Amamiya Kenichi only gave Jiraiya a single glance, then continued dragging the unconscious man along.
He had no intention of starting a conversation. With his face changed by the Face Erasure Technique, the Toad Sage shouldn't recognize him anyway.
"Hey, kid, who's that you're hauling around?"
Jiraiya walked over anyway, curiosity written all over his face.
Kenichi was a little surprised.
A guy like Jiraiya, always wandering the world, had definitely seen this sort of thing a thousand times. It wasn't like he'd suddenly grow a conscience and meddle for justice. So if he was asking…
What exactly are you after?
"War spoils," Kenichi answered after a short pause.
He deliberately lowered his voice, roughening it so it came out hoarse and unfriendly.
Jiraiya's interest faded almost instantly.
"Ah. I see."
He chuckled, turned, and headed toward the black market town. Kenichi quietly let out a breath.
It wasn't that he was afraid of Jiraiya.
The man was just… really annoying to deal with.
Especially his persistence.
Once Jiraiya decided on something, he always saw it through to the end.
Like that time he'd declared he'd catch both Orochimaru and Kenichi. Then proceeded to chase them for years. That was the real reason Orochimaru eventually abandoned all his bases in the Land of Fire.
The guy just wouldn't give up.
Kenichi was about to leave when Jiraiya suddenly turned back again and reached out, as if to grab his arm.
Kenichi's wariness spiked instantly.
"Hey, hey, kid—sorry, sorry. I just wanted to ask…" Jiraiya pulled his hand back with an awkward laugh. "Does this black market have a bookstore?"
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
No wonder Orochimaru always said he didn't like talking to this man.
"A bookstore? Haven't seen one," Kenichi said after thinking it over. "You can look around yourself."
This black market wasn't that big, but he hadn't done a full tour. He'd just wanted to buy his materials and go.
"Damn, that's a shame. I was planning to sell my new book here—earn some royalty money for my travels."
Jiraiya let out a depressed sigh.
New book, huh…
Now Kenichi was interested.
Everyone knew what kind of books Jiraiya wrote.
Though to be fair, he hadn't always written that kind. Early on he'd actually written serious novels. Like Minato's favorite, The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja.
Of course, in Kenichi's mind, Jiraiya's most "famous" work would always be the future classic Kakashi would be obsessed with:
Icha Icha Paradise.
"Jiraiya-sama, you write books too? Is it another Gutsy Ninja?" Kenichi asked, genuinely curious.
If it was Icha Icha Paradise, buying a copy to… study the composition and pacing didn't sound bad at all.
Study.
Purely academic.
Definitely not for "handiwork."
"Oh? You've read my books?" Jiraiya instantly perked up.
For someone of his notoriety, people recognizing him wasn't strange. But hearing that someone had actually read his writing always hit him differently.
"I've read a bit," Kenichi nodded.
He really had. He'd found one of Jiraiya's older novels in Orochimaru's trash pile.
Back when he'd just become Orochimaru's disciple, he'd practically lived in a 007 schedule just to survive. He knew perfectly well how cold Orochimaru could be.
He'd expected to get turned into an experiment at any moment.
But it turned out Orochimaru was unexpectedly reasonable—he hadn't casually tossed him on an operating table. That had lightened Kenichi's mental load a lot.
Of course, all the little chores—like cleaning—still fell on him.
And it was during one of those cleaning sessions that he unearthed one of Jiraiya's novels from the trash.
It was only one book, but he'd read it cover to cover.
He had to admit: it was pretty interesting.
"In that case, wanna take a look at my new work?" Jiraiya's eyes sparkled.
Before Kenichi could answer, he chuckled and added, "But I can only show you the first part."
Kenichi saw that look and felt a sudden sense of kinship—as fellow "men of culture." He hurried to express his willingness to "critically review" the manuscript.
Jiraiya beamed and handed over a thick stack of pages.
Kenichi glanced down—and immediately saw a ton of words that, in his previous world, would've been auto-filtered and hard-banned.
His satisfaction skyrocketed.
Yeah. This has to be an Icha Icha–class manuscript.
And not just a printed copy, either.
This was original draft material.
He'd somehow ended up holding something the future Kakashi would probably kill to own.
If he kept it safe, maybe one day he could sell it to him for a fortune.
After all, that man was Jiraiya's most devoted fanboy. Limited editions? Special versions? Kakashi would never pass them up.
The only pity was that Jiraiya probably wouldn't let him keep the manuscript.
Then again… maybe he could talk him into it.
There was still a chance, right?
With such beautiful thoughts in mind, Kenichi's gaze dropped to the title written on the front page.
"The Things I Just Can't Say About Me and the Serpent Princess"
Kenichi choked on his own spit.
"Cough—cough, cough—!"
What the hell kind of title was that?
This wasn't Icha Icha Paradise at all!
And "Serpent Princess"?
With Jiraiya's identity, and that name, how was he supposed not to think of a certain someone?
Kenichi forced himself to calm down and flipped the manuscript open.
He'd assumed he was overthinking it.
Maybe it was just another character with an unfortunate name.
But the further he read…
The heavier his expression became.
The story followed a poor, talentless kid who randomly inherited the power of the "God of Shinobi," then became a disciple of the strongest village—Konoha's Hokage.
He ended up on a three-man cell with a tsundere blonde loli, and a seemingly cold, black-haired "boy" with straight hair.
Until one day, by complete accident, the protagonist discovered the truth:
The "cold black-haired boy" was actually…
A black-haired beauty.
A straight-haired, cold, beautiful girl.
Then came all sorts of "unavoidable developments"—all backed by lavish scene description and suspiciously detailed body movements.
As Kenichi read on, something else rose with his blood pressure.
He couldn't deny it—this new work really showed off Jiraiya's writing chops.
Solid prose.
Tight pacing.
Scenes that practically dragged your imagination by the collar.
It was… infuriatingly good.
But why.
Why.
WHY WAS THE BLACK-HAIRED BEAUTY NAMED "SERPENT PRINCESS"?!
"Jiraiya-sama… this is…?" Kenichi finally looked up, expression twisted.
He stared at Jiraiya like he was seeing a whole new species.
So that's how it is, huh?
All these years, the one with the dirtiest brain…
Had always been Jiraiya.
The man with thick eyebrows and "righteous spirit" on his forehead…
Was actually writing this about his childhood teammate?
Somewhere in the distance, Kenichi could almost hear Orochimaru sneezing in confusion.