The Sannin Meet

"Sensei, this time you really went too far..."

Jiraiya stood by the side of a street in Konoha, gazing toward the Hokage Building in the distance. He stood there for a long time without taking a step.

He had heard the news five days earlier.

At the time, he had been gathering inspiration in the Land of Hot Water, looking for material for his new book, Icha Icha Paradise. A peddler selling books ran past him, shouting, "Unbelievable! The Uchiha Clan has been wiped out! The Third Hokage has been dubbed the 'Clan-Massacre Shadow'!"

Jiraiya thought he must have misheard.

He bought a copy of the peddler's report and read it from beginning to end, then from end to beginning. After that, he sat on a rock by the roadside, stunned for a long while.

The Uchiha Clan Massacre? Itachi's doing? His sensei pulling strings behind the scenes? His own student, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, ambushed? The Fourth Hokage's orphan, Uzumaki Naruto, abused?

Every bit of news had hit him like a bomb, leaving his mind ringing.

He had set out from the Land of Hot Water and traveled day and night, making the journey in five days. During that time, he had heard more news and more rumors.

Talk, gossip, and intelligence from every shinobi village had flooded in from all sides.

Some said Sarutobi Hiruzen was a butcher. Some said Konoha had rotted to the core. Others claimed the ghosts of the Uchiha Clan were haunting the village.

Jiraiya believed none of it, but he couldn't completely disbelieve it either—the reports were too detailed, too detailed to sound made up.

Especially the words Uchiha Setsuna had spoken just before his death. They had been recorded word for word and spread throughout the entire Ninja World.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, you truly are worthy disciples of that petty Senju, Senju Tobirama. You schemed against your own sensei after his death, forged his final instructions, and seized the position of Hokage. Then, to keep your secrets, you treacherously wiped out the entire Senju Clan."

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, neither of you rightfully earned your positions. For the sake of the power in your hands, you joined forces with other Uchiha traitors to bring about the Nine-Tails Incident and ambush the Fourth Hokage. Then, to vent your spite, you abused the Fourth Hokage's orphan, Uzumaki Naruto."

If someone else had said those things, Jiraiya might have dismissed them as the ravings of a madman.

But the one who had said them was Uchiha Setsuna—a man from the same era as Senju Hashirama, a founding elder of Konoha who had watched it grow from nothing. His words couldn't all be lies—at least, not every last one of them.

Jiraiya stood at Konoha Gate, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

Konoha had changed.

There were fewer people in the streets, and more than half the shops were closed. The occasional passerby hurried by with their head down.

A damp, metallic smell hung in the air, like soil after the rain—or something else.

As Jiraiya walked through the streets, the familiar yet unfamiliar sights around him made his heart feel heavy.

He had planned to go straight to the Hokage Building and demand answers from his sensei, but he changed his mind when he spotted a familiar figure in the crowd—

A young woman in a simple kimono, carrying a large bouquet of flowers as she came out of the Yamanaka Clan flower shop.

Shizune.

Shizune, who was always by Tsunade's side.

Jiraiya's eyes lit up, then dimmed again.

Had Tsunade come back?

Tsunade, who gambled, drank, wandered from place to place, and refused to return to Konoha—had she really come back?

He quietly followed Shizune without saying a word.

Holding the flowers, Shizune made several turns and walked for about twenty minutes.

The farther Jiraiya followed, the more something felt off.

This road had once led to the Uchiha Clan Compound. He had rarely taken it, but as a shinobi, he knew the locations of every clan in his village by heart.

Though these days, people might as well call the place Uchiha Lake—a name the villagers had gradually settled on.

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

Sure enough, Shizune took the path leading to Uchiha Lake. Before long, Jiraiya saw what she had come for—

Someone was already standing by the lake.

Long blond hair, a white robe, and a straight-backed figure that nonetheless seemed weighed down by exhaustion.

Tsunade.

Jiraiya stopped and hid behind a tree, watching from a distance.

Tsunade turned and took the flowers from Shizune.

It was a huge bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums. The Yamanaka Clan seemed to keep them in stock all year round. Even the heavy rain a few days ago hadn't stopped them from blooming in full, their golden petals dazzling in the sunlight.

"Shizune, help me arrange them into a Chrysanthemum Sea Altar," Tsunade said. Her voice was soft but clear.

Shizune nodded, crouched down, and began arranging the flowers.

First, she laid the chrysanthemums one by one along the lakeshore in a row. Then she made a second row, a third...

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

Standing in the heart of the flower sea, Tsunade faced the shimmering lake and bowed deeply.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Each bow was so deep her forehead nearly touched her knees.

