Konoha, in front of the wide-open main gate.
Jiraiya, now in middle age and with a weary expression, stood at the entrance.
He wore a tight-fitting gray outfit with a red coat draped over his shoulders and wooden clogs on his feet, giving off a casual vibe.
Not long ago, he received a message from the village that the annual end-of-year meeting was to be held. All Jonin-level ninjas stationed in various locations were required to return to the village to report on their work.
It was all the same old routine. Normally, Jiraiya would have found a way to avoid it and continue his life as a carefree hermit, just like he always did.
However, the letter specifically mentioned one person, which made it impossible for him to stay away and miss this meeting.
The gate guard, upon recognizing him, was first stunned and then became excited, respectfully shouting, "Jiraiya-sama!"
Feeling the admiration from his junior, Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh. Time flies so fast. Before he knew it, he had gone from a rookie to a middle-aged man over 50.
He wondered what that person had become. He probably looked like a middle-aged man, too.
Jiraiya let out a sigh of sentiment and entered the village, heading toward the meeting hall building. Along the way, he checked out the young, beautiful women in the village and subconsciously compared them to the ones outside. He thought that the girls in his village were more beautiful.
As he walked and thought, he entered the large meeting hall.
Many people had already arrived, most of them wearing the uniform green vests. However, a few men and women were wearing their own clothing.
As soon as Jiraiya entered the room, he quickly attracted everyone's attention, becoming the most prominent person in the meeting hall. Seeing the rarely-returned Jiraiya, people shouted out his name and added the honorific "sama."
Just then, a masked young man walked over to greet him.
He had white hair, and his headband was worn askew on his forehead, covering half of his face and revealing a lifeless, sleepy-looking eye.
"Kakashi..."
Jiraiya smiled when he saw the person: "It's been a while."
He had quite a history with Kakashi. The Fourth Hokage, Minato, was his student, and Kakashi was the Fourth Hokage's student. In a way, he was Kakashi's grand-teacher.
"How rare, Jiraiya-sama, to see you here," Kakashi said, his hands in his pockets, his tone casual, as if they were just chatting.
It was no secret that Jiraiya was often absent from the village.
"I should come back to the village once in a while. Otherwise, the old man would complain," Jiraiya said, his demeanor carefree and without the slightest bit of superiority.
"I think it's because of that person," Kakashi said.
His lie exposed, Jiraiya's expression faltered, and he gave a hollow laugh: "You really don't give me any face..."
"After all, it's pretty easy to guess."
"So... where is that person?"
Jiraiya's eyes scanned the meeting room, but he didn't see his old friend: "I still haven't seen him. You can't be messing with me."
Just as Kakashi was about to reply, a stir broke out nearby.
Following the direction of the commotion, a young man with light hair and green eyes strolled in. Behind him, three middle-aged men followed like underlings. If you didn't know better, you might think a young master was making an appearance.
Jiraiya also noticed the young man with light hair and green eyes. He was a little puzzled. Who was this kid? He looked so arrogant.
And if he remembered correctly, the people behind him were Uchiha Yashiro and Uchiha Inabi. Both were top-notch experts in the Uchiha clan.
And the grim-faced man among them was Uchiha Fugaku, the Uchiha clan leader. It was an incredible sight to see such a figure following a teenager. Who was this young man?
Jiraiya stroked his chin, vaguely feeling that the white-haired teenager looked familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Kakashi chuckled: "He's here, isn't he?"
Jiraiya, who was still confused, was stunned by this remark. The figure in front of his eyes slowly overlapped with a figure from the past, forming a familiar and youthful face.
Seeing this, Jiraiya wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked at Tōshirō, his face full of disbelief.
A Transformation Jutsu?
No, he didn't feel that vibe from him.
Besides, why would he transform into this appearance?
What the heck?
How could this guy be getting younger and younger?
What was going on?
While Jiraiya was sizing up Tōshirō, Tōshirō also noticed Jiraiya. Seeing who it was, he was stunned for a moment, then looked over with a smile.
"It's been a while, Jiraiya..."
Jiraiya's eyes widened: "It really is you..."
Tōshirō nodded, confirming it.
"How did you end up like this, and where have you been all these years?"
When Jiraiya asked this question, everyone around them threw curious glances or discreetly perked up their ears.
Fugaku glanced at Tōshirō, who answered with an ambiguous tone: "It's a long story."
Jiraiya realized that this might not be a topic for public discussion, so he dropped it.
The others who were interested in the topic also had to let it go.
Tōshirō looked at the increasing wrinkles around Jiraiya's eyes: "You've gotten a lot older, though."
Jiraiya looked at his friend, who was only up to his waist, and felt an urge to complain.
This isn't fair. Why was he getting older while this guy was getting younger?
Under everyone's gaze, the two stood and chatted for a while. As people gradually arrived, they realized the meeting was about to start and stopped their small talk, finding a place to sit.
After that, four elders entered the room. Everyone saw them and stopped talking, falling silent. They watched as the elders walked up the steps and sat down one by one at a long rectangular table.
Sitting on his chair, Tōshirō clasped his hands together, resting his chin on the back of his hands. His green eyes turned blood red, and his gaze focused intently.
