Chapter 92: Striking Jiraiya
After the war in the Land of Rain ended, Jiraiyashould have returned to the Village to teach Minato, but on the way, he encountered Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan.
But when Jiraiya saw Nagato's Rinnegan, he thought Nagato was the child of prophecymentioned by the Toad Sage, so he stayed in the Land of Rain to teach Nagato and the others.
By the time Jiraiya returned to Konoha again, Minato had already headed to the battlefield, and the two missed each other once more.
After the two met on the battlefield, Jiraiya had other missions, so he hurriedly had Minato sign the Summoning Contract for Mount Myōboku and rushed back to the battlefield.
After the war ended, Minato's strength was no longer inferior to his, and he had earned the title of yellow flash in the Ninja World.
After the war, Jiraiya wandered around the Ninja World again; Minato Namikaze's achievements really didn't have much to do with Jiraiya.
Seeing Jiraiya's dejected look, Naruto snorted and said, "Talk! Why have you stopped talking?"
"I... I don't deny that I didn't teach Minato many Ninjutsu, but you can't deny that my Ninja Wayinfluenced Minato."
"Exactly, you're right. Your Ninja Way did influence Minato, making him a Figurehead Hokage."
"A Hokage is a Hokage! What do you mean by a Figurehead Hokage?"
Naruto glared at Jiraiya and said, "After he became Hokage, he didn't even have command over the Anbu. If that's not a figurehead, what is? Your Ninja Way influenced him to save the entire Konoha Village in a suicidal manner, leaving behind a son who was less than a few hours old. This is the Ninja Way you taught him. 'Where the leaves dance, fire shall burn. The fire's shadow will continue to illuminate the Village, and allow new leaves to sprout. The burning fallen leaves will nourish the roots, letting the new buds grow strong.' This is the Will of Fire of you and your teacher, and it's what you taught Minato. But what was the result? On the Nine-Tails Attack Night, the leaves were still falling, but the new sprout protected the Village by perishing together with the enemy. The leaves are still those leaves, Konoha is still that Konoha, leaving behind only an orphan called the Demon Fox. This is the Will of Fire you taught Minato, and this is the influence you brought to your disciple."
Jiraiya could hear Naruto's resentment toward Minato. Until now, Naruto had been calling Minatoby his name, without even the most basic title of father.
But what Naruto said left Jiraiya with no way to refute. It was a fact that Naruto was called the Demon Fox, isolated by everyone in the Village, hungry and cold, and often verbally abused, insulted, and beaten.
During this time, Jiraiya also wanted to make it up to Naruto, but Naruto never gave him the chance.
Now wanting to take Naruto as a disciple, Naruto's unwillingness was understandable.
After a long silence, Jiraiya looked at Naruto and said, "No matter what you think, I truly want to make up for some of my debts to Minato."
"Make up for debts? You say it so easily. You've been back in the Village for almost a month, right? What have you done to make up for it this month? Don't tell me about getting my inheritance back; I don't accept that explanation."
"I didn't mean that, I just wanted...!"
Jiraiya didn't know what to say. Naruto's prejudice against him, Minato, and Kushina was immense. No matter how much he said, he couldn't make up for it.
Naruto sneered and said, "Just what? Say it! You can't even go on yourself, can you?"
Jiraiya lowered his head in guilt. As a teacher, he was indeed somewhat unqualified.
Naruto also saw the guilt on Jiraiya's face, but he still felt it wasn't enough.
"Jiraiya of the Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha, Toad Sage Jiraiya, the Great Writer Jiraiya—what grand titles! Unfortunately, you are a complete failure. You lost your parents as a child, your lover as a young man, your companions when you achieved fame, and your disciple when you let everything go. You are now over sixty years old. Tell me, what do you have? Oh, right! You have the prophecy from the toads of Mount Myōboku. The child of prophecy, right? Well, I can tell you now that the child of prophecy the Toad Sage spoke of, who would become your disciple, will never become your disciple in this life. He won't save the Ninja World either. Even if the entire Ninja World is destroyed, he will only live his own life peacefully."
Naruto's previous words sent Jiraiya into his memories, but at the last part, Jiraiya looked at Naruto in disbelief.
"You... you...!"
Naruto sneered and said, "That's right! I am the child of prophecy the Toad Sage spoke of, the Blue-eyed youth mentioned by the nine Tailed Beasts."
"This... this... how is this possible! You're lying to me, right?"
Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a sneer and said, "What's the point of me lying to you? But I also know that if I tell you now, you'll definitely think I'm striking at you or making up excuses to make you suffer more, right?"
Jiraiya stared intently at Naruto. He really wanted to know if what Naruto said was true or false.
Seeing Jiraiya's expression, Naruto smiled and said, "I'll tell you a story, and then you'll know if it's true or false."
Hearing that Naruto was going to tell a story, and one that concerned the truth, Jiraiya took a sip of tea, adjusted his emotions, and waited for Narutoto begin.
Naruto also calmly took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and began the story.
"You only know the Six Paths Sage as a legend, but the Six Paths Sage truly existed. Ninshu was passed down by the Six Paths Sage. The Six Paths Sage had two sons, one named Indra and the other named Ashura. Both were exceptionally gifted; no matter what Ninjutsu it was, they could master it with ease. However, the personalities of Indra and Ashura were two extremes: one sought to restrain the world with force, while the other sought to influence the world with love. Thus, they often argued due to their different philosophies, eventually leading to blows, but they could never determine who was right or wrong. So, the Six Paths Sage sent them down the mountain to prove their philosophies for themselves."
Naruto reached this point, took another sip of tea, and looked at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya, not knowing what he was thinking, looked at Naruto and said, "In the end, it was proven that Ashura was right, wasn't it?"
Naruto rolled his eyes at Jiraiya and said, "If Ashurawere right, would the events of the Sengoku period have happened? During the Sengoku period, the Great Clans fought to the death. The final result was that until the day they died, neither of them reached a conclusion."
After hearing this, Jiraiya said, "Then you can't deny that Ashura was wrong either?"
"It's impossible to prove Ashura was wrong, but can you prove Indra was wrong?"