Jiraiya's Arrival

Night fell beneath the vast sky as a white-haired figure pressed forward, eventually reaching a small town.

"The weather in the Land of Rain is as terrible as ever. The marks those Konoha ninja left behind have become unreadable in just a few days."

The white-haired figure muttered to himself. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with wild hedgehog-like hair. On his forehead was a headband bearing the character for "oil," and red paint adorned beneath his eyes. He was carefully gathering clues and tracking his quarry.

This white-haired ninja was none other than one of the Three Legendary Ninja of Konoha, the Sage of the Toads—Jiraiya.

Looking up at the town ahead, Jiraiya confirmed the direction of the marks and swaggered into the settlement.

It was already night, and few people were out walking in the town. Yet, as if guided, Jiraiya quickly found his way to a local inn.

A two-meter-high wall was no obstacle for a ninja like Jiraiya, but the moment he crossed it, a faint sense of wrongness washed over him.

"Not bad—they even left a barrier in this temporary hideout."

No sooner had he muttered this than the inn's lights blazed on, and several ninja stepped out.

"You are... Lord Jiraiya?!"

Uchiha Shūichi walked out of the room, staring at the white-haired figure under the light, and asked directly.

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

Jiraiya struck a series of exaggerated poses. Uchiha Shūichi narrowed his eyes, watching the man's chuunibyou performance through to the end without any reaction.

Jiraiya didn't mind, though. After finishing his act, he looked at the group with some anticipation:

"You must be here on the old man's orders to investigate the Land of Rain, right? Any findings?"

The group's eyes turned to Uchiha Shūichi. Mission intelligence was typically classified, especially for an S-rank task like this.

Given Jiraiya's special status, whether to share the information was up to the team leader, Uchiha Shūichi.

"Lord Jiraiya, we're carrying out a classified S-rank mission. Only the Hokage is authorized to know the specifics—unless you have a written order from him. Do you have one?"

Jiraiya's face immediately fell. After receiving the intelligence, he had rushed straight to the Land of Rain without returning to Konoha Village. How could he possibly have a written order from the Third Hokage?

"Ahem, hey there, Uchiha kid. I'm one of the Three Legendary Ninja—can't you cut me some slack?"

Uchiha Shūichi rolled his eyes slightly and replied flatly:

"Sorry, no slack to cut. Lord Jiraiya, you'll have to look elsewhere."

Jiraiya glanced at the three behind Uchiha Shūichi, gave a wry smile, and hesitated to speak.

Yamanaka Fū's expression was calm and unreadable—Root ninja had no idea who Jiraiya was. As for Hyuga Homura and Yūhi Kurenai, their eyes wandered, clearly unwilling to be the ones to "cut some slack."

Scratching his white hair, Jiraiya felt a bit helpless. The Three Legendary Ninja's reputation might be loud, but after being away from the village for so long, his influence had waned considerably.

To put it bluntly, aside from his title, Jiraiya held no official position. He was just an ordinary Konoha Jonin. If Uchiha Shūichi truly refused to share the intelligence, there wasn't much he could do.

"Kid, don't be so rigid. I just want to ask about the appearance of the Rinnegan user..."

Hearing this, Uchiha Shūichi showed a hint of hesitation before speaking:

"The Rinnegan user's appearance? I can tell you that, but Lord Jiraiya will have to help us with something in return."

"Of course, of course! Don't worry—as long as it doesn't harm Konoha or cross any moral lines, the Sage of the Toads can handle it!"

Jiraiya nodded. The security in Amegakure had been tight lately. Even with his skills, gathering intelligence would take considerable time and effort. Having someone provide it directly was naturally better.

"It's nothing much. Since Lord Jiraiya is so interested in Amegakure's intelligence, why not join forces with us?"

"Honestly, our squad was about to turn back. The Rinnegan's power is astonishingly strong—the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki from Kumogakure even stepped in personally. The risk is too high, and digging up more detailed intel is nearly impossible."

"But with Lord Jiraiya joining us, completing the mission becomes much easier. At the very least, we should be able to withdraw safely from Amegakure."

In the original story, even without any knowledge of the Six Paths of Pain and with no backup, Jiraiya still fought on even terms—it wasn't a complete stomp.

If not for his sense of duty and his determination to gather intel, refusing to retreat, he could have escaped. With full knowledge of the Six Paths of Pain, he might even have had a slim chance of turning the tables.

Anyway, if real danger arose, Uchiha Shūichi was confident Jiraiya would volunteer to hold the rear. After all, Nagato was Jiraiya's disciple, wasn't he? The Akatsuki Organization's mess was at least twenty to thirty percent Jiraiya's responsibility.

Sure enough, Jiraiya agreed to team up with Uchiha Shūichi's squad to gather intelligence without hesitation. In fact, this was exactly what he had hoped for.

Once the deal was struck, Uchiha Shūichi immediately shared all the intel he had gathered, including Pain's appearance.

In the Land of Rain, a few ninja had actually seen Pain—though what they saw was Yahiko's corpse. Based on the descriptions from those Rain ninja under genjutsu, Uchiha Shūichi had sketched a picture of Pain.

It wasn't a perfect match, but the image was enough to recognize the real person. The moment Jiraiya glanced at the sketch, his mood plummeted.

"That face... it's Yahiko... What happened? What's changed in the Akatsuki Organization?"

"This time, I really need to thoroughly investigate what's going on in Amegakure."

His mind racing, Jiraiya's best guess was that Nagato had died, and Yahiko had inherited his Rinnegan, transplanting it into his own eyes.

As for the Akatsuki Organization's transformation, it was likely due to a devastating blow that had twisted their goals and personalities entirely.

Such things weren't uncommon in the cruel ninja world. Jiraiya knew that his own comrade, Orochimaru, had been completely warped after witnessing the harsh realities of the shinobi world.