Jiraiya Almost Beaten to Death

"Even this fucking wasn't enough—it almost dragged the village down and destroyed it!" How could Tsunade not be furious in such a situation?

"Second Grandfather was blind back then, taking in a disciple like Danzō. If he knew what Danzō would do now, he'd be deeply disappointed, no doubt."

Tsunade clenched her fist, lowering her brow in thought.

Konoha had suffered a heavy blow now, but even so, she had no intention of returning. On one hand, she had hemophobia—a complete wreck of a person. On the other, there was still Jiraiya. Orochimaru had defected, Hiruzen Sarutobi was dead, but wasn't Jiraiya still around?

With such a huge upheaval in Konoha this time, it was time for Jiraiya to become Hokage!

There was no way Jiraiya had turned into a waste too, needing her to come back and save the day. As for what Katsuyu said about some world-ending calamity, she dismissed it entirely as an exaggeration. That Uchiha Yue, no matter how strong, was just one person. How could he have the power to destroy the entire world? Ridiculous!

Just then, a knock sounded.

"Tsunade-sama, terrible news, terrible news!"

Shizune's voice came from outside the door.

"What is it now? Shizune, come in."

Soon, Shizune entered with a Konoha Ninja.

"Tsunade-sama, it's bad! The Third Generation-sama is dead! Konoha has been destroyed!"

Shizune spoke as soon as she came in.

"Alright, I know. Sigh."

Tsunade waved her hand, looking at the Konoha Ninja behind Shizune.

"Did you come to find me to return to Konoha? If so, then leave. Go find Jiraiya and have him become the new Hokage! I'm already a useless person."

Before the ninja could speak, Tsunade preempted his intent and refused outright.

"Tsunade-sama, you... you can't. We've already found Lord Jiraiya, but he's become a cripple now. I've come on Lord Jiraiya's orders to find you. Please, you must become our new Hokage. Konoha can't withstand any more turmoil."

"What? Jiraiya was fine—how did he become a cripple?"

Tsunade's face was full of disbelief. Had Jiraiya gone to fight Uchiha Yue and gotten crippled?

No... no way. A top-tier powerhouse who could single-handedly oppose all of Konoha, kill that old bastard Danzō, kill her teacher, and kill a bunch of ninjas—even Jiraiya shouldn't have been a match, right?

If Jiraiya had gone to fight this strong enemy, he should have been killed, not just crippled!

This... this didn't make sense!

"That's because..."

Contrary to Tsunade's expectations, Jiraiya really had been crippled from fighting Uchiha Yue, losing by a single move. The truth—that Jiraiya hadn't even seen Uchiha Yue's face and nearly died in that domain—was known only to a few in Konoha. The ninja who came to find Tsunade knew a slightly polished version.

After hearing the ninja's explanation, Tsunade fell silent.

"It seems I have to return to Konoha this time."

Tsunade thought. At the same time, if it was true, then Uchiha Yue's strength probably wasn't absurdly high. Being able to kill Danzō and her teacher might have been due to surprise and...

'Teacher, you really have gotten old!'

Tsunade thought helplessly. Yes, if Uchiha Yue wasn't as strong as she'd imagined, then there was only one possibility: on one hand, surprise—catching Konoha's ninjas off guard and going on a killing spree—and on the other, Shimura Danzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi were just two old men. They were incredibly strong in their youth, but with age, their power had declined.

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed right. After all, if Uchiha Yue were truly that strong, why didn't he just destroy Konoha outright instead of letting the ninjas escape? That made no sense. But if Uchiha Yue's strength wasn't as great as they imagined, then it was perfectly reasonable.

Maybe Uchiha Yue wasn't confident enough to take on all of Konoha alone. Those useless Konoha ninjas had been scared off. If they had united against Uchiha Yue back then, that guy might already be dead.

Not like now, where she had to go back and save the day.

"Let's go."

Tsunade sighed. Konoha really needed her now. She couldn't let the village her First and Second Grandfathers had built with their life's work be destroyed like this. As for her hemophobia—thinking of the village, of the great Will of Fire—even that phobia became trivial in this moment.

Bam!

Pfft!

"Ah!"

A shocking scream echoed through Konoha. A figure shot like a meteor, smashing through the wall of the Hokage office and crashing into a latrine.

"Quick, save him!"

"Lord Jiraiya!"

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!!"

In an instant, the entire New Konoha fell into chaos. Inside the latrine, reeking of unknown odors, Jiraiya lay at the edge of the shit pit. He coughed, spitting out the filth from his mouth. Both his arms were broken, his ribs shattered, and pale bone fragments pierced through flesh, stained with yellow filth and blood.

"Ugh..."

Jiraiya lay there, his eyes vacant, staring at the sky. Darkness crept in, and he felt drowsy, as if he had come to a riverbank, seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi waving at him from the other side.

Death. He was going to die!

This blow from Tsunade had nearly killed Jiraiya, who had no defenses up.

Nara Shikaku and the others rushed to Jiraiya's side, ignoring the filth on him, quickly lifting him and heading to the medical department.

In the office.

Tsunade stood in the dust, her face burning with rage, flames seeming to blaze in her eyes, her heart furious to the extreme. Though she realized what she had done, she instinctively raised her fist, saw the blood on it, swayed, and nearly collapsed.

This was how it happened: Lately, Jiraiya had felt unbearable torment, pain, even confusion. A broken leg could be replaced with a prosthetic, but his basket was gone!

His symbol as a man was gone!

How could he not be anxious? He had asked Konoha's medical department, but with their current technology, they couldn't make him a new basket. However...