Jiraiya suppressed the anger boiling in his chest and kept reading.
He saw Uchiha Itachi's return shrouded in morning mist. He saw how Itachi used the Sharingan to drop Hatake Kakashi instantly.
At that point, Jiraiya could not help shaking his head.
Success because of the Sharingan. Failure because of the Sharingan.
He still remembered the era when the Three Sannin first rose to fame. Back then, there was a towering figure looming over them all.
The White Fang of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo.
And yet Hatake Kakashi, who had inherited Sakumo's talent and resources, had ended up like this. Unable even to contend with Orochimaru.
In Jiraiya's eyes, that was nothing short of wasting his own gifts.
The Sharingan had brought Kakashi immense benefits, but it had also slowed his progress.
Even now, he was still stuck at the level of an elite Jonin. Roughly the same tier the Three Sannin had been at when they had first become famous.
But not long after that, all three of them had found their own paths to break through into Kage Level, turning what was once a humiliating label into Konoha's pride.
"Naruto will become the savior?"
As Jiraiya read on, his eyes suddenly lit up.
When he was young, the Great Toad Sage had once given him guidance through a dream, saying that a savior would appear in the future to save the world. For a time, Jiraiya had believed that person was Nagato. Later, he thought it might be Namikaze Minato.
Even now, he had fallen into a kind of despair. Even if such a savior truly existed, would he even be able to find them?
The Great Toad Sage's prophecy had been far too vague. So vague that there was no way to confirm it.
And yet here, he was receiving a completely different answer.
The savior was neither Nagato nor Namikaze Minato.
It was Namikaze Minato's son, Uzumaki Naruto.
After that, he saw how Uchiha Sasuke, the last Uchiha descendant whose name even he had heard, intercepted and killed Shimura Danzo. And through their conversation, an enormous amount of hidden information was revealed.
The Uchiha clan's annihilation back then… could it really have had nothing to do with Konoha's higher-ups?
Jiraiya did not doubt it.
In fact, one of the major reasons he had chosen to leave Konoha, aside from chasing Orochimaru, was his unwillingness to face this kind of filthy political reality.
Back then, the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha had already been stretched to the breaking point. In the end, it concluded with Uchiha Itachi wiping out the entire clan.
Was there really no coincidence in that?
Even Jiraiya fell silent.
He realized something.
Uchiha Itachi was very likely a blade wielded by Konoha's leadership.
It was difficult for him to imagine loyalty to Konoha running so deep that someone would annihilate their own family. But judging from all the information being revealed, that seemed to be exactly the case.
Uchiha Itachi was not a traitor.
On the contrary, he was a hero of Konoha who silently bore everything alone.
At least, to Konoha, he was a hero.
"And in the end, Uchiha Sasuke also betrayed Konoha…"
Jiraiya let out a long sigh.
The scene felt painfully familiar.
Yes. Far too familiar.
It was almost a mirror of what had happened between him and Orochimaru.
Still, there was one thing that brought him comfort. From the later descriptions, it seemed that Uchiha Sasuke eventually turned back.
That was something Jiraiya had always hoped Orochimaru would do, and something Orochimaru never managed.
What unsettled him, however, was Kaede Kitahara.
This man seemed to know of some future crisis. Something terrifying. There was a kind of anxiety threaded through his words, one he might not even realize himself.
Was that future really so dreadful?
Then a particular video made Jiraiya's expression turn grave in an instant.
The man who obliterated Konoha Village with a single Shinra Tensei.
Others might not recognize him, but Jiraiya vaguely did.
Though he was now worlds apart from the boy he once knew, Jiraiya still recognized him.
Yahiko.
Because of those eyes.
The Rinnegan.
The reason Jiraiya had once believed Nagato to be the savior, the Child of Prophecy, was precisely because of those Rinnegan. They were the same eyes as the Sage of Six Paths from legend.
If that did not prove he was the Child of Prophecy, then what did?
And yet now, this Child of Prophecy was coming to attack Konoha.
The irony was bitter.
What Jiraiya could not understand was this. The one who possessed the Rinnegan was clearly Nagato, yet the one destroying Konoha was Yahiko.
Had something happened in between that he did not know about?
For example, had Nagato died and entrusted the Rinnegan to Yahiko before his death?
That kind of thing was not unheard of.
After all, was Hatake Kakashi not a perfect example?
For a moment, Jiraiya's thoughts tangled into chaos. There were simply too many questions.
And then there was that masked man, calling himself Uchiha Madara.
Was he really Uchiha Madara?
If he was, then Konoha's current situation was truly precarious. There were simply too many unknown threats.
This was the first time Jiraiya realized just how deep the waters of the ninja world truly were.
How many enemies had existed all along, ones he had never heard of, or never paid attention to?
Kaede Kitahara.
Jiraiya engraved that name firmly into his mind.
But the most urgent matter was still the Konoha Crush Plan. Judging by the diary, it would not be long before it began.
