Three Sannin Meet

"Teacher, you have truly gone too far this time..."

Jiraiya stood by the roadside in Konoha, gazing toward the distant Hokage Building, unable to take a step for a long time.

He had heard the news five days ago.

At the time, he was still in the Land of Hot Water, gathering material for his new book, Icha Icha Paradise. A peddler selling books ran past him, shouting, "Shocking! Shocking! The Uchiha Clan of Konoha has been exterminated! The Third Hokage is now called the 'Hokage of Extermination'!"

Jiraiya thought he had misheard.

He bought a copy of the intelligence from the peddler, read it from beginning to end, then from end to beginning, and finally sat on a roadside stone, stunned for a long while.

The Uchiha exterminated? Itachi did it? The teacher orchestrated it from behind the scenes? His own disciple, the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato, was plotted against? The Fourth's orphan, Uzumaki Naruto, was being abused?

Every piece of news was like a bomb, leaving his brain buzzing.

He set off from the Land of Hot Water, traveling day and night for five days. During these five days, he heard even more news and more rumors.

Discussions, gossip, and intelligence from every ninja village were overwhelming.

Some said Sarutobi Hiruzen was an executioner, some said Konoha was rotten to the core, and others claimed the ghosts of the Uchiha Clan were haunting Konoha.

Jiraiya did not believe it, but he could not entirely dismiss it either—because the reports were too detailed, so detailed that they did not seem fabricated.

Especially the words Uchiha Setsuna spoke before he died; they had been recorded word for word and spread throughout the entire ninja world.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, you are worthy disciples of that petty man Senju Tobirama. Not only did you scheme against your own master to bring about his death and forge his final orders to seize the position of Hokage, but afterward, to keep your secrets, you plotted to exterminate the entire Senju Clan."

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, you two obtained your positions illegitimately. For the sake of power, you colluded with other Uchiha traitors to cause the Nine-Tails Incident, plotted against the Fourth Hokage, and later, to vent your spite, you abused the Fourth Hokage's orphan, Uzumaki Naruto."

If these words had come from anyone else, Jiraiya might have dismissed them as the ravings of a madman.

But the one who spoke them was Uchiha Setsuna—a man from the same era as Senju Hashirama, an elder of Konoha, a man who had watched Konoha be built from nothing. His words could not be entirely false—at least, not all of them.

Jiraiya stood at the gates of Konoha, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

Konoha had changed.

There were fewer people on the streets, more than half the shops were closed, and the few pedestrians he saw walked by with their heads bowed in a hurry.

The air was filled with a damp, fishy stench, like soil after rain, or perhaps something else entirely.

Jiraiya walked through the streets, looking at the familiar yet strange scenery, feeling a heavy tightness in his chest.

He had intended to go straight to the Hokage Building to ask his teacher for the truth, but he changed his mind when he saw a familiar figure in the crowd—

A young woman, dressed in a simple kimono, holding a large bouquet of flowers, emerging from the Yamanaka flower shop.

Shizune.

Tsunade's assistant, Shizune.

Jiraiya's eyes lit up, then dimmed just as quickly.

Tsunade was back?

The Tsunade who gambled, drank, wandered aimlessly, and refused to return to Konoha had actually come back?

He followed Shizune quietly, without making a sound.

Shizune carried the flowers, turning through various streets for about twenty minutes.

The further Jiraiya followed, the more he felt something was wrong.

This path used to lead to the Uchiha compound. Although he rarely took this route, as a ninja, he kept the locations of every clan in the village firmly in his mind.

However, that place should now be called Uchiha Lake—a name the villagers of Konoha had collectively adopted.

Was Shizune going to the lakeside? What was she doing there?

Sure enough, Shizune turned onto the small path leading to Uchiha Lake. Before long, Jiraiya saw the answer Shizune provided—

A person was already standing by the lake.

Golden hair, a white robe, her back straight yet radiating a sense of exhaustion.

Tsunade.

Jiraiya stopped in his tracks, hiding behind a tree, watching from afar.

Tsunade turned around and took the flowers from Shizune's hands.

It was a large bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums. The Yamanaka shop seemed to keep them in stock year-round; even the heavy rains from a few days ago had not prevented this bunch from blooming in their prime, golden and dazzling under the sunlight.

"Shizune, help me arrange them into a Chrysanthemum Sea Altar," Tsunade said, her voice low but clear.

Shizune nodded, crouched down, and began to arrange the flowers.

