Jiraiya: Where Are My Legs?

"Glorious Leader, you are the Kami of the new world! Great Kami! Once you become the god of the new world, I hope you'll let me become the God of Wealth, in charge of all the money in the world!"

Kakuzu, who had been lying on the ground in despair moments ago, got to his feet and raised both hands toward Nagato, his face brimming with excitement. How could he not be excited? If the world was destroyed, the money he had earned would become meaningless. But if a new era could begin, then money would have meaning again. As someone who loved wealth, Kakuzu's excitement was perfectly normal.

Besides Kakuzu, even that sly bastard Orochimaru let out a fierce sigh of relief in his heart. Who would want to die if they could survive?

Orochimaru still had a bright future ahead of him. There were countless ninjutsu in this world he had yet to learn, and his immortality technology had not been fully perfected. Who the hell would be willing to be buried alongside that old bastard Shimura Danzō for nothing?

That innately evil old ghost Danzo—why the hell did he have to provoke the Uchiha Clan for no reason?

Off to the side, Black Zetsu and Obito stood in a dark corner, watching Nagato with unreadable expressions.

"New world's Kami? Hahaha, that's hilarious. Nagato, once I become the real Kami and create a world with Rin in it, you can keep being your Kami in your dreams. Hehe!"

Uchiha Obito sneered inwardly. Looking at Nagato now, he was greatly looking forward to the expression Nagato would have when that time came. It was bound to be very interesting.

"Hehe, you idiot Obito. One look and I know you're laughing at Nagato. How hilarious. Do you really think you're free too? Hehe, creating a world with Rin..."

Black Zetsu sneered inwardly as he watched Uchiha Obito. Uchiha Obito's life had never belonged to him. When necessary, he could be sacrificed to revive Uchiha Madara.

Not long afterward, the meeting ended, and Orochimaru and the others all left the conference room.

"I have to go see what's really going on in Konoha..."

Orochimaru headed toward Konoha. Nagato had already described it in the meeting, making it sound incredibly grave and terrifying, but Orochimaru had not seen it with his own eyes. Who knew what was really happening? What if it was merely Nagato and the others' misjudgment?

It was not impossible. In any case, he needed to see it for himself before he could truly rest easy and follow Nagato's plan.

Besides Orochimaru, the others in the Akatsuki Organization were also heading toward Konoha. Although Nagato and the others had spoken with such certainty, some things could only make people give up once they saw them with their own eyes.

After all, this was far too shocking and absurd, completely overturning common sense. It was like a goddess who usually looked pure and untouchable—if a simp did not see it with his own eyes, how could he possibly believe that the goddess in his heart was actually someone else's bitch?

If he heard panting, he might even think she was running.

"Lord Jiraiya, you're finally awake."

Inside the hospital room, Jiraiya lay on the bed with a dazed expression. Nara Shikaku and the others stood by the window, looking at him.

"I'm back... so it wasn't a dream..."

Jiraiya felt as though he had dreamed something. In that dream, his teacher had died. The people of Konoha had fled Konoha like stray dogs. A monster had appeared, and he had rushed over, intending to defeat it. Then he had fallen.

In the end, he did not even know what that monster looked like. He only knew it was a monster born after Shimura Danzō had attacked the Uchiha Clan.

Haha, how could he have such a ridiculous, inexplicable dream? How could perfectly fine Konoha have been destroyed? How could the world be about to end? Had spying on people bathing lately washed his brain out?

Now that he was awake, it turned out it had not been a dream at all.

"How are they?"

Jiraiya lowered his head, seemingly recalling the companions who had done everything they could to keep him alive. In the end, he did not even know the names of those few ninjas.

"They're dead, Lord Jiraiya. By the time we found you, the other bodies had already gone completely stiff."

"The bodies? Did you bring them back?"

"No."

"Why?"

"We couldn't find them. By the time we went over to carry the bodies back, we could no longer see where they were."

Jiraiya fell silent. His heart was filled with boundless self-blame, regret, and pain.

Clearly, clearly, Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shiken had already warned him not to go over, but he had gone anyway. He had overestimated himself, and in the end, others had paid the price in his place. He had overestimated himself and underestimated the monster the Great Toad Sage had called a disaster.

If he had not stubbornly insisted on going...

Actually, if only a few Konoha ninjas had died, Jiraiya would not have been this heartbroken or grief-stricken. But the problem was that their deaths had been utterly meaningless. They had merely paid for his mistake. To keep him alive, they had given their lives.

In the end, he had accomplished nothing. He had not even met Uchiha Yue, yet he had crawled back like a dog, like a piece of trash.

"Everyone, leave. I want some quiet..."

Not long afterward, everyone present left.

Jiraiya was left alone in the hospital room, staring blankly. Not long after, he pulled back the blanket. He had felt that something was wrong earlier, but at the time, he had been immersed in grief. Though his body had felt wrong, terribly wrong, as if he could not feel the existence of his lower legs, he had not truly paid it any mind. He had assumed it was some special surgery or treatment. But now, as he pulled back the blanket, his vision went black.

"Where are my legs? Where did my legs go? Legs, legs, where are you? I'm here, so where are you? Did you turn invisible?"

Jiraiya's face was full of shock, followed by panic. He instinctively reached toward where his legs should have been. He thought maybe his legs had turned invisible rather than being amputated, but his hand found nothing. His legs were truly gone.

Jiraiya, one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin, had become a cripple.

"Lord Jiraiya, you're finally awake!"

Just then, a medical ninja walked in, came to Jiraiya's side, and told him why his legs were gone.

It was simple. Although Jiraiya had ultimately been rescued, part of his body had remained in that domain for too long. The cells that made up his lower legs had lost their energy and completely died. With no other choice, they could only amputate them.

Besides this news, there was one more piece of news, and that was...