The Name of the Sannin (Part Two)

"Become their students?" ×2

Konan and Nagato exchanged a glance, then looked at Yahiko in confusion.

"Yeah, become their students! If we miss this chance, we might never meet ninja this powerful again.

"I'll make them acknowledge me, then become a powerful ninja and change the Land of Rain!"

Yahiko explained, his voice brimming as always with fiery passion and enthusiasm.

"Konan, Nagato, will you come with me? Help me change this country! Bring peace back to the Land of Rain!"

Yahiko extended the invitation to his two companions.

Konan and Nagato looked into Yahiko's eyes.

At that moment, they seemed to see light shining within them.

It was as though he had been born to save this weeping country.

Konan looked at Yahiko and said solemnly,

"Yahiko, you'll uphold peace, and I'll uphold you."

"Yahiko, your dream is my dream. I'll help you make it come true!"

Nagato looked at Yahiko as he spoke, too.

Yahiko had already found the goal he would spend his whole life pursuing.

And as his best friend, Nagato would always stand steadfastly beside him and help him, in life or in death.

"Nagato's right! Yahiko, Nagato, the rain's letting up. Let's go!"

For their dreams and their country, a group of young children took a small yet utterly resolute step forward.

Hanzō clutched his abdomen and leaned on his sickle, watching the three young people before him.

He had never expected Orochimaru to recover from his injuries so quickly, much less display such formidable strength already.

Even more unexpected was how outstanding the other two young people were.

During the battle, faced with the threat of death, Jiraiya and Tsunade had both broken through and crossed the threshold into Kage Level.

Hanzō knew that with four Kage Level fighters and White Fang in reserve, Konohagakure would almost certainly emerge as the ultimate victor of this Ninja War.

"You have earned my acknowledgment! The name of the Konoha Sannin truly lives up to its reputation!"

Hanzō spoke while doing his best to maintain his imposing air.

With Tsunade risking herself and Jiraiya covering her, Orochimaru had launched a surprise attack and stabbed Hanzō in the abdomen with the Kusanagi Sword.

When Hanzō was young, an evil organization had captured him and subjected him to human experimentation. Its members had implanted a salamander's venom sac in his abdomen.

The salamander's venom was so potent that even Hanzō himself could not withstand it. He, too, needed to hurry back for treatment.

But he was Hanzo of the Salamander, the Demigod of the Ninja World, and the god who protected the Land of Rain.

He could not lose, so this battle could only count as a draw.

"This battle is a draw. I look forward to our next encounter, Konoha Sannin."

Hanzō's voice gradually faded into the distance.

Orochimaru and the other two were in terrible shape themselves.

Tsunade was panting heavily, and Jiraiya had suffered serious injuries while saving her. Now, even standing was a struggle for him.

Orochimaru, however, reckoned he could still just barely put up a fight.

Although the improvements brought by the Dragon Yuan had gradually slowed recently, Orochimaru still had abundant chakra even after fighting this long.

Combined with the Dragon Yuan's ability to heal him, he was in the best condition of the four. Otherwise, Hanzō would not have left so decisively.

They called it a draw, but in truth, the old man was saving face. Otherwise, where would that leave his dignity as the Demigod of the Ninja World?

He needed to maintain the myth of his invincibility, both to keep the great nations wary and to give the ninja and people of the Land of Rain confidence.

The three rested briefly at the edge of the battlefield.

Although their fight with Hanzō was over, this was still a combat zone. They needed to stay alert for ninja coming to investigate now that the fighting had ended.

Suddenly, perhaps through some unseen twist of fate, or perhaps because practicing Sage Mode had heightened his sensory ability, Jiraiya was the first to notice something.

Noticing their companion's movement, Tsunade and Orochimaru immediately went on guard as well.

A little orange-haired boy ran out from behind a building.

The look in the boy's eyes felt familiar to Orochimaru.

It was the gleam of someone who craved power, a conviction that he could use that power to change something.

Soon, Konan and Nagato emerged one after the other behind Yahiko.

Once he approached the three, Yahiko instead scratched his head a little shyly.

"Um, do you have anything to eat?"

Jiraiya took out some crackers and handed them to Yahiko.

Konan boldly stepped forward, took the cracker wrapper, and folded it into a paper flower, indicating that they were trading the flower for the food.

"Do you crave power, boy?"

Intrigued, Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and washed his face with it again, then suddenly asked Yahiko the question.

"Orochimaru, what are you doing?"

Jiraiya looked at his companion with a grave expression as he asked.

For all his heroic spirit, he could kill enemies without hesitation, but he would not let Orochimaru deceive three little children.

After all, Orochimaru had enjoyed his twisted little amusements since childhood.

Orochimaru was still licking his lips, watching the child named Yahiko.

