Jiraiya: Where are my legs?

"Leader, you are mighty, you are the Kami of the new world! Great Kami! After you become the god of the new world, I hope you can let me become the God of Wealth in charge of all the world's money!"

Kakuzu, who had been lying on the ground in despair, stood up and raised his hands towards Nagato, his face filled with excitement. How could he not be excited? The world was destroyed, and the money he had earned so far was meaningless. But if a new era could begin, then money would have meaning again. As a person who loved money, Kakuzu's excitement was understandable.

Besides Kakuzu, even the insidious Orochimaru breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Who wouldn't want to live?

Orochimaru still had a bright future ahead of him. There were countless Ninjutsu in this world that he had yet to learn, and his immortality technique was not yet perfected. To die in vain as a burial sacrifice for that old geezer Shimura Danzō, who would want that?

Danzo, that inherently evil old ghost, why did you have to provoke the Uchiha Clan for no reason?

Beside them, Black Zetsu and Obito stood in a dark corner, looking at Nagato with unreadable expressions.

"Kami of the new world? Hahaha, that's hilarious. Nagato, when I become the true Kami and create a world for Rin, you can continue to be your Kami in your dreams, hehe!"

Uchiha Obito sneered inwardly. Looking at Nagato's current state, he eagerly anticipated Nagato's expression later. It would surely be very amusing.

"Heh, that idiot Obito. I can tell just by looking at you that you're mocking Nagato. Hahaha, do you really think you're free? Heh, creating a world for Rin..."

Black Zetsu sneered inwardly at Uchiha Obito. Obito's life didn't belong to him at all, and he could be sacrificed when necessary to revive Uchiha Madara.

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

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

Orochimaru headed towards Konoha. Although Nagato had told them in the conference room, and it sounded very serious and terrifying, he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. Who knew what was really going on? What if it was just a misjudgment by Nagato and the others?

It wasn't impossible. In any case, he had to see it for himself to truly be at ease and follow Nagato's plan.

Besides Orochimaru, the other members of the Akatsuki Organization were also heading towards Konoha. Although Nagato and the others spoke with such conviction, some things could only be confirmed by seeing them with one's own eyes.

After all, this kind of thing was too unbelievable, too outrageous. It was like a goddess who usually appeared pure and chaste; for a simpering admirer, how could he believe that the goddess in his heart was actually a bitch controlled by someone else, unless he saw it with his own eyes?

Hearing the panting, one might actually think they were running.

"Lord Jiraiya, you're finally awake."

In the hospital room, Jiraiya lay on the bed in a daze. Nara Shikaku and the others stood by the window, looking at Jiraiya.

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

Jiraiya felt as if he had a dream. In the dream, his teacher died, the people of Konoha fled like stray dogs, a monster appeared, he ran to fight the monster, and then he collapsed.

In the end, he didn't even know what the monster looked like. He only knew that it was a monster born from Shimura Danzō's actions against the Uchiha Clan.

Haha, how could he have such a nonsensical, inexplicable dream? Why would Konoha be destroyed? Why would the world be destroyed? Had he been peeking at others bathing recently and damaged his brain?

Now that he was awake, it turned out it wasn't a dream at all.

"How are they?"

Jiraiya lowered his head, seemingly recalling his companions who had given their all to save him. In the end, he didn't even know the names of those ninjas.

"They're dead, Lord Jiraiya. When we found you, the bodies of the others were already completely stiff."

"The bodies? Did you bring them back?"

"No."

"Why?"

"We couldn't find them. By the time we got there to retrieve the bodies, we couldn't see where they were anymore."

Jiraiya fell silent, filled with self-reproach, regret, and pain.

Clearly, clearly Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shiken had advised him not to go, but he still went. He had overestimated himself and ultimately let others pay the price for him. He had overestimated himself and underestimated the monster that the Great Toad Sage had called a disaster.

If only he hadn't been so stubborn...

In fact, if only a few Konoha ninjas had died, Jiraiya wouldn't have been so sad and grief-stricken. But the problem was that their deaths were meaningless. They were merely paying the price for his mistake. To save him, they had paid with their lives.

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

"Everyone, leave. I want to be alone..."

Not long after, everyone present left.

Jiraiya was left alone in the hospital room, lost in thought. After a while, Jiraiya lifted the covers. He had felt something was wrong earlier, but he had been immersed in his grief. Although he felt that his body was not right, very not right, as if he couldn't feel his lower legs, he hadn't really paid attention to it. He thought it was some special surgery or treatment method. Now, as he pulled back the covers, his vision went black.

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

Jiraiya was shocked, then panicked. He instinctively reached out to touch where his legs should have been, thinking they might have become invisible, not amputated. Then his hand met empty air. His legs were truly gone.

He, Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin, was now crippled.

"Lord Jiraiya, you're finally awake!"

Just then, a medical ninja walked in and approached Jiraiya, explaining why his legs were gone.

It was simple. Although Jiraiya had been rescued in the end, a part of his body had been in that domain for too long, causing the cells that made up his lower legs to lose energy and become completely necrotic. There was no choice but to amputate them.

Besides this news, there was also the news that