"Except for Minato and the four of you, I will also participate in this joint operation."
"No way."
The meeting continued, and Jiraiya didn't hesitate to state that he would join the mission.
However, his decision was immediately blocked by the Third Hokage.
"Old man, give me one good reason."
Jiraiya calmly looked at the Third Hokage.
He understood that Hiruzen was looking out for him.
After all, this mission was quite dangerous.
With someone to manage things, as the current Hokage, he really shouldn't be taking such risks.
But for the sake of his former students, he had to make one final effort.
At the very least, he needed to obtain Nagato and Konan's body cells, preparing for future resurrection.
"You're the Hokage now. Your duty is to stay behind, make strategies for the village's development, and ensure its safety—not to charge into battle like you did back then."
Sure enough, the Third Hokage's reasoning was similar to what Jiraiya had thought, all for his own safety.
"Don't worry, old man. Nagato is still my student. And even if I can't win, don't I still have the option to escape?"
Jiraiya's argument was reasonable, and the Third Hokage didn't know how to counter it.
After learning the information on the five of Nagato's Six Paths of Pain puppets, Jiraiya was confident that if he wanted to escape, Nagato wouldn't be able to stop him.
As seen in the original story, even after Jiraiya lost an arm, if he wanted to run, Nagato couldn't stop him when Jiraiya was in Sage Mode.
However, Jiraiya felt that Konoha would eventually clash with Nagato. If they didn't understand all of Nagato's abilities, Konoha would likely suffer in the future.
So that's why he didn't run away, but continued to fight against Nagato, hoping to gather more information, which ultimately led to his death at the hands of Six Paths of Pain.
The Fifth Hokage in the present world didn't know any of this, but with the information from the five puppets, he felt that if he wanted to escape, Nagato wouldn't be able to stop him.
"Alright, I can't argue with you. If you die, I'll just have Orochimaru work overtime to bring you back to life."
"...It's better not to revive me if possible."
The pain of death doesn't need to be mentioned. Everyone is a ninja, and they all understand.
Even just considering the cost to bring someone back to life, it's a huge sum.
Not long ago, he had discussed this topic with Orochimaru and also took a look at Orochimaru's lab ledger.
He was shocked when he saw it. That's when Jiraiya realized how much money it really took to clone a proper body.
No wonder Orochimaru occasionally asked him to increase the budget. He thought Orochimaru was just pocketing the money, but it turned out he was actually working selflessly, spending all of it on experiments.
Looking at the long string of zeros in the ledger, Jiraiya was truly heartbroken.
When you're not in charge, you don't realize how expensive things are.
Building a village, it all requires money.
So Jiraiya made a decision right then and there.
Fugaku, Mikoto, and the others were the last batch to be revived for free.
In the future, anyone who wants to be revived will have to pay.
After all, even the landlord's family doesn't have any surplus grain.
"Alright, since no one disagrees, then it's settled."
"Hokage-sama, are you going to join us in action?"
"Act together? Not really, I'm just secretly heading to the Hidden Rain Village to talk to Nagato. If we can't reach an agreement, I'll come back."
"I see."
Asuma sat down, indicating that he had no issues with this.
However, Kakashi suddenly stood up and said, "For this mission, should we have Sasuke and his family join in?"
Three days ago, Orochimaru, as agreed, revived Sasuke's parents, Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto.
When going after the Akatsuki, Konoha would most likely encounter Uchiha Itachi.
Faced with this controversial and dangerous figure, Kakashi felt that it would be better for the Uchiha clan to deal with him themselves.
"Fugaku, huh? Alright, after the meeting, you can go visit the Uchiha clan and ask them what they think."
"Understood, Hokage-sama."
With the main participants confirmed, the meeting proceeded smoothly.
As soon as the meeting ended, Kakashi rushed to the Uchiha compound, where he found Fugaku enjoying the sun in the yard.
"Fugaku-san."
"Oh, Kakashi, what brings you here?"
The revived Fugaku had changed somewhat in personality.
No longer as serious and dull as before, he had become calm and laid-back.
He would often sit in his small yard, basking in the sun, and didn't bother with any village matters. He had completely given up on his responsibilities.
"Hokage-sama asked me to check with you, for the upcoming mission against the Akatsuki, will you and Sasuke participate?"
Kakashi didn't ask about Uchiha Mikoto, not because he didn't respect her, but because her strength wasn't quite up to par. Having her along would only be a burden.
Sasuke, while also a bit of a burden, was the "second male lead." Plus, due to his obsession with Itachi, if Kakashi didn't ask him to join, Sasuke would definitely be a headache later on.
"Of course, we will join. But when it comes to Itachi..."
Itachi was still his son. If possible, Fugaku didn't want Itachi to die like this.
"This is something you'll need to discuss directly with the Hokage."
"Alright, I'll go see the Hokage tonight."
After receiving Fugaku's response, Kakashi left and quickly returned to the Hokage Building to report the situation to Jiraiya.
"Thank you for your hard work, Kakashi."
"It's no problem. If the Hokage is fine, then I'll leave first."
"Okay, you can go now."
At night, Fugaku Uchiha arrived at Jiraiya's house with Sasuke Uchiha.
They had a discussion about how to handle Itachi.
After a long period of negotiation, Jiraiya agreed to spare Itachi's life.
At the same time, the village would start a public relations campaign to whitewash Itachi's actions from years ago, allowing him to return under the guise of an undercover agent planted by the village.
What Fugaku and the others had to give up was simply ensuring that Itachi wouldn't cause any more trouble in the future, along with a large sum of money.
The Uchiha Clan had left behind a large amount of wealth.
A small portion of it was seized by the Third Hokage when Sasuke was still young, under various pretenses, to help develop the village.
The majority of the remaining wealth was in Sasuke's hands.
Originally, the Third Hokage had good intentions.
The Uchiha Clan's vast fortune had caught the interest of many other clans in the village.
When Sasuke could no longer protect it, the Hokage planned to intervene, using the village's name to have Sasuke delegate management to them.
By giving Sasuke a monthly allowance, they could easily keep him pacified.
This way, the Third Hokage wouldn't appear so bad, and Sasuke would also receive a considerable amount of money every month.
It's practically a win-win.
But, as expected, plans never go as intended.
Whether in the original story or in the real world, Orochimaru's plan to destroy Konoha caused the Third Hokage's schemes to fall apart.
So, even though the Uchiha clan seems like nothing but an empty shell now, they are still very wealthy.
*********
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