Naruto: I'm in Konoha, my name is Uzumaki Menma

Chapter 546 Jiraiya Gets a Lesson from a Genin

Jiraiya ultimately did not witness the moment when Mount Myōboku completely collapsed.

Severely injured, he was carried on Hizashi's back and left Mount Myōboku with the Hoshinin through the passage behind the Great Waterfall.

After passing through a bizarre and fantastical passage, the thunderous sound of a waterfall reached his ears. When Jiraiya opened his eyes again, he found himself beneath another great waterfall.

"Where is this—" Jiraiya stared wide-eyed, perched on Hizashi's shoulder, looking around.

They were standing beneath a massive waterfall, which was semi-circular in shape. The water cascaded down with a thunderous roar, creating a drop of over a hundred meters. Below the waterfall lay a large lake more than ten kilometers wide, where the water flowing down from the waterfall converged before continuing its surging southward.

Meanwhile, on some rocks below the waterfall, the Star Ninja were carrying the wounded, various supplies looted from Mount Myōboku, and toads imprisoned in iron cages.

"This is a large waterfall located in the central part of the Land of Rivers." Hizashi carried Jiraiya on his back and jumped up to the top of the waterfall.

They soon landed in a temporary camp.

"Lord Hizashi!" As soon as Hizashi landed, a Star Ninja stepped forward to report the situation to him.

Jiraiya was quickly placed in the medical area of ​​the temporary camp. The tents there were filled with the strong smell of disinfectant and medicine. Jiraiya saw many Star Ninjas who had been injured in the Battle of Mount Myōboku being placed in the tents and receiving treatment from the medical ninjas.

Although many of them were seriously injured, Jiraiya noticed that they did not seem to have much grief over the war. Instead, they were recounting their battle experiences at Mount Myōmi.

Although the entire field hospital was tense and the medical ninjas were busy, it was not filled with pain, sorrow, and psychological trauma as Jiraiya had seen before.

Jiraiya couldn't help but recall the tragedies he witnessed in the field hospitals at the front-line bases during the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars.

Most ninjas suffer from deep war trauma after being injured, and the psychological pain is more tormenting than the physical pain.

Even ninjas, unable to endure this mental torment, preferred to end their lives by suicide.

Jiraiya did not stay in this temporary military camp for long, as the Battle of Mount Myōboku ended quickly.

The wounded soldiers in the military camp were also the first to be transferred back to China to receive better treatment.

As Jiraiya lay in his hospital bed, he gradually came to accept the cruel reality of the Battle of Mount Myoboku.

All he wants to do now is recover his health and then go to the Star Capital to personally find Minato and get the truth out of him.

What exactly happened?

Why did Menma go to such lengths to wipe out Mount Myōboku, while Minato remained indifferent?

The next day, Jiraiya had recovered to about 70-80%. In the same tent as him were several wounded Star Ninjas. One had his right leg in a cast and was suspended high in the air; another had a head injury wrapped in several layers of gauze; and yet another had an injured right arm with a splint in his arm.

Jiraiya quickly adjusted his mindset and, relying on his natural eloquence, soon became familiar with them, attempting to extract some useful information from these Star Ninja.

When Hazuki Murabashi came to change Jiraiya's bandages, she happened to see Jiraiya bragging to a few Star Ninja.

"You might not know this, but the hot springs in the Land of Hot Springs are the best in the entire ninja world. Every time I go to the capital of the Land of Hot Springs, I can see a lot of beautiful women—" Jiraiya boasted to a few Star Ninjas about his experiences.

Hot springs in the Land of Hot Springs, snowscapes in the Land of Iron, waterfalls in the Land of Waterfalls, and so on.

"Really? Senior? Hot springs are everywhere in the Land of Hot Springs?"

How deep is the snow in the Land of Iron? Is it deeper than in the Snow County?

Are there many waterfalls in the Land of Waterfalls?

The three Star Ninjas were all in their early teens or early twenties. As they listened to their senior in the same ward describe the scenery of various countries, they also showed longing.

Jiraiya smiled, preparing to probe their views on invading other countries.

But then the young ninja with his head wrapped in gauze asked, "Senior, what kind of lives do the people of these countries lead? Are they oppressed by the daimyo and the local lords?"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya was taken aback.

The prepared remarks suddenly became unspeakable.

