"Then, tomorrow's mission to exterminate the monster will rely entirely on Lord Jiraiya. As long as the man-eating monster is dealt with, our country will offer a generous reward."

Captain Wataru's words caused the imposter to look uncomfortable, rubbing his hands nervously.

"Of course, that's no problem."

"But, uh, am I going in alone?"

Wataru naturally nodded, "Naturally. We ordinary folks would only be a burden. As for your... fan here, it's up to you, Lord Jiraiya."

This imposter is shaking like a leaf. What kind of game is he playing? Jiraiya observed, his face betraying nothing.

"Haha."

Upon hearing this, the imposter hurriedly patted the taller Jiraiya on the shoulder and said, "Since he's my little fanboy, he'll come along. I'll let him witness how cool I look in battle."

Little fanboy? I'm at least a head taller than you, 'Lord Jiraiya'. Jiraiya fought to keep a straight face.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"And if you do well, I might even share some of the reward with you."

Sharing a reward he hasn't earned yet. How generous.

Jiraiya looked at the guy beside him, feeling speechless. This imposter clearly didn't have the guts to go in alone, yet he was dragging someone else along.

However, Jiraiya was somewhat interested in this so-called monster and was curious about the real abilities of this fake Jiraiya. Naturally, he agreed readily.

The next day, both Jiraiyas stood in front of a tall wooden fence. The crude construction loomed over them, ominous warnings painted on its surface.

The soldiers opened the entrance. One Jiraiya stood at the gate, ready to walk in, while the other hesitated, too scared to move forward.

"Come on, Lord Jiraiya," Jiraiya called back. "Surely you're not afraid?"

"O-of course not!" the imposter stuttered, trying to sound confident. "I'm just... preparing myself mentally."

He then nervously followed him through the gate.

Preparing to run away, more like, Jiraiya stepped through the gate.

Wataru stood nearby, watching the two of them with a look of doubt. Who's the real fanboy here?

Bang!

The gate slammed shut behind them, startling the imposter. However, Jiraiya remained calm, carefully observing the surroundings.

Time to see what this monster is really about.

The area enclosed by the wooden fence was actually quite large, not just the manor. It included a wide range of ordinary homes. The windows and doors of these houses were boarded up, making them look like fortresses built to defend against external threats.

This seemed to be the residents' attempt to fend off the monster's attacks. But it wasn't working. Wataru mentioned that people sometimes disappeared from inside these houses, yet the wooden boards remained untouched.

According to him, the monster's range was initially limited to the Lotus Manor but was gradually expanding. Because of this, the soldiers had expanded the wooden fence several times.

If this continued, the entire town would eventually become a ghost town.

Although Jiraiya had traveled far and wide, he had never encountered a monster capable of such feats. Even the Great Toad Sage, who had trained for thousands of years and mastered sage powers, couldn't make people vanish from a sealed space without a trace.

He suspected that a ninja might be behind this, creating the illusion of a monster. As for how people could be taken without breaking the wooden barriers, it could be due to some special technique.

However, the blood on the spearhead was puzzling. It didn't look like human blood.

"Wait for me! Wait for me!"

Jiraiya continued walking ahead, while the imposter kept nervously glancing around, falling further behind without realizing it.

He shook his head in resignation. He hadn't exposed the imposter yesterday, hoping to teach him a lesson and scare him a bit. Not just anyone could impersonate one of the Legendary Sannin, the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku.

Still, he felt a small sense of pride. The fact that someone wanted to impersonate him showed that his reputation was strong. But seeing how timid this guy was, Jiraiya thought it might've been better not to bring him along.

"So, Lord Jiraiya," he called back, unable to resist prodding the imposter, "what's your plan for dealing with this monster?"

The imposter puffed out his chest, trying to sound confident. "Oh, you know, I'll use my... special monster-catching technique!"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Sounds interesting. Care to elaborate?"

"Well, it's very technical," the imposter fumbled. "You wouldn't understand."

This guy doesn't even know the basics, Jiraiya shook his head.

"Hurry up, Lord Jiraiya. If you're any slower, we'll miss lunch."

"Oh, right. We should definitely finish this before lunch." Hearing this bit of flattery, the imposter puffed up his chest and walked more confidently.

The atmosphere was eerily quiet as they walked, the silence broken only by the occasional sound of wind. Jiraiya led the imposter to the front of the Lotus Manor.