She placed the yellow chrysanthemums one by one along the edge of the lake in a row, then started a second row, a third...

Circle after circle, spreading outward like ripples. From a distance, it looked like a golden sea of flowers.

Tsunade stood in the center of the sea of flowers, facing the shimmering surface of the lake, and bowed deeply.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Every bow was deep, her forehead nearly touching her knees.

After the bow, she did not straighten up, but remained in that hunched posture with her hands pressed against her knees, as if trying to steady her emotions.

It was a long while before she finally stood upright and began to speak.

"I, Senju Tsunade, now represent the Senju Clan to offer my apologies to the Uchiha Clan."

Her voice was somewhat hoarse.

"Back then, it was my grandfather, Senju Hashirama, who brought the Uchiha Clan together to establish Konoha. He said this was the first step toward achieving peace. He believed in the Uchiha; he believed they could work alongside other clans to create a village without war."

"That is how the current 'Konoha' came to be. 'Kon' (Tree) represents the Senju Clan of the Forest—as the leader of the Senju Clan, Senju Hashirama possessed the Kekkei Genkai of Wood Release—and 'Ha' (Leaf) represents the Uchiha Clan, whose clan crest is shaped like a fan leaf."

She paused, taking a deep breath.

"But today, it was Konoha that betrayed the Uchiha first. It was the high-ranking officials of Konoha who used schemes and plots to exterminate the Uchiha Clan."

Her fists clenched, her nails digging into her flesh.

"As the last member of the Senju Clan, there is nothing I can do to change this. I can only come to apologize. Although apologies are useless, and the dead cannot return to life, this is all I can do."

She bowed once more, remaining bent over for a long time without rising.

Shizune stood to the side, tears already streaming down her face. During her training, even though those Uchiha classmates were quite arrogant, they were always so polite to her as a young girl. After one Uchiha girl learned that she was an orphan, she would often secretly tuck delicious rice balls into her bag. Though they were proud, they were not all bad people...

Hiding behind a tree, Jiraiya felt his fists clench until they creaked.

Tsunade was right; she could only apologize, because the ones who committed this act were her teacher, the high-ranking officials of Konoha, and the entire system of Konoha itself.

Alone, she could not change anything.

"Come out, Jiraiya." Tsunade straightened up and said without turning her head, "Aren't you tired after following for so long?"

Jiraiya gave a bitter smile and stepped out from behind the tree.

"You are still as sharp as ever."

"And your tracking skills are still as lousy as ever." Tsunade turned around to look at Jiraiya.

The two locked eyes, both falling silent.

Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and noticed she had grown thinner, with a few new wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Her gaze seemed deeper than before, but within those eyes, there was no anger or sorrow—only a kind of detached, enlightened calm.

"When did you return?" Jiraiya asked.

"This morning," Tsunade said. "I heard the news while I was away and rushed back."

"Just to... apologize?"

"Just to apologize." Tsunade nodded. "I am the last of the Senju Clan, the only living relative of my grandfather in this world. My grandfather owes the Uchiha an explanation, and I can only provide that explanation, however belatedly."

Jiraiya opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he did not know what to say.

He had originally intended to persuade Tsunade to stay in Konoha now that she was back, but after seeing her actions and hearing her words, he did not know how to broach the subject.

The Konoha of today was no longer the Konoha of the past.

What would be the point of Tsunade staying? To clean up after her teacher? To be a scapegoat for the high-ranking officials? Or to watch helplessly as the Konoha her grandfather built continued to rot?

Even if she became Hokage, what could she do? The power in Konoha was currently held by her teacher and his three cohorts; she would only end up like the next Minato...

"Say whatever is on your mind." Tsunade watched Jiraiya's conflicted expression, a faint smile touching her lips. "We grew up together; I can guess what you're thinking the moment you open your mouth."

Jiraiya was choked up by her words, but he pressed on anyway: "I was going to say... I wanted you to stay."

"Stay?" Tsunade laughed, tears streaming down her face—though it was unclear if they were because of Jiraiya's words or something else. "And then what? Watch how my teacher continues to act as the 'Shadow of Extermination'? Watch how Danzo gouges out other people's eyes? Or watch how the Konoha high-ups dissect my grandfather's corpse for research?"

Jiraiya was left speechless.

"Jiraiya, answer me this." Tsunade wiped away her smile and looked at him earnestly. "Do you think this Konoha is still the one my grandfather built?"

