Just then, the Third Hokage finally arrived.
Worried about the safety of Asuma and the others, he had slowed his pace a bit to avoid them being taken hostage by the 'spy' lurking in the shadows.
Now, looking at the shattered ground and the charred forest, the Third Hokage felt a shock run through him.
Ninjas were always good at assassination, possessing strong single-target elimination capabilities.
As long as they had the advantage of intelligence, a Genin could potentially assassinate a Jonin. But battles that almost altered the terrain, like the one before him, were quite rare among Ninjas.
The Third Hokage quickly noticed a trench on the ground that seemed to have been formed by a shockwave.
Following this trench, he indeed found Setsuna and the 'spy' mentioned by Obito and the others at the end of it.
"Wait, that person isn't..." The Third Hokage's eyes gradually widened. Although the person's injuries were quite severe, his face swollen like a pig's head from friction with the ground, the Third Hokage recognized him at a glance… his disciple, one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya.
"Haha! That spy was caught by Setsuna-san!" Obito was very excited.
"This is the scene after Setsuna-senpai fought the enemy?" Asuma couldn't help but gasp. Seeing the spy's miserable state, he felt a wave of retrospective fear.
'Luckily, I had only been sparring with Setsuna-senpai. If I had really fought him, my small body would probably have been turned into mincemeat with one punch.'
Guy's eyes were blazing, sparkling with light: "Can a Taijutsu specialist be this powerful too?"
The Third Hokage tried hard to keep his voice calm: "By the way, why did you think he was a spy?"
Kakashi said: "I found him peeping at the women's bathhouse and tried to catch him, but he easily defeated me. Such strength isn't something an ordinary Jonin would have. Moreover, after being discovered, he didn't explain himself and was solely focused on escaping. Doesn't someone like that seem exactly like a spy from an enemy village?"
Hearing that Jiraiya had been beaten into such a sorry state because of peeping, the Third Hokage's mustache trembled slightly: "Ha...haha, children, you have done very well."
Internally, he was thinking that he could no longer use... well, in the future, when using his Telescope Technique, he must be doubly careful, otherwise he might lose his reputation in his old age.
At that moment, Setsuna jogged back holding Jiraiya, playing dumb: "Hokage-sama, this person's headband is engraved with the character [Oil]. Do you know which Ninja Village's symbol this is?"
The Third Hokage laughed awkwardly: "Haha, he's actually not a spy from an enemy village. He is my disciple, one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya."
Obito was incredulous, his expression one of shattered illusions, muttering to himself: "Is this what the Sannin are like?"
Setsuna also inwardly scoffed. Rather than calling them the [Sannin], it would be more appropriate to call them the [Three Scourges], covering pornography, gambling, and drugs. (T/N: Sannin means Three Ninja.)
Of course, in this chaotic Ninja World, Jiraiya, who was only involved with 'pornography', could almost be considered a moral paragon.
At least he wouldn't bite the hand that fed him, nor did he harbor extreme ideologies like massacring villages or clans. He was practically a breath of fresh air in the Ninja World.
Kakashi was also surprised. He had met another one of the Sannin, Orochimaru, before, and that man is someone who inspired awe and fear at first sight. He found it very difficult to connect this peeping tom at the women's bathhouse with the Sannin like Orochimaru.
Asuma looked suspiciously at his own father. He had seen the old man reading a book once with a lecherous smile on his face.
When he asked the old man who the author was, the old man said it was a work given to him by his disciple Jiraiya, and that the book contained very deep ideological content.
'But now, looking at it, could someone who peeps at women's bathhouses really write any good books?'
Seeing the kids' expressions grow increasingly strange, the Third Hokage coughed: "Jiraiya was sent out by me to gather intelligence. As for the incident of peeping at the women's bathhouse, it must be a misunderstanding. There might have been an important person in the bathhouse that he needed to surveil."
Obito felt somewhat guilty: "Huh? Then we hit the wrong person?"
Kakashi, however, frowned. He carefully recalled the perverted smile on Jiraiya's face at the time. He knew it was definitely not the expression one should have while surveilling someone.
The Third Hokage hurriedly reassured them: "You can't be blamed for this. It was Jiraiya's own carelessness that exposed his position. The long period of peaceful life has made him lose his caution, which is very dangerous for a Ninja. I should thank you for making him alert again."
