The agenda Jiraiya and Sarutobi Hiruzen debated was the application roster for Edo Tensei.
Currently, the entire shinobi world treated Amegakure's Edo Tensei service like a personal reunion tool for family and friends.
Even when Mizukage Mei Terumī commissioned the revival of Gengetsu Hōzuki, she did it purely for the sake of Kirigakure, her own village.
Jiraiya, however, did not give a damn about developing individual ninja villages.
He cared about peace across the shinobi world.
Matching the Great Toad Sage's prophecy and Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's evaluation of Kashin Koji, Jiraiya's destiny existed for that exact purpose.
Because of that, he lacked interest in Konoha's economic growth.
No matter how bad the economy tanked in Konoha, nobody was going to starve to death.
The survival of the shinobi world stood as the real issue.
Once the Ōtsutsuki descended, just the shockwaves of their clashes would trigger massive casualties.
Both Jiraiya and Sarutobi Hiruzen had tasted the raw power of the Ōtsutsuki clan firsthand.
And that encounter featured an Ōtsutsuki nerfed countless times over.
Momoshiki, merely hijacking Boruto's vessel, treated Sarutobi Hiruzen like a stray dog by the roadside and one-shot him.
Shimura Danzo wasted half his miserable life scheming, plotting, and setting up assassinations, yet Momoshiki achieved the exact same result by throwing unadulterated power at the problem.
Compared to Hiruzen, who suffered a sneak attack and instant death, Jiraiya survived the encounter a bit longer.
He felt the suffocating pressure Boruto radiated the second Momoshiki took the wheel.
Even Urashiki, that trash-tier fisherman bastard everyone mocked, possessed the strength to one-shot him with a single move.
Urashiki's problem wasn't a lack of strength, He was lacking in brain department.
He lacked any real combat instincts.
In short, both old men felt the oppressive, suffocating might of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
The dead Urashiki and Momoshiki traveled from the future, meaning the present-timeline Urashiki and Momoshiki were still on their way.
On top of that duo, another Ōtsutsuki hid somewhere in the shinobi world.
To fight these monsters, Akatsuki and Orochimaru kept grinding out research and developing new tech.
Jiraiya and Hiruzen refused to sit on their asses doing nothing.
They needed to draft suitable candidates—fighters who could actually damage an Ōtsutsuki.
Naturally, Sarutobi Hiruzen planned to burn his hard-earned contribution points for the summon, rather than begging for a free Edo Tensei in the name of global security.
First, he refused to owe Orochimaru a favor.
Second, if he summoned someone for free under the banner of world peace, that asset would end up like the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, Kushina, and Rin—stationed in Amegakure to help out.
Hiruzen genuinely wanted to protect the shinobi world.
But wasn't Konoha a massive chunk of that world?
He wanted his Edo Tensei recruits to prioritize Konoha's defense.
Then, if shit hit the fan elsewhere or if the world needed to rally its forces, they could pitch in.
Therefore, he needed to spend his own points.
Free handouts always cost the most in the end. Hiruzen understood that brutal truth.
Right now, the prime target on their draft board was, without question, Namikaze Minato.
"Minato won't cut it," Jiraiya said, rejecting Hiruzen's proposal after a moment of thought.
"Why? Didn't you claim nobody else stood in Minato's league? I witnessed his talent with my own eyes. If he hadn't died so young..." Hiruzen stared at Jiraiya in confusion.
Jiraiya served as Minato's mentor, yet he shot the idea down?
"Old man, I know exactly how brilliant Minato was. But did you forget the meta? To fight the Ōtsutsuki clan, you need senjutsu or taijutsu," Jiraiya sighed.
"Minato's taijutsu wasn't god-tier. As for his senjutsu, his uptime was trash. It lasts way too short for a sustained fight."
"Speed means nothing against an Ōtsutsuki. Tagging them isn't enough. Those bastards are tanky as hell. You need heavy-hitting taijutsu or massive senjutsu damage."
"...Minato sucked at senjutsu because he died young. Give him some time, and he could master it. Besides, doesn't Naruto possess that special shortcut?" Hiruzen countered.
"..." Jiraiya's face twisted into a strange grimace.
"Old man, did you forget? Even with the sensory formula installed, an Edo Tensei cannot trigger 'Sage Mode' using that specific method."
"..." Hiruzen snapped his mouth shut.
He almost forgot.
He asked about the mechanics before. If an Edo Tensei installed the sensory formula and engaged in the "process of entering Sage Mode," the vessel would remain locked in a perpetual state of "entering Sage Mode."
It would never hit the climax and trigger the actual transformation.
"Taking ten thousand steps back, even if the mechanics worked, do you honestly think a guy like Minato would toss his dignity in the trash and use that degenerate method?" Jiraiya added.
Hiruzen threw his hands up in defeat.
True.
Naruto and Jiraiya pulled it off without an ounce of shame because they were shameless degenerates.
But Minato was a respectable, upright man.
Forget whether Minato possessed the guts to do it; even if someone forced him, Hiruzen would feel too guilty to watch the spectacle.
Naruto and Jiraiya were destined to drag Konoha's reputation through the mud, but at least the village still had Minato—a pristine moral role model hanging on the wall.
They could not let their golden boy's image collapse into the gutter too!
"Sigh."
"Sigh."
Sitting in the steamy mist-filled bath, two perverted old men let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
A sudden epiphany hit both of them at the exact same second.
"Old man, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"No. I didn't think a thing. The bottom of my foot just itched!" Hiruzen denied it immediately.
He realized his train of thought was way too perverted and shattered his image as a respected village elder!
"Tch, keep playing dumb. If you won't say it, I will." Jiraiya shot Hiruzen a look of pure contempt. "We just brought up Naruto's special shortcut. In that case, we can grab a bunch of high-potential shinobi and use this exact shortcut to speed-run their Sage Mode training!
I heard Orochimaru is splicing genes in his lab, trying to breed an artificial human who can enter perfect Sage Mode.
His experiment might fail.
Even if it works, it won't be mass-producible, and it will cost a shit ton of time. Naruto's method is primitive as hell, but it is practical and fast. We'll know if it works the second we test it."
The more Jiraiya spoke, the more hyped he got.
"Well said. Then I'll dump that project on your lap. I'll brainstorm the Edo Tensei draft list, and once I finalize it, we can review it," Hiruzen patted Jiraiya on the shoulder.
"Perfect! Leave it to me!" Jiraiya nodded hard, shoved the sliding door open, and marched outside.
But the second he stepped out of the hot spring inn and the sunlight hit his face, reality crashed down on Jiraiya.
The confident grin froze on his lips.
'Wait.'
'No.'
'This is a terrible idea. This is ten parts wrong, maybe even nine-and-a-half parts wrong!'
What was he about to do?
Pitch Naruto's degenerate Sage Mode shortcut to the village.
And who did he need to approve the curriculum?
The current boss of Konoha: Tsunade!
"..."
Without a shred of hesitation, Jiraiya chickened out.
If he marched into Tsunade's office and pitched that specific training regimen, would he leave the room with his skull intact?
He needed a backup plan.