When she finished bowing, she didn't straighten up. She stayed bent over, both hands braced on her knees, as if trying to steady herself.

After a long while, she finally stood upright and spoke.

"I, Senju Tsunade, am here on behalf of the Senju Clan to apologize to the Uchiha Clan."

Her voice was a little hoarse.

"Back then, my grandfather, Senju Hashirama, persuaded the Uchiha Clan to help found Konoha. He said it was the first step toward achieving peace. He trusted the Uchiha. He believed they could work alongside the other clans to build a village without war."

"That is how we got the name 'Konoha.' 'Konoha'—the 'leaf'—represents the Uchiha Clan, whose crest is shaped like a fan leaf. The 'tree' represents the Senju of the Forest, led by my grandfather, Senju Hashirama, who possessed the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai."

She paused and took a deep breath.

"But today, Konoha was the first to betray the Uchiha. Konoha's leaders used their schemes to wipe out the entire Uchiha Clan."

Her fists clenched, her nails digging into her palms.

"I'm the last surviving member of the Senju Clan, and there's nothing I can do to change what happened. All I can do is apologize. An apology won't help, and the dead can't come back to life. But this is all I can do."

She bowed again, staying bent over for a long time without rising.

Shizune stood beside her with tears already streaming down her face. When she'd been in school, the Uchiha students had been arrogant, but they had always treated her politely. After one Uchiha girl learned Shizune was an orphan, she often slipped tasty rice balls into her backpack when no one was looking. They might have been proud, but the entire clan wasn't evil...

Behind the tree, Jiraiya's fists clenched so hard they creaked.

Tsunade was right. All she could do was apologize, because the ones responsible were her sensei, Konoha's leaders, and the entire system of the village.

There was nothing she could change on her own.

"Come out, Jiraiya," Tsunade said, straightening without turning around. "You've been following me for ages. Aren't you tired?"

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

"You're still as sharp as ever."

"And your tailing skills are still as terrible as ever." Tsunade turned to face him.

They looked at each other, then fell silent.

As Jiraiya studied Tsunade, he saw that she had lost weight. There were more wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and her gaze had grown deeper than before. But there was no anger or sorrow in her eyes, only the calm of someone who had seen through it all.

"When did you get back?" Jiraiya asked.

"This morning," Tsunade said. "I heard the news while I was away, so I came straight back."

"Just to...apologize?"

"Just to apologize." Tsunade nodded. "I'm the last surviving member of the Senju Clan and the only family my grandfather has left in this world. My grandfather owed the Uchiha an explanation. I'm only here now to give them that explanation, late as it is."

Jiraiya opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he had no idea what.

He had meant to persuade Tsunade to stay in Konoha this time, but after seeing what she'd just done and hearing what she'd said, he no longer knew how to bring it up.

Konoha was no longer the Konoha it had once been.

What good would it do for Tsunade to stay? Clean up after her sensei? Take the blame for Konoha's leaders? Or watch helplessly as the village her grandfather had built continued to rot?

Even if she became Hokage, what difference would it make? Her sensei and three others held all the power in Konoha. She'd only end up like Minato...

"Say whatever you want to say." Seeing Jiraiya's conflicted expression, Tsunade gave a faint smile. "We grew up together. The moment you open your mouth, I can usually guess what you're about to say."

Her words left Jiraiya momentarily speechless, but he still forced himself to say, "I was going to ask you...to stay."

"Stay?" Tsunade laughed, tears running down her cheeks. It was hard to tell whether Jiraiya's words had made her cry, or if it was something else. "And then what? Stay and watch our sensei keep being the 'Clan-Massacre Shadow'? Watch Danzo steal people's eyes? Or watch Konoha's leaders dissect and experiment on my grandfather's corpse?"

Jiraiya had no answer.

"Jiraiya, let me ask you something." Tsunade stopped smiling and looked at him seriously. "Do you think Konoha is still the village my grandfather built?"

Jiraiya fell silent.

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

She turned to look at the lake, her gaze drifting into the distance.

"But what about now? The Uchiha have been wiped out, and I'm the only one left of the Senju. The Hyuga are trembling with fear, and the other clans are too scared to speak. Konoha has become a dictatorship run by Sarutobi and Danzo."

"Our sensei...had his reasons," Jiraiya said with difficulty.

"Reasons?" Tsunade turned to him, her gaze sharp as a blade. "What reason could justify wiping out an entire clan of hundreds overnight? What reason could justify ambushing his own student's student? What reason could justify an old man abusing a child? And let's not forget, Konoha never achieved victories in the first three Shinobi World Wars on the scale of that night... The entire clan... Even the newborns..."

Jiraiya was left speechless.

