Orochimaru set the fruit basket down beside the bed.
"You holding up okay?"
Jiraiya gave a bitter laugh.
"I've seen plenty of ninja get wrecked and thought I was mentally prepared for it. But when it actually happens to you… it's a lot harder to swallow than I expected."
"Now I finally get why all those comforting words I used to say never really helped anyone."
"I gotta admit… that Rasa from Sunagakure is seriously strong."
"Weird abilities coming out of nowhere, one after another. Even if I had another shot at him, I'm not sure I could win."
Orochimaru's eyes sharpened.
"Even in Sage Mode?"
Mount Myoboku and Ryuchi Cave each had their own Sage Modes.
"Yeah."
Orochimaru's expression turned serious.
"Magnet Release is really that powerful?"
Jiraiya shook his head.
"It's not the Magnet Release that's scary. It's Rasa himself. And he's got way more than just that. His swordsmanship is on the same level as the White Fang back in the day."
"Movement speed that can keep up with Minato's Flying Thunder God."
"Lightning Release stronger than the Lightning Blade."
"Even his sand soldiers have special abilities—one repels me like opposite magnets, the other pulls me in like they're trying to smash together."
"If you ever go up against Rasa, be extremely careful."
Jiraiya filled him in on the fight, then finally asked the real question he'd been waiting for.
"Orochimaru, I heard you and Danzo are pretty close. Can you do me a favor?"
"What kind of favor?"
"I need to know if Danzo ever went to the Land of Rain… and if he helped kill a guy named Yahiko."
Jiraiya didn't say anything else. He didn't mention who Yahiko was or their shared past.
"And don't let Danzo know I'm the one asking."
Orochimaru nodded.
"Got it."
Hokage Tower.
"Hiruzen, Orochimaru went to the medical wing."
At first Hiruzen didn't think much of it. With how long Jiraiya and Orochimaru had known each other, a visit made sense.
But when he heard Jiraiya had specifically sent someone to fetch Orochimaru, his face changed.
"Jiraiya asked for Orochimaru to come see him?"
"What the hell could they have to talk about?"
"Does that mean Jiraiya actually believes the rumors?"
"He really thinks I'd do something like that? After everything?"
"Because he got hurt so badly he can't accept it, so now he's holding a grudge?"
Hiruzen's eyes flickered with unease.
Not long after, Orochimaru returned to the medical wing.
"Orochimaru. What did you find?"
"Danzo did go to the Land of Rain. He worked with others to kill a man named Yahiko."
Jiraiya's face went pale.
"Is this person important to you?"
Jiraiya shook his head, then nodded, then shook it again. Orochimaru had no idea what that meant.
Jiraiya looked at him and suddenly asked,
"Orochimaru… do you still want to be Hokage?"
"Huh?"
Orochimaru blinked.
"Why are you asking that all of a sudden?"
"Just curious."
Orochimaru thought for a second.
"I still have some interest in it. A lot of things I want to do… I can only really push them if I'm the one wearing the hat. One village's power is a lot stronger than one person's."
"Otherwise I wouldn't have competed with Minato back then."
"Even though we were rivals, I still felt bad when he died."
Jiraiya took a deep breath, staring at Orochimaru with a complicated look.
Then he grabbed paper and pen, wrote something down, crumpled it into a ball, and handed it over.
"Orochimaru, I'm getting tired. I need to rest. You should head back. Don't read what's on that paper until you're back at your own place."
"It's very important."
Orochimaru thought the whole thing was strange, but Jiraiya was clearly dismissing him, so he took the note and left without pushing.
"Summoning Technique!"
A small toad appeared, then vanished.
The next second—
"Reverse Summoning Technique!"
Jiraiya's body disappeared from the Konoha medical wing.
When he reappeared, he was standing on Mount Myoboku.
His heart felt heavy.
"Yahiko's death… it's real."
"Everything I saw in that dream actually happened."
"I've never heard about Yahiko from anyone else, so it couldn't have been something I was already thinking about."
"Does that mean the rest of the dream was real too?"
"Minato really was killed by Sensei?"
"Sensei really sold my information to Sunagakure?"
"Looking back… Rasa did seem to know way too much about me. The Sand Village had basic intel, sure, but not that much detail. Rasa knew my fighting style like he'd studied it for years."
Once the seed of doubt was planted, it grew fast.
Anything could feed it now.
"Sensei really tried to have me killed?"
Jiraiya hated the thought.
But when the dream lined up with reality, he couldn't stop the suspicion from growing.
"Sensei… I don't want to doubt you…"
"Until I have solid proof, I won't do anything."
"That should be fine."
"I'm not going back to the Leaf right now. I'll stay on Mount Myoboku for a while."
Jiraiya vanished.
When the ANBU Hiruzen sent to check on him reached the medical wing, the bed was empty.
"Lord Jiraiya?"
The ANBU searched everywhere—the entire wing, the surrounding area, even asked the medical staff.
Nothing. No trace.
"No sign of him leaving through the window."
"He just… disappeared."
"No footprints. No chakra trail."
"We have to report to the Hokage immediately!"
…
Meanwhile, Orochimaru returned to his hidden base.
He pulled out the crumpled note Jiraiya had given him.
"What the hell is Jiraiya playing at? Being all secretive like this…"
He unfolded the paper.
The moment he read the words, his pupils shrank.
"Orochimaru, watch out for Hiruzen-sensei!"
Orochimaru's eyes flashed rapidly.
"Watch out for Hiruzen-sensei?"
"Jiraiya's warning me about him?"
"Does that mean the rumors were true? That Sensei sold Jiraiya out to Rasa… and now Jiraiya knows it?"
"Does he think Sensei is going to come after me too?"
"Because I want the Hokage seat?"
"Is Sensei really that kind of person?"