"The look in his eyes feels familiar. Those are the eyes of someone who craves power."

Orochimaru walked up to Yahiko.

Konan and Nagato were too nervous to speak, but Yahiko held his head high and looked Orochimaru straight in the eye.

Looking into Yahiko's eyes, Orochimaru spoke with something like a sigh.

"Jiraiya, after losing my parents, I learned that life is actually the most fragile thing in this world.

"A flower doesn't wither in an instant. It only begins to fade after passing through its most brilliant, dazzling days in summer.

"But life is different. Death often comes suddenly. Perhaps you or I will be next."

Orochimaru clasped his hands behind his back and took a few steps forward. Looking up at the cloud-choked sky of the Land of Rain, he continued,

"When I first saw Teacher Sarutobi, I looked at him the same way this brat is looking at us now.

"Just as a windmill needs wind to turn, if you want to change something, you need power to do it."

Jiraiya crouched down until his eyes were level with Yahiko's.

The instant he saw Yahiko's eyes, this powerful, tenacious hero was shaken by the look in them.

How could this child's eyes hold such powerful conviction?

He wanted to know exactly why this child sought power so desperately.

"Kid, tell me. If you gained enough power to turn the world upside down and change the Shinobi World, what would you do?"

Jiraiya stared into Yahiko's eyes as he asked.

"I'd end every war! I'd change this country! The Land of Rain would never cry again!"

Yahiko shouted with fiery conviction.

Orochimaru had always thought hot-blooded idiots attracted one another. Now, it seemed he was right.

At such an age, with such a dream, and such... potential.

Jiraiya thought of the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.

As long as there was even the slightest possibility, he would give it his all.

Because he was Jiraiya.

The man who would teach a student who lived his entire life by the words,

"Doing what I say-that's my ninja way."

The Toad Sage, Jiraiya the Hero.

"Orochimaru, you and Tsunade go back first. I'll look after them for now."

Jiraiya decided to observe Yahiko for a while first. Until he understood the boy's character, he would not casually take him as a student or entrust power to the wrong person.

"Huh?"

Tsunade exclaimed. She was about to say more when Jiraiya interrupted her.

"We did bring war here, after all. Consider this a small way to ease my guilt."

Jiraiya spoke in a subdued voice.

Knowing their companion's character, Tsunade and Orochimaru did not try to stop him again. Their companion was a true hero who always kept his word.

Tsunade and Orochimaru left. Because Jiraiya had said "for now," Tsunade thought the three of them were only parting temporarily.

As the camp's deputy commander, Orochimaru had a mountain of postbattle affairs to handle.

The next day, a detailed account of the trio's battle with Hanzō was made public, after Hanzō had embellished it.

Whatever the case, although Hanzō had not officially lost, he had not really won either. The more he praised Orochimaru and the others, the more impressive Hanzō himself appeared.

The name of the Sannin spread throughout the world!

As the Third Hokage's students, the three had already attracted considerable attention. Combined with their considerable strength, they had already made something of a name for themselves.

In his previous battles, Orochimaru had faced long-established Kage Level veterans such as Kakuzu, Chiyo, and Hanzō, earning himself a measure of renown.

This time, with the Third Hokage and Hanzō promoting them, the trio's reputation soared.

If the three had been leading figures among the younger generation of the Shinobi World before arriving on the Land of Rain's battlefield, then after this battle, the Sannin had become three major figures near the top of its hierarchy.

More than a month later.

Hanzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi signed their names on the treaty, forming an alliance on behalf of their respective ninja villages.

Those with insight in the Shinobi World could all see that the Second Ninja War, which had erupted in the Land of Rain, was nearing its end.

The decisive battle was about to begin!

With Hanzō as an outside ally, and the powerful Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and the world-renowned Sannin within its ranks, Konohagakure became everyone's favored side.

The beginning was the end.

After Jiraiya later discovered Nagato's Rinnegan, he believed the boy was the Child of Prophecy, the future savior of the Shinobi World, and decided to stay behind to teach the three children.

With Jiraiya's departure, the Sannin's team temporarily disbanded, and Orochimaru formed a team with two elite jonin, Shikun Mitarashi and Yūhi Shinku.

Tsunade formed a team with her new lover, Danzō Katō, and the experienced, powerful elite jonin Kikume Kōtō.

Not long before, Orochimaru had said that death always came suddenly, and that perhaps one of them would be next.

But Tsunade had never imagined that Dan's death would come so suddenly, too.

Three days before the decisive battle, Tsunade's team returned to camp from a reconnaissance mission, bringing back Danzō Katō's corpse, his kidneys ruptured and his body grievously wounded in multiple places.

With him came Tsunade, covered in blood, her hands trembling and her eyes vacant, and Kikume Kōtō, consumed by guilt, silently shaking his head and sighing beside her.