Feeling like he was being stared at by a cold-blooded animal, Danzō sharply noticed a chilling gaze from below.
This guy...
Danzō wasn't afraid and fought back with his gaze.
In front of an Uchiha, he wouldn't show any sign of fear.
Unexpectedly, Tōshirō, the young man, didn't play fair and directly upgraded his Sharingan. The three tomoe connected and merged into a blood-red snowflake pattern.
Even without using its power, the immense pressure from the Mangekyo Sharingan was enough to make Danzō feel uncomfortable. He couldn't look directly at it and turned his face away, admitting defeat.
"Hmph."
The corner of Tōshirō's mouth turned up, and the blood red in his eyes faded back into green.
The clash of their gazes was very brief, and no one else in the room noticed the silent hostility that had just happened, but one person did. It was Jiraiya, who was sitting next to him.
It wasn't a normal three-tomoe Sharingan. The pattern was more complex, something he had never seen before.
Is that... the Mangekyo Sharingan!?
"Tōshirō, you..."
Jiraiya's eyes were wide, and his mouth was slightly agape.
Tōshirō tilted his head, smiling with a confused look in his eyes.
"N-nothing."
Jiraiya gave a perfunctory response, his face turning serious.
He couldn't have been mistaken just now. Tōshirō's cold gaze was definitely one that wanted to kill someone.
It seemed that after the meeting, he would need to have a serious talk with his long-lost friend.
After that, the meeting officially began. The elders on the stage started speaking, mostly about future development strategies, as usual, and the people below gave suggestions in real-time.
Then, the elders on the stage listened, considered whether to adopt them, and gave their responses.
In addition, representatives from the major clans would also use this meeting to put forward requests that were beneficial to their own clans.
For example, the Uchiha clan was a typical case. In previous years, they were very active, but unfortunately, their proposals were always rejected for various reasons.
It was pathetic to see the great Uchiha clan in such a situation, but no one would speak up for them.
One reason was that the Uchiha clan's relationship with the village was not harmonious. The other was that the village's "cake" was only so big. If the Uchiha clan took a bigger slice, everyone else would get less.
Naturally, they would turn a blind eye.
However, this year, the Uchiha clan was surprisingly quiet. They didn't say a single word, as if they were just spectators. This couldn't help but attract the attention of everyone present, especially the representatives of the other major clans.
Did they know it was useless to propose anything, so they just gave up this time?
The major clan representatives thought to themselves.
At that moment, a ninja stood up and expressed his opinion that the village's future development strategy should still be to recuperate and try to reduce friction and maintain good relations with other countries.
Hiruzen Sarutobi went along with the suggestion and asked for everyone's opinion.
Everyone present agreed.
After all, who in their right mind would want to start a war?
But this was actually very difficult. Many times, it wasn't that they wanted to cause trouble, but that external forces coveted the Land of Fire's territory. As a village with close ties to the Land of Fire, they had no choice but to fight back and defend their home country.
After reaching a consensus, Hiruzen Sarutobi set the tone for the matter: "For the peace of the village, I hope everyone here will work together to maintain the hard-won peace we have now. Do not act on your own and avoid unnecessary conflicts that could lead to war."
This statement was met with a unanimous response from everyone present: "Yes, sir."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, seemingly ready to move on, when another voice rang out beside him.
"Wait a minute..."
Everyone was slightly stunned. Their gazes converged on Danzō, who was next to Hiruzen, their faces puzzled.
Danzō said what the leader could not: "Hiruzen, aren't you forgetting something?"
Hiruzen remained silent, waiting for Danzō to say it himself.
Danzō cursed inwardly.
This Hiruzen always made sure he was free of any responsibility, leaving Danzō to take the blame. Suppressing his dissatisfaction, he said: "I recently received some intelligence..."
"Danzō..."
Hiruzen pretended to stop him, putting on a show for everyone.
Danzō ignored Hiruzen's obstruction, his face sinking as he spoke directly: "Someone went out on their own and caused a big disturbance in the Grass Village, causing them a lot of trouble. Now, they've sent someone to us, demanding an explanation."
Hearing that someone in the village had done such a thing, the people below looked surprised and started whispering, speculating about who it could be.
Fugaku's eyes narrowed. He knew this was coming.
He glanced over at Tōshirō, who was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, his face calm and unbothered by the matter.
Everyone looked over, their eyes filled with curiosity, eagerly awaiting the answer. Danzō didn't say a word, just quietly let his gaze fall on one person. Following his gaze, everyone saw the calm, white-haired teenager.
It was him...!
Many eyes were filled with confusion and surprise.
Tōshirō closed his eyes, exhaled, uncrossed his arms, lowered his head, and casually brushed off some non-existent dust from the table, which was spotless.
"That's right, I did it. So what?"
Tōshirō raised his head, tilted his neck, and put on a confused expression.
"So what?"
Danzō hadn't even spoken yet, but Homura Mitokado next to him couldn't stay seated. He stood up and questioned loudly: "Don't you know this could start a war between the two countries?"
"It doesn't matter. I'll take care of it."
Homura Mitokado: "???"
(End of Chapter)
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