Konoha's Hypocrites and True Villains.

Jiraiya: "?"

He did not want to become a father out of the blue; he was still young, and he... he loved Tsunade.

"Do I really have to acknowledge it?" Jiraiya hesitated. He already couldn't catch up to Tsunade; if he had a child in tow on top of that...

"Nonsense! If it's yours, why wouldn't you acknowledge it?" Hiruzen Sarutobi slapped the back of Jiraiya's head.

Jiraiya clutched the back of his head in pain. He... forget it, he wouldn't say anything more.

If it was his, then it was his.

He was actually going to be a father.

He...

What if his child was the Child of Prophecy?

Jiraiya had a big heart; he got over it in an instant.

Seeing that Jiraiya didn't realize the gravity of the situation, Shikaku Nara reminded him: "It's not just about acknowledging the child; you have to marry the woman, too."

Jiraiya: "?"

"You want me to marry a prostitute?!" he roared.

"Let Shikaku speak, listen to him." Hiruzen Sarutobi scolded him, then looked at Shikaku kindly. "Continue, what is the reason?"

If possible, he naturally hoped his student could marry a woman of good standing.

"From the villagers' perspective, they know the woman bore Jiraiya-san's child. If Jiraiya acknowledges the child but sends the woman back, it's easy for malicious people to attack him, claiming he looks down on her for being 'unclean'."

"That's true." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in agreement.

If Orochimaru and Zhengyi were to frame him, accusing Jiraiya of looking down on women from the Red Light District, it would be enough to give Jiraiya a headache.

In normal times, everyone looked down on prostitutes, but Hanako's kneeling and crying would make people feel pity for her, thereby standing on the moral high ground to condemn Jiraiya.

"Not only must you acknowledge the child, but you must also marry her with an eight-man sedan chair," Shikaku Nara suggested.

The courage to ignore worldly conventions, redemption, and equal love—as long as they fabricated a pitiful backstory for this Hanako, claiming she was forced into the Red Light District, and marketed it well, Jiraiya would be seen as a true man.

Today's meeting had merely caught Jiraiya off guard; it hadn't completely cornered him.

Today's incident might even help establish a persona of a prodigal son returning home and a good husband. He could become Hokage first, and if nothing else, he could just divorce in a few years.

Shikaku Nara felt he had easily crushed Zhengyi's conspiracy.

A small interlude occurred in the middle: Orochimaru arrived, and under the wary eyes of the three, he plucked a hair with the follicle from Jiraiya's head.

With the combined persuasion of Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shikaku Nara.

Of course, it was the pressure of Hiruzen Sarutobi, his teacher of several decades, that ultimately worked; Jiraiya was forced to compromise.

Tsunade...

Wuwuwu, Tsunade!!

It seemed there was no need for Jiraiya to be forced into marriage by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Because that afternoon, Orochimaru produced a DNA test report.

According to the identification, there was only a 1% chance that the child the woman brought was Jiraiya's biological child.

In other words, it wasn't his at all.

Under Orochimaru's "interrogation," Hanako initially refused to admit it, but the moment the scientific evidence was placed before her, she confessed that she had wanted to extort a sum from Jiraiya to live a life free of worry for the rest of her days.

After Hanako was "exposed," Jiraiya wanted to kowtow to Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru, you really do remember our friendship, don't you?"

"What friendship? It was just something Zhengyi asked me to do."

"Oh, don't be shy."

"I'll treat you to dinner tonight!"

Jiraiya walked a distance with his arm around Orochimaru, then hurriedly took Hanako to the streets of Konoha to clarify the situation and issue a public notice.

Seeing that his student was innocent, Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief and even helped explain the situation.

Shikaku Nara always felt there was a conspiracy somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

One link after another.

The next day, Jiraiya completely lost his chance to run for Hokage.

The reason was abandoning his wife and child.

Yes, under the manipulation of those with ulterior motives, the villagers believed that Jiraiya, in order to become Hokage and keep his record clean, had forced Hanako to admit she was trying to extort money.

Don't look down on it; this conspiracy theory was very logical and self-consistent.

At this final stage of the Hokage election, if Jiraiya did not want to lose to Orochimaru, he could not afford a scandal involving a child with a courtesan.

The people of Konoha believed they had seen through everything.

For a time, phrases like "Jiraiya is a hypocrite" and "Orochimaru is a true villain" spread through every street in Konoha.

The claim that Jiraiya was a hypocrite was, of course, the work of Orochimaru.

The claim that Orochimaru was a true villain was the counterattack and retaliation from Jiraiya and his camp!

They had wondered how Orochimaru could be so kind!

So that was it! So that was it!

"Ahhh!! My lifelong reputation, Jiraiya!!!"

He could not wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Naka River now.

Whether he brought back that child—who clearly wasn't his—or not, he would have to bear the infamy!

Enraged, Jiraiya decided that even if he died, he would drag Orochimaru down with him.

Consequently, both factions were branded with infamy.

Konoha's hypocrites: Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze.

Konoha's true villains: Orochimaru, Zhengyi.

If the teachers were hypocrites and true villains, could their students be any better?

Both sides had truly become mortal enemies this time.

As for their past friendship? It had long since reached its end!

My former friend Jiraiya (Orochimaru)? He died a long time ago!!!

Now, whenever the two happened to run into each other on the street, it was always:

"Orochimaru!!"

"Jiraiya!!!"

Because of his usual dissolute behavior, Jiraiya was precisely targeted and attacked by Zhengyi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt as if he had lost an arm.

He was also filled with extreme hatred.

Everything had been going so well! Now, Jiraiya was being forced out of the election.

"Orochimaru! Do you even have me, your teacher, in your eyes anymore?!"

With this old man playing favorites, the current landscape of Konoha became complicated, as if it were split in two.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's grand court vs. Orochimaru's small court.

Orochimaru's disadvantage was having few people, but his advantage was also having few people; with only a handful of individuals, all of whom were "true villains" of questionable character, the attacks Hiruzen Sarutobi launched for the sake of Minato were completely useless—they sounded more like praise to them.

Recently, a saying became popular in Konoha.

"A hypocrite is worse than a true villain."

"We can identify a true villain and guard against him, but who guards against a hypocrite? You wouldn't even know it when a hypocrite betrays you."

The above came from a Shadow Clone of Zhengyi.

Because of these words, in an instant, many people changed their views on these "villains."

Orochimaru and Zhengyi had stirred up a bloody storm in Konoha, but they truly hadn't troubled the common folk; on the contrary, the living standards of the lower classes had actually improved.

The Toy Factory that Zhengyi opened a while ago was very popular and had been hiring villagers to work there.

He had imitated the operational model of a company from his past life, distributing all profits after taxes to his employees.

Once one became Hokage, money was merely a string of numbers, and all of Konoha belonged to the Hokage; thus, Zhengyi could truly say he had no interest in money—he had to go all out to help his teacher become Hokage!!