Chapter 250 - 250: Konoha Is Just Too Dirty

Words : 1528 Updated : Oct 12th, 2025

"You've made up your mind?" "Mm-hmm…" Chūkichi nodded. He'd figured it out. If he didn't agree, he could forget about walking out that door today. The next stop might just be Konoha's ANBU— The Yamanaka Clan could dig information out of a dead man's brain. What chance did a living one like him stand? At that point… Not only would he fail to save Kirigakure and Yagura, but he'd also be trapped between life and death, unable to live, unable to die. After nodding, he hesitated for a moment, then looked at Kyoichi and asked, "Sir, I have a question… Aren't you worried I might run away or steal Konoha's intel?" "You're welcome to try." Kyoichi smiled. It wasn't a threat, but it hit harder than any actual warning. He was confident… Once Chūkichi understood how the Ninja Academy was structured, he wouldn't entertain such naive thoughts again. At first, Chūkichi didn't understand. Kyoichi had simply left after telling him to wait here—no follow-up instructions. His injuries were mostly healed by now. After a while, someone finally arrived. He looked up— The Third Hokage? "Hehehe, so you're the new teacher Kyoichi mentioned. Not bad, our academy has been short on good Water Release instructors." The Third smiled kindly. Konoha didn't lack strong Water Release users, but ones strong and idle enough to teach? Now those were in short supply. Chūkichi was the perfect tool for the job. "T-The Third Hokage, sir?!" "I'm just an ordinary academy principal now. Come on, let me show you around our Ninja Academy. I'm sure you'll be impressed. You might just fall in love with the place." The Third squinted slightly as he smiled. Chūkichi, huh. Came to the academy and still thinks he's going back to Kirigakure? If he manages that, Sarutobi Hiruzen might as well change his surname to Kanda. The Third grumbled inwardly. He led Chūkichi over to the hospital to sign a debt slip. To be honest… Chūkichi looked at the bill and didn't feel like he was being scammed at all. In fact, he felt… That's all Tsunade-hime charged for her treatment? Konoha's hospitals are actually… kind of ethical? The price really wasn't bad. Back in Kirigakure, having a medical jōnin treat you cost at least this much. If the hospitals back home saw this bill, they'd probably accuse Tsunade of price dumping. However— Even so. He was flat broke. Just this little bill might take him years to pay off. Chūkichi was stunned. He never expected that before even starting his mission to save his village, he'd already veered off the path. Now his top concern wasn't "how do I save Kirigakure?" but… How do I get out of Konoha? When he arrived at Konoha's Ninja Academy— What greeted him was a sprawling campus, several times the size of the one back in Kirigakure. More importantly… This wasn't what it looked like the last time he was here. He froze for a few seconds. "Lord Third… what is this? I could've sworn Konoha didn't look like this when I visited last time." "Oh, we just finished building a new academy and relocated. You know how that rascal Kyoichi is, always tinkering with things. The old school just wasn't cutting it anymore." "Uh…" Good grief… Putting on a show in front of us and then—boom—expand the school right afterward? Konoha plays dirty! Chūkichi was momentarily speechless. After a few seconds, he hurried to catch up to the Third. He noticed… Konoha's Ninja Academy had a rather unique design. Three separate training grounds. The academic buildings were divided into distinct zones, with a wide central road clearly marking them apart. Could it be? Even Konoha's students are grouped into tiers? "Third—" "Call me Principal. I'm not Hokage anymore. Hearing 'Third, Third' all the time just makes this old man feel older." "Yes, Principal. May I ask what kind of students I'll be teaching?" Chūkichi asked. This would give him valuable intel. It was also his biggest concern. Who was he actually teaching? If it was a bunch of unruly brats… he was in for a nightmare. "Oh, don't worry. You'll be teaching a Water Release special training class for genin. Just give them a bit of guidance on Water Release. It's simple." The Third smiled cheerfully. Genin… Water Release special training? Chūkichi had a bad feeling. It wasn't that genin were difficult—in fact, many young genin were clever, often easier to teach than ordinary