He had to return to Konoha.
Though he had chosen a wandering life out of dissatisfaction with the village's politics, that did not mean he could accept Orochimaru completely destroying Konoha.
That was something he would never tolerate.
Should he bring Tsunade back as well?
That seemed necessary too.
[Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke really live up to being protagonists of the era. On their very first mission, they can already solo a Chunin. Unlike me. When I went on my first mission, I was so nervous I nearly collapsed. That's why they're the protagonists.
Especially Naruto. He's got a naturally massive heart. Probably has a lot to do with everything he's been through growing up. By the time you get to Uzumaki Boruto, the mentality is clearly much worse.
A complete non-flammable material.
You have to wait for it to ignite. And to do that, you have to wait another three years.
Three years later, welcome the return of the Dragon King War God.
Now standing before you is Killing-Intent Naruto, No-Acting Sasuke, Homecoming Minato, Intel Jiraiya, Healthy Itachi, Experienced Kaguya, Itachi's wanted notice, pain beyond Pain, Naruto's Talk Release, plus Sasuke's temperament, Naruto's looks, and Kakashi's calm, all combined into one.
A super final boss.
Otsutsuki Boruto!
Innkeeper: We can't fit this many people in here!
Hahahahahaha!]
The diary updated?
Jiraiya glanced at it. New content had appeared.
"Protagonist" Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke?
Jiraiya grinned. Kaede Kitahara's warped sense of humor was obvious even just from reading the diary. It really did leave people laughing and crying at the same time.
Still, it was clearly praise for Naruto.
As for that Uzumaki Boruto, from the way Kaede Kitahara talked about him, it sounded like he did not think much of him at all.
Jiraiya had no idea what "non-flammable material" meant, but it definitely did not sound like a compliment. And this so-called non-flammable material would not even ignite until three years later.
Dragon King War God?
Just hearing it sounded deliberately over-the-top.
But the long string of descriptions after that left him stunned.
Because in it, he saw himself.
Intel Jiraiya?
What did that mean?
"Healthy Itachi?"
As Uchiha Itachi pondered what "Healthy Itachi" meant in the diary, he suddenly coughed twice.
Just those two coughs were enough for realization to strike.
If he were healthy.
And right now, his health was his biggest problem.
In other words, this person was equivalent to a version of himself in perfect condition. Alongside a killing-intent Uzumaki Naruto and a Sasuke who did not put on airs.
There were many words and many references he did not understand, but just from what he did understand, it sounded like some kind of ultimate, peak state.
He did not know much else, but his own physical condition was indeed deeply worrying. If he were healthy, his strength would be far beyond what it was now.
As for Sasuke's habit of showing off, Kaede Kitahara had mocked that more than once. In fact, it was almost a regular occurrence. He had even given Sasuke the particularly awful nickname Sunny Sasuke.
Which meant that this Otsutsuki Boruto possessed his own healthy body, a no-showboating personality, Sasuke-like temperament, and also the ability Kaede Kitahara had previously mentioned.
Naruto's Talk Release.
Talk Release was probably some kind of persuasion ability.
Uchiha Itachi reasoned quietly.
And on top of that, Kakashi-senpai's calmness.
Just hearing that combination already sounded impressive.
But the problem was that there were still things he could not make sense of.
For example, his wanted notice.
Since when was having a wanted notice considered a positive trait?
No. That was not the right way to interpret it.
It probably meant that Uzumaki Boruto, like himself, also had a bounty on his head. He was wanted too. He had become a so-called super villain.
But then there was another issue.
Wasn't his name Uzumaki Boruto?
Kaede Kitahara had mentioned it more than once. So why had it suddenly changed to Otsutsuki Boruto?
The Otsutsuki surname was anything but simple in Kaede Kitahara's diary. It seemed to belong to an incredibly powerful clan.
Though Itachi had never heard of such a clan before, since Kaede Kitahara had written it, he could assume it existed.
And that it was terrifyingly strong.
From everything mentioned earlier, Uzumaki Boruto should be Uzumaki Naruto's child. Meanwhile, Sasuke's child was called Uchiha Sarada. Just hearing that name sounded right. No issues there.
But Uzumaki Boruto had changed his surname.
What could that prove?
Only that Uzumaki Boruto carried Otsutsuki blood.
Or perhaps, in the future, Uzumaki Naruto married a woman from the Otsutsuki Clan. Boruto was born as Uzumaki Boruto, then for some reason was hunted down, branded a criminal, defected, and changed his surname back to Otsutsuki.
That was the only conclusion Uchiha Itachi could draw from the information he had.
As for the rest, he could barely understand it at all.
For example, "Homecoming Minato."
Minato clearly referred to the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. But what did his combat strength have to do with whether he came home or not?
Itachi did not understand.
But he was deeply shaken.
Once again, he was stunned by just how extreme Kaede Kitahara's sense of humor truly was.