Jiraiya remained silent.

"The Konoha my grandfather built was a village where every clan lived as equals and supported one another," Tsunade said. "Uchiha, Senju, Hyuga, Sarutobi, Shimura... all clans were equal. Everyone worked together for peace and protected this village."

She turned her head toward the lake, her gaze drifting into the distance.

"But now? The Uchiha have been wiped out, and I am the only one left of the Senju. The Hyuga are trembling in fear, and the other clans are silent as cicadas in winter. The entire village has become a dictatorship under Sarutobi and Danzo."

"The teacher... he had his reasons," Jiraiya said with difficulty.

"Reasons?" Tsunade turned back, her eyes as sharp as blades. "What kind of reason allows a man to exterminate hundreds of people in a single night? What kind of reason allows a man to plot against his own student's child? What kind of reason allows an old man to abuse a child? Not to mention that even in the three previous Ninja Wars, Konoha never achieved a 'feat' like that night... an entire clan... even the newborn infants..."

Jiraiya was rendered speechless by her questions.

"I don't mean to blame anyone," Tsunade's voice softened. "I have no right to blame anyone. After all, just like those villagers who keep their heads down, I am a complete coward who ran away. I just... see it clearly now. This Konoha is no longer worth my return."

She turned and looked toward the horizon.

"I came back this time to pay my respects, and then I will leave. Konoha is no longer the village my grandfather built. Now, I just want to live well. I want to live well for the sake of Nawaki and Dan. I want to enjoy the things they never got to experience."

When Tsunade mentioned Nawaki and Dan, her voice trembled slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.

Jiraiya watched her, his heart filled with a complex mix of emotions. He could guess how Tsunade had spent these past years.

Hemophobia, insomnia, alcoholism, gambling... she hadn't been enjoying life; she had been torturing herself. But now, she said she wanted to live well. Perhaps she had truly seen through it all, or perhaps she was only pretending, but regardless, this was Tsunade's choice.

As a friend, he could only respect it.

"And what about you?" Tsunade looked at Jiraiya. "What do you plan to do? Continue being your 'Toad Sage' and wandering the world?"

"I..." Jiraiya hesitated for a moment. "I want to go see Naruto."

"Naruto?" Tsunade was stunned for a moment before she realized. "Minato and Kushina's child?"

"Yes." Jiraiya nodded. "All these years, he hasn't known his own origins. In the village, he's called a demon fox, lives in a terrible place, and eats poorly. I... I don't know why the teacher would treat him like that."

"What else could it be for?" Tsunade sneered. "To control the Nine-Tails, of course. Keep the jinchuriki living in pain and loneliness, make him harbor hatred for the village—that's the only way to keep him under control. Danzo's theory; he learned it quite well."

Jiraiya's expression turned grim.

"I am not him, so I don't know what he's thinking," Tsunade said. "But if you're asking if I suggest you go see Naruto, I'd say, go. What child doesn't need someone who truly cares for them? Besides, he is Minato's child."

Jiraiya nodded.

"Clap, clap, clap—"

Just then, applause rang out. It wasn't the sarcastic, mocking kind, but sincere, congratulatory applause.

The two turned their heads to look in the direction of the sound.

A man wearing a gray kimono walked out from behind a tree. His skin was pale, his long black hair draped over his shoulders, and his golden slit pupils shimmered in the sunlight.

Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru?!" Jiraiya was so startled he nearly jumped. "Why are you here?"

"Why can't I be here?" The corners of Orochimaru's mouth curled into a smile. "I was once a ninja of Konoha, too. I knew the Uchiha, and during the Third Great Ninja War, I even led them to protect Konoha. Is there a problem with me coming to pay my respects?"

"You... didn't you defect after the teacher discovered you were conducting human experiments?"

"Defected?" Orochimaru chuckled softly. "I did leave on my own. It's much like Tsunade now, though I saw through and encountered the teacher's methods earlier than you two did."

Tsunade looked at Orochimaru without saying a word.

Orochimaru walked to the edge of the lake, looking first at Tsunade, then at Jiraiya.

"Tsunade, I offer my sincere congratulations." He bowed slightly. "You finally figured it out, instead of wallowing in self-destruction like before. Gambling, alcoholism, owing debts everywhere—that is not how the granddaughter of the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, should behave."

Tsunade huffed. "What business is it of yours?"

"Of course it is my business," Orochimaru said. "We were teammates, friends. Seeing a friend emerge from the shadows, I am naturally happy."