students. The issue was… The smarter the students, the more advanced your teaching had to be. And that might mean leaking village secrets… He frowned slightly. "Don't worry, it won't involve actual ninjutsu. We won't force you to teach Kirigakure-exclusive techniques. As for jutsu we already know, that shouldn't be an issue, right?" "Well… it's still kind of an issue," Chūkichi muttered. Konoha had already acquired Kirigakure's silent killing techniques and other jutsu. If they kept pushing, he might end up giving away sensitive parts of their techniques without realizing it. "Hahaha, you're the teacher. What you choose to teach is up to you. Don't worry—we in Konoha aren't some kind of villains." The Third chuckled again. You couldn't easily trick a jōnin, so neither he nor Kyoichi expected Chūkichi to willingly teach Kirigakure-exclusive ninjutsu. But— Self-developed stuff? That was fair game. No need to rush. Just take it slow. "I understand. I apologize for my hesitation." "It's fine…" The Third continued leading him to the edge of the academy grounds. Chūkichi pointed to the next building over and asked, "What department is that?" "The Police Force. They handle village security and law enforcement." "Ugh…" Chūkichi immediately understood. No wonder Kanda Kyoichi is so fearless. The police force was right next door. With Chūkichi assigned to the academy, how could he possibly escape? "Oh, and you don't have a place to stay, right? Our school has dorms for teachers. You'll be living on campus." "Yes, sir!" House arrest, but make it subtle. And yet… Chūkichi couldn't even complain. If he asked Kyoichi, he'd just say: You're a missing-nin. Where do you think you're going? All he could do was— Mourn internally. --- Elsewhere… "You're seriously putting him in the Ninja Academy? Aren't you worried he might sabotage something?" Jiraiya asked, puzzled. Putting an enemy inside the academy? He didn't get it. Was this guy too bold for his own good? "That's why we're giving him the genin special training class. He'll only be interacting with genin who already know Water Release—and only during Water Release instruction." Kyoichi explained. Jiraiya paused for a second. When he thought about it like that… It made sense. "Konoha's got plenty of Water Release jutsu, but we're still lacking in specialization and real-world application—especially at the lower levels. Hopefully these students can squeeze every last drop of knowledge out of him." Konoha's Water Release was strong. But… The powerful jutsu were mostly B-rank and above. Below that, there were few that were both practical and strong. Kirigakure, however, was different. They could make even a C-rank jutsu look like an art form. That showed just how advanced their low-level Water Release truly was. That's what Konoha was desperate to learn. "So what about Kirigakure? What's your plan for them?" "We wait. We still don't know what's going on with the Third Mizukage or Yagura. Let him stay in the village for now." "What if they come asking for him later?" Jiraiya sounded worried. After all, Chūkichi was a Kirigakure ninja. Whether they labeled him a rogue or not, Konoha would have no excuse when the time came. That could get messy. Kyoichi tilted his head and said, "Didn't Chūkichi get captured by Hiroku? What's that got to do with us?" "Uh… you make a good point." Jiraiya was momentarily speechless. The truth was— He'd realized it too. Kyoichi wasn't avoiding action against Kirigakure. The issue was that they didn't yet know Kirigakure's internal state, and Chūkichi's status wasn't high enough to justify Konoha making a move. They had to wait… Wait for someone important enough to come looking. If Yagura realized something was wrong, then Chūkichi definitely wasn't the only operative he had. There would be backup plans in motion. Jiraiya's thoughts drifted to Hiroku… And he let out a quiet sigh. They used to be teammates. But now… Later, he began delving into the technique of the Chimera Technique, and from then on, their paths diverged. After all those years of circling around each other, in the end, he still ended up being captured and brought back. "I'm going to check on that guy." "Alright…" *************************** Read advanced chapters ahead of everyone else on my P@treon. P@treon/GodDragcell

Chapter 250 - 250: Konoha Is Just Too Dirty

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