Chapter 117: Warmth Before Departure
Soon, Jiraiya returned from the riverbank, his arms loaded with a heavy string of freshly caught fish.
The group quickly gathered dead branches and sparked a crackling campfire. Surprisingly, the one who took charge of the culinary duties wasn't Tsunade, but Orochimaru. Everyone silently shuffled back, deliberately making room for the pale-skinned genius to showcase his unexpected talents.
Nearby, Nawaki happily munched on two pieces of candy before Tsunade ruthlessly snatched the rest away. Stripped of his sugar supply, the young boy's face scrunched up, and he burst into loud, unrestrained tears. Jia sighed, scooped the wailing child into her arms, and attempted to coax him.
As it turned out, she was absolutely terrible at handling children. Her stiff pats and awkward words only made him cry harder. Ultimately, Kato Dan stepped in. With a warm, gentle smile and a soft voice, he managed to soothe the boy in seconds—a rather impressive feat.
Since they were all shinobi, sitting around the fire naturally led to swapping stories about newly mastered ninjutsu and chaotic missions. The atmosphere was warm and inviting. A few Konoha villagers strolling down the nearby dirt path noticed the picnic. Smiling, they waved at the group. The bond between Konoha's shinobi and its civilians had always been strong; the villagers held a deep, genuine respect for their protectors.
Of course, Jia was currently the glaring exception.
The moment the villagers' eyes landed on the girl wrapped in her dark cloak, their warm smiles froze and shattered.
"Isn't that girl..." one woman muttered, her eyes darting away in disgust.
"Shh... don't look," a man whispered harshly, pulling his companion along.
They quickened their pace, pretending they hadn't seen a thing, and vanished down the road. Just like that, the comfortable warmth of the campfire evaporated, replaced by a suffocating, heavy silence.
Seeing the dark scowls forming on her comrades' faces, Jia offered a light, breezy smile and gently bumped her shoulder against Tsunade's. "What's with you all? Why the long faces? It's just a minor thing. Besides, I don't even know them. They can glare all they want, as long as you guys are still willing to be my comrades."
Seeing that relaxed, seemingly unbothered smile, Tsunade's heart softened. She suddenly threw an arm around Jia's neck, pulling her into a tight hug. Tsunade rubbed her cheek against Jia's and aggressively ruffled her hair, treating her exactly like a stray cat.
"Of course you're our comrade! Who told you to be so cute and fun to pet anyway?"
Jia's eye twitched under the assault. 'Next time I swap personas, I need to pick a colder face. This one is way too easy to bully.'
Speaking of which... her gaze drifted downward. Tsunade was destined to be incredibly well-endowed in the future, wasn't she? Right now, the blonde kunoichi was as flat as a washboard. It was genuinely baffling to imagine how those legendary assets would eventually develop.
Perhaps because Jia was staring a little too intently, the natural instincts of the three teenage boys kicked in. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Dan unconsciously followed her line of sight, their eyes landing squarely on Tsunade's chest. Since Jia was a girl, her staring was easily brushed off. But three guys doing it? That was a death sentence.
Tsunade's cheeks burned crimson. She raised a trembling, chakra-infused fist. "What the hell are you idiots looking at?! Keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out!" She then turned her ire back to the girl in her arms, pinching Jia's soft cheeks. "And you! You've gone bad, Jia. What exactly were you thinking just now, staring at me like that?"
Jia stuck out her tongue playfully. "Even if I was thinking about something dirty, it wouldn't be appropriate to say it in front of Jiraiya and the others, right?"
Realizing Jia was absolutely thinking about something inappropriate, Tsunade ruthlessly launched a tickle attack. Jia refused to back down, immediately retaliating.
"You two, mind your surroundings. The fire is right there," Orochimaru warned, his golden snake-like eyes tracking their chaotic movements as he tapped the dirt.
Unfortunately, the wrestling duo completely ignored him. In terms of raw physical strength, Jia was absolutely no match for the Senju princess. With one careless shove, Jia lost her balance and tumbled backward—landing squarely in Kato Dan's lap. The silver-haired boy stiffened like a board, his face flushing as he didn't dare move a single muscle.
Jia scrambled out of his arms in a flash. 'Tsunade, you were the one who pushed me! Don't blame me for taking advantage of your future husband.'
Deep in the shadows of the surrounding woods, Black Zetsu watched the group of laughing teenagers. For some reason, his thoughts drifted to Ye, who was currently recovering far away at the hidden base in the Land of Hot Springs.
He had personally treated her wounds before leaving, so Ye ought to be fine. With her innate Senju Clan constitution, her flesh would knit back together rapidly. Considering she was destined to sacrifice her own life to summon the God Tree and save Mother, he could grudgingly overlook the loss of her eye this time.
Since the girl was going to die anyway, he supposed he could try to be a fraction nicer to her in the future—though only a tiny fraction.
Back at the campfire, Orochimaru handed out the food. The guy truly had a terrifying knack for grilling fish. The skin was perfectly blistered and crispy, while the meat inside remained flaky and tender. There wasn't a hint of fishiness, and the seasoning was flawless.
