After arranging their breathing training, Orochimaru tapped his foot lightly and leapt up onto a tree branch.
He glanced at the white-haired middle-aged man crouching on another branch and asked, "How long have you been here? Did you hear everything I said about the breathing technique?"
"No, no, I just got here."
Jiraiya shook his head quickly, but when he met Orochimaru's cold gaze, he scratched his head awkwardly and let out a laugh like a ringing bell.
"Hahaha… fine, I've been here for a while. So what if I heard it? This kind of Taijutsu is too good. You really thought you could hide it from me?"
What surprised Jiraiya was that Orochimaru nodded. "You can train it. Breathing technique suits you well."
In fact, Orochimaru was curious. If Jiraiya, who could use Sage Mode, practiced breathing until he reached the "normal state," what kind of changes would that bring?
Would Jiraiya still need to summon the two elder toads every time he entered Sage Mode?
Hearing that, Jiraiya straightened his expression slightly and nodded. "Alright."
"You came back really fast this time." Orochimaru looked toward the Hokage building, a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth. "Looks like the old man's been pushing hard."
"Well, after something like this happens, it's not easy for him either."
As if thinking of something, Jiraiya sighed softly, but quickly collected himself and asked with a puzzled look, "Orochimaru, you're acting a little strange today."
The most obvious thing was—you were talking too much.
Usually, between the two of them, Jiraiya was the one to start every conversation.
"Am I?" Orochimaru tilted his head, thought about it, and figured maybe it was because the usual chatterbox was missing.
"I get it—you still want to be Hokage and you want me to back you up."
Jiraiya shook his head with a detective-like look. "I know what you've done in the village, but Hokage… the old man will never let you through."
"Hehehe…"
Orochimaru let out a cold, creepy laugh that sent chills down the spine before slowly speaking,
"Hokage? After Minato took the position, I lost interest in it."
"But you're not completely wrong. I do need your help."
When Orochimaru mentioned his student's name, Jiraiya's mood sank a bit. "What do you want me to do?"
"Stay in the village. Take care of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
Orochimaru grinned and licked his lips. "He's Minato and Kushina's kid. And you've got some ties to him too."
Jiraiya hesitated for a moment, but then shook his head. "No, I can't agree to that."
Then, with some doubt, he asked, "That's what you want me to do?"
Orochimaru kept a faint smile on his face. "That's right. You said it yourself—the old man has his troubles."
"He doesn't trust me, but he trusts you."
Of course, that wasn't the real reason—or at least, it was only a very small part of it.
Orochimaru wanted Naruto, with his Uzumaki blood and half of the Nine-Tails' Yang chakra, to grow up as fast as possible so he could use him to complete his own Sage Body.
And now he had another reason—to observe what would happen if Jiraiya trained in both Sage Mode and breathing techniques at the same time.
Neither of those things could happen if Jiraiya left the village.
Jiraiya froze slightly, feeling moved by Orochimaru's words. He thought about it seriously for a while, then, for once, put on a rare serious face.
"I can't promise to stay in the village. I need to find the Child of Prophecy that the Great Toad Sage spoke of—and guide him to make the right choices for the future of the ninja world."
"You're serious?"
Orochimaru stared deeply at Jiraiya. Right now, Jiraiya's eyes looked very much like Orochimaru's when he was chasing immortality.
For a moment, Orochimaru understood his old friend's heart—Jiraiya had made finding the Child of Prophecy his life's mission.
Orochimaru suddenly remembered something Genie once said about Jiraiya during a casual chat.
Genie said Jiraiya was a true ninja—he believed in his friends, trusted his comrades, but there was one person he didn't believe in: himself.
Even though he was honored as one of the "Legendary Sannin," he never thought he had the power to change the ninja world.
"Of course," Jiraiya said firmly.
Orochimaru suddenly said, "If you were as obsessed with Tsunade back then, you wouldn't have let Dan get ahead of you."
Jiraiya's serious face fell apart in a second. He sighed and complained, "Yeah, but what's the point of talking about that now? The dead can't win."
"True. Anyway, let's get back to business. Considering the current situation, you should stay in the village a little longer."
Orochimaru still didn't give up. "In the next few days, the old man will hold a big meeting with all the clans to discuss rebuilding the village. You should join us."
Hearing this, Jiraiya frowned slightly.
...
Two days later, at noon.
Outside the Hokage building, Uchiha Fugaku stopped walking. His face was tight and expressionless, looking deep in thought.
The Uchiha clan had not been doing well lately.
During the Nine-Tails attack, the destruction hit near the Police Force headquarters, and their compound nearby was damaged too, killing some ordinary clan members. But since they were busy evacuating civilians and didn't fight the Nine-Tails, none of their Chunin died.
Compared to the other ninja clans and the civilian shinobi who suffered heavy losses, the Uchiha clan coming out almost unharmed really stood out.
And then came a rumor from who knows where.
Decades ago, the village also faced a disaster with the Nine-Tails as a weapon. Back then, the one controlling the Nine-Tails was Uchiha Madara. After that battle, the First Hokage's life was cut short by his injuries, and he died early.
Now, the Nine-Tails attacked the village again. And again, a Hokage died.
With some people spreading this story, the Uchiha name turned rotten overnight.
Fugaku let out a small sigh.
By rights, as the clan head, he should step up, clear the rumors, swear an oath to catch the one who controlled the Nine-Tails, and clear their name.
But… the one who controlled the Nine-Tails really was an Uchiha.
And his whereabouts were still unknown.
Fugaku had led people to investigate the place where the Fourth Hokage fought him. But even with the sharp eyes of the Sharingan, they couldn't find a single trace or figure out how he escaped.
Not even a chance to kill the traitor and cut ties.
So Fugaku didn't dare speak. That news would only make things worse for the clan.
"Hah…"
Fugaku let out a long breath, pushing down his feelings. He opened the door to the meeting room and swept his eyes across the hall.
At the long table, the Third Hokage sat in the main seat, with the two Hokage advisors, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, by his side.
The others seated were also from the famous clans of Konoha—like the always-united Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and the Aburame clan…
Suddenly, Fugaku's eyes froze for a second on a pale-faced man. The man seemed to sense it and gave a cold, creepy smile. Beside him was a middle-aged man with white hair.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin.
Fugaku didn't expect them to be here today.
"This meeting is going to be hard to get through."
As if to confirm his thoughts, Danzo walked out from the side of the room and spread a map of Konoha across the long table.