Jiraiya, walking out together.
"By the way, I still don't know your name."
Jiraiya stopped in front of the camp.
"Yueshu, Ji Shen Yueshu."
"A good name."
Jiraiya leaned against a tree.
"I'm sorry, but I can't accompany you back to Konoha now. Did you see that beautiful older sister just now? Let her take you back to Konoha instead."
Jiraiya smiled.
"Why?"
Yueshu asked, but in the next second, he suddenly remembered something.
At the end of the Second Shinobi World War, Jiraiya did not return to Konoha but stayed in Rain Ninja Village for three years. During these three years, he lived with three children, teaching them Ninjutsu so they could live safely in the war-torn Rain Ninja Village for three years.
Those three were the future elder-level figures of Akatsuki—Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko.
"Well, a man always has a few things that keep him busy. You'll understand when you grow up."
Jiraiya chuckled softly, then ran back into the camp.
"Tsunade, please take this little guy back to Konoha in a bit."
As Jiraiya's voice fell, the camp erupted in chaos again.
Yueshu watched from outside, his lips curving slightly upwards.
The gloomy atmosphere that had just permeated the air was alleviated by Jiraiya's antics, even Tsunade was influenced by him.
As Jiraiya had said, Jiraiya, covered in bumps, said goodbye to Yueshu and slipped away. Tsunade, resignedly, led Yueshu and the Konoha troops in their evacuation from Rain Ninja Village.
Thus, the Second Shinobi World War truly ended, but Rain Ninja Village, the battlefield, was no longer what it once was.
The Konoha troops were evacuating en masse, and Tsunade, still somewhat reluctantly, led Yueshu at the very front of the team.
Konoha, huh.
Yueshu thought as he walked. Just a day ago, he was merely a somewhat decent sports enthusiast, and now he was treading upon the very land of the two-dimensional world he loved most.
Thinking this, Yueshu's lips curved upwards slightly, a mix of excitement and joy.
Tsunade, beside him, glanced at Yueshu several times out of the corner of her eye, imprinting his expression into her memory.
Her gaze flickered, as if she saw another figure before her.
"Lady Tsunade,"
"What's wrong?"
Tsunade snapped out of her daze, looking at Yueshu beside her.
"Thank you for taking me back to Konoha."
"Thank me for what? If you want to thank someone, thank Jiraiya. He just likes to meddle."
Tsunade's voice sounded somewhat cold and aloof, but upon closer inspection, one could detect a hint of tenderness hidden within.
Yueshu smiled and said again,
"Even so, I still think I should thank you."
Tsunade looked at Yueshu twice, then turned her head away.
"Whatever."
The conversation ended, and Tsunade no longer paid attention to Yueshu, nor did Yueshu say anything further.
They walked together, the large and small figures at the very front of the group.
Tsunade exhaled softly, unnoticed by anyone.
The faint smell of blood from behind her made her nauseous; the reason she walked at the very front was to avoid seeing the blood she detested.
Even if it was the blood of her comrades who had stood with her on this battlefield.
Jiraiya had meddled again, picking up a child and directly dumping him on her. Tsunade was initially furious, but this child resembled her younger brother, Senju Nawaki, remarkably.
It wasn't because of his appearance, but rather a certain aura he exuded, especially when he smiled, which directly reminded Tsunade of Senju Nawaki when he was young.
She secretly glanced sideways again. Yueshu walked quietly, his gaze fixed forward, his eyes seeming to hold a light within them.
So similar! Truly similar!
A wave of sadness surged in Tsunade's chest. Nawaki was also like this, his eyes always radiating light. He wasn't the warm sunshine of the sun, but rather like a large tree, gently embracing everything around him.
Withdrawing her gaze, Tsunade eased the sadness in her heart and continued to evacuate with the troops.
The next few days were spent evacuating. Although Rain Ninja Village and Konoha Village were not far apart, it was ultimately a collective trek, and the journey still took quite some time.
These days, Yueshu had been following Tsunade. Although they didn't say much and the atmosphere remained the same, the other Ninjas, now that the war had finally ended, slowly shed the shadow of their fallen comrades, and the team was no longer so gloomy.
After walking for several days, Konoha Village, which Yueshu had been looking forward to, finally appeared before his eyes.
Walking along the forest path, the spirits of the accompanying people lifted considerably. The large gate ahead slowly emerged, and the outline of a Village gradually came into view.
It was like seeing an island continuously emerging during a sea voyage. Yueshu felt as if he had discovered a new continent; Konoha Village was his new continent.
"Mission: Enter Konoha with Jiraiya's help: Completed. Reward: one lottery draw."
The moment Yueshu took his first step through the main gate, a voice sounded in his mind.