For Jiraiya, reuniting on the battlefield with disciples he had been separated from for so long—disciples rumored to have already died—and seeing that they had grown enough to stand on their own, even finding their own nindo, should have been something deeply gratifying for him as their teacher.
But if his disciples had gotten mixed up with an enemy whose hostility toward his village was practically maxed out, and if the nindo they had found was very likely something that enemy had instilled in them, then the nature of the situation changed completely.
Jiraiya had not been in charge of Konoha's war against Kirigakure, but that did not stop him from seeing, through the various intelligence reports sent from Konoha, the figure of Rei Kaguya, who had rapidly grown into Konoha's number one enemy.
The first time he stepped onto the stage of war, he defeated Kakashi Hatake, who had been regarded as one of Konoha's rising stars. While pursuing Kirigakure missing-nin in the Land of Whirlpools, he had nearly wiped out a Konoha Anbu squad, even injuring Minato Namikaze, whose reputation was then at its peak. Using that battle as a stepping stone, he shot straight into the field of vision of the highest levels of every major hidden village.
After that came the Battle of Kannobeyama, where he revealed a new trump card—Sage Mode—and defeated Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki together, one against two. Kushina was still bedridden and recovering even now.
Then, he infiltrated the Land of Fire alone, wiped out Root's elites, and took the corpse of Root's leader, Danzo Shimura, to the black market to claim the bounty.
With that string of shocking achievements, Rei Kaguya's current reputation in Konoha was already not much different from Minato Namikaze's reputation in Iwagakure.
There were even many who believed that if Rei Kaguya had not suddenly vanished without a trace for such a long time, Kirigakure might already be sitting at the negotiation table, demanding that Konoha cede land and pay reparations with an unyielding attitude.
But if that period of disappearance allowed Kirigakure to gain a Rei Kaguya who had fully mastered Sage Mode and possessed the ambition to become Mizukage, then Jiraiya would rather Rei Kaguya had continued being active on the battlefield.
At least that way, there was still a fair chance that Kirigakure would fall into internal conflict because of his existence.
"What's going on? Little Jiraiya, why did you suddenly summon us? The child's father and I were just about to have lunch…"
Not fully understanding the situation, Shima stood on Jiraiya's left shoulder and greeted him without a trace of tension.
Meanwhile, Fukasaku, standing on his right shoulder, quickly turned his gaze toward Rei Kaguya, who was standing beside Nagato. His brows furrowed as he asked in a grave tone,
"Little Jiraiya? This enemy is a sage of Ryuchi Cave, and the wielder of the Rinnegan?"
"Ah, no, that's not—"
Jiraiya had just been about to explain the situation to the two sages on his shoulders when he saw Nagato walk between him and Rei Kaguya. Nagato spread his arms, blocking the two who had started guarding against each other, and said seriously,
"Jiraiya-sensei, Rei-kun did not come here with hostility today. Please do not take such a guarded and hostile stance before we have even had a proper conversation, all right?"
"Nagato…"
"Please trust me, Jiraiya-sensei."
Nagato nodded confidently at Jiraiya.
"I learned a chakra-sensing method unique to the Uzumaki clan from one of my clansmen. In my vision, although Rei-kun's chakra is not as bright as yours, Jiraiya-sensei, it does carry a warmth like a wavering campfire…"
Hearing Nagato say that, Rei Kaguya raised an eyebrow in some surprise.
A chakra-sensing method unique to the Uzumaki clan?
And it could sense the warmth and coldness of chakra?
Why did that sound a little like the sensing technique Karin would use in the future?
And Nagato had learned it from another Uzumaki clansman…
"You're Yahiko, right?"
Rei Kaguya turned his head and asked Yahiko, who was looking rather troubled as he watched Nagato and Jiraiya.
"Huh? Oh, right. As you can see, I'm Yahiko, the founder of Akatsuki, and Nagato's childhood friend."
Yahiko blinked, then lowered his voice in a fairly friendly manner as he asked Rei, who had taken the initiative to speak to him,
"Is there something you need? But let me say this in advance. We've only just met, and unlike Nagato, I don't have any ability to sense whether chakra is hot or cold. Even if I speak up for you, it won't be very convincing."
