Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 276 Vacation?

To be fair, if Naruto ever really quits being a ninja, he could make a fortune just by delivering emergency mail.

Six reports of victory were sent out in the blink of an eye, and Naruto only created two shadow clones; the other four disappeared while still in his hands.

"These reports of victory were sent to the countries along the route, right? Who received the extra copy?"

"Kakashi-sensei is on his way here. Don't be fooled by the fact that he's within my perception range; he's over 300 kilometers away."

Kaiban, who had never heard of this number before, was stunned.

"What about the other three countries?" Sakura remained remarkably calm after hearing even more outrageous numbers.

"Of course, the Land of Fire was given directly to Granny Tsunade. The Land of Wind was taken over by Gaara, so he definitely knows who to report to. As for the Land of Demons, of course, we'll just let Ashiho know that everything is alright."

"You had it on Ashiho too? When?"

Naruto smiled broadly, "It's a secret."

Alright, the Flying Thunder God Mark will always appear in unexpected places.

Similar to the Land of Demons, the Land of Swamp is a small country born of faith, with a stark difference in living standards compared to the central continent. There's no electricity here, and even the most prosperous cities look like small towns. Yet, Shion thoroughly enjoyed exploring this desolate and impoverished place that the Konoha ninja found so appealing. But even the slowest journey eventually comes to an end, and after several days of stopping and starting, the Shrine Maiden Village was finally within reach.

"I'll miss you." Ziyuan held the two girls' hands reluctantly.

"It's not like we'll never see each other again."

Shion refused to speak or let go. She knew all too well how difficult it would be to see him again. Whether by water or land, the distance to Konoha was simply too far; she couldn't bear it. If the people of Konoha didn't come here, they feared they would never see each other again. She did want to leave the Land of Demons, but the many lives lost for her sake bound her tightly. She had to do something for this country; she absolutely had to do something.

"Alright, Naruto gave you a charm with the Flying Thunder God's mark inside. He can bring us here anytime." Sakura pointed out the magical little gift in a super soft voice. "It's our little secret~"

Ziyuan then stopped crying and smiled, nodding vigorously, finally letting them go.

Looking at Shion and Ashiho side by side from afar, Naruto suddenly remembered that flashback-like scene. Wasn't the child Shion was holding a bit like this kid?

"What are you looking at? You don't have a crush on that girl, do you?" Sakura's expression didn't contain any teasing; instead, it had a dark and cold quality that startled Naruto.

"How could that be? She's not my type at all." Although he didn't know why Sakura asked, Naruto's reply remained firm.

"So what type do you like?" Sakura instantly switched to a healthy and sunny smile.

...Um, was Sakura always this gossipy?

Naruto wanted to end the topic quickly; don't think he didn't see the ears of several people around him. "Liking" was a thing of the past for him. As a qualified leader, impartiality was essential for handling any situation objectively. If he absolutely had to say something...

"At the very least, it has to be black hair." Naruto gave an elusive answer, then promptly changed the subject, saying, "Should we continue the journey, or go straight back to Konoha?"

"Absolutely do not go through the desert!" Sakura was fooled as expected. "But it's not worth going back like this."

The good-natured Neji asked, "Aren't we going back to report as soon as possible?"

"There's no such thing as an S-rank mission that ends in half a month. We were just tired, so the return trip was a bit slow," Sakura, who had been taken along to slack off, said matter-of-factly. Mainly, after the last Snow Country mission, she was forced to work overtime at the hospital for ages, feeling like she was going crazy. This time, she finally got out of the house, how could she just go back like this?

"Let's go to the Land of Rivers then. The fruits and seafood are pretty good this time of year." Naruto quickly decided on their destination. Out of politeness, they crossed the border between the Land of Demons and the Land of Wind before flying directly to the other side of the Land of Wind and then crossing the border into the Land of Rivers. Their ultimate goal was, of course, Mande City, but Naruto's expression changed again the moment they landed.

"It's true that you know people everywhere."

That's right, Naruto deliberately brought everyone here to have fun, all to catch that guy who was staying in southern Sichuan. The thing is, many people couldn't keep up the act anymore and wanted to let loose, but the person we finally got to leave turned around and came back, and is even starting to look for rental apartments instead of staying in hotels—it seems like he's planning to stay long-term!

Many of Jiraiya's memories of the Perverted Sage were blurred, but Naruto was certain that Jiraiya never stayed in one place for very long. In his memories of traveling the world, he hadn't remembered the distinctive features of any place; their pace was always hurried, or perhaps he was so focused on training that he simply didn't notice other details. Therefore, the Perverted Sage must have discovered something amiss, and he was probably obsessively working on some anomaly, trying to uncover the most crucial information.

So, after settling everyone in, Naruto flew straight to the Pervert Sage's residence and almost got hit in the face by a Rasengan.

"Perverted Sage, what kind of image is this...?" Naruto hadn't paid attention to the Perverted Sage's previous information, so of course he didn't know that Jiraiya's disguise was that of a nouveau riche businessman. That leopard skin and gleaming gold chain were really an eyesore.

"How many times have I told you, don't suddenly fly behind me!" Jiraiya clenched his fist on the broken bed board, but he was genuinely happy to see Naruto, so his fist just lightly landed.

However, even this force made Naruto feel a little dizzy, but he tried his best to hide the abnormality.

Naruto curled up in a ball, covering his head, and said, "So you want me to just walk downstairs and call you? I have no objection."

Jiraiya paused for a moment, then said, "...Then you should just fly over here."

Naruto's face was full of exaggerated surprise. "What do you mean? Granny Tsunade assigned you a covert mission?"

"No, I felt there was something wrong here, so I came to investigate." Jiraiya felt that there was no need to hide this from Naruto, so he pulled the child up and put him on a chair, then moved up and sat opposite him.

"Naruto, don't tell anyone what I'm about to say. Whether this information needs to be handed over or not requires further observation."

Whenever Jiraiya gets serious, it's always something important. Naruto immediately sat up straight, looking like he was all ears.

“I discovered a ninja organization called ‘Hui’, but they are not active in the ninja world. Instead, they are based among the common people, so they have not been detected by the intelligence networks of the various ninja villages so far.”