"Vampire Fruit? Did they really find it?"
The Third couldn't believe it.
This Devil Fruit, capable of extending life and possibly even granting immortality, actually existed in the world.
Doesn't that mean...
His heart soared with joy—this was the best news he'd received in days.
The Summoning Frog nodded. "For safety's sake, young Jiraiya didn't use the Sealing Technique for transportation. From observation, the fleet is currently near the Land of Water and the Land of Whirlpools."
"Good, I'll send someone to intercept it."
The Third suppressed his excitement and let out a silent sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Devil Fruit could regenerate after being harvested; otherwise, if someone gave in to temptation and ate it, all efforts would have been wasted.
In his mind, the top choice was naturally Akaba.
Akaba was the perfect man for fast courier jobs thanks to the Flying Thunder God technique. Previously, important missions like intercepting the Four-Tails Jinchuriki had been entrusted to him as well. This time was no different—the Third thought of him immediately.
So without delay, the Third set off toward the manga shop.
At the manga shop, work was piling up, especially these past two days when Akaba had only assigned two Shadow Clones. Even woodcarving and coloring tasks were temporarily put aside.
When the Third arrived at the store, Akaba was indeed caught off guard.
"Is Akaba not here?"
The Third sensed only two people inside the shop—both should be Shadow Clones.
"The original body is in retreat. He used too much Chakra from the Yin Seal recently."
One clone casually replied with the prepared excuse.
At this point, unless something major happened, the Third wouldn't personally disturb him.
The other clones thought silently among themselves.
"Refining Chakra can wait. Right now there's something more important—Jiraiya and the others have found that item. You need to retrieve the Devil Fruit before anything happens to it outside."
The Third said in a low voice.
"What? Did they really find it?"
"Okay, I'll contact the original body immediately."
The clones readily agreed.
The Third suspected nothing and gave a few more reminders before returning to the Hokage Tower.
He had plenty of work to do. If this mission hadn't been so critical, the Third might've just sent a Shadow Guard instead of coming himself.
After the Third left, one of the clones muttered sarcastically, "Your acting just now was way too exaggerated. You keep working—you handle telling the original body."
"No, I'll go. My part's already done anyway."
Another clone got up.
Before the other clone could respond, it quickly formed hand seals and vanished in a puff of smoke.
The Shadow Clone dissolved, its memories returning to the original.
The remaining clone stared wide-eyed at the spot for two or three seconds, then picked up the pen again and continued drawing.
Overseas, Akaba instantly gained the Shadow Clone's memories and learned about the Third sending him on this mission.
In the past, he might have been reluctant to go.
But now?
It was conveniently close, and the ship offered overnight accommodation—no need to sleep on the streets.
Perfect!
Never before had he been so eager to take a mission. Luckily, he currently had enough Chakra to reach Jiraiya's location. Without hesitation, he activated the Flying Thunder God and teleported directly beside Jiraiya.
This time, Jiraiya wasn't asleep.
He was sitting on the deck drawing sketches against the sea breeze—his drawings were particularly lewd.
Akaba was deeply ashamed.
"You keep drawing these things every day. Do you expect Haino to marry you?"
"Who'd want that?"
Jiraiya casually replied, assuming it was just another crewmate. But within two or three seconds, he realized the voice didn't belong to a companion—it was Akaba.
He instantly turned his head around.
After seeing Akaba, he hesitated for a moment before understanding and saying, "You've come to pick up Devil Fruits?"
"Just my hardworking fate."
Akaba lightly coughed before sitting down. Since his chakra still hadn't recovered, he couldn't head back to Konoha right away. Tonight would probably be spent on the ship for quite a while, so naturally, he needed to stay on Jiraiya's good side.
Jiraiya examined Akaba up and down, then raised his eyebrows in anger and asked, "So you're your real body, huh?"
"That goes without saying. This is such an important matter."
Before Akaba even finished speaking, Jiraiya already threw a punch at him.
His Taijutsu had improved—the speed was much faster than before. If it were in the past, he might not have been able to dodge, but now Akaba no longer needed to evade.
The instant the fist hit, his body turned into pure lightning.
"Ughhhhh—"
Jiraiya got electrocuted, trembling continuously with smoke rising from his whole body, his hair spiked up like a rocker kid's.
Akaba pushed Jiraiya away.
After a while, Jiraiya finally regained movement. He turned his head and looked at Akaba expressionlessly, asking, "When did you learn this technique?"
"Quite early actually. I've known it since back when I fought Madara."
Akaba answered straightforwardly.
Jiraiya turned his head back forward, looking utterly desperate.
He'd been itching to punch Akaba for ages. Before, there were only shadow clones, making it inconvenient to take action, but now...
There was simply no way to win—he could never get revenge this way.
"You said the ocean's romantic, that life at sea is as wild and colorful as in One Piece. But after more than a month at sea, I haven't seen anyone else besides oceans, barren islands, and our crew."
Speaking until here, Jiraiya almost cried.
That's just not fair.
More than a month had passed, and the only woman he'd met was Haino. There wasn't even a single place for inspiration. Otherwise, why would he keep drawing Human-Beast Hybrid Females nonstop?
Jiraiya, who usually loved roaming freely, being stuck on a ship for so long was pure torture.
He sat angrily on the deck and shouted, "I don't care anymore! You must take me back to Konoha. I don't want to stay on this ship any longer!"
"Not today. My chakra isn't sufficient yet."
After Akaba spoke, he turned around to look for a room. Lodging on the ship wasn't abundant—most folks took turns resting. Plus, ninjas didn't have high standards regarding lodging, so cramped spaces worked fine too.