Jia took a massive bite and immediately showered him with praise. "Orochimaru, if you ever get bored of the shinobi life, you could easily support yourself just selling these on the street."
Instead of laughing, Orochimaru took her offhand compliment as a serious career proposal. He stared at the fire, analyzing it with cold logic, stating that even if he abandoned the ninja path, he would prefer to dedicate his life to scientific research.
Jia sweatdropped. 'You really can't crack a joke with this guy.'
She laughed easily, her eyes crinkling in a way that seemed entirely genuine. She looked like she truly didn't take the villagers' scorn to heart. However, Jiraiya, who had spent enough time observing her, noticed the subtle stiffness at the corners of her mouth.
Ever since they reunited, her smiles always carried a heavy, forced edge. She cared. She cared deeply, but she refused to let them worry, so she masked it behind a wall of nonchalance.
Jiraiya clenched his fists. He didn't understand. It was just a minor incident; why did it have to escalate to this? Ever since that mob of civilians gathered outside the Hokage Building, everything had spiraled out of control.
But if even the Third Hokage couldn't fix this mess, what could an immature genin like him do? The only thing he could offer was his unwavering, absolute trust.
He suddenly shot to his feet. He marched over, grabbed Jia's wrist, and pulled her toward the dark tree line.
"Wait, Jiraiya, what are you doing?" Jia stumbled slightly but followed his lead.
After sprinting a fair distance into the woods, Jiraiya finally skidded to a halt. He spun around to face her. The goofy, carefree idiot was completely gone, replaced by a young man with a fiercely earnest expression.
"Listen to me, Jia. Don't pay any attention to the garbage those people spout. To them, you might just be another ninja in the village. But no matter what they think, in my heart, you are the absolute best."
He spoke the words with the burning sincerity of youth, treating it like a sacred vow. "I will always believe in you, Jia. No matter when, no matter what happens, I will always take your side."
His dark eyes burned with a fire that seemed capable of incinerating all the darkness in the world.
The lingering gloom on Jia's face finally melted away, replaced by a genuine, sparkling light in her dark eyes. "Yeah, I know. After all, you're Jiraiya-sama. The future you is going to be a magnificent shinobi. Do you know what your nickname will be?"
"What is it?" he asked, blinking in surprise.
"Jiraiya the Gallant!"
"Really? I'm actually going to be that amazing?" The radiant, goofy grin instantly returned to his face, matching her natural smile.
Suddenly, a distinct prickle of being watched washed over Jia. She glanced over her shoulder into the dark woods, but the shadows were empty. No, the sensation was still there. She narrowed her eyes at a cluster of vacant branches.
Black Zetsu was hiding underground near the eighth tree... so what the hell was hovering in that direction?
Wait. It couldn't be Kato Dan using his Spirit Transformation Technique to eavesdrop, could it? She had literally just praised the guy for being a perfect gentleman, and now he was using an A-rank assassination jutsu to play peeping tom?
'I am absolutely snitching on him to Tsunade later.'
The two began their slow walk back to the camp. But after only a few steps, Jia froze. A cold, mocking voice echoed directly inside her skull.
[Do you really think everything is over? No, it's all just a self-deceptive illusion.]
[If he truly believed in you, why would he let you lose an arm?]
[You are an anomaly. No one will ever truly believe in you, not even Jiraiya.]
The smile on Jia's face shattered, turning into a frozen mask.
'Does this sneaky bastard of a system ever take a day off?'
Meanwhile, just outside the tree line, Kato Dan's soul snapped back into his body. He opened his eyes, immediately retracting his Spirit Transformation Technique. Beside him, Tsunade practically vibrated with gossipy energy. She grabbed his wrist and shook it.
"Well? What did they say? Hurry up and tell me!"
Dan rubbed his arm, looking incredibly guilty. His signature jutsu was designed for infiltrating enemy lines and gathering high-level intelligence; using it to spy on his own teenage comrades felt incredibly wrong. If Tsunade hadn't practically threatened him into it, he never would have cast it.
Besides, Jia's sensory perception was terrifyingly sharp. The exact second his spirit manifested in the branches, she had locked onto his position.
"They just talked a bit about trusting comrades and things like that. Nothing major," Dan admitted softly. "But Jia seemed genuinely happy."
"That's a relief." Tsunade let out a long, heavy sigh, the tension leaving her shoulders. "I knew Jiraiya would figure something out. Whenever Jia gets depressed, that idiot always finds a way to cheer her up."
[Inorin's Note:
Hey guys, hope you're enjoying the novel! A quick Power Stone, comment, or review really helps the story grow and keeps me motivated.
Hate waiting for updates and cliffhangers? You can skip the line, avoid all those annoying ads, and binge 50 chapters ahead by supporting my work here:
🌐 Read on our site: Search for Elysian Reads on Google or Check the link in my Webnovel Profile bio!
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters & Ad-Free): Search InorinTL on Patreon
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]