Jiraiya threw a heavy arm around Shikaichi Nara's neck. The veteran Nara strategist immediately stiffened. Around them, the bustling streets of the Uchiha compound felt suddenly oppressive, with heavily armed Uchiha military police officers casting suspicious glances their way.
"Shikaichi, old friend! Let's have a chat," Jiraiya said, his tone leaving no room for refusal.
Shikaichi grimaced, trying to subtly pull away. "Lord Jiraiya, I am officially part of the Uchiha faction now. It is politically dangerous for me to be seen fraternizing with a Hokage loyalist. If you want to discuss village politics, go find my Clan Head. He still maintains ties to the administration."
Jiraiya completely ignored the protest. His grip tightened like a vice, practically dragging the Nara out of the public square and toward a quiet residential block.
Shikaichi's jaw clenched. He had served as Jiraiya's logistical commander during the Third Great Ninja War, but this blatant disregard for his current precarious position infuriated him. However, Shikaichi was a pragmatist. As a faction leader appointed by Shikaku Nara, he knew better than to openly antagonize one of the legendary Sannin. He suppressed his anger, adopting the lazy, apathetic posture his clan was famous for, and led Jiraiya to his temporary quarters.
***
Shikaichi's Residence
Inside, the atmosphere was frigid. Shikaichi poured a single cup of tea and slid it across the low wooden table without a hint of hospitality.
"Make it quick, Lord Jiraiya. I have pressing duties," Shikaichi said, maintaining a cold, professional distance. He needed to figure out how to explain this unauthorized meeting to Jin Uchiha later.
Jiraiya sensed the hostility instantly, but beneath his usual jovial exterior, a cold, ruthless calculation stirred.
Jiraiya's Internal Monologue: He dares to be annoyed? In the days of the war, turning your back on the 'Will of Fire' and defecting from the Hokage was treason, punishable by death. If the village weren't already teetering on the edge of a civil war, I would execute him right now for his betrayal.
Jiraiya forcibly suppressed his killing intent. He needed accurate intelligence, and he knew a Nara was too intelligent to lie to a Sannin—a title of terrifying martial prowess bestowed by Hanzo of the Salamander himself.
"Tell me exactly what happened," Jiraiya demanded, his voice dropping its usual warmth. "Why did the Ino-Shika-Cho defect? And how did Jin Uchiha take absolute control of this clan?"
Shikaichi sighed, deciding that absolute honesty was the safest route.
"It began when Danzo's Root operatives—the elders' black ops division—abducted Jin's parents. The trauma awakened his Mangekyou Sharingan. Instead of submitting, Jin launched a shadow war. For every Uchiha killed, he hunted down and slaughtered two Root assassins. He proved to his clan that he could bleed the elders."
Shikaichi took a slow sip of tea. "The former Clan Head, Fugaku, chose a different path. He trusted the Third Hokage to resolve the conflict peacefully. As a result, his moderate faction lowered their guard, and Danzo's assassins massacred them. Jin's aggressive posture protected his followers, while Fugaku's pacifism got his people killed. Naturally, the entire clan shifted their loyalty to Jin. Fugaku became a leader with no followers."
Jiraiya frowned deeply. "And what about the Military Police Force? Hiruzen just allowed them to stop maintaining public order?"
"They didn't stop working," Shikaichi corrected, a hint of dark irony in his voice. "They are working exactly by the book. It is a strategy of malicious compliance."
Shikaichi leaned forward. "If a civilian reports a simple street brawl, the Uchiha officers now demand ironclad legal proof. They require sworn witness testimonies, but civilians are terrified of retaliation and refuse to speak. They require official injury assessments from the Konoha Hospital, which take days to process. A minor dispute that used to be resolved by an officer in five minutes now requires a year of bureaucratic red tape. It is entirely legal, but it has completely paralyzed the village's justice system."
Jiraiya stared, dumbfounded. Weaponized bureaucracy. It was a bloodless but devastating tactic that Hiruzen could not combat with martial force.
"But that isn't what broke the Hokage's power," Shikaichi continued, his voice dropping to a whisper. "It is the psychological warfare. Jin Uchiha weaponized history."
Shikaichi listed the rumors currently flooding the civilian sectors. "They are questioning the legitimacy of Hiruzen's rise to Hokage. They are spreading theories that the Senju and Uzumaki clans were deliberately allowed to be wiped out to consolidate the Sarutobi clan's power. They are whispering that the deaths of Tsunade's brother Nawaki, her lover Dan, and the White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, were orchestrated political assassinations."
The blood drained from Jiraiya's face.
Jiraiya's Internal Monologue: Sakumo Hatake. That explains Kakashi. Jin didn't just recruit him; he used the suppressed truth of Sakumo's suicide to turn Kakashi's grief into a weapon against Danzo and the Hokage.
A profound, freezing dread settled heavily in Jiraiya's stomach. He had known his teacher possessed a dark side, but hearing the collective history of Konoha framed as a series of sinister conspiracies made Hiruzen look like a tyrant.
But what truly terrified Jiraiya was the realization of what Jin had not done.
Jin had crippled the administration using ghosts from the past—events where the victims were already dead. He was still holding back his most explosive secrets. He hadn't publicly revealed Naruto's identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, nor had he leaked the dark human experiments involving Hashirama Senju's cells. Jin was holding the village hostage with a blade poised directly over its throat.
Jiraiya realized with sickening clarity that Hiruzen was completely, hopelessly outmatched. The situation wasn't just bad; it was terminal. And for the first time in his life, the legendary Toad Sage had absolutely no idea how to fix it.