Jiraiya

The night passed, and the sun rose in the east.

An unexpected visitor appeared in the Hokage Office.

Or perhaps he was unexpected, but not surprising.

"Jiraiya?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was somewhat surprised.

He looked at the tall, white-haired ninja before him. It was Jiraiya, one of the Sannin.

"What brings you back...?"

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen as he was now, Jiraiya was momentarily dazed.

He could hardly recognize him.

To look younger and show that he had been given a second life, Sarutobi Hiruzen had shaved off the beard he had always kept as the Third Hokage.

Without his old-man's goatee, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked several years younger. His smooth skin and the deep lines beneath his eyes gave him an air of authority and confidence.

"Teacher Sarutobi."

Jiraiya composed himself, confirming that the imposing man before him, who looked barely older than he did, was indeed his teacher, the Third Hokage.

"I heard Danzo..."

"Died?"

Jiraiya spoke cautiously. He knew Danzo had been a friend of the Third Hokage since their youth, and his death must have hit Sarutobi Hiruzen nearly as hard as Orochimaru's defection.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen looked completely unconcerned, as if the one who had been crushed was nothing more than an ant.

"That's right..."

"Danzo tried to assassinate me and claim the Hokage Position."

"I beat him to death with two swings of my staff..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled.

"What, are you worried about my mental state?"

Jiraiya gave an awkward laugh.

Jiraiya really had been worried that his teacher might not be able to take one blow after another, especially at his age.

But from the looks of it, the Third Hokage was now livelier than he was, and had regained the youthful spirit of a Ninja Hero. There was no need to worry about him.

As for Danzo...

Danzo had never been popular in Konoha. He was dead, and that was that. Besides, trying to assassinate the Hokage was a capital offense anywhere.

"Have you found any leads on Orochimaru lately?"

After a little small talk, Sarutobi Hiruzen got down to business.

After Orochimaru fled, Jiraiya had wanted to find him and bring him back, just as Naruto would later try to bring Sasuke back.

But Orochimaru was exceptionally good at hiding, and finding that snake was no easy task for Jiraiya.

Jiraiya paused, surprised that Sarutobi Hiruzen had asked about Orochimaru.

"No."

"I found a few traces, but Orochimaru slipped away before I could catch him."

Orochimaru clearly knew Jiraiya well. Evading the pursuit of an old friend of many years was easy for him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't surprised. He simply said,

"Then find a chance to pass him a message. Tell him I'll go speak with him in person..."

"Let him come forward on his own."

Jiraiya was pleased to hear that. It meant Sarutobi Hiruzen was giving Orochimaru a way back.

Perhaps he really could convince Orochimaru to return to Konoha.

As Orochimaru's devoted admirer, Jiraiya naturally wanted him to come back to the village.

In Jiraiya's eyes, though Orochimaru had committed serious offenses, his status and contributions meant there might still be room for leniency.

Orochimaru's defection had mostly been his own choice.

Seeing Jiraiya's reaction, Sarutobi Hiruzen raised an eyebrow and immediately saw what he was thinking.

"Don't get your hopes up too soon."

"If that brat refuses my terms..."

"I'll personally clean house."

"Then he'll find out whether my Enma Staff is still hard."

Sarutobi Hiruzen was more flexible about his limits than he had been before. He knew from his previous life that Orochimaru was a talent, practically the only scientist in the Ninja World.

Many of the discoveries from the Heavens and Myriad Worlds needed a researcher to study and make use of them.

But if Orochimaru remained stubborn, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no qualms about cleaning house. He didn't want to risk Orochimaru stabbing him in the back again someday.

There are plenty of scientists across the worlds. Orochimaru isn't the only one...

Sarutobi Hiruzen scoffed inwardly.

Jiraiya fell silent for a moment, feeling that his teacher had truly changed.

He was even more decisive and ruthless than he had been in his youth, to the point of being downright merciless.

But Jiraiya didn't dwell on it. He simply thought that the recent string of shocking events had rattled the Third Hokage.

The Nine-Tails had rampaged, the Fourth Hokage had died, Orochimaru had defected, and Danzo had tried to assassinate him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's wife, Biwako, had also died on the Night of the Nine-Tails.

Most ordinary people would have buckled under so many major blows in a row.

And in Jiraiya's eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen's change wasn't a bad thing. It seemed he had learned to let a lot of things go.

"I'll talk to Orochimaru properly..."

