Rasa's real strength is below Jiraiya's?
He only beat Jiraiya because he received outside help?
That lined up perfectly with the old rumor that Hiruzen had sold Jiraiya's information to Sunagakure. Two separate rumors now reinforced each other. Once this new one spread, people would start bringing up the betrayal accusation all over again. Hiruzen's reputation would take another massive hit. Would he even be able to die in peace after this?
Homura Mitokado noticed Hiruzen's expression darken and quickly realized the problem.
"Hiruzen, who do you think is spreading this rumor?"
Hiruzen's voice was cold. "The rumor that I sold Jiraiya out and this new one have the same goal—drive a wedge between us and damage Rasa's reputation. Cloud Village is the most likely culprit. Iwagakure is second."
"Has Sunagakure made any official move?"
Homura shook his head. "Nothing official. We only heard that Sunagakure's higher-ups are actively suppressing the discussion inside the village."
Hiruzen snorted. "Useless. That Rasa is completely incompetent. When he was spreading rumors he was ruthless—Ninja Kill, the Ninja World Big Events Weekly, character interviews—but the second the rumors turn on him he has no idea what to do? And now he's dragging me down with him."
"The Leaf already dealt with the rumors on our end. Now because of Sunagakure they're being revived again. Does he expect the Leaf to clean up his mess too?"
Hiruzen didn't want to help Rasa. But after thinking about it, he realized he had no choice. The damage this rumor would do to Sunagakure was far smaller than the damage it would do to the Leaf. Whether Rasa kept the "strongest shinobi" title or not didn't actually affect Sunagakure's real power.
...
Mount Myoboku.
Jiraiya was in the middle of recovery training. Losing both legs and one arm had hit him hard at first. He had felt hopeless—his days as a shinobi were over, and his chances with Tsunade were basically gone.
But after hearing the rumor that Hiruzen had sold his information to Sunagakure, something inside him shifted. Then came that dream. It had been too vivid. It showed him things he had never known, and when he checked, they turned out to be true. He couldn't help but feel suspicious of his own teacher.
Even if Hiruzen was the Hokage. Even if Hiruzen was his sensei.
And then, right after Jiraiya vanished, the Leaf immediately replaced him with a fake. Jiraiya decided he had to get to the bottom of everything.
"Minato can't die without answers. I can't be crippled without answers either. I'm going to find out who's really behind all of this."
A toad hopped over quickly.
"Lord Jiraiya."
Jiraiya stopped training. "New information?"
"Yes. There's a rumor spreading through the Land of Wind that directly concerns you. You should read it."
The toad handed over a scroll. Jiraiya opened it.
His pupils shrank.
"Rumor in the Land of Wind: Rasa only defeated Lord Jiraiya because he received outside help. Whenever the topic comes up, Rasa refuses to talk and gets furious. Sunagakure is actively suppressing the discussion."
Jiraiya's face darkened as he read.
"The way both Sunagakure and Rasa are handling this rumor… doesn't this prove someone really did sell my information to him?"
One coincidence could be ignored. Two coincidences could be ignored. But there were too many now. Too many coincidences usually meant it wasn't a coincidence at all.
"Sensei… I really hope it isn't you. Why would you do this? I never even wanted the Hokage seat. If I had, Minato wouldn't have gotten it in the first place. Or are you really that scared I'd avenge Minato?"
Jiraiya vanished from Mount Myoboku and reappeared in the Land of Water, near the Uchiha Navigation Group. A young Uchiha was forced to his knees in front of the wheelchair-bound Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya?"
Uchiha Rō looked terrified. Even crippled, the name of one of the Legendary Sannin still carried terrifying weight. He had been brought here by force.
"Uchiha Rō?"
"Yes."
"I brought you here because I need answers. You're going to cooperate, right?"
Uchiha Rō had no choice. "Please ask, Lord Jiraiya."
"Tell me everything you know about Minato's death. Who was the Uchiha that controlled the Nine-Tails?"
Uchiha Rō's face twisted with bitterness. "Lord Jiraiya, if I knew anything like that I wouldn't still be just a chunin. I don't have access to that kind of information. I've never used the Sharingan to control a Tailed Beast either. Our clan records say the Sharingan can suppress Tailed Beasts, but it's not something any Sharingan can do. Especially not the Nine-Tails. Even a three-tomoe Sharingan probably isn't enough. In our entire history, only Uchiha Madara was ever said to have done something like that."
Jiraiya frowned. "You're saying the one who caused the Nine-Tails attack was Uchiha Madara? That's impossible. Madara died at the hands of the First Hokage long ago."
Uchiha Rō quickly clarified. "No, Lord Jiraiya, that's not what I meant. I'm saying whoever did it must have eyes on the same level as Uchiha Madara's. Only eyes like that could possibly control the Nine-Tails."
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "Then who do you think has eyes like that?"