Orochimaru had made his position perfectly clear. If Jiraiya thought his actions were wrong, if he believed Orochimaru had crossed a line, then he could forget about the Will of Fire and all that. He could simply turn against him.
As long as Jiraiya, or Konoha as a whole, showed enough strength to make Orochimaru believe that desecrating the village's dead would bring more trouble than it was worth, then naturally, there would be no chance of him doing it.
Otherwise, wouldn't rules and common decency become a specially made chain that failed to restrain bad people and instead tied the hands of good ones?
That was no way for the world to work. If it did, then it was something twisted and unsustainable.
Night deepened. Dark clouds rolled and spread, blotting out the moonlight and stars. Jiraiya's expression darkened as well.
The war with Kumogakure had already ended. Once the two sides signed a new peace treaty, he would leave Konoha again to search for the "Child of Prophecy" mentioned by the Great Toad Sage.
But Orochimaru's words had made his resolve crystal clear. He wasn't doing it at this stage only because there was no need. Once his research into Impure World Reincarnation became more advanced, he wouldn't hesitate to do what had to be done.
If Jiraiya wanted to change Orochimaru's mind, empty words were utterly useless. Only real pressure would work.
A troubled look rose on Jiraiya's face, while Orochimaru's lips curled high, his smile a mix of smugness and mockery.
Orochimaru had loathed the "Child of Prophecy" spoken of by the Great Toad Sage for a long time.
He hated fate. The word seemed to deny all the effort ordinary people put in. Wasn't bloodline part of fate, too?
Though this had been Jiraiya's lifelong