Chapter 37 Escort Mission

The Wind Country's plan was not brilliant, and was seen through by Sarutobi Hiruzen at a glance, but it was irresistible. The wealthy Konoha would not refuse the land that was offered to them, even if it might lead to deeper hatred and a more brutal war.

These days landlords have no surplus food, so it would be a waste if you don’t take it.

As a result, the content of the armistice agreement was successfully reached, and the next step was to select the signing location. For various reasons, the Third Kazekage requested to sign the treaty in Kikyo Castle, the largest city in Akihabara, but the old fox Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen rejected this proposal and unilaterally announced that the signing ceremony would be held at the border of the Land of Fire. Although he was very dissatisfied with Sarutobi Hiruzen's hooligan behavior, the Third Kazekage still agreed to it. He had to bow his head under the eaves.

After all the preparations were completed, Sarutobi Hiruzen began to consider selecting ninjas to escort the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to sign the treaty.

In name, the daimyo is the head of state, and the entire territory is under the jurisdiction of the daimyo, but it is only in name. In fact, the daimyo of the Land of Fire only has economic and administrative power over the territory, and the most important military power is in the hands of the Hokage, which is equivalent to a disguised relationship between a thug and an employer.

The Land of Fire Daimyo provides Konoha with a huge amount of military expenses every year, while Konoha Village is responsible for protecting the territory. The two are independent and do not interfere with each other. Although the Daimyo has the power to hold a meeting to replace the Hokage, no Daimyo has dared to do so in the past forty years. After all, the minds of violent groups cannot be shaken by ordinary people. The Daimyo who dares to challenge them may be gone tomorrow.

As for the escort, Sarutobi Hiruzen would of course choose from his three disciples. Would he give it to the red-eyed Uncle Yu in Tuanshan Hutong? No way. This lucrative job of getting closer to the relationship would be the turn of the Hinata, not the Uchiha.

Among the three disciples, Tsunade is no longer on the same side as Sarutobi Hiruzen because of the Senju clan, so she is ruled out first; Orochimaru is powerful and calm, but he is too cold and will scare the daimyo, so he is also ruled out; finally, there is Jiraiya, who is rough but delicate but a little lustful. It seems that there are many beautiful women in the capital, I wonder if it will cause trouble...

Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his brows in distress, feeling frustrated. The successors he had been training since childhood were more outrageous than the last. Could there be anything worse than this?

After much deliberation, Sarutobi Hiruzen decided to send Jiraiya. Even though Jiraiya was lustful, fond of alcohol, careless and outspoken, he was the tallest among the short ones, and he was the only one among the three ninjas who could make Sarutobi Hiruzen worry less.

"Call Jiraiya." Sarutobi Hiruzen shouted to the empty office.

An Anbu appeared from the shadows and left instantly after receiving the order.

All the ninjas in the Anbu know that if they want to find Tsunade, they should go to the casino, because the Money-Giving Boy must be gambling; if they want to find Orochimaru, they should go to his secret hut, but it is best not to go in as something bad may happen; if they want to find Jiraiya, they should go to the red-light district or the bathhouse, and they can be guaranteed to find the right person.

Jiraiya, with lipstick marks on his face, walked into the temporary Hokage's office in the camp, as if he was at home. He sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, stared blankly at the ground, and instantly entered a state of resisting ideological education.

Sarutobi Hiruzen: “….”

If it wasn't for the purpose of training a successor, I would have slapped you twice.

"Jiraiya, go to those places of entertainment less often. Sex is a sharp knife that scrapes your bones. Young people should exercise moderation." Sarutobi Hiruzen said earnestly.

Jiraiya kept nodding, and blurted out three times perfunctorily: "Yes, I understand. I will definitely do it next time."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's blood pressure rose, and he muttered a few words, "Don't be angry, it was all my own choice," before returning to his composure.

"Go and fetch the daimyo. We will have a signing ceremony next..."

Before Sarutobi Hiruzen finished speaking, Jiraiya stood up and turned away. What a joke, we finally ended the large-scale war, now is a great time to go looking for flowers and willows and search for materials, what the hell, even if the king of heaven comes today, I will never surrender.

"I recently invented a telescope technique."

Jiraiya's legs could no longer move after hearing these few words. A conflicted look flashed across his face, and finally he became serious and said solemnly: "As a member of Konoha, I should contribute to the village. I will accept this mission."

No one can escape the law of true fragrance. Even Jiraiya, one of the three ninjas, is nothing in front of this law.

Sarutobi Hiruzen showed a smug smile, successfully winning the heart of a naughty man and making him feel extremely comfortable.

“But this task is difficult.”

"Only difficult tasks can demonstrate the resilience of the Konoha ninjas. Just leave it to me!" Jiraiya said.

"No, no, I think Orochimaru is more suitable for this mission than you." Sarutobi Hiruzen said, playing hard to get.

Jiraiya watched as the Telescope Technique was about to slip from his hands, and said anxiously, "I was here first!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, "Can you promise not to go to the Love Street?"

