Chapter 397: No one can compare to the you in my memory, not even the current you.
He must bring Kato Dan back to Hidden Leaf Village as soon as possible and let Naruto know everything.
The information in my hands is already second-hand; to ensure accuracy, Dan must tell Naruto personally.
Jiraiya quickly made a decision in his heart.
He looked up at the still-blurred and weak Kato Dan before him and said in a deep voice,
"In that case, without further ado, let me take you back to Hidden Leaf Village first."
"A Soul form is ultimately like rootless duckweed; it's far too dangerous."
He added, "Your body is currently with Orochimaru and is still being kept active."
Faced with Jiraiya's suggestion, Kato Dan slowly shook his head.
A trace of helplessness and exhaustion appeared on his face.
"I'm afraid that won't work."
Dan said weakly, "In my current state, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to help bring my body here instead."
"Between being away from my body for so long and the erosion and depletion of the Soul by the Yellow Springs... my Soul is simply too weak."
He looked down at his translucent hands, which looked as if they might be blown away by the wind at any moment.
"If I were to force my Soul to travel a long distance, I'm afraid I wouldn't make it to Hidden Leaf Village; I would completely dissipate on the way."
This was no exaggeration.
Souls are extremely fragile and sensitive, especially after leaving the body and enduring the erosion of the Yellow Springs.
"So..."
Dan gave a bitter smile, "I taught the Priestess Hidden Leaf Village's Sealing Jutsu not only to gain her trust but, more importantly, to obtain the spiritual talismans passed down through generations of Priestesses to help maintain the stability of my Soul form."
Hearing Dan's explanation, Jiraiya understood.
So that was it.
No wonder Dan stayed in the Land of Demons to teach the Priestess Sealing Jutsu.
It was a trade, and a desperate act of self-preservation.
He nodded understandingly, then furrowed his brows again.
"I see..."
Transporting Dan's body from the secret storage point in Hidden Leaf Village to the Land of Demons would be an easy task.
Jiraiya could use a toad to bring Dan's body over.
After pondering for just a few seconds, Jiraiya made a decisive choice.
"Very well."
He said, "I will go and return quickly."
"Rest here peacefully and wait for my return."
Before his voice had even faded, Jiraiya reached into his robes, fumbled around, and pulled out a dark scroll that looked somewhat old.
There were no markings on the scroll's cover, but Jiraiya's hand held it with exceptional solemnity.
He handed the scroll to Kato Dan.
"Inside are some Ninjutsu that I know."
Jiraiya's voice was calm but carried an unquestionable seriousness. "It contains Sealing Jutsu, including some basic variations and application insights for the Five Elements Seal and the Four Symbols Seal."
He paused, looking at Dan's somewhat surprised eyes, and continued.
"I remember you weren't very skilled in Sealing Jutsu.
Since you're teaching the Priestess to gain her help, the quality and value of the techniques are very important."
"If needed, just give her the Sealing Jutsu from this scroll."
"This should be more valuable than the basic Sealing Jutsu you know, and it will better express Hidden Leaf Village's sincerity and gratitude."
These words left Kato Dan completely stunned.
He looked blankly at the scroll Jiraiya handed over, then at Jiraiya's rugged face, which was now filled with sincerity and openness.
An indescribable surge of complex emotions welled up in his heart.
Strictly speaking, he and Jiraiya were love rivals!
Although it was he and Tsunade who ended up together, he had always known about Jiraiya's feelings for her, so he usually avoided meeting him.
Under such a delicate relationship, Jiraiya would actually hand over his Ninjutsu scroll so readily and without reservation?
This scroll didn't just contain Sealing Jutsu.
Given Jiraiya's personality, this scroll likely also recorded many unique Ninjutsu and insights he had collected, created, or improved during his years of traveling the Ninja World.
This level of trust and generosity... made Kato Dan feel somewhat at a loss.
He looked at Jiraiya, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, a thousand words were reduced to just two.
"Thank you."
This "thank you" contained so much.
There was gratitude for Jiraiya's helping hand, a touch of emotion for this untainted trust, and a hint of relief and reflection on the past.
Jiraiya seemed to understand what he was thinking.
He grinned and gave Dan's illusory shoulder a firm pat. Although his hand passed through, the gesture remained grand.
"Don't be so polite with me!"
"You are a hero of Hidden Leaf Village and my comrade."
"Wait here patiently; I'll be back soon."
Jiraiya did love Tsunade, but they both held things in their hearts that were more important than each other.
In the original story, the first time Jiraiya showed killing intent was toward Tsunade, and Tsunade also struggled over whether to sacrifice Jiraiya and Naruto to Orochimaru's deal to use Edo Tensei on Kato Dan and Nawaki.
But now, Jiraiya's heart was occupied by his friends, his students, and the child Orochimaru had created.
After a word with Taruho, Jiraiya immediately bid farewell and set off on the road back to Hidden Leaf Village.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse; the clouds were thin across the vast night.
Jiraiya thought as he traveled.
If anyone said Jiraiya didn't love Tsunade, it would be a lie.
However!
No one could compare to the Tsunade in Jiraiya's memory, not even the current Tsunade.
He had traveled the entire Ninja World all these years and seen all kinds of women, but whenever the night was quiet, it was always that afternoon that surfaced.
On the training ground, Tsunade's blonde hair danced like fire in the sunlight, and the light in her eyes when she looked back was more intoxicating to Jiraiya than spring cherry blossoms.
Tsunade was very beautiful, but when she was young, she was as flat as a board, with no chest or curves to speak of.
Even though Jiraiya had liked voluptuous older women since he was a child, he still fell for her during his adolescent years.
The people who came later were all great, they just weren't her.
Moonlight shone on his white hair.
Jiraiya couldn't help but think of Tsunade, and then another figure appeared beside hers.
Orochimaru.
Jiraiya couldn't stand Orochimaru when they were kids, but later, he and Orochimaru became each other's best brothers...
Probably...
At least he hadn't heard of Orochimaru having any other friends.
The current Orochimaru was very beautiful and was his type, but the thought of Orochimaru being a man still gave Jiraiya the creeps.
For Jiraiya, young girls were too young and had boys their own age to love them, while women his age were too old; aside from Tsunade, most were mothers or even grandmothers.
A true "White Moonlight" is never about whether you obtain it, but about it hanging forever in the night sky of your memory.
The arc of her hair when she turned around that year, the way she laughed until she doubled over while drinking, and the furious way she swung her fist yelling, "Go to hell, you pervert Jiraiya!"
All these fragments fermented over the years into a cup of wine that could never be finished.
But it was precisely because the moon was always hanging there, always shining in an unreachable place, that it could illuminate all his wandering and looking back over the years.
After landing on a tree branch, Jiraiya curved his thumb to meet his finger, forming the shape of a wine cup, and held it high above his head toward the bright moon.
Jiraiya smiled, a smile that held a weariness he didn't have as a boy, but also a sense of relief he hadn't known then.
"Though I'd love to have a drink, business comes first."
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