Kushina Uzumaki leaped high into the air, swinging a massive wooden hammer and slamming it straight down onto Jiraiya.
"Ow!"
Jiraiya's cry of pain came from beneath the giant wooden hammer that completely buried him.
"Hmph. Serves you right for being so unreliable!"
Kushina scoffed as she tossed away the broken hammer handle and walked back to Minato Namikaze with obvious satisfaction.
After tossing the wooden hammer aside, Sakura poked at the motionless Jiraiya with her finger.
"Ouch! Don't touch me—it hurts!"
Slowly crawling out of the crater-shaped impression his body had left in the ground, Jiraiya winced and sucked in sharp breaths through clenched teeth.
"Now can someone please explain exactly what the hell is going on here?"
Shaken back to his senses by Kushina's hammer strike, Jiraiya began carefully observing everything around him, growing more shocked by the moment.
He didn't need to dwell too much on his own student and daughter-in-law—but those people over there—the Uchiha clan members wearing black cloaks with red clouds, Itachi Uchiha; Zabuza and Biwa Juzo, clearly not good guys; Yagura, The Fourth Mizukage from Mist, who looked like a little kid. Most importantly, if he wasn't mistaken, those four gigantic creatures must be [Two-Tails Matatabi], [Three-Tails Isobu], [Four-Tails Son Goku], and [Eight-Tails Gyuki]—and even the mighty [Nine-Tails]!
With so many powerful individuals gathered together, if they decided to cause trouble, all hell would break loose across the entire shinobi world.
"It all started thousands of years ago."
Sakura began educating Jiraiya about the history of the shinobi world, rattling off information nonstop for a long time. By the time she finally stopped, Jiraiya was completely stunned.
"You're telling me the Akatsuki leader who killed Minato was actually Nagato?!"
Jiraiya had spent years tracking the Akatsuki organization, only to find out now that the man who killed his favorite pupil was yet another of his students?
"To be precise, it was Nagato after he'd utterly fallen from grace," Sakura corrected. Without that series of sinister plots, Nagato probably still would have remained a bright young man fighting for peace.
"Ever since Yahiko's death, Nagato has never been the same person again!"
Chapter Two Hundred Fifty-Three: Dragging Jiraiya Into This Mess [Part II]
"How could things end up like this?"
Jiraiya sat on the ground, radiating an aura of gloom. That youth devoted to peace had died, while Nagato had become the leader of a criminal syndicate. He thought he was a hero—but in the end, he couldn't even protect his own students.
"Perverted Sage, don't blame yourself—it's not your fault!" Sakura sighed. She could imagine how terrible Jiraiya must be feeling right now.
"Can you at least tell me how exactly Yahiko died?"
Jiraiya raised his head, eyes flashing coldly. His own student had died—no matter how peaceful his nature, he couldn't possibly remain indifferent.
"How should I put it… Ultimately, it was all Danzo's doing!"
"Of all the troubles plaguing the shinobi world, Danzō bears nine out of ten. Most unfortunate incidents somehow involve him, and it was indeed him and Sanshouo Hanzō who together drove Yahiko to his death. So Sakura wasn't really shifting blame here.
"Let me go!" Jiraiya shouted, clenching his fists. Danzō had always coveted the Hokage position. Jiraiya never liked him much, but he never expected his own student's death also involved Danzō. "I need to settle this with him!"
"Don't be so impulsive. You're not the only one with a grudge against Danzō. Revenge can wait until a month from now!"
Sakura held Jiraiya back before he could rush off headstrong and said, "You'll get your shot later."
"A month from now? Isn't the third round of the Chunin Exams held a month from now? What exactly are you planning?"
Jiraiya asked with a furrowed brow. With Minato Namikaze as his student, he wasn't particularly worried about Sakura harming Konoha, but he was genuinely curious about what plans she had to target Danzō in a month.
"Orochimaru is preparing to launch the Leaf Destruction Plan during the Chunin Exams a month from now!"
Sakura dropped another bomb on Jiraiya, immediately changing his expression.
"What is he trying to accomplish? The Leaf Destruction Plan? Does he really intend to destroy Konoha?"
Jiraiya blurted out, his voice rising with worry. On one side stood his beloved home village Konoha, and on the other was Orochimaru, his old classmate whom he'd pursued for many years. Either way, if something happened to them, it would tear him apart.
"To be precise, it's meant to let the Third Grandpa die as a hero rather than die helplessly from overwork like some worn-out politician."
If Orochimaru truly wanted to destroy Konoha, he wouldn't have killed the Fourth Kazekage (Kankurō?). Considering the Fourth Kazekage's strength, wouldn't destroying Konoha have been much easier? Yet Orochimaru killed the Fourth Kazekage and directly imprisoned the Third when launching his plan. Then he reincarnated the First and Second through Impure World Reincarnation and fought the Third to a decisive battle. The actual attacks on Konoha were carried out only by regular ninja, which hardly caused any real damage to the village.
The Third, once hailed as the God of Shinobi, was no longer the same warrior he used to be. Looking at all the Hokages, both the First and Second died heroic deaths—the First passed away not long after battling Madara Uchiha, yet his reputation remains even today. The Second sacrificed himself to cover others' retreat after being ambushed by the Gold and Silver Brothers. As for the Fourth, he gave his life sealing the Nine-Tails to protect Konoha. However, the Third, despite being known as the God of Shinobi, didn't perish on the battlefield. Instead, he gradually aged while stuck in the Hokage position. Orochimaru's Leaf Destruction Plan, in its own twisted way, gave the Third one last chance to prove himself—dying honorably in battle against none other than the First and Second Hokages themselves.
"Orochimaru..."
Jiraiya sighed softly. So many times, Orochimaru seemed cold on the outside, but there was still fire in his heart. Though he appeared indifferent to everything, Jiraiya knew well that Orochimaru still carried warmth deep inside—for their teacher the Third, and for his former teammates.
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