"I'm not trying to blame anyone," Tsunade said, her voice softening. "I have no right to blame anyone, either. After all, like those villagers who keep their heads down, I'm a complete coward who runs away from it all. I've just...seen through it. This Konoha isn't worth coming back to anymore."

She turned to look into the distance.

"I came back this time to pay my respects, then I'm leaving. Konoha isn't the village my grandfather built anymore. All I want now is to live my life. To live well, for Nawaki and Dan. To enjoy the things they never got to enjoy."

Her voice trembled slightly when she mentioned Nawaki and Dan, but she soon regained her composure.

Watching her, Jiraiya felt a jumble of emotions. He could guess how Tsunade had spent all these years.

Her fear of blood, her insomnia, her drinking, her gambling... She wasn't enjoying life; she was tormenting herself. But now she said she wanted to live well. Perhaps she had truly seen through it all. Perhaps she was only pretending. Either way, it was her choice.

As her friend, all he could do was respect it.

"What about you?" Tsunade looked at Jiraiya. "What are you planning to do? Keep playing the Toad Sage and wandering around?"

"I..." Jiraiya hesitated. "I want to go see Naruto."

"Naruto?" Tsunade paused, then realized who he meant. "Minato and Kushina's child?"

"Yeah." Jiraiya nodded. "All these years, he hasn't known who he is. People in the village call him the Demon Fox. His home is terrible, and he barely has anything to eat. I...I don't understand why our sensei would treat him like that."

"What else could it be?" Tsunade sneered. "To control the Nine-Tails, of course. Keep the Jinchuriki suffering and isolated, make him hate the village—that way, he'll be easier to control. He learned Danzo's theories well."

Jiraiya's expression darkened.

"I'm not him. I don't know what he was thinking," Tsunade said. "But if you're asking whether I think you should go see Naruto, I'd say yes. What child doesn't need someone who truly cares about him? Besides, he's Minato's son."

Jiraiya nodded.

"Clap, clap, clap—"

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

They both turned to look toward the source.

A man in a gray kimono stepped out from behind a tree. His skin was pale, his long black hair fell over his shoulders, and his golden, slit-pupiled eyes glinted in the sunlight.

Orochimaru.

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

"Why shouldn't I be here?" Orochimaru's lips curled into a faint smile. "I was once a Konoha shinobi. I knew people in the Uchiha Clan. I even led them in protecting Konoha during the Third Shinobi World War. Is there anything wrong with me coming to pay my respects?"

"But...didn't you defect after our sensei caught you doing human experiments?"

"Defect?" Orochimaru let out a soft laugh. "I did leave of my own accord. Much like Tsunade now, except I saw through our sensei's methods sooner than either of you."

Tsunade looked at Orochimaru without saying anything.

Orochimaru walked over to the lakeshore, first glancing at Tsunade, then at Jiraiya.

"Tsunade, I'm genuinely happy for you." He inclined his head slightly. "You've finally come to your senses instead of throwing your life away like before. Gambling, drinking, running up debts everywhere—that's no way for the granddaughter of the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, to live."

Tsunade snorted. "What's it to you?"

"Of course it's my business," Orochimaru said. "We're teammates. We're friends. Naturally, I'm happy to see a friend step out of the shadows."

Listening to Orochimaru, Jiraiya felt even worse. He opened his mouth, wanting to offer a few words in Konoha's defense. "Orochimaru, you..."

"What were you going to say?" Orochimaru turned to look at him. "That Konoha still has hope? That our sensei had no choice? That it was all for peace?"

Jiraiya fell silent again.

"Jiraiya, you're a good man in every other way, but you're far too naive." Orochimaru shook his head. "Do you think Konoha is still the village it was back then? Do you think our sensei is still the man he was? Do you know what he thought when he reclaimed the Hokage seat the day after the Fourth died?"

Jiraiya lowered his head and said nothing.

"He thought, 'At last, the seat is back in my hands.'" Orochimaru said. "He thought, 'That brat Minato was too disobedient. He'd barely taken office, and already he wanted to interfere with the Anbu and take Konoha's power from me. Now he's finally dead.' He thought, 'That old fox Danzo—let's see who dares challenge me now.'"

"Enough!" Jiraiya shouted. "Our sensei isn't like that!"

"Then what kind of person do you think he is?" Orochimaru retorted. "A kindly old man? A good teacher? A Hokage who devoted everything to Konoha?"

Jiraiya opened his mouth, but not a single word came out. Deep down, he knew Orochimaru might be telling the truth, but he wasn't willing to believe it. He didn't want to believe it.

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

Tsunade glanced at Orochimaru but said nothing. She walked to the Chrysanthemum Sea Altar and bowed again.

