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After polishing off their bowls of ramen, Matsuyama Ichiro led the caravan back onto the road that afternoon.
Along the way, he chatted casually with Jiraiya.
The mission itself hadn't changed—they were still going to trade with Gato. But from what he'd managed to dig up, Gato had apparently propped up a few gangs in the Land of Waves, the kind of people who didn't exactly do business "politely."
Ichiro was worried about getting double-crossed.
Matsuyama Koji had already warned them about that.
Jiraiya accepted this job not just for the money or the S-rank difficulty. He was genuinely curious about the Land of Waves and about Gato himself.
"Lord Jiraiya, do you know much about this Gato guy?"
"Not really. He's someone who shot up out of nowhere in the last few years and squeezed out a bunch of our old clients."
Matsuyama Ichiro sighed.
He glanced at Jiraiya, then asked, "Everyone's fighting over control of the Land of Waves. Haven't you guys thought about sending someone over there?"
"The Land of Waves, huh…"
Jiraiya truly didn't know the situation there.
At the moment, matters like that were under Danzo's jurisdiction.
He paused for a moment, thinking.
"Is the situation over there really that bad?"
"It's a mess," Ichiro said firmly, explaining the chaos currently swallowing the Land of Waves.
"On the surface it looks like the local gangs are fighting over territory, but in reality a bunch of them are backed by the Land of Water or the Land of Lightning. That's why it's all chaos."
"The Land of Water… Land of Lightning…"
Jiraiya frowned.
The Land of Waves sat in a very strategic position.
It was close to the Land of Fire, but wedged right between Lightning and Water—basically the middle of the three nations' sea routes.
He opened his mouth as if to speak, then shut it again and stayed quiet.
Entering the Land of Waves…
Given its proximity to the Land of Fire, it would make sense for them to intervene. But as someone who genuinely believed in peace, the idea didn't sit right with him at all.
Leo stayed silent.
Pulling the Land of Waves toward the Land of Fire—and by extension Konoha—would definitely be beneficial. And as "Hokage," he'd get a nice slice of profit out of it too.
But—
Technically speaking, a seven-year-old shouldn't know anything about international affairs.
So he'd just go take a look first.
Once he toured the area, he could naturally "gain insights."
Genius children, after all…
As long as the persona was established properly, everything made sense!
All the effort he'd put in so far wasn't wasted.
Leo sighed inwardly.
After a long silence, Jiraiya finally said, "We'll see. Some decisions aren't mine to make."
Realizing that Jiraiya didn't want to discuss it further, Ichiro immediately bowed and headed to the back of the caravan to go over business plans with his team.
Jiraiya turned toward Kakashi.
"You're not doing anything anyway. How about we play with a ball for a bit?"
As he spoke, he tossed a balloon to Leo. "Give me a hand. Fill this with water—not too full."
"Sure."
Leo didn't even form a seal. He casually filled the balloon with water.
"Here."
He didn't even use seals… and his water-release chakra control is already this good?
He'd only been reading those scrolls for a few days.
And he improved again?!
Jiraiya blinked in disbelief, but quickly handed the water balloon to Kakashi.
"Using only chakra, find a way to burst it."
"Got it."
Kakashi took the balloon.
Walking as he thought it through, he began to gather chakra.
Under his control, the chakra crashed around like a blade trying to cut through the water, but no matter how he manipulated it, he couldn't get the chakra and the water to tear the balloon.
It was…
not nearly as simple as it looked.
He frowned.
Jiraiya chuckled, shot him a look, and said, "Leo, wanna give it a try?"
"Can I?"
"Of course."
Jiraiya nodded.
Leo took the water-filled balloon.
In no time, the water inside started spinning and crashing around wildly. Soon the balloon's surface bulged from the violent pressure until—
Pop!
Water sprayed everywhere.
It exploded.
Kakashi blinked.
Kurenai blinked too.
Then she quietly glanced over at her teammate—
Thank goodness.
With that mask on, you couldn't really see his expression, but still… Leo was seriously impressive. He popped it on his first try.
