Jiraiya Didn't Want to Be Hokage, So Let Him Be

Hiruzen Sarutobi gestured to the Konoha advisors, who were about to speak.

Zhengyi finally processed what Jiraiya had said. What? He wasn't fit to be Hokage?

You said it yourself, you know.

Your teacher hadn't poisoned you or forced you.

He spoke up first:

"Ah, so even Jiraiya believes he isn't suited to be Hokage?"

"Lord Third! It seems we have no choice."

Zhengyi stood up with a regretful expression and bowed respectfully to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't the only one who was confused. All the people present who supported Jiraiya were baffled, too.

Danzo wasn't much of a political thinker, but he was a master of infighting. After hearing Zhengyi, he quickly caught on and chimed in. "That's right. Since Jiraiya himself has no confidence..."

"Then..."

"Third, we should nominate someone else."

"Becoming Hokage is something one must willingly accept. Jiraiya's ambitions lie elsewhere, and we can't force him."

Jiraiya's supporters were all stunned by this sudden turn of events.

Jiraiya's lips moved. "I..."

What was he supposed to do now?

Was he meant to shamelessly insist that he didn't mind being Hokage after all?!

As a rival candidate, Orochimaru couldn't speak up himself, so one of his supporters had to speak for him. With Zhengyi leading the charge, everyone else immediately joined in.

"Lord Third!..."

They all used the same approach, finding all sorts of ways to put Jiraiya down.

As he listened to them telling Jiraiya he didn't have to force himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened.

"Third, we can't be so hasty with the Hokage selection. I think we should hold a few more meetings and discuss it," Utatane Koharu hurriedly said, coming to the rescue.

"It seems so. We don't all agree," Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a strained smile.

He was truly fed up with Jiraiya, who couldn't get anything done.

Why couldn't he just boast that he'd make a great Hokage, that he'd lead the villagers to a better life, and that he'd reduce their taxes once the war was over? Why did he have to be so modest?!

Hiruzen Sarutobi was furious.

"Meeting adjourned!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to adjourn the meeting and go discuss a plan with Shikaku Nara: how to nominate Jiraiya again.

"Just what I'd expect from my student." Orochimaru couldn't stop praising Zhengyi for coming through. If he'd been even a moment slower, the Third and the others would have already started persuading Jiraiya.

If he hadn't noticed Zhengyi at the Ninja Academy back then,

he figured he might have already lost the race to become Fourth Hokage.

They had just left the Jonin meeting room.

A scandal that was sure to shock the people of Konoha—and even the entire Land of Fire—burst into the open.

A woman from the red-light district on a street in the northwestern Land of Fire arrived carrying a white-haired baby boy and looking for the child's father.

According to the woman, the child's father was Jiraiya of the Konoha Sannin.

In the less than half an hour the Jonin meeting had lasted, the scandal swept through Konoha like a tornado.

The Anbu who discovered the woman had just been about to report it when Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others emerged from their meeting.

All of Konoha knew that Jiraiya had fathered a child while fighting Iwagakure.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi had wanted to curse Jiraiya in the office earlier, now he wanted to beat him to death. If looks could kill, Jiraiya would have died ten thousand times over.

"Old man! Believe me! I used protection, I..." Jiraiya was questioning everything. This couldn't be right. It just couldn't.

Could it have been that night?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible. He'd been careful that night, too.

"Enough! Haven't you embarrassed us enough?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's old face flushed red. Why had he ever taken Jiraiya as a student? He could fool around outside, but he should have kept it quiet!

And now he'd dragged this mess into Konoha at such a crucial moment in the Hokage selection?!

What kind of Hokage fathered a child in a red-light district?!

Minato covered his face helplessly. His teacher Jiraiya... Honestly.

Shikaku Nara looked at Zhengyi's back. Was this another frame-up?! What a despicable trick!

Orochimaru's faction stood off to the side, smiling without saying a word.

"Teacher, it seems Jiraiya really isn't suited to be Hokage," Orochimaru said mockingly.

"Orochimaru, I hope you had nothing to do with this." Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at him, then glared at Jiraiya. "Bring her over first!"

He then ordered the Anbu to bring the woman over.

"Lord Third, please, you have to give my child and me justice."

"I can live without a husband, but my child can't grow up without a father."

As soon as she arrived, the woman holding the little boy fell to her knees in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi and wept.

Jiraiya had already nervously hidden behind the crowd. He knew this woman—he knew her! Could it really be true? He'd thought Orochimaru was framing him.

With that tuft of white hair on the boy's head, there was a seventy-percent chance it was true. And given Jiraiya's usual behavior...

"May I ask your name?" Hiruzen Sarutobi hurriedly put on a smile and helped the kneeling woman to her feet.

"Delia."

"Good, Delia. I'll ask Jiraiya about this. If he's in the wrong, I'll give you an answer!"

Plenty of Konoha villagers had gathered to watch. Who wouldn't want to hear the latest scandal among the village leadership?

"Get over here!" Hiruzen Sarutobi barked at Jiraiya.

"Yes!" Jiraiya was on his best behavior today. He obediently followed, but before leaving, he glanced at Delia uncertainly. It didn't make sense. He'd used protection.

Shikaku Nara thought for a moment, then followed them.

"Hahaha." Zhengyi was delighted. He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly today.

First, Jiraiya had turned down the Hokage position himself.

Then, this scene had worked out perfectly.

Danzo watched Zhengyi with a grave expression. He'd struck exactly where it hurt, and with a single blow. If Orochimaru became Hokage, would Danzo really be able to wrest power away from Zhengyi?

"Teacher, please check whether this child is Jiraiya's."

Zhengyi turned to Orochimaru and said this again.

Orochimaru looked puzzled. Wasn't this just their frame-up? Still, he prepared to do as asked.

A DNA test? He could already run one with the equipment in his lab.

But he didn't understand why Zhengyi had framed Jiraiya only to help him out afterward.

Maybe he had a sense of justice?

Heh. Maybe.

"Is he yours?"

"I...I don't know, Old man." Jiraiya was on the verge of tears. He had a strong feeling the child probably wasn't his.

"You just can't keep it in your pants." Hiruzen Sarutobi jabbed Jiraiya hard in the chest with his index finger. It hurt, but Jiraiya didn't dare fight back.

He'd been lecherous all his life, but he'd always held to his principles. He'd never actually betrayed Biwako.

"I'm single, aren't I?" Jiraiya muttered.

"You dare talk back?" Hiruzen Sarutobi raised a hand to strike him. If Jiraiya had kept himself in check, why would this woman have come looking for him? Now he didn't even know whether the child was his. What if it really was?

Jiraiya hastily dodged with a sheepish grin.

"Third, it looks like we'll have to acknowledge the child," Shikaku Nara said, catching up and interrupting them.