[Madara Uchiha: "Not bad. At least he's stronger than your granddaughter, Tsunade."]
[Uzumaki Mito: "Even if Tsunade is lacking, she's still the granddaughter of me and Hashirama. And you—a lifelong single dog—have nothing."]
[Uchiha Izuna: "Nonsense! Big Brother still has me!"]
[Tobirama: "Yes, he has you. Unfortunately… you're dead."]
Amegakure — Akatsuki Base
Konan sighed softly.
"Nagato… Jiraiya truly lives up to being our teacher."
Nagato nodded.
"I must admit, sensei is very strong."
Deidara grinned.
"But leader-sama is stronger! Not only did he kill one of the Legendary Sannin—Jiraiya—but he also destroyed Konoha single-handedly! Truly worthy of being our leader! Un!"
Behind the mask, Obito stared at Nagato in displeasure.
Yes, Nagato was powerful.
But he was also pathetically easy to manipulate.
And what irritated Obito most—
Was that in the future, Nagato would dare make that choice.
Image Continues
[As the battle continued, all six Paths of Pain appeared.]
[Jiraiya fought desperately and managed to defeat the Animal Path, but he was gravely wounded.]
[He rejected Fukasaku's proposal to escape—because he had already realized: none of the six were Nagato's true body.]
[Just as Jiraiya tried to pass this intel to Fukasaku to send back to Konoha—]
[Splash!]
[A Path ambushed him from underwater, crushing his throat before he could evade.]
[Then—]
[The other Paths descended from above, mercilessly stabbing him with black chakra rods.]
[Jiraiya's vision blurred… consciousness fading…]
Konoha — Chūnin Exam Hall
Naruto clenched his teeth in rage.
"That bastard…! How dare he do that to Pervy Sage!!"
Everyone else stood frozen.
They had known from the previous footage that Jiraiya would die at the hands of Pain…
But witnessing it directly—
Was another shock entirely.
Outside Konoha
Jiraiya lowered his head.
He couldn't bring himself to watch his own death.
"So that's… how I die, huh?"
Amegakure — Akatsuki Base
Konan and Nagato also lowered their heads.
So… that was how they killed their teacher.
A Town Near a Gambling Den
Tsunade's eyes dimmed.
"Even if it's just future footage… why does it still hurt so much?"
Shizune: "Tsunade-sama, now that we know everything, Jiraiya won't need to go to Amegakure anymore. So he won't die."
Tsunade shook her head.
"Shizune… you don't understand that man."
"Now that he knows Nagato is his disciple… he absolutely won't sit still."
Shizune: "Then… should we help him?"
Tsunade fell silent.
Would she go help?
If Jiraiya came to her and asked…
Maybe she would.
Image Continues
[The scene changed—no longer the battlefield, but a peaceful landscape.]
[Blue skies. Green fields. A tree.]
[Young Jiraiya sat beneath it, writing.]
["How you die doesn't matter—what matters is how you live. That is the world of shinobi."]
["A person's value isn't determined by survival… but by the deeds done before death."]
[He lifted his head.]
[He was older now—a middle-aged man. His eyes carried sorrow.]
["My life… has been a failure."]
["Pursuing Tsunade… rejected every time."]
["Failed to stop a friend."]
["Failed to protect my teachers… and my students."]
["Compared to the achievements of the Hokage before me, I'm nothing."]
["I wanted to die like a Hokage… to let the ending decide whether my story was great."]
["But maybe… even failure has its charm."]
[He placed a period at the end of the line.]
[The image returned to the scene of his death.]
[Jiraiya: "The Great Toad Sage prophesied that I would guide the Child of Destiny."]
["I made my choice… and I failed."]
["How shameful… is this truly how the Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant ends?"]
Ninja World Reactions
Everyone lowered their heads.
If Jiraiya—one of the Sannin—called himself a failure…
Then what did that make the rest of them?
"Who exactly is the Child of Destiny? Tsunade mentioned Naruto earlier too…"
"I don't think Jiraiya failed at all! If that counts as failure, then the rest of us should bury ourselves in the dirt!"
"What I really want to know is—what exactly was that prophecy? And what does 'Child of Destiny' mean?"
Outside Konoha
Jiraiya suddenly laughed.
"After seeing Naruto in the last footage… I can now confirm it."
"My future choice wasn't wrong."
"And the Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant… will have even more brilliant chapters written by future generations."
"I guided the Child of Destiny. In that sense… I'm not inferior to the Hokage at all!"
"Hahaha!"
Mount Myōboku — Deep Within the Shrine
The Great Toad Sage slowly opened his eyes.
"Jiraiya… your future choice is correct."
"So now, walk your path with confidence."
"The future of peace will depend on your guidance."
Pure Land
[Hashirama: "Madara!! Did you hear that!? Even the Great Toad Sage says Naruto is the Child of Destiny! Still think I'm wrong about Naruto being Konoha's hope!?"]
[Tobirama: "Big Brother! That Great Toad Sage was the one who guided the Sage of Six Paths, was he not?"]
[Hashirama: "Yep! Odo-odo!"]
[Madara: "I'm interested. What exactly is this prophecy? What does 'Child of Destiny' truly mean?"]
Everyone in the Pure Land grew curious.
Hagoromo (Six Paths Sage) simply chuckled.
"Long ago… the Great Toad Sage foretold that Asura would be the Child of Destiny."
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