The manor was the site of the first disappearance, and the monster was said to be hiding inside. Dozens of soldiers had entered to eliminate the monster, but none had come out.

The only thing retrieved from the battle was a spear found near the fence. It was believed that a soldier had escaped to the gate before being caught by the monster.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Jiraiya and the imposter stepped into the manor's garden through a partially open iron gate. The garden was overgrown, but the thick foliage couldn't hide the faint smell of blood in the air.

His sharp nose picked up the scent, though the imposter behind him didn't notice. After wandering through the maze-like garden, he crouched down and parted some leaves.

A patch of bloodstains immediately came into view. The dark red blood had long since dried. Whoever had lost this much blood couldn't have survived.

"Ah!"

"B-blood! It's really here!" The imposter cried out in fear upon seeing the bloodstains on the leaves.

"Keep it down," Jiraiya motioned for silence, his expression turning serious. "We don't want to alert anything that might be lurking around."

Jiraiya, however, was confused.

The blood indicated that the monster had a physical means of attacking people, not simply making them vanish into thin air as the rumors suggested.

But Jiraiya couldn't understand why there was no sign of a body or any blood trail. Even though it had rained the previous day, the dried blood should have remained visible, unaffected by the rain.

From the dried state of the blood on the leaves, it hadn't rained in Lotus Hollow before the blood had fully dried. If the monster had dragged away the bodies, there should have been some trace unless someone had deliberately cleaned up afterward.

But the ground was spotless, except for a small patch of blood hidden beneath the overgrown bushes. It almost felt as if the bodies had vanished into thin air.

"Where are the bodies..."

"M-maybe it... it ate them whole!" the imposter whispered. "Left no traces!"

Jiraiya shook his head. "That doesn't explain the blood. Think, Lord Jiraiya. What do you make of this?"

The imposter's face paled. "S-shouldn't we head back and report this?"

"We're here to solve this mystery and save lives," Jiraiya said firmly. "There's no turning back now."

Jiraiya searched further in the maze of bushes and discovered more splattered blood on other leaves, confirming that a massacre had taken place here.

This isn't just a crime scene... Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he examined the blood patterns.

"It's a massacre"

"M-maybe it's just animal blood?" the imposter suggested weakly.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "From what animal? The Invisible Cow of Doom?"

However, the strangest part was that the bodies, the evidence of the massacre, had all mysteriously disappeared.

What puzzled Jiraiya most was why the blood remained on the leaves if someone wanted to cover up the crime. It seemed unlikely that a ninja would make such a careless mistake.

A cover-up? But why leave the blood? Jiraiya pondered, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"We've seen enough, right? Time to report back?" the imposter asked, his eyes darting nervously around the garden.

"And tell them what? That we found some leaves with a bad case of measles?" Jiraiya retorted, shaking his head.

After passing through the maze of bushes, Jiraiya and his imposter counterpart arrived at the front gate of the Lotus Mansion.

The once elegant mansion had been abandoned for three months, with vines creeping up the railings. The steps, now covered in vines, led to the front entrance of the mansion.

Nature's reclaiming what man abandoned.

However, the grand mahogany doors were boarded up, just like the houses outside the mansion. It seemed the residents had believed that the monsters came from outside, and had attempted to prevent their entry this way.

He examined the tightly nailed boards, his eyes narrowing. They weren't keeping something out. They were locking something in.

"I've seen scarier places in my travels," the imposter boasted, trying to mask his fear.

Jiraiya glanced at him dryly. "I'm sure you have, Lord Jiraiya."

According to a maid who escaped the mansion, the Lotus Mansion was the first place where people started disappearing without reason.

At first, it was just one or two servants. The butler and others assumed they had either left due to dissatisfaction with their work or had eloped, so they paid little attention.

But as more servants vanished and occasional bloodstains were found in the corridors and stairways, the butler and the others realized something terrible was happening.

Under the direction of the mansion's owner, all the doors and windows were sealed shut with boards, leaving only one side door for normal entry and exit.

Remarkably, the inventor of the famous lotus pastry, was still alive at the age of 106. Even after blocking all the doors and windows, people continued to vanish inside the mansion.

One morning, the maid awoke to find herself the only person left in the mansion. Over a dozen people, including the butler, gardener, chef, and guards, had disappeared overnight. After that, residents living near the mansion in town began to experience similar sudden disappearances.