Obito looked at Jiraiya's pig-like face, and a feeling of respect welled up inside him: "As expected of a Sannin. Even beaten to such a state, he didn't voluntarily reveal his identity. He is truly dedicated to his duty."
"Thankfully you arrived in time, Hokage-sama. Otherwise, I might have accidentally killed Jiraiya-sama." Setsuna sighed, then lightly tapped a few points on Jiraiya's body.
The Third Hokage showed a surprised expression, thinking to himself: 'He even knows how to strike Tenketsu?'
Jiraiya, enduring the pain, stood up and laughed awkwardly: "Haha, actually, I was testing you all. Well, you did very well. I didn't expect the village to have produced so many excellent Ninjas in the years I've been away."
Setsuna naturally knew that this wasn't Jiraiya's true strength.
Jiraiya in Sage Mode, whether in attack, defense, perception, or recovery ability, was far superior to his normal state. Moreover, there's also the assistance of the two Toad Sages. That was Jiraiya's complete form.
But Setsuna didn't underestimate himself either. Unless prepared in advance, Jiraiya simply couldn't use Sage Mode in front of him.
It can be said that his current strength was absolutely top-tier in the Ninja World.
Jiraiya spoke while looking at Setsuna: "Especially you. You're a newly promoted Jonin of the village, right?"
Judging by Setsuna's appearance, he seemed to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. For a genius Ninja, becoming a Jonin at that age wasn't strange.
Setsuna shook his head slightly: "I just graduated from the Ninja Academy today. I don't even know when I'll be able to take the Chunin Exams."
Jiraiya felt like cursing, 'Is this a f*cking Genin?'
Seeing that no one else showed any strange expressions, Jiraiya knew Setsuna wasn't lying. He couldn't help but mourn silently for the candidates of the next Chunin Exams.
'Being in the same exam as such a monster would be hellish difficulty.'
The Third Hokage said: "Children, you've worked hard today. You can go back now. I have some matters to discuss with Jiraiya."
After Setsuna and the others had gone far away, Jiraiya let out a howl of pain, startling even the Third Hokage, who said irritably: "Shouldn't you be used to being beaten by Tsunade by now?"
Jiraiya grimaced in pain: "That brat hits too hard. His fists are heavier than Tsunade's."
The Third Hokage snorted coldly: "You can only blame yourself for that. You're not young anymore, yet you still go peeping at women's bathhouses. You deserved to be beaten."
The corner of Jiraiya's mouth twitched slightly, 'Sensei, does your conscience really not hurt when you say that?'
But thinking that his teacher had bailed him out this time, he couldn't argue back. He just sighed: "I originally wanted to create a new work to give to Minato."
The Third Hokage thought of the fiery-tempered Kushina and coughed a few times: "If you don't want to get beaten again, you should give him something normal."
Jiraiya's eyes widened: "What's wrong with my 'Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja'?"
The Third Hokage sneered: "Is it so normal that you need to gather material at the women's bathhouse?"
Jiraiya argued: "This time it wasn't for gathering material, it was for stimulating inspiration! Just like how you need to smoke to relieve fatigue when handling the village's governmental affairs, I also occasionally need some visual stimulation to spark inspiration."
The Third Hokage shook his head slightly and asked: "By the way, how did you actually lose? Were you careless?"
Jiraiya's expression turned serious: "I wasn't careless. Apart from not using Sage Mode, I had already used almost my full strength. His speed was too fast, and I couldn't form hand seals for more complex Jutsu in time. His power is even more terrifying, as even the flesh walls of the Rock Lodging Toad I summoned couldn't block his punch. He's simply a monster."
The Third Hokage's eyes shone brightly, 'It seems with just a little training, Konoha could gain another top-tier powerhouse, and a war machine like the Raikage at that.'
Jiraiya asked again: "By the way, Sensei, what's that brat's name?"
The Third Hokage said: "His name is Chiaki Setsuna."
Jiraiya heard this and asked suspiciously: "Sensei, are you sure it's Chiaki Setsuna, not Senju Setsuna?"
The Third shook his head and smiled: "I understand what you mean, but he is indeed not from that clan. He is, like Orochimaru, a hardworking genius born from ordinary lineage."
"Sigh, I always end up being the stepping stone for geniuses." Jiraiya sighed gloomily. "I think I'll wander around for a while longer. If Orochimaru and Tsunade see the injuries on my face, I don't know how they'll mock me."