"Stay behind me."
"That won't be necessary," a cold voice rang out from behind Reiran, causing him to turn around in a hurry.
But doing so only made the pain in his body flare up even worse.
When he saw who the voice belonged to, his eyes widened.
"You are..."
A tall man with pale skin and sharp golden eyes stood in the doorway. His black hair fell straight down past his shoulders, and his Konoha headband was dyed in blood.
This man was Orochimaru, a powerhouse Reiran didn't want to meet, at least not yet.
But if he was here, then...
The door suddenly swung open, and on the other side were two more familiar faces: Tsunade and Jiraiya.
"Ugh, this place gives me the creeps... you'd think a wasteland would at least have a hot spring around here," Jiraiya muttered. But the moment he saw the kids inside, he straightened up and fixed his hair, then gave them a confident thumbs-up.
"What's a band of kids doing in a wasteland?" Tsunade asked, stepping forward. "There should still be some refuge left in the Land of Rain."
She leaned down and placed a single hand on Reiran's head.
Immediately, a soothing warmth spread through his body as his injuries began to heal rapidly.
Meanwhile...
"They're no threat," Tsunade said, glancing at Konan and the others. "Don't waste your time, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, and without a word, he unhanded the kids.
However, it seemed like that only made them more angry as Konan grabbed a kunai from under the bed, and Yahiko, alongside Nagato, grabbed whatever sharp object they could find.
But in the end, these people were the legendary Sannin—or at least, they were about to become Sannin.
So when the sharp objects neared them, they didn't even react.
Well, everyone except for Jiraiya, who suddenly swooped in and disarmed the kids before gently folding the sharp objects into the bedsheets.
They were about to try something else, but Reiran stopped them.
"That's enough. We can't harm them even if we wanted to," Reiran said with a sigh. "These people are way too strong... but they're not evil."
"Oh? You know us?" Jiraiya mused, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Out of all of us, who would you say is the strongest?"
"Stop that, Jiraiya," Tsunade said sternly, then pointed at Nagato. "Look at him. What's with that Dojutsu? Have you ever seen anything like this?"
Of course, they were talking about Nagato's Rinnegan.
There was no use lying about it, nor was there a use in trying to hide it. Such a mythical Dojutsu had never been seen before—that was why everyone speculated that it was some long-lost legend.
However, that very same legend was currently embedded into Nagato's eye sockets by none other than Madara Uchiha himself.
Reiran sighed. That bastard sure has a lot of plans for the future. Too bad the aliens pop out of nowhere and ruin the entire thing... wait, will I survive until Boruto? Shit...
His monologue was cut short by Orochimaru, who leaned down and inspected the eye. Soon, he came to the obvious conclusion.
"It's the Rinnegan," Orochimaru muttered, stunned. "How does this child possess the Rinnegan? He's not even an Uchiha..."
"Think it just sprouted one day?" Jiraiya mused. "Hell, if a Sharingan appeared in my eyes one day, I can't say I would be mad."
Tsunade pinched Jiraiya's side, then stepped forward, inspecting the kids who remained silent.
She healed each one of them, and then summoned a single slug and placed it on Konan's head.
Despite Konan's usually quiet and composed demeanor, she couldn't help but look on in disgust, too scared to utter a word.
"Don't worry, Katsuyu won't harm you," Tsunade said warmly. "She'll stick around for a bit and heal you—that is, until you reach some shelter."
"Are we just going to ignore the fact that the kid has a Rinnegan?" Jiraiya pointed out. "Can't he, like... you know..."
"We're not going to force them," Tsunade replied sternly.
She turned toward the kids as well as Reiran, and after putting on a gentle smile, she spoke.
"Would you like to come with us to Konoha? The Hidden Leaf Village would be more than happy to take you four in."
"Pass."
"No, thank you."
"No."
"Nope."
Reiran was the last to reply, and like that, all of them refused the offer.
I mean, how wouldn't we? Even if these people aren't the most evil, there are guys like Danzo. I definitely don't want that pervert snooping around. It'd be especially dangerous for Nagato, who has a Rinnegan.
With their refusal, the Sannin backed off slightly and exchanged gazes.
"Do you want us to take you to a nearby village then?" Jiraiya offered.
"We don—"
"Sure," Reiran chimed in. "How far away is Amegakure?"
After a moment's pause, Orochimaru was the one to answer.
"A day or two for us. But if we were to lead you frail children there, then it could take upwards of a few weeks."
"Did the old man tell us to come back?" Jiraiya asked.
Orochimaru shook his head. "Hiruzen has told us to keep fighting."
"But we haven't seen anyone in over a month." Jiraiya sighed, his gaze softening. "Do you think it's finally over?"
"I hope so..." Orochimaru replied with a distant look.
From that short conversation, Reiran managed to deduce one interesting factor.
He remembered that the Second Ninja War ended around the time when the villages stopped sending shinobi out to fight.
Why? Well, they realized that they had been doing nothing but fueling the fire all this time. It was a senseless war that had started over nothing but a misunderstanding.
And now, the Kages realized that as well.
Within a few months, a ceasefire will form. After that, everything will go back to normal for a couple of years. And then, the Third Ninja War will begin.
Nevertheless, they all stood in silence for a few moments until eventually, Orochimaru stepped outside.
Following right after him was Jiraiya, and in the end, only Tsunade remained, a warm smile on her face.
"Let's go to Amegakure, shall we?"