"Did I really say that?"
Jiraiya stared at the words that had appeared in the diary—supposedly something he himself had once said.
"Well, I've never actually said it… but that's fine. That's exactly what I would say. Damn, that's a cool line."
A smug, slightly lecherous grin spread across his face as he planted his hands on his hips and burst into laughter.
"That kid Kaede Kitahara really gets me. That's right—this great sage is just that free and easy, hahaha!"
"That idiot… can actually come up with something like that?"
Inside the Senju Clan's ancestral residence, Tsunade curled her lip in disdain.
Still, she perked up a little. For quite some time now, Kaede Kitahara hadn't properly written in his diary. Day after day, it had been nothing but dull lines about clear weather and boredom.
It was obvious that today, he'd finally found a bit of inspiration.
That had something to do with his recent luck—or lack of it. His last two draws had been unimpressive: one million ryo once, and a hundred finely crafted shuriken the next.
For Kaede Kitahara, those were barely worth mentioning.
Without good rewards, his enthusiasm for recording his diary had naturally dropped, and he'd been using the time to train instead. Even though he was on a guard mission, the long voyage at sea left him with little to do beyond arranging protection for Kazahana Koyuki each day.
That gave him the perfect opportunity.
The newly acquired technique, Thunder Breathing, still required time to master. As for the Eight Gates, he had only reached the point of opening the First Gate under normal conditions, and was now adapting to sustaining the Second Gate.
He was steadily strengthening himself, waiting for the Chunin Exams several months later—that chaotic free-for-all.
After that battle, the entire structure of Konoha would undergo a complete reshuffling.
Inside the Hatake clan compound, Hatake Kakashi's short blade shone brilliantly.
Focus. Calm.
For nearly a month, he had secluded himself, cutting off everything else and dedicating himself entirely to the Hatake sword style. Now, he had reached a state where he and his blade were nearly one, approaching the realm described in the notes his father had left behind.
Aside from occasionally glancing at Kaede Kitahara's diary, every moment had been devoted to training.
At last, his momentum reached its peak. With a single swing, the blade erupted with lightning-infused chakra, forming a crescent arc that surged forward and split the target cleanly in two.
"I did it."
Kakashi exhaled, relief washing over him.
That strike had felt like breaking through an invisible barrier, his presence surging upward in an instant.
Having crossed that threshold, he could clearly feel it—his aura had fully formed, and he had firmly stepped into the ranks of Kage Level fighters.
It all felt almost effortless.
With his talent, he should have reached this point long ago. He had simply abandoned himself in the past.
In the original timeline, once he regained his resolve, Kakashi had needed only a few years to enter the Kage Level. The strength he displayed against Kakuzu had already reached that tier.
Otherwise, there would have been no way he could have led Asuma's team against two Akatsuki members and still had a chance.
The Mangekyō Sharingan had raised his upper limit, granting him the right to stand in the final battle, but his natural talent had always ensured his baseline.
Now, though he had taken a completely different path from his original self, he had still stepped onto the road of the Kage Level.
With the sharp perception of the Sharingan, it was only a matter of time before he fully recreated the might of the White Fang of Konoha.
His body was drenched in sweat, his mind slightly drained. That strike had poured everything he had into it—not just the blade's energy, but his own spirit and will.
That was why it had reached such terrifying power.
But after breaking through, he felt as if he had been reborn.
According to the notes his father left behind, the first step was a breakthrough in willpower. That would then drive a significant increase in chakra, and in turn, the body itself would grow stronger under that nourishment.
Chakra was the fusion of spiritual and physical energy. Once the spiritual side broke through, everything else would follow.
All he needed now was time, and he would naturally advance into the Kage Level in every aspect.
Kakashi recalled the moment recorded in Kaede Kitahara's diary—how helpless he had been when facing Orochimaru.
Just like Sasuke against Zabuza, overwhelmed to the point of despair.
Back then, Kakashi himself hadn't even been able to attempt mutual destruction against Orochimaru.
But now, things were different.
"Orochimaru…"
He murmured the name under his breath before lowering his blade and picking up the diary.
"Jiraiya…"
Within the Akatsuki's base, Uchiha Itachi let out a quiet sigh.