Jiraiya was shocked to his core, but as a seasoned jonin who'd spent half his life wandering around towns and back alleys, his skin was thicker than sandal leather. He didn't let a hint of emotion show.
"Once you get the trick, it's not that hard."
Leo clapped his hands, brushing off the water and shredded bits of balloon.
Jiraiya handed him another balloon, completely calm. "Nicely done. You don't need to keep practicing this. Go make one for Kakashi."
Kurenai struggled to hold in a laugh.
Unlucky for her.
"Pfft—"
Too late.
All three men turned to look at her. She went a little red and rushed to explain, "I wasn't laughing at that! I just remembered something funny, that's all."
Leo barely kept a straight face.
Obviously, that explanation wasn't convincing anyone—least of all Jiraiya or Kakashi.
Kakashi might've had his face hidden, but his eyes were dark, not exactly cheerful. Watching Leo do something so easily when he couldn't had clearly hit him hard.
Jiraiya, meanwhile, had been through so many battles and humiliations that nothing could shake him anymore.
He stayed unfazed.
"Alright. You move on to stage two. You work on that, and Kakashi keeps practicing with the balloon."
Leo filled another balloon with water for Kakashi, then took the rubber ball Jiraiya handed him.
"As for Kurenai… heh heh…"
Jiraiya let out a weird laugh.
Kurenai tensed at first, but quickly accepted her fate. She'd already laughed—no taking it back now.
Whatever was coming, she'd deal with it.
She thought she'd be training too, but instead Jiraiya tossed her a big pack.
"You're carrying this. Consider it weighted training."
Kurenai strapped it on without complaint.
Kakashi stared at his balloon like it had personally offended him.
He'd always been called a prodigy—everything he learned came quick and easy, at least from the outside.
Only he knew how much work he put in behind the scenes.
But now?
Ever since classes split and he ended up grouped with Leo after being brushed off by those chunin, he felt like he'd been pushed into someone else's shadow… like he'd become one of the people who used to watch him from below.
Kakashi clenched his fist.
It's fine.
I'll get it soon. I will.
…
A long while later—
Pop!
Kakashi calmly brushed the bits of rubber off his hands and looked toward Jiraiya and Leo. But remembering that they'd already passed this test a while ago, the pride he'd hoped to feel evaporated instantly.
His shoulders slumped.
"Sensei, I'm done."
"Good. Start working on the rubber ball next. Same deal as the balloon—you need to burst it with chakra. It's a hundred times tougher, though. This one'll keep you busy."
Jiraiya tossed him a rubber ball.
Kakashi caught it and immediately tried. The ball warped under the pressure, but no matter how he pushed, it refused to break. After a long struggle—
"Pff!"
A strange little noise escaped.
A tiny hole had opened, air leaking slowly out. The whole ball deflated in a sad, pathetic collapse.
He'd failed.
Kakashi hated it, but he also knew the ball really was hard to break.
He started brainstorming other methods.
Maybe…
Shadow Clone?
But no.
He didn't have enough chakra for that, and the half-baked version he could manage wasn't useful here.
Jiraiya tossed him another ball.
Kakashi didn't attempt it right away. He was thinking—planning. And just then, from beside him came a loud bang.
Pop!
Leo's ball exploded.
Kakashi froze, rubber ball in hand, staring at the shredded mess in Leo's.
Even the mask couldn't hide the shock radiating off him.
What… how…?
Jiraiya finally couldn't hold back anymore.
This kid…
It was like Leo was doing it on purpose! He'd burst the ball the second Jiraiya finished explaining—not even a moment later!
He looked down.
Leo's rubber ball had blown apart completely, not just with a hole or two. It was obliterated.
He actually did it.
Jiraiya was stunned.
How in the world…?
"How did you do that?"
Compared to Jiraiya's shock, Kakashi was much more direct.
If he couldn't understand it…
He'd just ask.
Otherwise, he wouldn't sleep tonight.
They'd all just learned this technique. How was Leo already mastering it?
"....."