"Morning~, Fourth Kazekage!"
Jiraiya looked thoroughly well-rested, cheerful and grinning from ear to ear this early in the day.
But...
"You look like you didn't sleep so well~"
He frowned slightly, noticing how Rasa didn't seem quite as energetic as he had the day before.
"Did the kid cry in the middle of the night?"
But that shouldn't be a big deal. For a shinobi, going a whole week without sleep was doable—especially someone at the level of a Kage.
With that in mind, Jiraiya leaned in with a pervy grin.
"Stayed up late doing… other things?"
"..."
Rasa rolled his eyes at the sleazy look on Jiraiya's face, sighed helplessly, then lifted his head at a 45-degree angle, his face melancholic.
"I spent all night contemplating the future of the shinobi world."
"???"
So dramatic?
Jiraiya blinked in surprise, frowning as if deep in thought. A moment later, he too sighed and muttered, "The Child of Prophecy… will change the entire shinobi world."
And that person would one day become his student.
In a way, his wandering was all part of the search for the so-called "Child of Destiny" foretold by the Great Toad Sage.
The shinobi world had known war for far too long. Even the First Hokage—who was revered like a god—had failed to bring lasting peace. If not him, then who?
Perhaps only when the true Child of Destiny appeared would peace finally come to the shinobi world…
He shook his head wistfully, looked up at Rasa, and offered a wry smile.
"Kana already told me about what happened with Nagato. Thanks for helping. If it hadn't been for the Sunagakure ninja there at the time… Yahiko might not have survived."
"A minor matter," Rasa replied, nodding slightly. Then he reached for the water kettle he'd asked to be boiled and cooled earlier that morning and poured a cup for Jiraiya. "Regardless of anything else, the Hidden Rain and the Hidden Sand are allies now."
"Those three really are something else." Jiraiya chuckled heartily at Rasa's words. "Who would've thought that a country like the Land of Rain—long engulfed in chaos—would find peace under their leadership?"
"Shame the final boss has already gathered his pieces," Rasa said quietly. "The plan might have to change."
"???" Jiraiya blinked.
"Oh~ it's nothing." Rasa snapped back to the moment and took a sip of water. "You're heading out?"
"Yeah. Thanks to Sunagakure for the hospitality. But I'm the Toad Sage, Jiraiya! I can't stay in just one village forever, hahaha~" Jiraiya struck what he thought was a suave pose, but upon seeing Rasa's deadpan expression, he gave an awkward laugh. "Planning to leave this afternoon."
"Is that so?"
Rasa nodded, clearly mulling something over. After a moment, he looked up at Jiraiya. The gloom on his face vanished and was replaced by a warm, spring-like smile.
"Brother~ wanna get rich?"
"???"
...
"What now?" asked the real White Zetsu, standing beside Black Zetsu, who was squinting up at the blinding midday sun.
He sounded a bit emotional.
"After working for a thousand years to make this happen, now that it's finally real… I feel kinda empty. But... can we not look straight at the sun in the middle of the day? You're looking at it, and so am I—my eyes hurt~"
But...
"You think..." Black Zetsu said without turning his gaze away from the sky, "Mother really can only appear at night?"
"According to the Fourth Kazekage, that seems to be the case."
Thinking back to last night...
It had been him, Tobi, Black Zetsu, and their master—facing off against the Kazekage and his tiny daughter.
Truth be told, they... might have won!
But in the end, their master stopped them.
"What, you planning to steal that [Constellation Legend Simulator] thing?"
"I thought about it at first, but Mother refused," Black Zetsu shook his head, sighing. "That's just a projection—not her true self. Even if we took it, it would be meaningless. Besides… according to Mother, that Kazekage's strength isn't simple either."
"So now what?"
"I'll do what Mother says."
"..."
White Zetsu groaned, still staring at the sun. Seriously, why hasn't this guy looked down yet?
"...Can we lower our heads now?"
Otherwise, I really don't want to fuse with you anymore.