He had grown up hearing the legends of the Sannin. The Uchiha Clan was notoriously arrogant—though calling it arrogance was putting it kindly. In truth, they looked down on almost everyone.
After the Senju Clan declined, that unchecked confidence had only swelled further.
Ordinary people meant nothing to them.
But there were always exceptions—figures like the Third Hokage, the White Fang of Konoha, the Sannin, Namikaze Minato…
People who stood on peaks the average Uchiha could never hope to reach.
Even the proud Uchiha had to acknowledge such individuals.
Their nature might be arrogant, but strength commanded their respect.
And the Sannin were powerful enough to make the Uchiha bow their heads.
So even after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, Itachi still held respect for Jiraiya—unlike Orochimaru, a madman who had betrayed the village.
Jiraiya was a traditional shinobi. Flawed, certainly, but possessing a genuine humanity that still shone through.
"Jiraiya…" Uchiha Sasuke stood at the bow of the ship, keeping watch for the night. The battle earlier that day still lingered in his mind, excitement simmering as he replayed every detail.
That was how experience was forged—through constant reflection.
[But Jiraiya's death is still too regrettable. Otherwise, he could have accomplished much more instead of dying so abruptly in the Land of Rain. After all, the difference between an informed Jiraiya and an uninformed one is enormous.
To obtain that information, he paid with his life.
You can see it clearly from his clone, Koji Kashin. Facing an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, the prepared Koji Kashin used Reverse Summoning at a critical moment to escape.
Yet Jiraiya, whose strength was no less, ultimately sank to the bottom of the sea—like a frog in a well, scattering into the vast ocean.]
"…He died. So he really did die."
Tsunade sighed when she saw the diary's mention of Jiraiya's death.
She had already suspected it, but seeing it written so plainly still struck her deeply.
Earlier, during the battle between the Uchiha brothers, it had already been mentioned that Jiraiya had died at the hands of multiple Rinnegan users.
As if he had provoked an entire clan of them.
Even knowing it beforehand, reading it again still made her heart tremble.
They had grown up together—childhood friends. After all these years, how could she possibly accept such a future?
She might shout and threaten to kill him every day, but in truth, she couldn't bear it.
Even her intent to kill Orochimaru had taken years to build.
"So that's what 'a frog lost to the ocean' means."
Jiraiya let out a self-mocking chuckle.
So that was what Kaede Kitahara had meant. In the end, he would die at sea.
Because of a lack of intelligence?
He flipped back to the earlier entry mentioning Uzumaki Boruto.
Standing before you now is Killing Intent Naruto, No-Pretense Sasuke, Go-Home Minato, Intel Jiraiya, Healthy Itachi, Experienced Kaguya, Itachi's wanted notice, Pain beyond Pain, Naruto's Talk Release, combined with Sasuke's aura, Naruto's appearance, and Kakashi's calm—a supreme villain: Otsutsuki Boruto!
No wonder his name had been listed—Intel Jiraiya.
So that was the meaning.
All the things that had puzzled him before now made sense.
So in the future, his failure would come down to a lack of information?
What shocked him even more, however, was this so-called Koji Kashin—his clone.
He had a clone?
How was that even possible?
He wasn't unfamiliar with cloning techniques. The shinobi world was strange—some technologies were absurdly advanced, while others remained primitive.
They still relied on candles in many places, yet cloning technology was already highly developed.
What he couldn't understand was how a clone of him had come to exist.
Thinking back to his investigations into Orochimaru, cloning required biological material—cells, skin flakes, and the like.
He had never considered that. Who knew how many places he'd left traces of himself behind?
And somehow, someone had obtained them… and created a clone.
Koji Kashin, huh?
He had originally wanted to worry about that clone's fate, but then he laughed at himself. He was about to die—what right did he have to worry about anyone else?
Still… this cloning method had its appeal.
No matter how righteous one sounded about accepting death, if there was a way not to die, then of course it was better to live.
"No matter how I originally died, this time… I won't."
Jiraiya's voice carried quiet confidence.
If he could glimpse even a fragment of the future through Kaede Kitahara's diary, then he had every reason to believe he could overturn that bleak fate.