"To be ho, I thought you were just going to let him go," Kyoichi remarked.

  "I wao, but he insisted on ing. Besides, this matter does require an expnation. Once we return to the vilge, I'll report it to my teacher," Minato sighed.

  Off to the side, Kakashi couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer. "Sehat person just now…"

  Everyone knew who Minato’s teacher was—one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya. A renowned figure across the ninja world.

  But to think that such a legendary shinobi actually had three disciples from Amegakure?

  Unbelievable!

  Kakashi felt like his worldview had just beeurned. pared to this shog revetion, Kyoichi’s profound and philosophical discussion earlier seemed far less relevant to the six young ninja.

  After all…

  Most of it went over their heads.

  That included Shisui.

  He was only five years old—how could he possibly grasp such deep ideological cepts? However, uhe others, he had forced himself to memorize Kyoichi’s words.

  Even so…

  Right now, he was no different from the rest—just another curious bystander, waiting for Minato to reveal the truth.

  "My teacher… traihem for a period of time. Calling them his disciples isn't wrong. He never explicitly stated it, but in his heart, that's what he believed," Minato expined.

  He thought about it for a moment and decided there was o hide the truth.

  It wasn't a secret anyway.

  Many high-ranking officials in Konoha already knew about it.

  Kakashi's eyes widened.

  Three disciples from another vilge…

  And if his calcutions were correct, the timing lined up—

  After the battle that made the Sannin famous, Jiraiya spent several years away from the vilge.

  So, during those years, he had been training disciples elsewhere?

  Minato then turo Kyoichi, curious. "You shouldn’t have known about this, but judging from your rea, it seems like you did…"

  "I've heard bits and pieces. Besides, that woman made it obvious," Kyoichi replied without hesitation.

  When Konan saw Minato, her first instinct was to say something. He was certain that, at that moment, she had beeing whether to use their e as leverage to escape.

  But Yahiko had stopped her.

  Kyoichi had to admit—

  Among the three, Yahiko was the one who thought things through the most. Konan cared primarily about their small group, while Nagato only focused owo of them.

  This differen perspective was what ehat after Yahiko's death, the other two would no longer be a .

  Which meant…

  Even if Yahiko didn't die at Hanzō's hands, his future would still be full of danger.

  Kyoiarrowed his eyes.

  "Konan, huh?"

  Minato thought about it and nodded. "That makes sense."

  Konan's behavior had been a bit too obvious—when she saw him, she had looked familiar aant, as if she wao say something.

  So, cluding that they knew each other wasn't unreasonable.

  Minato let out a quiet sigh.

  This situation…

  He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.

  "Whe back to the vilge, none of you are to say a word about this. Uood?" Kyoichi turo the six younger ninja.

  This was important.

  If Danzo decided to exploit this, he could easily use it to tarnish Minato and Jiraiya’s reputations within Konoha.

  "It's fine…" Minato, however, didn't seem too ed.

  Still…

  Kakashi and the others nodded seriously.

  As they made their way back to Konoha, Kyoichi and Minato walked side by side at the front.

  Minato lowered his void asked, "That red-haired guy earlier… he seemed to have some kind of cle ability, didn’t he?"

  "I'm not sure what it was, but it felt dangerous. So I made sure to avoid him. Judging by the effect, it seemed like some kind of repulsion-based secret teique," Kyoichi responded.

  "I thought so too," Minato mused, as his curiosity deepened.

  After a brief hesitation, he added, "You might not believe this, but I suspect he has some e to Kushina."

  "Kushina?"

  "Ahem! Sorry, I meant Uzumaki Kushina."

  Minato had spoken too casually and actally used her niame, fetting that Kyoichi wasn’t from his geion and probably wouldn’t uand.

  "Because of his red hair?" Kyoichi asked.

  "That’s part of it. But more importantly, his chakra reserves are massive, and his physical resilience is remarkable—it reminds me of your Senju ," Minato analyzed.

  Earlier, when he had observed Nagath his e, he had gotten a close look at his dition. There was no mistaking it.

  Of course…

  Kyoichi already khe truth.

  Nagato was reted to Kushina—his mother had been from the Uzumaki .

  But…

  That was about it.

  Minato seemed unusually talkative today, and Kyoichi quietly listened. He figured Minato was feeling a bit anxious—probably ed about Jiraiya's situation.

  But…

  There was nothing Kyoichi could do about that.

  The only thing he could do was keep his mouth shut and not spread this information.

  After a brief exge, the two separated.

  One leading, the other following—just in case of an ambush.

  However…

  Ohey ehe Land of Fire, both Kyoichi and Minato used their sensory abilities to s the surroundings. Then, they finally rexed.

  It was safe.

  As they took a break, Kyoichi g his system panel.

  [Mission plete: Guiding the "Akatsuki" anization]

  [Evaluation: First Stage – Good | Sed Stage – Outstanding!]

  [Reward: Water Release – Bck Rain Jutsu, Dance of the Shikigam

  Kyoichi blinked in surprise.

  The first reward wasn’t anything special—just a Rain Vilge teique that produced bck oil-infused rain. But the sed…

  Dance of the Shikigami!

  Konan’s unique ami-based ninjutsu.

  Teically, it was only a B-rank teique, but it represented endless potential.

  In fact…

  Konan herself hadn’t even fully developed it yet. Her current paper-based teiques mostly revolved around disguises and f shields or ons like paper shuriken. She hadn’t yet evolved it into the true Dance of the Shikigami or Paper Person of God Teique.

  That would e ter.

  Not bad…

  Kyoichi cimed his reward.

  Sihey were resting, he took the time to carefully absorb and ie the knowledge of the ami-based teiques.

  As for the Bck Rain Jutsu…

  It wasn’t particurly difficult, but the underlying principles intrigued him—it taught him how to vert chakra into a bck oil-like substance.

  If he bihat with his paper teiques and explosive tags…

  Kyoichi’s eyes lit up.

  That was an iing idea.

  He’d have to test it ter.

  "Minato, that Konan girl’s paper teique is quite fasating," Kyoichi ented offhandedly.

  "Sensei never mentio, so it must be something she developed retly," Minato mused.

  "It’s worth studying. I’ll look into it ter."

  Kyoichi casually phe idea.

  Minato didn’t overthink it and even offered a few thoughts of his own on how to refihe teique.

  The two exged quite a bit of insight during their journey.

  By the time they reached Konoha…

  Kyoichi and Minato’s retionship had noticeably improved—they were far less formal with each other now.

  Upourning to the vilge, there was no time for pleasantries. Minato immediately went to find Jiraiya.

  This was important.

  Fortunately, Jiraiya was still in the vilge.

  He had been worried about Minato and had postponed his departure.

  As for what happened afterward, Kyoichi wasn’t sure. All he knew was that the day, Jiraiya showed up at his door—carrying a pile of food and drinks.

  His expression was plicated—somewhere between joy and deep ption.

  Kyoichi could only guess how Jiraiya had reacted after learning the full story.

  But judging by his gift-bearing visit…

  It seemed things hadn’t turned out too badly?

  Gcell