...
"Of course I do!"
Who wouldn't want to get rich? Even shinobi had dreams of fortune.
So, naturally, Jiraiya nodded.
That said, when it came to so-called "getting rich," he didn't expect the Kazekage of all people to offer him a legitimate path to wealth. Surely this wasn't going to be the big break that led Jiraiya the Toad Sage to riches?
Not even the Third Hokage—his teacher—could manage that!
If anyone was going to make him rich, it had to be himself.
But—
"I'll never work a normal job. Not in this life."
Jiraiya felt the need to clarify things immediately.
"I don't know the first thing about doing business. I just do missions and take on requests to get by. My dream is to become the shinobi world's greatest writer. There's no way I'm staying in Sunagakure."
"I get it. I'm not asking you to stay and work a job." Rasa smiled, pouring another cup of warm water for what could be Sunagakure's most quality visiting agent. "And besides—work? What kind of money can you even make from that?"
"If we're making money—let's make big money!"
A wandering toad—er, man—was destined to be on the road 80% of the time.
He was still a Konoha shinobi. It wasn't like Sunagakure could keep him tied down.
Watching Jiraiya frown slightly, hands hidden under the table doing who-knows-what, Rasa put on a sincere, reassuring expression.
"Relax. It's not a mission. I'm not asking you to betray Konoha either."
"Hehe~" Jiraiya chuckled awkwardly, withdrawing his hands from under the table. "My foot was just itchy. Wasn't about to do any hand signs or anything. Ahem… anyway, what's this about making money?"
"Your travel expenses must be piling up, right?"
Rasa took a refined sip of water. Business talks had to be calm and collected. If even he lost his cool, how could he convince—no, inspire—others?
"You have to write books, gather material—"
He emphasized the word "gather material" heavily.
"—and you're also searching for Orochimaru… what's wrong?"
Why did he suddenly become serious for no reason?
"Nothing. Just remembered something important."
He had nearly forgotten about Orochimaru. Guess all the recent events had really scrambled his brain.
Jiraiya let out a hearty laugh. "No big deal. Go on."
"So~ let me ask—have you heard of agency?"
"???"
"No? That's okay. Once you join up with Sunagakure's network, we'll assign a professional to guide you step by step, help you breeze through the beginner's phase, and get you on the path to success." Rasa pulled out a "Gold Panner" pouch from his drawer. "You know what this is?"
"Gold Panner Gift Pack!" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and grumbled, "A bag of sand for 998 ryo. Too expensive. Don't tell me you want me to go gold panning?"
"No no! What if I sold this to you for 200 ryo instead? How about that?"
"That's not bad, but… is this your idea of a get-rich-quick scheme?" Jiraiya was puzzled. "How much gold can you actually pan from this? You might even lose money."
"Sigh~ Agency, man! Do you even get it?" Rasa sighed and gave Jiraiya a "you poor, clueless soul" kind of look.
"I sell it to you for 200 ryo. Then you can sell it to someone else for 500, or even 600. That makes you a first-tier agent. They become second-tier agents, and then they sell it down the line. Eventually, it hits 998 again. And you know what? They'll even come to you to get more stock. You don't spend another coin and just sit there collecting the middleman's profit~"
His pitch became more and more animated. He slapped ten "Gold Panner Gift Pack" on the table with a flourish, voice dripping with temptation.
"Think about it! Earn 200-300 per person. Ten people and you've got 2,000-3,000. A hundred people? That's 20,000-30,000! Do you know how much profit Sunagakure made off this product from the Land of Fire alone last quarter?"
"H-how much?"
"A billion ryo!"
Though, to be fair, that one lady accounted for at least half of that on her own.
"So?" Rasa smiled warmly at Jiraiya, and behind him, it was almost as if a ghostly golden beckoning cat appeared, paw waving.
"Want in? You'll earn money and keep traveling for material! Come on, don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No deposit required, full professional support from top-tier agents, and we'll even custom-tailor a training program just for you!"