After seeing Nagato's face, Shinju froze.
The guy not only had sunken eye sockets and a sickly yellow complexion, looking like someone who'd been drained dry by a vampire…
More importantly, his eye sockets were completely empty!
Those eyes that once represented supreme power—the Rinnegan—had been dug out by someone at some point.
"No wonder."
Shinju muttered under his breath, as if he suddenly understood something.
"I'm not as strong as you."
Nagato spoke.
"But that's only in terms of power. My ideology stands on a far higher level than yours."
Hearing Nagato's stubborn declaration, Shinju's expression turned strange.
"Your ideology? What ideology?"
"You killed your own teacher. You've got no morals. What kind of ideology could you possibly have?"
Shinju didn't want to waste more words on him. He raised his hand, thrust his sword forward!
"Pshhh!!"
Nagato—dead.
...
At the same time, in a hidden chamber.
The masked man stared at the pair of Rinnegan in his hand, deep in thought.
"That boy is ridiculously strong. To actually push Shisui's eyes to that terrifying level…"
"And his chakra seems endless, fueling a full-body Susanoo for so long, unleashing terrifying jutsu, all without the slightest strain."
"If he doesn't die, the Eye of the Moon Plan will be nearly impossible to carry out…"
"The problem is… how do we kill him?"
"Not only does he have the Three-Tails sealed inside, but also some unknown demon beast…"
"What a headache!!"
...
Elsewhere, in Amegakure.
After killing Nagato, Shinju immediately drained his own mental energy to search for Jiraiya.
At last, he found his sensei's frozen corpse in one of the laboratories.
"So Nagato planned to make Jiraiya-sensei into one of his chakra vessels too?"
Shinju gritted his teeth in anger.
Fortunately, thanks to Nagato's preservation methods, Jiraiya-sensei's body was still intact.
Though his cellular activity had already ceased, that wasn't a real obstacle for Shinju, who specialized in cellular engineering.
Next, Shinju began preparing the reincarnation ritual to revive Jiraiya.
After layering several protective sealing techniques, he called Naruto and the others over to stand guard.
Then, sitting on the ground, he began forming hand seals.
After completing over two hundred seals in succession, Shinju whispered:
"Sage Art: Hell's Dragging the Soul Technique!"
The phantom of the Shinigami appeared once again. This time, it fixed its gaze directly on Shinju, who sat in the middle of the sealing formation.
Its eyes carried a complicated mix of anger, resentment, and resignation.
As they say: the first meeting is nerve-wracking, the second, less so.
Seeing the Shinigami again, Shinju wasn't nearly as nervous as before.
When he noticed its eyes on him, he even gave it a cheerful little wave.
Hi~
(o´Д`o)ノ
Shinigami: (ꐦ ಠ皿ಠ)
If not for the multiple thick seals Shinju had layered on, the Shinigami really would've dragged this brat down with it!
Soon, Jiraiya—lying on the ritual platform—began to breathe evenly.
Then, he opened his eyes, staring blankly at Shinju and Naruto standing nearby.
His face filled with confusion:
"Yo, Shinju… and you, that loud blond kid. What are you doing down here too? (￢‸￢) ?"
Shinju smiled and replied:
"It's not us who came down—it's you who came back up. ( ˙º˙)╯︎"
Jiraiya: (๑ʘ̅ д ʘ̅๑)!!!
"I… I've been revived?!"
"Yes." Shinju nodded.
"I was already laid to rest. Why would you risk bringing me back?" Jiraiya scolded.
"Birth, old age, sickness, death—it's the natural cycle. Once you die, you die. Don't go breaking the rules of nature."
Shinju pouted.
"If you don't want to live, I can just send you back down. (*￣3￣)"
Jiraiya: "…"
This kid… what a filial little menace!
"Alright, alright, living isn't so bad after all. ( *ˊᵕˋ)"
He then asked, "And Nagato?"
"Dead." Shinju answered without expression.
"You killed him?" Jiraiya asked.
Shinju nodded. "I did."
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes slightly.
"How? That boy had the Rinnegan, stronger than anyone."
Shinju shrugged.
"Didn't take much, really. First this… then that… and he was dead. ┐(´-｀)┌"
Jiraiya: "…"
Realizing he'd never understand Shinju's methods, Jiraiya didn't press further.
Shinju said, "Alright, let's hurry back. Tsunade-sensei is still waiting for you for that date."
...
Konohagakure.
Ninja Academy.
Because Shinju had summoned Susanoo inside the Hokage's office, blasting a hole through the ceiling, it was still under repair.
So Tsunade, as Hokage, had to temporarily move her work to the Academy.
After finishing paperwork, she walked onto the Academy's training grounds, gazing absentmindedly at the children playing in small groups.
At some point, Konohamaru appeared behind her.
"Fifth Hokage-sama."
"Konohamaru? No mission today?" Tsunade asked.
"No, today's a rest day."
He walked up beside her.
"Tsunade-sama, you're sad because of Jiraiya-sama, aren't you?" Konohamaru asked.
Tsunade frowned. "Kids shouldn't act like they understand everything."
Konohamaru: "…"
"Who says I don't understand?"
"When Grandpa died not long ago, I was far sadder than you."
"But even so, I'm already a shinobi of the village. A mature one."
"Though I still think of him often, I believe he's watching me from above."
"I'll carry on Grandpa's will and grow into an outstanding shinobi!"
Hearing this, Tsunade smiled faintly.
This kid… was he actually trying to comfort her?
"Don't worry. I'm the Hokage. My heart's far stronger than a little guy like you."
She smiled.
"Mm, mm. Jiraiya-sama will definitely watch over you from the heavens," Konohamaru said.
But in the next moment—
Not far away, a hearty voice rang out:
"Hey kid! You're the Third Hokage's grandson, right? Why are you running around spreading rumors that I'm dead! (*￣3￣)"
Konohamaru spun his head around: (⊙o⊙)
"Huh? Jiraiya-sama, you weren't dead after all?!"
Then, noticing Naruto and Shinju beside him, he ran over enthusiastically.
"Shinju! Long time no see!"
Meanwhile, Jiraiya walked up to Tsunade's side.
When their eyes met, tears poured from Tsunade's eyes.
"You… since you weren't dead, why didn't you come back sooner…"
"You have no idea how worried I was."
"I've lost so many important people in my life…"
"When news of your death reached the village, I regretted letting you leave…"
"Alright, alright. Didn't I come back?"
Jiraiya slipped an arm around Tsunade's shoulders, and from behind her, he threw Shinju a thumbs-up (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)b.
Good disciple—huge help!
Naruto and Shinju glanced at each other and laughed.
As expected, nothing beats the beauty of love in twilight years.
At that moment, Konohamaru tugged at Shinju's sleeve, pouting.
"Tsunade-sama was just telling me she's way tougher than me. But now look—she's crying like a baby. (๑‾ ꇴ ‾๑)"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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