Another boy, with a wooden plank under his arm, also spoke up: "Senior, I was born in Youzhi County, which used to be called Youzhi Kingdom. My grandparents were beaten to death because they couldn't repay their debt to the lord. My father was beaten and had his leg broken because the lord accused him of polluting their water source while he was washing his feet by the river. Even my mother was forced to hang herself by the lord."

Jiraiya lay on the hospital bed, listening blankly, countless similar images flashing through his mind.

The common people were starving, the peasants were oppressed, refugees were rising up everywhere, and bandits roamed the mountains. The daimyo and lords of various countries were only concerned with their own peace and prosperity, and they would never look at the refugees who were starving to death outside their rich gates.

That was a human tragedy he witnessed while traveling through various countries in the ninja world.

Jiraiya shook his head, looked at the boy with the wooden plank under his arm, and said, "But isn't it only right to pay back debts?"

Another young ninja with a cast on his thigh chuckled: "Uncle, looks like you haven't had many political classes."

""

"What?!" Jiraiya blinked, looked at the young ninja, and asked, "What's a political science class?"

"It's just a political class at the ninja academy, right? Your ninja village doesn't have that, uncle?" the young ninja said slowly. "Those so-called debts are just traps deliberately set by the lords and daimyo."

"They would deliberately unite during years of famine to raise grain prices and force farmers to borrow money and grain, but the interest rates were outrageously high, sometimes even doubling in just two or three months! However, because other local lords and even merchants were united and used this kind of usury to oppress the farmers, the farmers had no choice but to borrow money at high interest rates to survive the year of famine."

Do you think this is reasonable?

"Of course it's unreasonable!" Jiraiya said with a serious expression.

"And the land," the boy with the wooden plank tucked under his right arm added. "Those daimyo, lords, and merchants used these usurious loans to force farmers to repay with land, squeezing the last grain of food from the farmers, and then concentrating the land in their own hands."

"Farmers have no land, so they can only rent from them and have to pay high rents. In this way, in just a few decades, the farmers are exploited to the point of being completely ruined, and they carry a debt that they can never repay, generation after generation. Meanwhile, the daimyo, lords, and merchants make a fortune, hoarding grain until it is moldy and smelly, and they will not sell it to the farmers in years of famine."

The young ninja with bandages wrapped around his head interjected, "That's how it's been in my family for generations. When I was born, my father told me from a young age that it would take five generations to pay off our family's debts."

"The fifth generation!!!" Jiraiya was startled, his eyes widening in disbelief.

The thought of the debt piled high on a newborn child weighed heavily on Jiraiya's heart.

Then, he stammered, "So, how does the Star Kingdom deal with these things?"

He was referring to the feudal lords, the daimyo, and this debt.

"Unreasonable debts should be nullified, of course." The young ninja with the wooden board under his right arm thought for a moment and said, "Land belongs to the state and private sales are prohibited. This is to ensure that farmers' basic land will not be merged. Also, usurious loans with an annual interest rate of more than 36% are not protected by the laws of the Land of Stars."

"Furthermore, the Star Kingdom has a national bank that can provide low-interest loans to ordinary people, and there are also special interest-free loans for agricultural-related loans."

"Speaking of which, old man, aren't those countries also full of oppression?" The young ninja with bandages wrapped around his head looked at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya nodded sullenly: "Sigh—indeed—"

He could not refute it, nor was he able to refute it, because this was the current state of affairs in all the countries of the ninja world.

"Therefore, we must overthrow those nations and nobles in the ninja world that oppress the common people!"

"Liberate all suffering humanity!"

Jiraiya stared blankly at the three of them, his heart churning with ever-growing emotions.

Are all the ninjas in the Land of Stars so intelligent and idealistic?

He originally only wanted to get close to them and obtain some information, but they wanted to know more about the lives of ordinary people in other countries, whether they were suffering or oppressed.

And they have the grand ambition of liberating the entire ninja world!

Jiraiya glanced down at the card hanging on the hospital bed that contained their information.

They were just three ordinary genin!

I was trying to get information out of them, but somehow I feel like I've been lectured instead.

Jiraiya's brows were almost furrowed together.

"Alright, everyone get ready for the check-up and dressing change!" Hazuki Murahashi, with short light brown hair, led two medical ninjas as she lifted the tent flap and walked in.

She glanced at the energetic group of people inside the tent, her brown eyes sweeping over them, and the three immediately fell silent.