520 Naruto the Flame-Flame Fruit

Kiyosuke didn't sit at the main seat. Sora knelt directly in front of him and shouted,

"Kiyosuke-san! Please believe in how I feel about Yuka! I'll devote myself to her completely!"

"If you don't?"

"You can kill me!"

"That's unnecessary. Obito would fight me to the death! But if you mistreat her, I'll cut off your family line." Kiyosuke said this with a kind smile that made Sora's thighs clench tight.

"No! I won't! I'll treat Yuka well for my entire life!"

"I don't want to be holding a grandchild before you two even get married!"

"Yes!"

Sora's face turned bright red as he yelled back.

"I can't hear you! You think you can date my daughter with that tiny voice?"

"Yes!!"

"I said I can't hear you, and that means I can't hear you!"

"YES!!!!!!"

This time, the shout was loud enough for the neighbors to hear. Kiyosuke nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Full of spirit. Get out now. I need to calm down."

"Okay. Dad, get some rest. Sora, we'll come back later." Yuka giggled as she pulled her boyfriend out of the house.

"A daughter grows up and can't be kept at home." Kiyosuke sighed. Mei gave him a dramatic eye-roll.

"Sora's a good kid. He's devoted to Yuka. I'm satisfied."

This must be what they mean when a mother-in-law sees her son-in-law and grows more pleased with him the more she looks. Now Kiyosuke finally understood how his own father-in-law must have felt. It was uncomfortable—sure—but it helped that Sora was a child he'd watched grow up. Still, they were only sixteen… wasn't it too early?

But whatever. Konoha's children matured early. He'd long since gotten used to it.

Forget it—let things happen naturally. Though he really didn't like the idea of his kid having children this early. At least… wait another two years.

"Looks like you've already accepted it." Mei sat down beside her husband, smiling.

"I knew the day would come. I just didn't expect it this soon." Kiyosuke wrapped his arms around his wife, seeking comfort.

"Alright, alright. Now you understand how my dad felt back then, huh?"

"Yes, yes, yes. My father-in-law wanted to kill me back then."

He shook his head. "And now I get it."

Father-in-law, I'm sorry!

Only after living through it yourself do you understand how you felt.

Someone knocked at the door. Kiyosuke opened it and was surprised to see Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya-sama?"

The man he hadn't seen for so long had aged quite a bit, but even nearing seventy he was still energetic, his face barely showing age. He grinned.

"Yo. Long time no see, Kiyosuke. And you too, Mizukage-sama."

"Long time no see."

Mei stepped forward politely and, together with Kiyosuke, led Jiraiya inside.

Mei went to make tea. Kiyosuke asked, "What brings you here today?"

"Just passing by." Jiraiya laughed. "What've you been up to lately, kid?"

"Working on some projects with sensei. I just got back."

"New projects? What's Orochimaru up to this time?"

Kiyosuke accepted the tea from his wife and handed it to Jiraiya.

"Ōtsutsuki tech. Have you seen sensei's kid?"

"Mitsuki? Yeah. Met him. Very unusual child."

Of course Jiraiya had met his old friend's kid. When he returned to Konoha, it was the first thing he did. How could he not see his old friend's child?

But he wasn't here for Mitsuki—he had other business.

"Do you know… a group called 'Kara'?"

"Kara?"

Kiyosuke thought for a moment.

"I've heard bits and pieces, but I haven't paid attention. I'm retired now. I rarely deal with that stuff."

"That suits you."

Jiraiya sighed. Kiyosuke had never been one to involve himself in affairs. The Hokage issued a mission, he executed it. In retirement, even more so. If Naruto brought him something, it wasn't ordinary.

Jiraiya said, "This Kara group… I've been looking into them these past years. They appeared out of nowhere—mysterious, with almost no trace. Until recently, a masked man approached Tsunade and me. He fought me. The result? We were evenly matched. No… he might even be stronger. And he could summon toads. The toad he summoned was half-mechanized."

Kiyosuke considered this. "Kara, huh? Have you mentioned this to Naruto?"

Naruto should know something—but not much.

"I have. He only found part of it. And Nagato recently sent word. He and Konan discovered traces of a mysterious group in Amegakure."

After the war, Nagato and Konan returned to Amegakure and took charge, becoming its leaders and strengthening it. With the Five Great Nations no longer at war, the world was peaceful. Though minor nations still had friction, the major villages mediated. The ninja world was peaceful on the surface. Without war threatening them, the Rain Country finally flourished. Hanzo's oppressive rule ended, replaced by Nagato's ideals. Amegakure had been reborn.

But recently, Nagato and Konan found some suspicious activity. Their investigation led to clues about Kara.

Since they'd hit a dead end, they sought their teacher—Jiraiya.

"I see." Kiyosuke said. "Looks like this Kara group is even more troublesome than Akatsuki."

With Nagato and Konan's abilities, they shouldn't have come up empty-handed. That meant Kara was dangerous.

"Yeah. After I told Naruto, he sent Itachi and Sasuke. But they only found an accomplice of Kara—and he died thanks to Kara's schemes. They also discovered human experiment equipment."

"I doubt this will be simple." Kiyosuke shook his head, glancing at the Kāma mark in his palm.

"Human experimentation… damn it. Nothing good ever comes from that stuff."

Anyone connected to it was doomed to trouble.

The Uchiha brothers confirming Kara's existence was something. But Konoha still had to collect intel. Meanwhile, Katasuke from the Scientific Ninja Tools division discovered traces of genjutsu tampering. Even with Ino and Shisui checking, they couldn't identify who cast it.

Katasuke had no memory of it at all.

Looks like the scientific department's intel had leaked as well. 

This is what happens when you lose Gatekeepers like Guy and Izumo.