Jiraiya nodded, promising to take the matter seriously.

Seeing that he had some free labor at hand, Sarutobi Hiruzen wasted no time. He tossed Jiraiya a mission scroll.

Jiraiya wouldn't be able to sit still if he stayed in the village, and Konoha had no shortage of top-level fighters now that Sarutobi Hiruzen had returned to his prime.

"Find these people if you can, then bring them back to the village."

"They must be unharmed."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had written down the original characters from this era who were both useful and rich in Space-Time Source Energy, ranking them by importance.

He had originally planned to give the task to the Anbu, but Jiraiya was clearly a better choice. With his experience and intelligence network spanning the Ninja World, along with strength on the level of a Sannin, he had a better chance of completing the mission.

Jiraiya took the scroll. The first name made him frown. It was someone he knew.

Hiruko...

Jiraiya certainly remembered his former friend. He had defected before the Third Shinobi World War, and the Sannin had joined forces to hunt him down. But Hiruko had been slippery, and the Sannin hadn't yet reached their peak. He had managed to escape.

The intelligence said that Hiruko was researching a technique to combine Kekkei Genkai. He might be searching the Ninja World for powerful Kekkei Genkai, and his strength had likely increased since before.

Sarutobi Hiruzen certainly hadn't forgotten the striking Chimera Technique from the original story.

It was unclear whether Hiruko could complete the final step and achieve immortality, but perfectly combining four different Kekkei Genkai was already astonishingly beyond the pale.

Sarutobi Hiruzen naturally didn't want to pass up a genius researcher like him. In his eyes, Hiruko's talent wasn't far behind Orochimaru's.

Jiraiya continued reading the mission scroll. He didn't recognize any of the names that followed, but each came with a fairly detailed description.

Jugo, called "Libra" by the villagers. He was born with the ability to absorb natural Chakra, which often caused him to go berserk. He was kind by nature and had shut himself away in a cave.

Kaguya Kimimaro, born with Shikotsumyaku and gifted in Taijutsu, had spent years locked underground by the Kaguya Clan.

Haku, a descendant of a survivor of the Yuki Clan, had a powerful talent for Ice Release and lived in seclusion in a village near Kirigakure.

Jiraiya was somewhat puzzled. Where had his teacher found these candidates? They all seemed exceptional, yet the information was both detailed and vague.

It gave detailed accounts of their lives, but no specific locations, as if they were characters from a novel.

More importantly, every one of them possessed a Kekkei Genkai.

But as a veteran ninja who had undertaken thousands of missions, Jiraiya knew not to pry.

As for Kekkei Genkai, every village considered them strategic assets. It was perfectly normal for ninja villages to target one another's Kekkei Genkai.

Though Jiraiya was a devoted follower of the Will of Fire, he didn't believe that there was no darkness within the village.

Even if Konoha had none, the villages would stop at nothing when dealing with one another.

"Do your best to find the others."

Sarutobi Hiruzen stressed,

"But you must prioritize capturing the first two alive."

Kimimaro or Haku would simply bring in some extra Space-Time Source Energy.

But Jugo and Hiruko had abilities of strategic importance. Either one might help Sarutobi Hiruzen take another step forward.

One was connected to the use of Senjutsu; the other might let Sarutobi Hiruzen leap straight to the top by fusing with Otsutsuki blood—or the blood of even stronger beings.

"Understood."

Jiraiya nodded to show he had it.

"There's one more thing."

Jiraiya's expression turned serious.

"Cloud Ninja have been making moves near the border of the Land of Fire lately."

"They're probably trying to take advantage of how weak Konoha is right now."

"To fish in troubled waters."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. He wasn't surprised.

Though the original story didn't explain it in detail, Cloud Ninja and Konoha did clash around this time.

That later led to a famous incident: Hinata Hyuga was kidnapped, and the Third Hokage made a humiliating concession agreement.

Of course, the Third Hokage back then had been dealing with the aftermath of the Nine-Tails Rebellion. Konoha had suffered heavy casualties, and most of its top fighters were gone.

From that perspective, Konoha really couldn't afford a war.

But the one facing the situation this time was a different Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"I'll handle it."

"Those Cloud Ninja may look like a bunch of brutes with no guile..."

"But they're full of tricks."

A dangerous glint flashed in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes.

He wasn't the Third Hokage of old. If they reached for him, they'd lose a hand!

"They won't pull back until they've learned their lesson."