"can!"

"Can you promise not to drink and take materials?"

Jiraiya gritted his teeth and said ruthlessly for the sake of future happiness: "Yes!"

After nodding with satisfaction, Sarutobi Hiruzen continued, "Take the Minato team with you, and I will send two teams of Anbu to guard in secret. By the way, what do you think of Shirogane Hayama in Minato's team?"

Jiraiya touched his hair in confusion and asked, "Hasn't Minato's team always been Inuzuka E, Akimichi Tou, and Shimura Shinji? Where did Bai Kumo Hayama come from?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen: "......"

"Get out! Go and carry out the mission immediately!"

Jiraiya ran out of the office in embarrassment amid the roar of his master. As soon as he walked out of the door, he straightened his back, became serious, and walked away amid the greetings of the ninjas he met.

After scolding the unreliable Jiraiya away, Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up a report in the drawer and read it carefully. His occasional frown showed his unhappiness.

This second investigation report on Shirogane Hayama made Sarutobi Hiruzen slightly dissatisfied. Hatake Sakumo's influence in the camp obscured the authenticity of the Root's first investigation, but as Hayama's strength continued to improve, coupled with his position in Konoha's sensitive star team, Sarutobi Hiruzen launched a second investigation.

In the report, the investigation team leader Sarutobi Hiruzen wrote a comment that Hayama had no will of fire, which made Sarutobi Hiruzen alert. He was considering whether to kick Hayama out of Minato's team, but he had no reasonable excuse and was afraid of disappointing his hero, which made him very distressed.

In Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind, a ninja who does not support the concept of the Will of Fire is of no use.

Although Konoha is not large, it has many factions and it is impossible to implement meritocracy. Otherwise, how could the powerful Uchiha clan be promoted to the top?

Although there is no record of disobeying orders in Ye Shan's report, it is easy to find excuses to accuse someone of something. Sometimes, whether you can do something or not is not up to you. If others say you can do something, you have to do it even if you can't; if others say you can't do something, you have to not do it even if you can.

..........

The next day, Minato's team, led by Jiraiya, disappeared quietly into the camp to carry out their escort mission.

Hayama watched as Jiraiya's tall frame moved through the strongest side of the team, and carefully considered the danger of the mission.

It is obvious that the Third Hokage sent Jiraiya, one of the Three Ninjas, to carry out the mission not only to train a successor, but also to prevent accidents.

From this perspective, it is clear where the potential danger comes from. Kirigakure, which is currently fighting the Uchiha clan at the border, has sufficient reasons to take action.

The truce between the Wind Country and the Fire Country had the greatest impact on the Water Country. Once Konoha was free to concentrate its forces to deal with them, the consequences could be imagined. It was reasonable for Kirigakure to send ninjas to assassinate the daimyo, thus preventing the signing of the truce.

However, the special status of the Daimyo in the country determined that Kirigakure did not dare to take action in the capital, even if they had ten courage. The first person who jumped out to rebuke Kirigakure for assassinating the Daimyo of the largest country in the ninja world in the capital must be the Daimyo of the Land of Water.

You know, the daimyo is just an ordinary person with power, and can't compete with the ninja. Once Kirigakure sets a precedent of assassinating the daimyo in the capital, it will immediately become the target of the entire ninja world, and even the daimyo of the Land of Water will declare to reorganize the ninja village and completely abandon Kirigakure.

There is no other way. As long as you have territory and property, you can have as many ninjas as you want. The entry threshold for this thing is not high. Basically, you just need to have hands.

The ninja's lack of productivity meant that they relied on the daimyo for financial resources. The daimyo's safety and status were determined by the strength of the ninja village, forming a win-win situation of mutual assistance.

Therefore, the assassins from Kirigakure would only act after leaving the capital. Of course, we cannot completely rule out the motives of other ninja villages to frame others.

The mission of escorting the daimyo was destined to be difficult from the moment he left the capital and returned.

Two days later, the capital of the Land of Fire appeared in Ye Shan's sight. The capital of the Land of Fire is located in the center of the continent, with well-developed transportation and flat terrain. With this advantage, it has successfully developed into the largest city in the Ninja World.

To be honest, this was the first time for Ye Shan, who had been accustomed to waiting in the dark for many years, to enter the world of ordinary people. Once, Ye Shan and Yamashiro Tatsu had discussed how to identify ninjas on the busy streets, and finally came to the conclusion that those who like to walk in the shade with their hands hanging down by their thighs without moving must be ninjas.

At the entrance of the city gate, Jiraiya took out the official letter from the Hokage to the Daimyo, and then followed the bowing junior officer to Konoha's exclusive base to rest and wait for the Daimyo's summons.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the door, Jiraiya, with a righteous face, patted Minato on the shoulder, said "take a stroll", and left in an instant.

Minato smiled bitterly. He naturally knew what his master had done, but he couldn't say anything. After all, everyone has personal preferences.