Thankful

"Ngh!"

Even after hearing Jiraiya's words, Onigetsu still struggled to get free.

Seeing this, Jiraiya sighed… Behind him, Minato and Nozomi were finished, having knocked out every single follower.

"As you can see, your 'sacrifice' has been foiled... I suggest that you start talking, or I'll have to force you. Where are the rest?"

"Hahaha... As if I'd speak! Lord Jashin will save me anyways… You people are ignorant! You may have stopped us today, but you will never extinguish us, for we are devout to our lord!"

Laughing maniacally, Onigetsu bit his tongue.

"Crap! He's trying to kill himself!"

Jiraiya tried to stop him, but it was too late. Blood-red markings covered Onigetsu's skin as his body burned under scarlet flames. Feeling pain, the toad released him and he burned to ash.

"Fuck… He's destroyed his body so that there's no evidence…"

If this hadn't happened, they could've brought him back to the Yamanaka and get his brain searched... Disappointed with himself, Jiraiya sighed.

"Jiraiya-sensei! The followers… They're burning too!"

Hearing Nozomi's words, Jiraiya turned around, but again, there was nothing he could do. Clicking his tongue, he walked over to the girls to get them out.

Just as he was about to untie them, the cave started shaking.

"What's going on?"

Minato got a bad feeling as he struggled to keep his balance. Next to him, Jun was already looking for ways to get the girls out safely.

"Gamagakure no Jutsu!" (Hidden Toad Technique!)

Performing another summoning, Jiraiya summoned a small, red toad.

"Please take all of the girls, quickly!"

The toad nodded and hopped over to the girls, eating them up one by one. The three Genin stared in confusion, watching the small animal take in tens of girls into its stomach.

After it was done, it burped and hopped into Jiraiya's arms.

"Let's get out of here!"

The four of them ran away, narrowly escaping the boulders. Looking around the hall they had previously been in, they sighed in relief.

Patting the toad, Jiraiya smiled.

"Well, at least we saved the girls… It's a shame that we didn't manage to get any intel on the Jashinists… That would've been extremely useful to the village."

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The next morning, Jun woke up early. After they saved the girls, all of them went back to their respective houses, and the city was restored to normality.

That night, the whole city threw a party, celebrating the occasion. Of course, team Jiraiya were treated like true heroes.

After so much celebrating, they had gone to bed very late. Looking around him, Jun noticed that his teammates were still asleep.

Taking care not to wake them up, he merged into the floor, reappearing on top of the castle's roof. From there, he could see the whole city.

Although the mission had gone well, he had been left frustrated. There was no one that even posed a challenge, making him desolate in his own way.

'Well, I guess it's already a step in the right direction…'

Sighing, he watched as the sun rose above the land of tea, making for an extremely beautiful sight.

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Later that morning, almost the entire population of Edo gathered in the same place, seeing off the ninja who had become local heroes.

At the forefront, Yamanoue stood next to his daughter, who was the girl Onigetsu had picked up by the neck. She hugged her father's arm as she watched the people who saved her.

Yamanoue bowed towards the four ninja, as tears flowed down his cheeks.

"Jiraiya-dono, Jun-dono, Nozomi-dono, Minato-dono… You have mine, and all of the village's thanks! We shall remember you for our entire lives… Please come back and visit yours truly every now and then, degozaru!"

"Quit it, man. You're embarrassing me here…"

Jiraiya scratched his head as he helped Yamanoue back up, but was met with unexpected resistance. Yamanoue just refused to stop bowing.

"Thank you, heroes!"

All of the girls bowed in unison, then their parents, followed by the rest of the townsfolk. Seeing this, team Jiraiya didn't know what to do.

Sighing, Jun looked up at the sky.

'I never thought that I'd have so many people thanking me like this… I guess I've really changed, huh?'

Instead of pleading for mercy, they were thanking him. This wasn't something he was used to.

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