"This was supposed to be a trap to lure out Pain… I didn't expect you to take the bait."
Jiraiya smiled faintly, his tone casual, almost teasing. "Looks like your jutsu's gotten sharper… and you've grown into quite the woman, Konan. I just didn't expect you to still be alive—and to have turned into… paper."
He spoke as if greeting an old friend after many years apart.
The headscarf-wearing ninja seized the moment, shouting loudly, "You must be Lady Angel! This man's the intruder—I was being controlled by him, my lady!"
Konan rose gracefully into the air, a pair of paper wings unfolding behind her. Her eyes were cold as she said, "I understand. Step aside."
The ninja fled as if granted amnesty, scrambling away as fast as he could.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "Konan… so you've really become an angel, huh? And since you're still alive, that means you're not Pain. Then Nagato and Yahiko must be alive too. If my guess is right—if you're the 'angel,' then the one called Pain, that so-called god, must be one of them."
Konan's voice was icy. "Even if that's true, what difference does it make to say it now?"
Jiraiya's jaw tightened. "So I was right after all."
"This is God's decree," Konan replied coldly. "I'm going to kill you."
She clapped her hands together. Paper Shuriken Jutsu.
Her twin wings flared open like a pair of Gatling guns—countless sheets of paper shot forward like a storm of bullets, slicing through the air toward Jiraiya.
He didn't dare take it lightly. Forming a quick seal, he inhaled deeply—
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu!"
Flames erupted from his mouth, sweeping across the air, burning through the storm of paper.
He rolled aside to widen the distance, then countered—
From his mouth he spat a thick, sticky torrent of toad oil straight at Konan.
She tried to dodge, but the oil splashed across her body, soaking her entirely.
Her Paper Shuriken Jutsu immediately halted.
Jiraiya rose to his feet, forming another seal. His long white hair suddenly extended, whipping out and wrapping tightly around her.
"Once that oil's stuck to you, you can't disperse anymore, can you, Konan?"
Konan stayed silent, eyes downcast. Jiraiya's expression softened as he tried to reach her.
"I remember—you were always the gentlest of the three. How did things turn out like this? And Nagato, Yahiko… what are they doing now? How did they end up creating a so-called god of death and pain?"
Konan's voice trembled faintly with a suppressed emotion. "And you, Jiraiya-sensei—why are you here before us now?"
There was a trace of resentment, even sorrow, in her tone.
But Jiraiya didn't notice. His face hardened. "Why? It's not complicated. If you weren't part of the Akatsuki, I wouldn't be here at all. I heard the three of you were dead… but I never thought you'd end up like this."
Konan gave a cold, bitter laugh. "You should've listened to Orochimaru back then, sensei. You should've killed the three of us. Then none of this would've happened."
Jiraiya's eyes widened, stunned. "Kill you? I never once thought of that. You three were my students. I only wanted to teach you how to survive in this war-torn world. And now, after all these years, you raise your hands against your own teacher without even a word… It breaks my heart."
Konan met his gaze and said quietly, "You don't understand what we went through after you left, sensei."
Jiraiya's voice grew sharp. "Then tell me! What happened to you? Why did you join the Akatsuki? Don't you see the wrongs they've done?"
"That's our answer, Jiraiya-sensei."
A sudden voice cut through the air. Jiraiya froze and looked up.
Above Konan, on a high ledge, stood the long-haired man known as Pain.
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. The face had changed, but the eyes—those rippled eyes—there was no mistaking them. The Rinnegan.
"Nagato…" Jiraiya said quietly. "So you've strayed from the path after all. I never imagined you'd become Akatsuki's Pain! What happened to you? Why did you end up like this?"
Pain's expression was empty. "You don't need to know."
He formed a quick seal, and the wall behind him shimmered with a summoning sigil.
"Summoning Jutsu."
With a loud bang, a giant crab appeared from the seal and immediately spewed out clouds of foam, engulfing both Konan and Jiraiya below.
Seeing the danger, Jiraiya leapt aside, landing on a nearby wall with a grin.
"As expected of my student—you know my weakness. Using bubbles to wash away my oil, huh?"
Moments later, Konan emerged from the foam unharmed. The crab vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Konan, stand down," Pain commanded.
She nodded and dissolved into countless sheets of paper once more.
Pain formed another seal. This time, a massive lobster-like creature burst forth, its giant pincers snapping toward Jiraiya.
But Jiraiya remained calm. "Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
His white hair shot out again, coiling tightly around the summoned beast before constricting hard. With a sharp boom, the summon exploded into smoke.
Now!
Jiraiya seized the moment—the living hair transformed into a poisonous dragon, lunging through the smoke left behind by the vanished summon, wrapping Pain tightly in its coils.
"Nagato!" Jiraiya shouted. "I need to ask you something. What happened to Yahiko?"
Pain's eyes were blank. His reply was chillingly detached. "Yahiko? Who was that?"
Jiraiya's heart sank. No… Nagato used to swear he'd protect Yahiko and Konan with his life. What happened to him?
"What on earth happened to you all?" Jiraiya demanded, his voice filled with pain and disbelief.
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