Jiraiya listened to Orochimaru's words, feeling even more unsettled. He opened his mouth, wanting to offer a few words of defense for Konoha: "Orochimaru, you..."

"What do you want to say?" Orochimaru turned to look at him. "Want to say there is still hope for Konoha? Want to say the teacher had no choice? Want to say all of this is for the sake of peace?"

Jiraiya was silenced again.

"Jiraiya, you are good at everything, but you are just too naive." Orochimaru shook his head. "Do you think Konoha is still the Konoha of the past? Do you think the teacher is still the teacher of the past? Do you know what he was thinking when he sat back on the Hokage throne the day after the Fourth died?"

Jiraiya lowered his head, remaining silent.

"He was thinking that this seat had finally returned to his hands," Orochimaru said. "He was thinking that the brat Minato was too disobedient; he hadn't been in power long before he wanted to interfere with the Anbu and take the power of Konoha out of his hands, and now he was finally dead. He was thinking that as for that old fox Danzo, let's see who dares to compete with me now."

"Enough!" Jiraiya roared. "The teacher is not that kind of person!"

"Then what kind of person do you think he is?" Orochimaru countered. "A kind old man? A good teacher? A Hokage who sacrificed everything for Konoha?"

Jiraiya opened his mouth, but not a single word came out, because in his heart, he knew what Orochimaru said might be true. But he didn't want to believe it, and he didn't want to believe it.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this." Orochimaru turned to face the lake. "I came to pay my respects, not to argue."

Tsunade glanced at Orochimaru without a word. She walked to the altar of chrysanthemums and bowed again.

Jiraiya watched her back, hesitated for a moment, and then walked over. He hadn't brought flowers, but he stood beside Tsunade and bowed deeply.

Three bows.

Each bow was very deep.

He wasn't representing anyone, nor was he doing it for any specific reason; he just felt that he should do it—because his teammates had included Uchiha, because he had fought side-by-side with the Uchiha, and because he owed those who had died an apology.

Orochimaru watched the two of them and also walked to the altar. He didn't bow; instead, he crouched down and picked up a shattered forehead protector from the muddy ground by the lake.

The Uchiha symbol on it was blurred, but still recognizable.

Orochimaru held the forehead protector, silent for a long time, and then he, too, bent his waist—

Three bows.

He bowed longer than Jiraiya and Tsunade.

After straightening up, Orochimaru placed the forehead protector back where it was and said softly, "I remember that during the Second Great Ninja War, there was a young Uchiha squad leader named Uchiha A. He was my teammate."

Tsunade turned to look at him.

"That guy was a good man," Orochimaru said. "On the battlefield, he saved my life. After the war, he never used his status to his advantage. He was just an ordinary ninja, doing his job steadily and living his life with integrity."

Orochimaru paused, his eyes becoming somewhat distant.

"I asked him, why don't you join the hawks? With your strength, you could easily secure a seat as an elder. He said, 'What is there to fight for? In all this killing, the ones who die are our own people.'"

When Jiraiya heard the name "Uchiha A," he also fell silent.

Because this Uchiha had also served under him. He had loved the village dearly, and although he was often stern with the young genin, Jiraiya knew it was for their own good, teaching them the skills to survive.

"And then?" Jiraiya asked.

"And then?" Orochimaru gave a bitter laugh. "Then he died on the battlefield. He was surrounded by Iwagakure forces and died covering the retreat. Before he passed, he handed the intelligence to me, telling me to bring it back to Konoha."

He gazed at the lake, his voice growing softer and softer.

"A man like that—his descendants were wiped out in a clan massacre. His kin were slaughtered by their own fellow villagers. His family was slandered as traitors. Tell me, if he saw this from the Pure Land, what would he think?"

"During the Third Shinobi World War, although I was on the front lines, my hemophobia kept me in the rear. I met a child from the Uchiha Clan named Naro. He was about the same age as that genius Uchiha Shisui, though not as outstanding or gifted. That boy was very bright; he often stayed by my side, asking me about medical ninjutsu." Tsunade listened to Orochimaru's account, her eyes drifting as she began to recall the past.

"I remember him telling me that his parents had also died while on a mission for the village. He had been an orphan since he was small. I asked him if he missed his parents, and he replied, 'I do, so I must live a better life—I must live a better life for their sake as well.'"

