"Big brother, when are we retreating? We've plundered enough supplies in the Land of Fire."
A voice came from inside the cave, making Jiraiya and the others outside prick up their ears and listen carefully.
"One last score, and then we'll withdraw from the Land of Fire and return to the Land of Lightning."
Another voice followed, causing a glint to flash in the eyes of Jiraiya and the others. This group of people were from the Land of Lightning. In that case, the probability of them being from the Hidden Cloud Village was as high as 90%.
"There have been fewer and fewer merchant caravans passing through here recently. They must have been scared away," the subordinate from before said unhappily.
"Then we'll wait for three more days. If no merchant caravans come, we'll withdraw," the leader said after a moment of contemplation, making the final decision.
"Yes, we'll listen to you, big brother."
The others all nodded, and then it fell silent inside.
Minato made a "don't attack" gesture to Jiraiya. Jiraiya nodded, then held up three fingers, then two. When he held up one finger, Jiraiya waved his hand, and Minato and the other two rushed inside.
"Don't move! Squat down and put your hands on your head!" Minato shouted as soon as he entered. The others stared at him blankly, not understanding what he meant.
"Sorry, wrong set."
"Fire Release—Great Fire Annihilation!"
Minato smiled awkwardly. He was too nervous and had made a mistake, even saying the lines for catching thieves from his previous life. But his hands were not slow. While everyone was stunned, he spat out a raging fire from his mouth, enveloping the entire cave.
"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"
As the raging fire burned the entire cave, both Jiraiya's group and the ninjas from the Land of Lightning all fled the cave.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
"Aaargh! Aaargh!"
Jiraiya and the other two only retreated to the entrance and stopped, but the people from the Land of Lightning did not stop and rushed out, triggering the traps.
A pile of explosive tags exploded. A Chunin with weaker strength was immediately blown to a bloody pulp and lay on the ground, rolling around. He was clearly seriously injured.
This made the fleeing Land of Lightning ninjas stop in their tracks.
At this time, Minato also rushed out of the cave and surrounded the enemy with Jiraiya.
Minato had pointed out all those traps before. As long as they were careful, there would be no problem.
"Ninjas of the Land of Lightning, do you belong to the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, the Hidden Cloud Village, or some other ninja clan?" Jiraiya asked in a deep voice, looking at the six people in front of him.
As for the one wailing on the ground, he didn't bother with him.
"To think the people of Konoha would arrive so quickly. We were just about to make one last score," the leader of the Land of Lightning ninjas said in a deep voice, but his tone was not panicked. The other side only had four people.
Looking at their age, they should have just graduated this year. Because Minato was obviously a ninja in his early teens, and the other two, who were a little older, probably didn't have good talent and had graduated with this little brat.
One had to admit, Minato's group really gave the enemy the wrong impression, making them mistakenly think they were newly graduated Genin.
This also made them miss the opportunity to escape.
"Ah, I remember now! You're the elite Jonin of the Hidden Cloud Village, Ichiro Watanabe!" Jiraiya suddenly slapped his head, remembering where he had seen this leader.
As an elite Jonin of the Hidden Cloud Village, Konoha had intelligence on him. No wonder he felt this person looked familiar at first. It turned out he was from the Hidden Cloud Village.
"You must be the disciple of Konoha's Third Hokage, Jiraiya. Then can you let us pass?"
Ichiro Watanabe had obviously also recognized Jiraiya. As elite Jonin, they were the top combatants of their respective villages. Basically, every village had intelligence on the other's high-level combat personnel.
"Do you think that's possible? You've plundered so many things in the Land of Fire and are preparing to take them back to the Hidden Cloud Village. Are your battles with the Hidden Stone Village so difficult?"
Jiraiya felt he had obtained a piece of incredible intelligence. The Cloud Ninja needed so many supplies. The Hidden Cloud Village's sworn enemy was the Hidden Stone Village. Then it was estimated that they were about to go to war with the Hidden Stone Village.
"Then let's settle this with strength. We have six people on our side. Do you think these newly graduated little brats can survive in my hands?" Ichiro Watanabe revealed a cruel smile, preparing to kill all the Konoha ninjas.
"Then let's give it a try," facing Ichiro Watanabe, Jiraiya was not afraid at all. His strength was above that of an elite Jonin, but he had not yet reached the Kage level. He could be considered a semi-Kage, or a quasi-Kage.
An elite Jonin was no match for him. He was confident.
As for the others, he believed in his students. Mikoto and Gekko both had the strength of elite Chunin, and Minato could even defeat a Special Jonin. As long as they held on for a while until he dealt with Ichiro Watanabe, the scales of victory would tip in their favor.
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