"My father is a gambler, my mother is seriously ill, and my husband is missing. What should I do with my life now? This is all too difficult, wuwuwu~"
Inside a tavern in the Land of Hot Water, Takemi listened to a waitress's tearful confession with nonchalant eyes the entire time, following Jiraiya.
He and Jiraiya had been in the Land of Hot Water for a few days, and these past few days they had been investigating Orochimaru's whereabouts.
Danzo did provide intelligence, but the information was somewhat vague, only giving a general area.
Fortunately, Jiraiya was quite professional, though his method of gathering information somewhat dumbfounded Takemi.
"Don't cry, don't cry, I..."
Seeing the beautiful waitress crying, Jiraiya immediately wanted to comfort her. But soon he froze for a moment, then looked startled.
He asked, "Wait, you have a husband?"
"Yes, yes..."
The waitress's eyes were teary, she didn't know why Jiraiya was reacting so strongly.
She said, "My husband went missing a month ago. I had no choice but to come to the tavern for a living..."
"I... I see. You've had it tough."
Jiraiya rubbed his brow, looking disheartened, which made Takemi chuckle from the side.
After the waitress left, Takemi couldn't hold back and spoke, "Isn't this great? A gambling dad, a sick mom, a missing husband, and a broken heart, and she's married too."
"You brat, where did you learn these things?"
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, seeming somewhat interested, but then looked at Takemi with disgust.
Takemi pointed a finger at Jiraiya and said, "The Ninja's Three Precepts, did you forget?"
"I learned it from you, and it seems you haven't followed it either, have you?"
"Also, during this time, you either run off to the red-light district or the hot springs every day, leaving me alone at the inn. Isn't that a bit much?"
"Hey, hey, hey, don't slander me!"
Jiraiya immediately waved his hands and said stiffly, "This is research, this is investigation, don't you know?"
"Yeah yeah, I didn't say anything else."
Takemi nodded, looking like 'don't worry, I won't talk nonsense', which made Jiraiya laugh out of anger.
Jiraiya said, "Fine, I'm too lazy to argue with a brat like you, but I think we're getting closer and closer to Orochimaru."
Takemi asked, "Her missing husband, was he taken by Orochimaru?"
"Most likely, yes."
Jiraiya's expression became serious. He took out a notebook and glanced at it, saying, "Several people have gone missing near this small town recently, and it's said that strangers often come here to buy large amounts of food and water, so..."
"Quite a few people, lots of trouble."
Takemi naturally took over the topic, "It seems they are indeed in this vicinity, but the key issue is how to find them."
"That's why my investigation results are here."
Jiraiya chuckled, looking at the notebook as he continued, "Didn't that waitress just say it happened a month ago?"
"And they often buy supplies. I calculated the time, and it's about once a month."
"So, if nothing goes wrong, we should be able to find something soon. That's why I've already arranged for small toads to stake out the surrounding area in advance."
"Once I sense something, I'll act immediately. Kid, you have a lot to learn, hehe."
Seeing Jiraiya's smug expression, Takemi couldn't help but shrug.
Jiraiya seemed frivolous, but if something serious came, he would go into work mode.
Teaching Naruto, collecting information about the Akatsuki, he was indeed a reliable person.
"Alright, since everything is arranged, then you can wander around the streets, kid, and see if you can meet any interesting guys."
But just then, Jiraiya suddenly stood up, staring intently at a woman passing by outside, a strange silly laugh coming from his throat.
"I still need to gather more information. It's better if we go our separate ways for now and don't bother each other."
"..."
Takemi felt he had praised him too early, Jiraiya was an outrageous bastard.
However, just then, he suddenly felt an inexplicable aura surging. This feeling was similar to when he had encountered Hinata before.
He turned his head subtly, and in the distance, he seemed to see a white-haired young man in the crowd.
"Am I..."
Takemi's face looked strange, and he gently scratched his face.
"Becoming a radar?"
.....
"Kimimaro, Jirobo and the others have almost finished buying things."
In a forest in the Land of Hot Water, Jugo glanced at the birds flying in the sky, then smiled and said to Kimimaro next to him.
"By the way, how is your body?"
"Don't worry."
Kimimaro was as calm as ever, even when facing his best friend.
"I said I would be your cage, I will always accompany you on this journey."
"Of course."
Jugo smiled. Because of his special circumstances, he had a dual personality. He was usually stable, but once angered, he would become incredibly crazy.
It was because of Kimimaro that he could lock down his crazy personality, and it was because of Kimimaro that he came under Orochimaru's command.
Although Orochimaru had also studied his condition and provided some medicine to suppress it, he still preferred to be with Kimimaro. Only with Kimimaro could he feel inner peace.
"By the way, are those two guys behind us still there?" Suddenly, Kimimaro lowered his voice and quietly asked Jugo.
Jugo had the ability to communicate with animals, and this ability was extremely covert and convenient for both scouting and transmitting information.
While they were still buying things in the small town, they found that they seemed to be followed. According to the animals' reports, it was a middle-aged man with white hair.
In addition, there was a young man about their age following them. These two were most likely ninja.
"Still following."
Jugo subtly raised his head to look at the birds in the sky.
He nodded and said, "It's probably just rogue ninja or bandits who got greedy for money again. The Land of Hot Water is never short of such people."
The chaos in the Land of Hot Water was far beyond ordinary people's imagination. This place was never short of desperate people, and Orochimaru didn't mind these desperate people following them.
There was no reason to refuse material that came knocking on the door.
"That's good." Kimimaro nodded.
Orochimaru had asked him to bring back some interesting people, which had made things a bit difficult for him.
However, now it was good. Someone was actively delivering themselves, which saved them a lot of trouble.
The two continued their journey, and before long they returned to the underground laboratory and met Orochimaru, who was preparing for a new round of experiments.
"You're back so early?"
Orochimaru didn't react much upon seeing the two of them, just asking casually, "Did you not find any new material that satisfied you?"
"Orochimaru-sama, we have."
Kimimaro had completely returned to a respectful state at this time.
He bowed slightly and then said with his head lowered, "Two ninja followed us. We will entertain them later."
"Hmm, since they've come, let them stay."
Orochimaru nodded and asked casually, "By the way, are those two guys rogue ninja, or from some village?"
"Orochimaru-sama, according to the birds' description, they don't seem to be wearing village headbands."
Kimimaro glanced at Jugo, who then lowered his head and said, "One of the guys, a white-haired, is wearing a headband with the character 'Oil' on it."
"..."
Hearing this, Orochimaru, who had been completely indifferent, seemed to sense something annoying, and his expression changed.