53 Jiraiya: Being Hokage is not my fate

Upon entering, Kyōichi was greeted warmly.

"Kyōichi, thank you so much!"

Jiraiya bowed deeply and solemnly.

"Master Jiraiya, there's no need for that. I just made a casual suggestion; whether it will work or not remains to be seen..."

Kyōichi seemed a bit taken aback.

After all, Jiraiya was his elder.

It was somewhat inappropriate for him to show such deference to Kyōichi, but despite Kyōichi's protest, Jiraiya continued his deep bow.

Luckily, they were indoors.

Jiraiya brought some items and placed them on the table, then Kyōichi tossed him a zabuton.

Both of them sat down.

The atmosphere was vastly different from their last encounter.

Previously at the bar, Kyōichi had been a junior that Jiraiya had introduced primarily for Orochimaru to get reacquainted with.

But now...

"There are many things that Orochimaru and Tsunade are unaware of, such as why I chose Nagato and the others as disciples."

Jiraiya filled a cup with sake and shared this with a smile.

It appeared

he planned to disclose some of his secrets to Kyōichi.

Kyōichi was about to object.

However, upon reconsideration, it seemed inconsequential if he was privy to this information.

Mount Myōboku wasn't aware of him anyway.

Jiraiya then recounted his journey to Mount Myōboku and his encounter with the Great Toad Sage, from start to finish, relating to Kyōichi the same story Kyōichi had glimpsed in Jiraiya's past life.

The only disparity was that,

In Jiraiya's account, he was portrayed as wise and martial, and the Great Toad Sage immediately acknowledged him as a prodigy, beseeching him to form an alliance with Mount Myōboku...

Clearly, someone was embellishing the facts.

Kyōichi chose to play along, pretending ignorance.

"So, apart from empathy, was there also a layer of intuition at the time that made you willing to stay and mentor those three, did you think they might be your 'Child of the Prophecy'?"

Kyōichi ventured.

"Yeah, later events confirmed my hypothesis. That kid Nagato is extraordinary, he... just as Minato said, is very likely a descendant of Uzumaki."

Jiraiya still didn't fully disclose the truth.

The Rinnegan!

The Sage's eyes, he kept concealed.

Upon hearing this, Kyōichi merely nodded and sighed, "No wonder he's so powerful."

"How can you say that with a straight face?"

After a brief moment of shocked silence, Jiraiya couldn't help but retort.

It would be different if someone else had said this.

After all, Nagato was undeniably a prodigy who mastered various forms of Ninjutsu rapidly and possessed the Rinnegan. At the time, he appeared to only exhibit the power to repel others, yet clearly, Nagato had an extraordinary future -

Both Jiraiya and Minato shared this belief.

Rather than being interested in all three, it could be said that Nagato intrigued Jiraiya the most.

However,

The prodigy singled out by Jiraiya was defeated by the younger Kyōichi, who even had multiple opportunities to end Nagato's life, as per Minato's account, but chose not to do so.

"I owe you a debt of gratitude for what transpired with Nagato. If not for your leniency..."

"I wouldn't kill him. Those three were clearly the leaders of that group of Amegakure ninja. Killing any one of them could have instigated a new war with Konoha, which we could ill afford at this time."

Kyōichi interjected.

He had already devised this explanation.

Moreover,

This was indeed Kyōichi's rationale at that moment. He had even briefly considered the extreme option of killing Nagato's trio and claiming the Rinnegan.

But then.

Such an act would be foolish, tantamount to offering himself up for slaughter to Black Zetsu and Madara.

A wise man knows better than to stand beneath a crumbling wall.

Hearing Kyōichi's explanation, Jiraiya accepted it without skepticism, as Kyōichi's understanding of these matters was evidence enough that his perspective extended beyond the immediate, encompassing the broader picture.

"Indeed it is so. Yet, Nagato and the others are quite vulnerable now. Fortunately, with your guidance this time, they can avoid many pitfalls, perhaps even a fatal crisis."

Jiraiya sighed, "These were the responsibilities I should have borne as their mentor, but in truth, after those initial three years, I never saw them again."

"With frequent wars in recent years, and Tsunade's departure... it was unavoidable."

Kyōichi comprehended the situation.

When Jiraiya later exited Konoha, news had already spread of Nagato's death at the hands of Hanzo - it was naturally impossible for him to continue searching for them.

"Indeed!"

After polishing off a cup of sake,

Jiraiya began to share various tales from the past.

Many stories.

Finally, he sighed, "From now on, I won't have any part in that role. Hahaha... To be honest, I never had any interest in the Hokage position to begin with."

"An open-minded perspective."

Kyōichi filled up another cup for him.

Jiraiya took a sip, then produced a scroll, stating, "This contains one of Minato's secret jutsus."

Kyōichi glanced at the scroll, then back at Jiraiya.

It was probably the Rasengan.

However.

What was the purpose of this?

"In a way, since you saved Nagato and the others, consider this a token of my gratitude. You and Orochimaru share a fascination with unknown jutsus. This is a gift for you, and whether you share it with others is up to you."

Jiraiya smiled.

However, his mood quickly darkened, and his smile turned strained.

As they dined and drank,

after a lengthy silence, he suddenly declared, "Remember, no one can deter Orochimaru from his intentions. If he harbors any ulterior motives towards you, don't be concerned about what Tsunade and I might think!"

"I doubt it will come to that, but should it ever, I'll remember."

Kyōichi nodded.

Jiraiya must have had a discussion with the Third Hokage the previous day, and consequently obtained a wealth of information - such as the circumstances of the exam candidates and Orochimaru's questions during the Jounin Exams.

Knowing these details, it wasn't difficult to infer a great deal.

Once Jiraiya had finished speaking, he grabbed the sake bottle and stood up.

"I won't say any more. Knowledge can be a burden, especially for a gifted and insightful young man like you. You don't drink sake, so I'll leave the food to you and take the wine."

Jiraiya gestured for Kyōichi not to see him out.

Then.

Upon exiting the door, he disappeared almost instantaneously.

Body Flicker Technique!--

His direction upon leaving was the village gate.

Jiraiya was going to leave.

Of course.

Not leaving the village like Tsunade, but on orders to go north and investigate the movements and intelligence of villages like Iwagakure and Kumogakure - or rather, he was to go coordinate the Anbu operations in the north.

Intelligence was too important.

If all intelligence from the north had to be sent to the Hokage Residence to process and reply, by the time Konoha reacted Iwagakure could have already invaded the Land of Fire.

This was an existing task from before.

What made Kyōichi ponder deeply was.

Just what did Jiraiya and the Third talk about yesterday?

It seems.

Jiraiya was clearly not very happy.

"Oh well, the Third...none of my business."

Kyōichi shook his head.

His feelings toward the Third were neutral.

He couldn't say good or bad, but if asked to assess, the Third fell far short of Tobirama Senju.

Kyōichi opened the scroll.

Sure enough.

The scroll contained the training method and design concept for the "Rasengan" jutsu.

The inspiration came from the Tailed Beast Ball.

The ultimate goal was to incorporate a change in the nature of chakra.

Regrettably...

Not even Minato had achieved this step so far.

In fact Kyōichi already knew the training method himself.

However.

He was still very satisfied with this scroll.

What was important wasn't the jutsu itself, but that the scroll contained Minato's detailed documentation of all the thought process behind the Rasengan, from inspiration to design to creation - this was much more valuable than just the jutsu.