Yuki Seisui lifted the corpse from the ground and smiled at Jiraiya.
"I'll definitely make Chiyo feel just as miserable as if her son had died."
Looking at Yuki Seisui, Jiraiya didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Her son is already dead because of you.
Even if you don't provoke her, she'll still be suffering the pain of losing a child.
Watching Yuki Seisui walk out with Uchiha Haru, the two of them carrying the corpses together, Jiraiya still couldn't help but warn him.
"Provoking them is fine, but don't go too far."
The moment the words left his mouth, even Jiraiya himself froze.
Leaping up from a sickbed in shock—was the saintly one… actually me?
Jiraiya's emotions were complicated, but Yuki Seisui didn't bother with any of that. Without even turning his head, he replied,
"When I handle things, you can rest easy."
"And next time, please say jonin Yuki."
"When outside, address people by their rank."
"Alright, jonin Yuki," Jiraiya replied without the slightest burden.
"Just don't provoke them too much. It's not the right time to start a war."
"Got it."
Yuki Seisui made an OK gesture, then left together with Uchiha Haru.
Once they were outside, Uchiha Haru finally frowned and asked,
"What are you planning to do with those two corpses?"
"What else?" Yuki Seisui gave a mysterious smile.
"Of course, to provoke the Sand ninja and Chiyo."
"But will that really provoke the Sand?" Uchiha Haru carried Bainai's corpse and frowned.
"They're Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, not the Sunagakure's children."
"Just watch," Yuki Seisui said with a faint smile, saying nothing more.
They had barely taken two steps when Yuki Seisui suddenly stopped.
"What is it?"
"I just thought of something." Yuki Seisui frowned and looked back toward Jiraiya's tent.
"Hm?"
"Jiraiya-sensei actually really called me jonin Yuki."
"That's not right. Extremely not right."
Hearing this, Uchiha Haru was also stunned and frowned in thought.
"It does seem that way."
Only now did she realize it as well.
Every time they met, Jiraiya-sensei would always get furious, calling him "little brat" or worse.
But this time, he was unusually abnormal—he actually followed Yuki Seisui's words and called him jonin Yuki.
At this moment, not only Yuki Seisui, but even Uchiha Haru felt that something was off.
Inside the tent, after Yuki Seisui had left, Jiraiya let out a snicker.
"Provoke the Sand, huh? I'd like to see how you're going to do that!"
Jiraiya didn't believe this was some random idea.
Ever since hearing the prophecy from the Great Toad Sage, Yuki Seisui's image in his heart had completely changed.
This student of his carried grand ambitions and lofty ideals.
All of his flaws were deliberately put on display.
That was the current image of Yuki Seisui in Jiraiya's mind.
One word—abstract.
As Jiraiya thought this, he glanced at the unconscious Sand ninja and swiftly tied them all together.
"That should do it." He clapped his hands, smiled smugly at the bound Sand ninja, then rapidly formed hand seals.
"Ninjutsu: Toad Transformation!"
With a puff of white smoke, Jiraiya transformed into a blue toad no bigger than an ordinary frog.
Outside, Yuki Seisui and Uchiha Haru exchanged a glance.
"Jiraiya-sensei must be plotting something evil."
"Haru, keep an eye out these next few days."
"Mm." Uchiha Haru nodded.
"Even if we don't know what that old Jiraiya is up to, if you sense anything wrong around us, just swing the Uchiha gunbai and unleash Great Fanned Fire."
"Jiraiya-sensei won't die from it anyway. At most, he'll suffer a bit."
Hearing this, Uchiha Haru hesitated.
"Isn't that… not very appropriate?"
"After all, he is Jiraiya-sensei…"
"What's inappropriate about it?" Yuki Seisui shook his head and said righteously,
"That old Jiraiya is thick-skinned and tough. Tsunade-neesan has beaten him up so many times—hasn't he survived every time?"
"Besides, even if he's beaten to the brink of death, isn't there Tsunade-neesan, the greatest medical ninja?"
"So don't hold back. It'll be fine."
As he spoke, Yuki Seisui carried a corpse in one hand and wrapped the other arm around Uchiha Haru's shoulder, smiling casually.
"…Alright." Uchiha Haru was still hesitant, but she nodded in the end.
Not far behind them, Jiraiya—now in his blue toad form—had just happened to hear everything Yuki Seisui said.
Visible anger appeared on his toad-like face.
I treat you like the Child of Prophecy, and you treat me like some old geezer?!
I'd like to see what you're really planning!
Jiraiya thought to himself as he hid in a low patch of grass.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yuki Seisui glanced toward Jiraiya's hiding place, the corner of his mouth lifting into an almost imperceptible curve.
Such a tiny Jiraiya… how laughable.
The moment he sensed something off about Jiraiya, he had already activated the Mind's Eye of the Kagura.
Everything Jiraiya did was completely within his perception—casting a jutsu in the tent, then secretly following him.
If he hadn't wanted to tease that old Jiraiya a bit, he would've already walked up, activated the Mangekyo, and asked,
"Do you also want to sink into the world of genjutsu?"
With that thought, Yuki Seisui returned to his own campsite together with Uchiha Haru.
"Minato, get up!" Yuki Seisui tossed the corpse onto the ground and directly pulled open Minato's tent.
Minato, who was in the middle of "rewarding himself": "…"
"Minato… what are you—"
Yuki Seisui froze, startled, and instinctively stepped back.
Looking closely, he saw that Minato was surrounded by piles of snacks and all kinds of food.
"So you found out, Seisui." Minato stuffed something into his mouth and spoke unclearly.
"The things your supporters asked me to deliver to you—I didn't give them to you."
"This is one of the few rewards where I actually beat you!" As he spoke, he kept shoving food into his mouth.
"Seisui, I'm not giving these to you!"
"You really don't need to do this…" Yuki Seisui looked genuinely worried.
Seeing Minato turn into this ridiculous state—he couldn't honestly say it had nothing to do with him.
The bright, ever-cheerful Minato had somehow become a complete goofball.
This is hard to watch.
No—Minato was probably always a goofball.
I just brought out his inner goofiness.
Yes, that must be it, Yuki Seisui reassured himself silently.
Minato didn't stop eating and asked unclearly,
"It's nothing. Go on rewarding yourself." Yuki Seisui stepped out of the tent and picked up the corpse again.
"Didn't you say we'd go together with Minato?" Uchiha Haru asked, puzzled.
"Where's Minato?"
"He's busy rewarding himself. Just the two of us will do."
Before Uchiha Haru could react, Jiraiya—who had been secretly following them—was utterly shocked.
He's fallen!
The blue little toad hopped over to Minato's tent, lifted a corner buried in the dirt, and peeked inside—only to see Minato surrounded by snacks, eating heartily in the middle of them.
"Peh!" Jiraiya spat and turned away.
Here he was, thinking it was some profound kind of "self-reward."
========
Yuki Seisui led Uchiha Haru toward the Sand ninja's direction, with Jiraiya trailing behind them.
When they were close enough, Yuki Seisui finally looked at Uchiha Haru and said,
"I'll cut a couple of bamboo stalks from the bamboo grove. Stay here and don't move."
"Alright." Uchiha Haru nodded. Though she didn't know what he planned to do, she agreed without hesitation.
The bamboo in the grove where the panda clan lived grew tall and straight.
Long.
Hard.
Thick.
From behind them, Jiraiya stared at Yuki Seisui in confusion.
"What is that brat planning to do?"
What does he need bamboo for?
No matter how much he thought about it, Jiraiya couldn't figure it out.
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Completed version available on Patreon P@treon(.)com/Veltoria