Rasa was not someone who broke his word.
Since this was a trade, then after receiving the goods, Rasa would certainly provide Jiraiya with equivalent support.
A Sunagakure ANBU shinobi found Jiraiya.
"Sunagakure ANBU? What do you want with me?"
Jiraiya found it somewhat strange that the other party had come looking for him.
After all, his transaction with Sunagakure had already been completed.
He had given Sunagakure a senjutsu cultivation method. In exchange, Sunagakure had published his interview regarding Konoha's incidents in Ninja World Weekly.
Could there have been a problem with the senjutsu cultivation method, and they had come to trouble him over it?
Jiraiya's heart skipped.
But he quickly felt that it was impossible.
If they had truly come to trouble him, they would not have sent an ANBU shinobi. That would be no different from sending someone to die.
Even after becoming crippled, his strength had dropped greatly, but he was still not someone an ANBU shinobi could provoke.
"In Sunagakure, other than Rasa, Pakura, and Chiyo, no one else can pose a threat to me."
The Sunagakure ANBU shinobi directly stated his purpose.
"Senior Jiraiya, this is a letter Kazekage-sama asked me to deliver to you."
"A letter from Rasa?"
Jiraiya accepted it and opened it.
In the next instant, his pupils could not help but contract violently.
"Providing support for me to overthrow Teacher Sarutobi? Giving me three options to choose from?"
Three options.
One was purely silver.
One was a combination of silver and ninja tools.
One was an operation to restrain Konoha.
"Any one of these three has extremely high value."
"Why would Rasa suddenly provide me with such tremendous help? Does he hope I can overthrow Teacher Sarutobi? Would Teacher Sarutobi stepping down benefit Sunagakure?"
Strong doubts rose in Jiraiya's heart.
Very soon, however, Jiraiya learned the reason.
Because of Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru chose to join Sunagakure?"
Jiraiya's expression became ugly.
Just before this, Jiraiya had said that he would not hand Orochimaru over to Sunagakure. He wanted to bring Orochimaru back to Konoha.
Orochimaru belonged to Konoha.
He had already wronged Orochimaru once. He could not wrong him a second time.
But unexpectedly, the moment he turned around, Orochimaru had taken the initiative to join Sunagakure.
However, Jiraiya could not bring himself to blame Orochimaru.
In Jiraiya's eyes, Orochimaru had joined Sunagakure entirely for his sake.
He joined Sunagakure to help him, and because of that, Rasa provided assistance to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya's eyes reddened.
When he looked at the three options in the letter again, his gaze was no longer the same.
"This is Orochimaru's selling-himself money."
Only after he said that did Jiraiya feel that it sounded strange.
"That's not quite right, but… there isn't much difference."
"Orochimaru sold himself to Sunagakure in order to exchange for this help for me."
A powerful sense of guilt rose in Jiraiya's heart.
"It's all my fault!"
"If only I had exposed Teacher Sarutobi's true face earlier, things would not have become like this."
"It's all my fault."
"Because I was indecisive. Because I held on to luck. Because I still had unrealistic expectations for Teacher Sarutobi."
"I clearly knew Teacher Sarutobi had already changed, yet I refused to verify it directly."
"Instead, I took detours and wasted so much time before confirming it through Uchiha Fugaku."
"Orochimaru was harmed by me."
"And even after being harmed by me, he holds no resentment toward me. He even sold himself to Sunagakure to exchange for help for me."
"This is what a true companion is!"
Jiraiya's gaze became firm.
"Orochimaru, don't worry. I absolutely will not let you down."
"I will overthrow Teacher Sarutobi as soon as possible."
"In the future, I will redeem you back to Konoha."
"I will bring you home!"
Jiraiya did not choose immediately. He looked toward the Sunagakure ANBU shinobi and asked,
"Can I think it over?"
"Yes."
The Sunagakure ANBU shinobi nodded.
"Senior Jiraiya, once you have considered it, come to Sunagakure."
"Alright."
After watching the Sunagakure ANBU shinobi leave, Jiraiya tucked the letter into his clothes and carefully put it away.
After that, he left the town at the fastest possible speed.
Jiraiya had already obtained information on Tsunade's whereabouts.
"With my current condition, overthrowing Teacher Sarutobi alone will be very difficult."
"And I cannot become Hokage."
"I must find Tsunade!"
Publishing Jiraiya's interview brought Rasa a large number of points.
Within just a few days, the number on the system panel once again exceeded three thousand.
Rasa did not hesitate and drew immediately.
"Thirty consecutive draws. Begin!"
An invisible wheel began to spin.
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an F-rank item: One tael of gold.]
…
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a B-rank item: Ninjutsu Scroll — Fire Release: Great Flame Destruction Arrow Technique.]
…
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained an A-rank item: Concession Hat — Intelligence Version.]
[Ten-Day Concession Hat — Intelligence Version]
[—After wearing this hat, the people around the wearer will become equal to the wearer in terms of intelligence. Effective duration: 10 days.]
Rasa's expression became strange.
Wasn't this a proper intelligence-lowering halo?
Find a fool with low intelligence, place the hat on his head, then put him somewhere near the enemy.
Then all enemies nearby would have their intelligence lowered to the fool's level.
Directly lowering their intelligence to that of an idiot.
"A divine item!"
Rasa's eyes lit up.
"Other than the limitation of being the intelligence version, there are no other restrictions. Does that mean Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Madara, Otsutsuki Kaguya, and Otsutsuki Momoshiki could all have their intelligence lowered directly?"
"An item capable of bringing hope for a reversal in a desperate situation!"
At a casino.
"Tsunade, I finally found you!"
Jiraiya looked at the figure standing in front of the slot machine, his emotions extremely complicated.
Scene after scene from the past replayed in Jiraiya's mind.
They had been classmates when they were young.
After graduation, they became teammates.
Together, they became Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciples. Together, they carried out missions. Together, they went to war…
There were far too many memories.
Sweet, bitter, painful, and sharp. All of them existed.
Jiraiya's feelings toward Tsunade were complicated.
Because he could not obtain what he desired, he could only pour too much energy into improper hobbies, gathering material and writing his novels…
But his distance from Tsunade had only grown farther and farther.
Whether it was physical distance.
Or the possibility of the two of them ever being together.
In the blink of an eye, everything had changed.
Tsunade had left Konoha for many years and wandered through casinos, as though she had completely fallen into decadence.
Orochimaru had been persecuted, branded a missing-nin, and for his sake, had even joined Sunagakure. Wanting to leave would not be easy. The price paid would inevitably be far greater than what had been obtained now.
Jiraiya did not blame Sunagakure for that, because even if it had been another shinobi village, the result would have been the same.
It only made Jiraiya blame himself even more.
As for himself, he was dragging around a crippled body, running desperately to overthrow Hiruzen Sarutobi, searching for that fragile possibility of hope.