That idiot had been wandering around outside for years, and the moment he came back, he was already making a fool of himself at the village gate?
Absolutely disgraceful!
Sure, Jiraiya had been traveling to track down the Akatsuki, but his activities were regularly reported back by the Anbu team accompanying him.
Which meant… aside from searching for the Akatsuki, Jiraiya had also been gathering "material."
Because of his promise, he was afraid Yan would mock him, so he didn't go spying on women in the bathhouses.
But Jiraiya had his own ways—if he couldn't sneak a peek, he'd just watch openly.
While having fun, he got the women around him to cooperate, making it a win-win.
He got to enjoy himself, gathered his "research material," and didn't fall behind on his novel writing—a perfect three-in-one deal.
Hearing how furious their Hokage sounded, the Anbu ninja quickly retreated to deliver the message to Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya-sama, Hokage-sama orders you to… uh."
Repeating Tsunade's exact words didn't seem like a great idea. But if they softened the message, knowing Jiraiya, things might take an unexpected turn.
"Ahaha…"
Laughing as he scratched his head, Jiraiya strode into the village. But instead of heading toward the Hokage's office, he went in a completely different direction.
"Tsunade must be worried I'm exhausted. She probably wants me to go home and rest first before seeing her."
"As expected of my dearest, most loyal friend, the great and impossibly handsome Toad Sage, Jiraiya-sama."
"…"
Watching Jiraiya shamelessly avoid the Hokage's office, the Anbu ninja, who had already held back multiple times, finally decided to deliver Tsunade's exact words.
"Jiraiya-sama, Hokage-sama orders you to get your ass to her office immediately."
"…"
The laughter came to an abrupt stop, and Jiraiya's smugness slowly turned into awkwardness.
Seeing the strange looks from the Anbu ninja, Jiraiya quickly coughed and said,
"*Ahem,* Tsunade is still the same as ever. Her temper hasn't changed one bit.
Well, since that's the case, I guess I have no choice but to go see her first."
He originally planned to visit Naruto first and then find a place to rest.
But now, that didn't seem possible—he had to see Tsunade first.
Same old routine—straight through the window. Using the door was too much trouble.
Squatting on the windowsill, Jiraiya waved with a grin.
"Long time no see, Tsunade."
"Get in here."
Tsunade glared at him, gritting her teeth, and pointed at the office.
"...Uh, okay."
Sensing that Tsunade wasn't in the best mood, Jiraiya didn't push his luck and quickly hopped inside.
Tsunade sat at her desk with a blank expression, arms crossed, staring straight at him.
Jiraiya felt chills from her stare. He hurriedly pulled out a pile of scrolls and placed them on the desk.
"*Ahem,* these are intel reports I've gathered over the years. Not much on the Akatsuki, but there's plenty of important information on other villages."
"You should look at this one first."
Tsunade tossed a scroll to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya opened it, puzzled.
A few seconds later, he blurted out in shock,
"No way! The Akatsuki actually had the guts to do this? Are they really trying to test the limits of the Five Great Ninja Villages again?"
Damn it, when I was searching everywhere for you guys, you stayed hidden.
But the moment I return to Konohagakure, you sneak into Kirigakure and even fight their Fourth Mizukage, Yagura?!
"The Akatsuki have always been provoking the Five Great Ninja Villages!"
Tsunade rolled her eyes at Jiraiya and continued,
"Look closely. Don't you think something feels off?"
Hearing this, Jiraiya studied the scroll carefully. After a while, he looked up.
"They deliberately lured Yagura out of the village?"
"And?"
"Well…"
Jiraiya scratched his messy hair in frustration. When he noticed Tsunade looking at him in disgust, he quickly put his hand down.
"No, this doesn't make sense. With the Akatsuki's strength, attacking Kirigakure like this brings them no real benefit. Even if Uchiha Obito wanted revenge, this isn't how he would do it."
"What's really going on here?"
Jiraiya knew it wasn't that simple, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
He needed to think it through.
"Yagura is a perfect Jinchuriki. He's not someone to be underestimated. If the Akatsuki wanted to target him, just Uchiha Obito and two other members wouldn't be enough."
Tsunade gave Jiraiya a hint.
"So, did Pain get involved too?"
Nagato's face flashed through Jiraiya's mind.
"No… that's still not right. If Pain had stepped in, based on what happened in Amegakure, Yagura wouldn't stand a chance against the Akatsuki."
"He was seriously injured. How did Kirigakure manage to bring him back?"
Honestly, if it were him, after taking down an enemy, he wouldn't just stand around waiting for their reinforcements to arrive.
Either take them away or restrain them.
Restrain…
Uchiha Obito's ambitions were huge. Was he trying to control Kirigakure?
Thinking back to the night of the Nine-Tails attack, when Obito controlled the beast, and remembering that Yan once said the Sharingan could manipulate tailed beasts…
And Yagura just happened to be a Jinchuriki.
Even if he was a perfect Jinchuriki, he was still a Jinchuriki.
"Tsunade, I think this could cause a major storm in the ninja world. Should we warn the other villages?"
Jiraiya's face was serious, all traces of his usual joking nature gone.
Tsunade sighed.
"Yan and I had a similar theory—maybe even crazier than yours. The Akatsuki might be planning to use Yagura to start another great ninja war."
"Then we should…"
Jiraiya immediately became anxious.
What were they waiting for? They needed to expose this plan and warn the other villages.
Tell them to be on guard against the Akatsuki's schemes.
"But do we have any proof?"
"..."
Jiraiya froze for a few seconds, then cursed.
"Damn it!!!"
They couldn't just go around making baseless accusations. If they carelessly accused Kirigakure of having their Mizukage under mind control, the entire village would turn against them.
Other villages might be on alert, but Konoha would end up being the villain in everyone's eyes.
And even if the villages were warned, what could they really do?
Back when the past ninja wars broke out, did Konoha not see them coming?
Yet, they still got dragged into war every single time.
Except for their military campaign against Amegakure in the Second Ninja War, Konoha had always been on the defensive in these conflicts.
Even when they knew trouble was coming, even when they knew things would get messy, they had no choice but to deal with it.
There was no way to avoid it. No real alternatives.
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