Jiraiya Arrives

Beneath the vast night sky, a white-haired figure kept moving forward until he finally reached a small town.

"The weather in the Land of Rain is still as awful as ever. After just a few days, it's already hard to make out the traces these Konoha shinobi left behind."

The white-haired figure muttered to himself. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with unruly hair like a hedgehog's. An oil-marked forehead protector was tied around his head, and red markings streaked beneath his eyes. He was carefully gathering clues and tracking his targets.

This white-haired shinobi was none other than Jiraiya, the Sage of the Toads and one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin.

Jiraiya looked up at the small town ahead and confirmed the direction of the traces, then strode right into town.

It was already night, and there was hardly anyone out and about. Yet, as if guided by some unseen force, Jiraiya soon found his way to an inn in town.

The two-meter-high courtyard wall was no obstacle for a shinobi like Jiraiya. But the moment he stepped over it, a faint sense of incongruity crept over him.

"Not bad. They even set up a barrier around a temporary place like this."

He had barely finished muttering when the lights in the inn blazed on, and several shinobi came out.

"You're... Lord Jiraiya?!"

Uchiha Shūichi stepped out of his room, looked at the white-haired figure in the light, and asked outright.

"That's right! I am the Sage of the Toads—Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya struck a series of exaggerated poses. Uchiha Shūichi watched his chūnibyō routine with half-lidded eyes and no reaction whatsoever.

Jiraiya didn't seem to mind. After finishing his performance, he looked at them expectantly.

"You were sent here by the old man to investigate the situation in the Land of Rain, weren't you? Have you found anything?"

The others looked to Uchiha Shūichi. Information about shinobi missions was usually confidential, and that went doubly for an S-rank mission.

Jiraiya had a special status, but whether they should tell him anything was a decision for Uchiha Shūichi, as the team leader.

"Lord Jiraiya, we're carrying out an S-rank secret mission. Only the Hokage is allowed to know the details. Unless the Hokage gave you a written order, that is. Do you have one, Lord Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya's expression immediately fell. As soon as he'd received the information, he'd rushed straight to the Land of Rain without even returning to Konoha Village. How could he possibly have a written order from the Third Hokage?

"Ahem. Come on, Uchiha kid. I'm one of the Sannin, at least. Can't you make an exception?"

Uchiha Shūichi rolled his eyes slightly and replied in an even tone.

"Sorry, I can't make an exception. Lord Jiraiya, you'll have to ask someone else."

Jiraiya looked at the three people behind Uchiha Shūichi. He gave a wry smile, then hesitated, unable to speak.

Yamanaka Fū remained expressionless, like still water. Root shinobi had no idea who this Jiraiya was. As for Hyuga Homura and Yūhi Kurenai, their eyes shifted away; neither seemed willing to be the one to step forward and "make an exception."

Jiraiya scratched his unruly white hair, feeling rather helpless. The Sannin might have had an impressive reputation, but after being away from the village for so long, his influence had waned considerably.

For one thing, Jiraiya had nothing but his reputation. He held no official position, which meant he was basically just an ordinary Konoha Jonin. If Uchiha Shūichi really didn't want to share the information, there was nothing Jiraiya could do about it.

"Kid, don't be so rigid. I just wanted to ask what the Rinnegan user looks like..."

Uchiha Shūichi looked somewhat hesitant at that and replied.

"You want to know what the Rinnegan user looks like? I can tell you that. But in return, Lord Jiraiya will have to help us with something."

"Of course, of course! Don't worry. As long as it doesn't harm Konoha or involve anything cruel, I, the Sage of the Toads, can help!"

Jiraiya nodded. Amegakure had been heavily guarded lately, and even someone as capable as Jiraiya would need to spend considerable time and effort gathering information. It was certainly better if someone could provide it directly.

"It's nothing much. Since you care so much about the information on Amegakure, Lord Jiraiya, why don't you team up with us?"

"On our own, we were already planning to head back. The Rinnegan user is frighteningly powerful, and the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki even came out personally. The risk is simply too high, and it's practically impossible to gather any more detailed information."

"But if you join us, Lord Jiraiya, the mission will be much easier. At the very least, we should be able to get out of Amegakure in one piece."

In the original story, Jiraiya had held his own against the Six Paths of Pain despite knowing nothing about them and having no one to back him up. He hadn't been completely overwhelmed.

If not for his sense of responsibility and his desire to gather information, he wouldn't have fought to the death and refused to retreat. He could have escaped. If he'd known everything about the Six Paths of Pain, he might even have had a one-in-two chance of turning the tables.

Besides, if they really ran into danger, Uchiha Shūichi believed Jiraiya would volunteer to stay behind. After all, Nagato had once been Jiraiya's student. Jiraiya deserved to shoulder at least two or three tenths of the blame for the Akatsuki Organization.

Sure enough, Jiraiya agreed at once to help Uchiha Shūichi's team investigate. In fact, that was exactly what he'd been hoping for.

Once they'd struck a deal, Uchiha Shūichi immediately shared all the information he'd gathered, including what Pain looked like.

There were still some shinobi in the Land of Rain who had seen Pain. Of course, what they'd actually seen was Yahiko's corpse. Based on the accounts of the Rain shinobi who'd been put under genjutsu, Uchiha Shūichi had drawn a picture of Pain.

It wasn't a perfect likeness, but anyone who saw the picture could at least recognize him in person. Jiraiya took just one look at the image in Uchiha Shūichi's hand, and his mood immediately sank.

"That face... It's Yahiko. What on earth happened? What changed in the Akatsuki Organization?"

"It looks like I'll have to investigate the situation in Amegakure properly this time."

His thoughts racing, Jiraiya settled on the most likely explanation: Nagato had already died, and Yahiko had taken possession of his Rinnegan as a keepsake, transplanting them into his own eyes.

As for the changes in the Akatsuki Organization, perhaps the members had suffered such a crushing blow that their personalities and goals had become completely twisted.

That sort of thing was hardly unusual in the cruel Shinobi World. Jiraiya knew his companion Orochimaru had become completely warped in character after witnessing the cruelty of the Shinobi World.