In the Land of Water, Jiraiya watched in disappointment as the sneaky man disappeared without a trace. He had followed him here, thinking he would be able to gain something, but he still escaped.

"Space ninjutsu? It's really a method that leaves me helpless..."

Jiraiya, who is proficient in summoning arts, is of course well aware of the difficulty of space-time ninjutsu. The unexpectedness of confrontation on the battlefield is one aspect, but more importantly, there are troubles outside of combat. It is difficult to grasp the whereabouts and control the situation. Coupled with an excellent brain, no matter how strong one is, he will be played around by it.

Since arriving in the Land of Water a few days ago, Jiraiya, who possesses the Toad Hiding Technique, has been able to move very smoothly in this watery country. He can move in and out of various places as if he were in an empty place. For Jiraiya, who is mainly engaged in gathering intelligence, "like a fish in water" is not an enough description of his feelings during this period.

In the closed Land of Water, the Kirigakure Ninja Village, which serves as its military support, has been implementing a cruel and bloody ninja selection policy for many years. In such an environment, the Kirigakure Ninja Village, which was originally on par with the Sand Village in terms of comprehensive strength, relied on this ruthless elimination policy without any advantage in terms of numbers and resources, and actually surpassed the Sand Village in terms of military strength. Especially the advantages in individual strength, and in the ninja's most valued stunt of lurking and assassination, the Kirigakure Ninja style is good at assassination, which also makes the ninjas in the entire ninja world almost dislike dealing with the Kirigakure Ninja. In addition, the Land of Water is far away from the mainland, and there is a sea in the middle to block the traffic, making the Kirigakure Ninja more closed and unknown. What's more, the many internal contradictions, especially the hatred and exclusion of ninjas with blood limit due to some reasons, make the Kirigakure Ninja's military strength basically not projected to the mainland, and the impact on the pattern of the ninja world is not very large.

For various reasons, the influence of the Hidden Mist Village in the ninja world is far less than that of the Sand Village, the weakest of the five major ninja villages, and is even inferior to second-tier ninja organizations such as the Takigakure and the Raingakure. Especially after the Fourth Mizukage Yagura came to power, he unexpectedly strengthened the bloodiness of the ninja selection system in the Hidden Mist Village, making the reputation of the Blood Mist Village spread throughout the ninja world. Originally gifted and even rumored to be able to completely control the Three-Tails, Yagura was originally an optimistic, cheerful and thoughtful young man, but soon after becoming the Mizukage, he implemented a bloodier policy than the Third Mizukage, which was really shocking.

Affected by this, the large and small ninja families and forces in the Water Country became even more dissatisfied with the practices of the Hidden Mist Village. Assassinations of the Mizukage and daimyo occurred frequently, and rebellions also occurred one after another. As the Mizukage, Yagura not only ignored the sinister consequences, but intensified them and implemented a more closed policy, completely turning the Water Country into a terrifying zone that outsiders were afraid of.

Under such circumstances, Jiraiya, who had only been in the Land of Water for a few days, witnessed the earth-shaking changes in the Hidden Mist Village, a serious rebellion, and the information revealed was astonishing. The Fourth Mizukage, who had been hiding behind the scenes, had actually been controlled by someone. And then Yagura, whose illusion was lifted, was still killed. This was the saddest thing. Things that have been done will not disappear because of negligence or manipulation. Yagura, who felt guilty, did not resist too much and was killed by the angry rebels. Then, a female ninja who was as strong as Tsunade, Mei Terumi, was pushed to the position of Mizukage. Mei Terumi, who was carrying two powerful blood limits, lived up to everyone's expectations and began to shoulder the responsibilities of the Fifth Mizukage.

Jiraiya, a Konoha ninja, watched all this happen, but because of his identity, he could only choose to stand by and watch. Intervening in the rebellion of the five major ninja villages is too sensitive, especially for a ninja of Jiraiya's level, especially when it comes to the change of the Kage, the head of a village.

However, Jiraiya did not gain nothing. With the help of the barrier - the Sky Cover Array, Jiraiya still found some clues. Based on the limited information, Jiraiya once grasped some clues. However, in the face of space ninjutsu, any tracking would not have much meaning.

"Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, and an unknown master with the Sharingan? The Akatsuki organization is so well hidden that it has unknowingly controlled one of the five major ninja villages..."

In the short time after Yagura was killed after the illusion was lifted, the information revealed was really shocking. He was attacked by Uchiha Itachi and Biwa Juzo together, but he was still able to gain the upper hand and kill one person. Although he was defeated by Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan in the end, it was no crime. It was not that Yagura was not strong, but that the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan was too powerful. As for being controlled by Uchiha Obito's Sharingan afterwards, it was even more unbearable. It was a great shame for both Yagura and the Hidden Mist Village. If it had not been seen by Jiraiya, this rebellion that determined the change of Mizukage might have been buried in secrecy and gradually forgotten as a secret.

Just when he was lamenting that he had not obtained any decisive information this time, a fussy man wearing dark retro robes and an eyepatch on his right eye appeared not far behind him.

"The one in front is Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas. You are a distinguished guest. The Mizukage invites you. Please come over and have a chat..."

"Oh? The new Mizukage is going to change the policy of not interacting with outsiders?"

Jiraiya had a deep impression of this serious-looking man. It was he who first discovered the abnormality of the Fourth Mizukage Yagura during the rebellion, and with his help, he lifted the illusion of Uchiha Obito. His powerful strength also made Jiraiya look sideways, especially the byakugan in his right eye that was covered.

"Our new leader is a man of great ideas. There are some things he wants to discuss with Master Jiraiya."

"Okay then." After thinking about it, Jiraiya agreed. The current Kirigakure would not be so unwise to harm Jiraiya. The two sides were originally not closely related. Since Jiraiya did not intervene in the Kirigakure's rebellion, Terumi would not ask for trouble. Moreover, Jiraiya, who was skilled and courageous, had a great chance of escaping even if he faced a ninja village, even if it was one of the five major ninja villages.

…

In a secret place, Uchiha Obito met Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi who had hurried over.

"Why are you in such a hurry to call us here?" Hoshigaki Kisame asked in a hoarse voice, "We are searching for news about other tailed beasts in the Land of Earth, and we just found something..."

"We can stop this temporarily." With an inexplicable tone, Uchiha Obito interrupted Hoshigaki Kisame's words: "It should be said that the organization's actions must be suspended."

"Pause?" Uchiha Itachi asked in confusion.

"Yes, because the Three-Tails is dead. I asked you to come here, originally intending to help retrieve the Three-Tails, but I didn't expect the situation to change so quickly and the illusion was lifted. The rebels are too strong. Moreover, Jiraiya is watching in secret, so it's difficult for me to take action."

"So, we are late?"

"Let's talk about this later." Uchiha Obito was also quite helpless about this result, "Notify the leader first..."