We reached the city after a few hours of walking and got inside. There was no checkpoint on the gate or anywhere else in the city. I turned to my ‘father’ and asked, “Father. Why isn’t there any checkpoint here? Isn’t it dangerous?”

Genki(Jiraia) nodded and smiled gently. “True but setting up a checkpoint is meaningless since there are all kinds of people coming and going. You can’t know which people to let in or out. Though it’s odd that there are no guards in sight.” Genki said rubbing his beard.

“True. The last time I came here, there were guards closer to the gate and now in their place…” Soichiro turned to look at a group of men who were watching us intently. He then turned his head at the road and continued, “Yakuza’s influence seems to have grown here too much. I gather there isn’t much time until they over throne the current governor of the city.” Soraru gasped at that. I turned to my father and he too looked grim. ‘Fake or real? I guess we will have to be alone to talk openly for the remainder of the mission.’

Then Saru asked, “Father, what are those men doing? Are they like guards since they took their place?” Soichiro just shook his head for an answer.

“We are finally here.” Soichiro stopped in front of a big building with a big sign saying ‘inn’. He looked around and got closer to Genki. He then whispered, “Last I came here bosses influence was dominating this part of the city. We should be safe here for a while.” Genki nodded and lead the way in.

When I got inside, the first thing I saw was a long table lined with stools for a bar, bottles visible behind. What’s in between was a middle-aged man with slightly graying hair and brown eyes. He was shorter than Jiraia but not much. Genki walked up to the man and said, “I am Genki.” He held my head and dragged me beside him. He then smiled at the man and continued, “My son and I are looking for a room to stay.”

The man nodded while absentmindedly cleaning glasses. After a while of thinking, he asked, “Where do I know you?”

Genki looked at Ichirou who took a step forward and answered, “From the Kanari Okī.”

Barmen nodded and looked at Ichirou. “Do you need a room as well?” Ichirou nodded, “Lucky thing we have just the rooms you needed. He took out two keys under the bar and gave one to Ichirou while giving the other to Genki. “Here are your keys. Your rooms are side by side. Room 301 and 302. Thousand yen per night and five-night upfront. No bargaining.”

Genki looked ashen. He gulped loud enough for all of us to hear and asked, “Hey, I don’t have enough money on me to pay upfront but I have enough for tonight. Isn’t that enough?”

Barmen shook his head. “I heard you gain a lot on Kanari Okī. I am sure you have it on you.”

Before Genki could protest Ichirou held his shoulder and walked in front of him. He took out a stack of money and put it on the bar. “Here, advance for both Genki-san and us.” Genki looked at Ichirou, his appreciation obvious but Ichirou just waved him off. “It’s alright. You can pay. You already have a job after all.”

Genki nodded and smiled. “Still, thanks.”

“You are welcome.”

We walked the corridor barmen showed us and found our respective rooms. After a wave from me and Saru, both families went inside their own rooms.

When we were alone with Jiraia, I sat on the ground and looked at him expectantly. Jiraia ignored me at first but he gave up in the end and just asked, “What is it, kid? What do you want to ask?”

I sighed and groomed my face to look troubled. “You are a terrible father,” I whispered. “After all those things Soichiro did for you…” I was going to continue but a look from Jiraia was enough to dampen my willingness to do so.

Jiraia looked at me seriously and said, “Rule number 1. When undercover, never empathize with your marks and sources. Rule number 2, what you do while undercover, stays with your cover identity. And rule number 3, never break your character when undercover.”

I sighed, “Father, we are alone and I didn’t exactly break my character either. So your rules are a bit moot other than the number 1. I was guessing the rule would be more in line with hate or something similar.”

“No, kid. Don’t hate nor love. It’s better if you don’t think of them as human at all while judging yourself with your morality. Or you may crack.”

I nodded, “Well, okay. This chat had been more serious than I was going for. But I guess this is a serious matter.” Jiraia nodded, “So. We are here. What are we going to do?”

Jiraia sat on one of the beds and looked at me. After a while, he shifted his chin to the side and said, “I am supposed to teach you fuinjutsu.” I tilted my head and opened my mouth to ask if he doesn’t want it but he gestured me to stop so I waited. “Don’t misunderstand me, I want to do it but there is a problem.”

“Problem? With me?”

Jiraia nodded. “Now you know how a ninja fights right?” I shook my head since I am not supposed to know. “Right, a first-year student. This is something you are supposed to learn at the academy. Shinobi fights using three main techniques, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Ninjutsu. There are other jutsu like Bukijutsu too but the first three are the most important of them all. A shinobi’s fighting power is generally measured with his mastery over these three arts. Now tell me. What is the most important art?”

“Taijutsu, since it’s the basic of basic.”

Jiraia shook his head but said, “A good enough answer but at the high-level battles, if you don’t practice certain styles, or you are an Uchiha or Kurama with genjutsu specialization, the most important discipline is in fact ninjutsu.

“But if a good ninjutsu user is average at taijutsu and came against a good taijutsu user, they are toast since the taijutsu user should gain the distance quickly.”

“It doesn’t work like that in the field. Seconds or even centimeters can divide life and death. What I mean to say, what your problem is… you have too little chakra even for your age. You can’t become a shinobi.”

I looked at Jiraia like he is an idiot and started laughing.