"No. I'm not shameless enough to need someone I just met to plead my case."
Rei Kaguya pointed at Nagato's red hair and casually asked,
"I just want to know. When Nagato came back from the Land of Whirlpools, he didn't happen to bring someone with red hair like his, did he?"
"You know that woman named Karin Uzumaki?" Yahiko asked in return.
"Probably… I guess?"
Rei Kaguya sighed speechlessly and silently raised a middle finger at his system in his heart.
"No wonder Nagato said his encounter with you was full of accidents and coincidences."
Yahiko shook his head, pulled out the chair beside him, and gestured for Rei to sit.
"Want to come over and talk?"
"Sure. I also have some things I want to discuss with you regarding your idea of pursuing peace through methods other than violence."
As Rei Kaguya sat down beside Yahiko as if nothing had happened and began discussing war and peace with him, the foundation for Jiraiya and Nagato to continue their standoff naturally disappeared as well.
"Are you not worried anymore, Jiraiya-sensei?"
Nagato looked at Jiraiya, who was accepting Shima's scolding with a rather dejected expression, and asked in a relieved tone.
"How could I not be worried?"
Jiraiya kept mumbling "Yes, yes, you're right," as he perfunctorily endured Shima's lecture, while sighing in response to Nagato's question.
"But since you and Yahiko both prefer to resolve the present contradiction through dialogue, how could I keep stubbornly maintaining such an unpopular attitude?"
"Then Jiraiya-sensei should come over too."
Nagato reached out and, without any room for refusal, grabbed Jiraiya's hand.
"If it is you, Jiraiya-sensei, someone who has experienced so many wars and traveled through so many places, then you can definitely offer different views and opinions to those of us whose horizons are still lacking, right?"
"I know, I know. Don't pull me like that…"
Jiraiya stumbled after Nagato and returned to the meeting table where they had been seated earlier.
After scolding Jiraiya to her heart's content, Shima returned to Mount Myoboku on her own to continue preparing lunch. Only Fukasaku remained sitting on Jiraiya's shoulder, joining the conversation together with him.
Seeing Jiraiya sit across from him, Rei Kaguya stopped his increasingly smooth discussion with Yahiko in mild surprise and looked at him.
"Now you're no longer worried that I'll suddenly attack, Jiraiya-senpai?"
"No. I'm just feeling a little emotional."
Jiraiya looked at Rei Kaguya, whom Fukasaku had confirmed had received Ryuchi Cave's senjutsu inheritance, and spoke with complicated emotions.
"You've already met Orochimaru, haven't you?"
"Yeah. In fact, it was thanks to him that I had no choice but to leave the front line and search for a way to solve my problem."
Jiraiya did not ask Rei what problem he had needed to solve. He merely shook his head and said,
"Orochimaru spent who knows how much time and energy before he could barely control Manda of Ryuchi Cave and make it fight for him… Yet after disappearing for only around two months, you have already become a sage of Ryuchi Cave. The gap between you is so large that I can't help feeling that I've grown old."
Don't worry. This is nothing.
In the future, you'll have a cheating disciple who becomes a perfect sage of Mount Myoboku in only seven days, then smashes the two guys beside you the first time he uses Sage Mode in battle, Jiraiya.
Without any visible change in his expression, Rei Kaguya swept his gaze over Yahiko and Nagato, who were both smiling rather happily at the moment.
Then he said slowly,
"The younger generation always has to accomplish things their predecessors could not. Only then can the older generation feel at ease entrusting the world to them.
"But then again, the world has no shortage of old people who are clearly outdated and past their prime, yet refuse to hand power over to the next generation no matter what. When we encounter people like that, we have no choice but to take certain unconventional measures. Don't you agree, Jiraiya-senpai?"
Jiraiya knew Rei Kaguya was probably hinting at Kirigakure's Third Mizukage.
But for some reason, when he listened to Rei's words, the faces of Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and his own teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, whose face had grown increasingly aged, uncontrollably appeared in his mind