"I don't know if it was misfortune or luck. The misfortune was that when the war broke out, I heard he was transferred to the front lines. At eight or nine years old, he likely remained on that battlefield forever. But the luck was that, at the very least, he didn't have to end up like his clansmen, dying at the hands of his own villagers."

Tsunade looked at the fish in the lake and said with a self-deprecating tone.

The three of them stood by the lakeside, silent, lost in memory...

A breeze swept across the lake, stirring up ripples.

The yellow chrysanthemums swayed in the wind, their petals occasionally shaken loose, drifting into the lake to float upon the surface.

"They all think we are the direct lineage of the Hokage," Tsunade continued. "In the Second War, in the Third War—our teams, the Konoha squads, were never without Uchiha teammates."

"Those Uchiha never held anything against us because of our status. They were the kind of people to whom you could entrust your back."

"But..." Tsunade's voice choked up. "I cannot understand the Teacher's decision to wipe out the Uchiha."

"I always knew the Teacher had reservations about the Uchiha. We were all part of the same village; the Teacher could have suppressed them, but why did it have to be done so..."

Orochimaru and Jiraiya both fell silent.

They were the Sannin, some of the strongest ninja in the shinobi world.

But in the face of Konoha's high-level politics, they were nothing.

They could not stop the massacre.

They could not change the Teacher's mind.

They didn't even have the chance to speak up for the Uchiha.

"That is why I left Konoha," Orochimaru said. "This village is rotten to the core. It has rotted from the roots up."

"And you aren't rotten?" Jiraiya glared at him.

"I am rotten, of course," Orochimaru smiled. "But I am rotten in the open. I conduct human experiments, I research forbidden arts, I seek immortality. I own all of that. Unlike some people, who do evil things yet insist on pretending to be good."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Whoever answers is who I'm talking about."

The two were about to argue again, but Tsunade, her sorrow interrupted, said impatiently, "Enough! If you want to fight, go do it somewhere else. Don't disturb the Uchiha resting here."

The two fell silent.

Tsunade took one last look at the lake, then turned around.

"Shizune, let's go."

"Lady Tsunade, where are we going?"

"Away from Konoha," Tsunade said without looking back. "To a place without all this heartbreaking mess."

She walked a few steps, then suddenly stopped.

"Jiraiya."

"Hm?"

"If you go to see Naruto, give him a message for me."

"What message?"

"Just tell him his father was a remarkable man, and his mother was a remarkable woman. Tell them not to bring shame upon their parents."

Jiraiya paused for a moment, then nodded. "Understood."

Tsunade continued forward and soon disappeared into the woods. Shizune trotted after her, still clutching the remaining yellow chrysanthemums in her arms.

Only Jiraiya and Orochimaru remained by the lake. They exchanged a glance, neither speaking.

Orochimaru turned and walked in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" Jiraiya asked.

"Leaving," Orochimaru said. "Or were you planning to treat me to a meal?"

Jiraiya was silent for a moment, then said, "Orochimaru."

Orochimaru stopped, but did not turn back.

"You... you really have changed."

Orochimaru gave a soft laugh. "I haven't changed. It is Konoha that has changed."

With that, he continued walking and soon vanished into the shadows of the trees.

Jiraiya stood alone by the lake, looking at the sea of chrysanthemums and the surface of the water, remaining motionless for a long time.

The wind blew again, carrying the scent of the lake and the faint fragrance of yellow chrysanthemums.

He bent down, picked up a fallen petal from the ground, and placed it in his palm.

"Uchiha..." he muttered to himself, "I am sorry."

Then he turned and walked toward the village.

He did not go to the Hokage Office; he went to find Naruto—the child of Minato, the abused jinchuriki, the boy who had grown up in solitude.

He wanted to see him.

The surface of the lake was as calm as a mirror, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds.

Those yellow chrysanthemums swayed in the wind, their petals drifting down to scatter across the lake like a golden rain.

In the distance, toward Konoha, wisps of cooking smoke rose into the air; everything seemed so peaceful, as if nothing had happened, yet everyone knew that everything had changed.

Ever since that night, since those signal flares rose into the sky, since the voice of Uchiha Setsuna echoed throughout Konoha.

Konoha was no longer the Konoha it once was.

"I wish to post a bounty..." In this quiet night, at a Bounty Exchange near the capital of the Land of Fire, a figure clad in a black cloak appeared before the rogue ninja, her crisp, feminine voice drawing the gazes of everyone in the room.

"Those... those eyes... that is the Sharingan!?"