Rou, being a prominent figure in the Land of Spice, had his reputation to protect. So, Captain Wataru chose not to publicize these incidents to avoid tarnishing his image.

In reality, the mansion was where the monsters first appeared.

Jiraiya rubbed the wooden boards covering the main door, noting how tightly they were nailed, almost airtight. It didn't seem like they were trying to keep something out; rather, it was as if they were trying to keep something inside the mansion from escaping.

Leaving the front door, Jiraiya and the imposter headed to the side of the mansion and opened the only door not nailed shut.

"Stay alert," he warned. "We don't know what's waiting for us inside."

Inside, the air was thick with the musty smell of decaying wooden furniture from lack of ventilation.

The imposter covered his nose and complained, "Ugh, what died in here? Besides everything, I mean."

Jiraiya, being a seasoned ninja, didn't mind the unpleasant smell. But among the moldy odor, he caught the faint scent of blood. It was subtle, but as a ninja familiar with such things, he detected it easily.

There's death here, old and new.

The mansion's boarded windows allowed no daylight to enter, making it dark even during the day. Fortunately, there were two oil lamps on a nearby cabinet. Jiraiya and his imposter lit them and proceeded with one lamp each.

They searched through the kitchen, laundry room, servant quarters, storeroom, and miscellaneous rooms.

Everything was just as it had been before the mansion's inhabitants disappeared. The food in the kitchen had long since rotted, indicating no one had touched it since the disappearances.

Everything's untouched. It's like they all just... vanished. Jiraiya's eyes scanned each room carefully.

When they reached the grand central hall of the mansion, even in the darkness, the hall's former grandeur and spaciousness were evident.

Even the dust feels wrong here.

This was the mansion's heart, where Jiraiya expected to find clues if anything unusual had happened here. Yet after circling the hall several times, he found nothing out of place—not even bloodstains.

However, what struck him as odd was the overpowering scent of blood in this hall, even though there was no visible blood anywhere.

The smell's strongest here, but there's not a drop in sight. What kind of jutsu could mask blood so completely?

Meanwhile, the imposter had been unusually silent for some time, feeling the strange atmosphere of the mansion. Every time he tried to speak, a weird tightness gripped his throat, as if someone were choking him.

He rubbed his throat and saw Jiraiya climbing the stairs to the second floor.

"Hey, wait... cough... wait for me!"

"Time to head upstairs," Jiraiya called back. "Unless you'd prefer to wait down here. Alone."

"N-no!" the imposter replied hastily. "I mean, we should stick together. For your safety."

The most prominent room on the second floor was a library, its door decorated with elaborate carvings.

Jiraiya opened the slightly ajar door and entered. Inside were rows of ancient bookshelves, filled with volumes of books.

If there are answers, they'll be here.

Not interested in the books' contents, Jiraiya advanced further into the library, holding his lamp.

The imposter, too nervous to venture deeper, stayed near the entrance, casually flipping through the books on a nearby shelf. Then, a golden envelope fell out from one of the books.

He picked up the envelope, tore off the wax seal, and pulled out the letter inside.

[The Recipe for the Perfect Lotus Pastry.

The ingredients: flour, eggs, milk, corn starch, and peanut butter. The ratio: 8:2:4:2:1. Instructions followed. The letter ended with, This is the perfect recipe for lotus pastries. Please share this with the residents of Lotus Hollow after my death. - Rou.]

He realized that Rou had cleverly withheld the perfect recipe all this time, ensuring that only his pastries remained the best, despite sharing a lesser version of the recipe.

Now that he had discovered the real recipe, the imposter felt elated. Folding the paper carefully, he slipped it into his pocket, excited about the possibilities of starting his own pastry business once they left the mansion.

This could be my ticket out.

Trying to calm his excitement, he straightened his face, cleared his throat, and hurried to rejoin Jiraiya, who had ventured deeper into the library.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya stood before a door.

It was a secret door hidden behind a bookshelf, but he had easily uncovered it. However, the door had a combination lock, leaving him momentarily stumped.

He could force the door open, but it was made of iron, and breaking it would make too much noise, alerting the entire mansion and possibly the monsters lurking within.

Before he could act, the imposter ran over and, after glancing at the combination lock, rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I think I know what the password is."