Since Akaba wouldn't stay here long either, after reaching his room, he pulled out some rations and started chewing.
Chakra consisted of physical energy and spiritual energy; therefore, eating food and taking rest were essential for its recovery. Hearing that returning seemed possible, Jiraiya dared not disturb him further.
If he could endure over a month, surely he could hold out another day?
Moreover, regarding returning, the manga he was working on had just begun its ending arc, which would be ready for immediate publication upon his return.
As for the title—
He titled it: Hot & Steamy.
"The ocean is a warrior's romance. Every passionate man who loves life and pursues romance should brave the boundless and beautiful ocean."
This was exactly what he wrote on the front page.
Exactly.
After drifting at sea for over a month, Jiraiya felt like he truly understood the beauty of life now more than ever. He realized how fortunate it was to live on the continent.
So, he believed others should experience this too.
The next day,
Early in the morning, he stretched lazily. After a good night's rest, his chakra was fully restored—he was ready to head back to Konoha.
Just as he was preparing to leave, Jiraiya walked in and asked, "Akaba, can we head back to Konoha now?"
"You haven't returned yet? Just borrow Mount Myobuku's path. Returning to Konoha should be easy."
Akaba found this somewhat strange.
Jiraiya usually had a sharp mind, but today he seemed unusually slow.
"Didn't you say it had to be today?"
"Yeah, I could only return today, since I don't have chakra and can't borrow the path through Mount Myobuku."
Akaba smirked slightly.
Jiraiya stood there confused, unsure what to say. This was just habitual thinking—he'd focused only on Akaba agreeing, without considering the Mount Myobuku shortcut.
"Everyone, we'll take our leave first."
Akaba bid farewell to the other people on the ship, then placed his hand on Jiraiya's shoulder.
In an instant,
The scene before them changed rapidly. Jiraiya saw the familiar scenery and almost burst into tears from emotion.
Konoha, he was back!
"Perfect timing. You go report to the Third, and I'll return home to replenish my chakra."
Akaba offloaded the tasks casually.
Since he'd gone through the trouble of bringing Jiraiya back, there was no harm in using up a little chakra.
Before Jiraiya could react, Akaba had already vanished.
He froze for several seconds, then glanced at the Devil Fruit in his arms, realizing once again he'd been used.
Back at the manga shop,
Akaba found the latest manga releases from yesterday were already available. There were only five chapters, so quite a few people had finished reading and left the little teahouse. However, new customers kept arriving, and the teahouse remained packed.
Good, good.
Returning now, by noon he would recover some chakra. Then he could make two or three Multiple Shadow Clones to help manage everything.
He glanced at the outside comment board.
The five chapters released today mostly covered battles between Sasuke, Raikage, and Mizukage, so there weren't any major highlights. The most common complaints were about Danzo.
The one causing the most chaos always vanished first.
Right after announcing his alliance and rallying the Ninja World against Akatsuki, the moment Sasuke showed up, he vanished into thin air.
Of course,
Nobody dared directly mention Danzo's name. After all, he was the Anbu leader. Though it wasn't exactly "nothing goes unnoticed," written records in Konoha practically guaranteed attention.
Therefore, in writing, everyone used alternative names like "that guy" instead.
Phrases such as "That guy ran off again" and nicknames like "guy with the fastest escape when trouble hits" continuously appeared on the comment board.
Are they asking for it?!
Covering his face with his hands, Akaba thought Danzo probably wouldn't personally retaliate against villagers. But eventually, the blame always fell onto him. They hadn't come looking yet because their anger hadn't reached its peak.
Once Danzo bites the dust and the story hits a mini-villain-defeating high point, his Teacher will definitely come gunning for revenge.
Staring at the comment board for several seconds, he grabbed plenty of snacks and drinks from the front counter, replenishing his physical energy.
Then Akaba went home, took a shower, and prepared for sleep.
According to his regular schedule, he should still be in bed. After a tiring day, he decided to lie down and restore his energy first.
As for updates, there's still time to work on them in the afternoon.
After all, he had Multiple Shadow Clones to help.
Akaba slept soundly and guiltlessly, but Jiraiya didn't enjoy such comfort.
He brought the Devil Fruit to the Hokage Tower, where the Third kept asking about how he obtained it. Therefore, Jiraiya had no choice but to suppress his strong urge to visit the bathhouse and truthfully answered every question.
"Devil... Fruit... Disaster?"
The Third frowned.
Putting those words together, it likely meant the Devil Fruits attract disasters capable of submerging entire towns.
Was this the real meaning behind Devil Fruits?
After a long pause, he repeated his question: "You're certain that bird which ate the Human-Human Fruit truly transformed into a human."
"Yes. I obtained this fruit after killing another flying bird."
Jiraiya explained.
"If that's the case, many lost Devil Fruits may have already been swallowed by wild animals and birds. It was really lucky of you to find two."
The Third held the Vampire Fruit in his hand, stared at it for several seconds, then said, "Go rest now. I'll bring this to Lady Mito."
"Hehehe, sure thing."
Jiraiya grinned slyly and turned to leave.
But The Third quickly called him back, "When doing *that* kind of activity, try to stay hidden. Don't get caught so often. People might misunderstand what you're up to..."
"Don't worry, Teacher," Jiraiya patted his chest confidently, "My concealment techniques and Earth Release jutsu have improved to the point where I absolutely won't get caught."
"Cough cough," the Third cleared his throat, "It's good your ninjutsu skills are improving, but also remember to take care of yourself and don't overwork yourself."
The Hokage's face slightly reddened, implying something.
But Jiraiya wasn't listening anymore—he rushed out of the Hokage Tower like a gust of wind, heading toward a specific location in the village.
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