"Jiraiya, you don't need to get involved. Just make sure you find those children."

Jiraiya nodded. Since Sarutobi Hiruzen had a plan, he had no objections.

"There's one more thing."

Jiraiya finally brought up the important matter.

"What are you planning to do with Naruto?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen paused. He had been so busy lately that he'd completely forgotten about this.

He had forgotten all about the Child of Prophecy.

"As for Naruto..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought it over.

"Why don't you take care of him?"

"You're his grand-teacher. You're the perfect choice..."

Jiraiya's mouth twitched.

You're Naruto's great-grand-teacher. Why don't you take care of him?

Of course, Jiraiya didn't dare say that aloud.

"I'm always wandering from place to place. How could I take care of an infant..."

"It wouldn't be right."

"Besides, Naruto's the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. He'd be better off growing up in the village..."

Jiraiya made it clear: he politely declined.

Sarutobi Hiruzen shrugged. As Hokage, he hardly had time to look after an infant.

And handing him off to some random caretaker, as in the original story, didn't seem right either.

For the moment, Naruto—the Child of Prophecy and the protagonist of the Ninja World—was a hot potato.

Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't particularly invested in Naruto. He was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, but he was still so young.

And his status as the Child of Prophecy was even more troublesome. If possible, Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to raise him into a brooding old schemer, alter the Ninja World's most crucial Space-Time Nodes,

and thereby gain a huge amount of Space-Time Source Energy.

But Naruto wasn't a blank-slate infant. He was the reincarnation of Asura, born with Asura Chakra.

Asura's influence on his personality ran deep. It was a powerful influence rooted in the soul.

Even the environment in the original story couldn't make Naruto become gloomy, much less anything Sarutobi Hiruzen could teach him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen figured that unless he had the Yin-Yang Release mastery of the Sage of Six Paths and could forcibly alter the nature of Asura Chakra, he couldn't change Naruto's personality.

Unfortunately, although Naruto seemed to be just an infant, all sorts of forces were watching him.

If Sarutobi Hiruzen made any unusual moves, not only would the Sage of Six Paths notice, but the toads of Mount Myoboku wouldn't let him off either.

"All right, I'll make arrangements for Naruto."

"Just get on with the mission."

"I have other things to take care of."

Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his hand, signaling that it was time for Jiraiya to leave.

Jiraiya didn't even live in Konoha, and seeing him every day would get tiresome. Tsunade, on the other hand, would be a different story.

"I finally came back, and you're already kicking me out, old man? That's cold."

Jiraiya looked a little indignant. He had been worried about Sarutobi Hiruzen, after all.

"One last thing."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at him suspiciously. How many "last things" did this brat have?

Jiraiya leaned closer, his expression a little peculiar.

"How was the new novel I sent you?"

"Wasn't it exciting?!"

"I bet this novel of mine will be a huge hit!"

When Sarutobi Hiruzen heard what this was about, his brow immediately furrowed, and he criticized it without holding back.

"That novel of yours is supposed to be a huge hit? It's an absolute mess!"

"It's a complete flop!"

Jiraiya's eyes widened, and he looked unconvinced.

Even if you're my teacher, you can't talk about my novel like that.

Besides, I only shared it with you because I thought we were kindred spirits.

Jiraiya was about to argue when Sarutobi Hiruzen began criticizing his newly written Icha Icha Paradise.

"The plot in this book..."

"Sometimes, art shouldn't be too explicit."

"It should leave something to the imagination."

"And there should be a big contrast between the characters' roles."

"For example, a teacher and a student, an eldest son and his stepmother..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen criticized it with righteous conviction, laying out one point after another. In his previous life, he'd been bombarded with information and had seen countless pornographic stories. He could recite the names of porn actors as easily as his multiplication tables.

In his eyes, Jiraiya's Icha Icha Paradise was child's play.

Jiraiya listened, his expression dawning with understanding.

A teacher really was a teacher. Not only was his mastery of Ninjutsu unrivaled in Konoha, his artistic sensibilities were just as profound.

"Teacher, when this novel is published, I'll be sure to thank you properly!"

"You'll be the book's co-author!"

Jiraiya felt as if a light had dawned on him, and inspiration flooded in.

"Ahem, ahem."

Sarutobi Hiruzen smoked and couldn't help coughing a couple of times.

"It's better for art to keep its achievements hidden."

"Just put your own name on it."

I'm thinking of changing the title to something catchier. Any ideas, everyone?