Watching her, Jiraiya hesitated, then walked over too. He had brought no flowers. He stood beside Tsunade and bowed deeply.

Three bows.

Each one was deep.

He wasn't representing anyone, nor was he there for any particular reason. He just felt it was what he ought to do—because there had been Uchiha among his teammates, because he had fought alongside members of the Uchiha Clan, and because he owed the dead an apology.

Orochimaru watched the two of them, then went to the Chrysanthemum Sea Altar as well. Instead of bowing, he crouched first and picked up a broken Forehead Protector from the muddy ground by the lake.

The Uchiha crest on it had grown blurry, but it was still recognizable.

Orochimaru held the Forehead Protector in silence for a long time, then bent forward too—

Three bows.

He held each one longer than Jiraiya or Tsunade had.

When he straightened, Orochimaru placed the Forehead Protector back where he had found it and said softly, "I remember an Uchiha squad leader from the Second Shinobi World War named Uchiha A. He was my teammate."

Tsunade turned to look at him.

"He was a good man," Orochimaru said. "On the battlefield, he saved my life. After the war, he never flaunted his status. He was just an ordinary shinobi. He worked diligently and lived honestly."

Orochimaru paused, his gaze growing distant.

"I asked him, 'Why don't you join the hardliners? With your abilities, you could easily compete for a seat among the elders.' He said, 'What's the point of fighting over that? When we fight and kill, it's our own people who die.'"

Jiraiya fell silent too when he heard the name Uchiha A.

Uchiha A had served under him as well. He had cared deeply for the village. He was always stern with young Genin, but Jiraiya knew it was because he wanted them to learn the skills they needed to survive.

"What happened next?" Jiraiya asked.

"Later?" Orochimaru gave a bitter smile. "Later, he died on the battlefield. Iwagakure's forces surrounded him, and he died covering the retreat. Before he died, he handed me the intelligence and told me to take it back to Konoha."

He gazed at the lake, his voice growing quieter.

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

"During the Third Shinobi World War, I was on the battlefield too, but because of my fear of blood, I stayed in the rear. I also met a child from the Uchiha Clan named Naro. He was about the same age as that Uchiha genius, Uchiha Shisui, though he wasn't nearly as exceptional. The boy was very clever and often followed me around, asking about Medical Ninjutsu." As Tsunade listened to Orochimaru, her gaze grew distant, and she began to recall the past.

"I remember him telling me that his parents had also died while carrying out missions for the village. He'd been an orphan since he was little. I asked if he missed them, and he said, 'I do. That's why I have to live a better life—to live even better for both of us.'"

"I don't know whether to call it misfortune or luck. The misfortune was that the war later broke out in full, and I heard he was sent to the front lines. At eight or nine years old, he probably ended up staying on that battlefield. But the good fortune was that at least he didn't meet the same fate as his clan and die at the hands of his own villagers."

Tsunade looked at the fish in the lake and spoke with bitter self-mockery.

The three of them stood by the lake in silence, lost in their memories...

The wind swept across the lake, sending ripples spreading outward.

The yellow chrysanthemums swayed in the breeze. A few petals were occasionally blown loose and drifted into the lake, floating on its surface.

"They all thought we were the Hokage's inner circle," Tsunade continued. "In the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars, there was never a shortage of Uchiha teammates in our Konoha squads."

"Those Uchiha never held our status against us or tried to harm us. They were people we could trust with our backs."

"But..." Tsunade's voice caught in her throat. "I still can't understand why our teacher and the others exterminated the Uchiha."

"I always knew our teacher had it in for the Uchiha. We're all from the same village. He could have suppressed them, but why did he have to go this far...?"

Orochimaru and Jiraiya fell silent.

They were the Sannin, among the strongest shinobi in the Ninja World.

But before Konoha's political elite, they were nothing.

They couldn't stop the massacre.

They couldn't change their teacher's mind.

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

"That's why I left Konoha," Orochimaru said. "This village is rotten through and through. Rotten to the core."

"And you're not?" Jiraiya glared at him.

"Of course I am," Orochimaru said with a smile. "But I'm rotten in plain sight. I experiment on human beings, study forbidden techniques, and want to live forever. I own up to all of it. Unlike some people, who do terrible things and still pretend to be good."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Whoever answers."

The two were about to start arguing again. Their bickering interrupted Tsunade's grief, and she said impatiently, "Enough! If you want to argue, go somewhere else. Don't disturb the Uchiha while they rest."

They fell silent.

Tsunade gave the lake one last look, then turned away.

"Shizune, let's go."

"Lady Tsunade, where are we going?"

"Leaving Konoha." Tsunade didn't look back. "Somewhere without all this trouble."

She took a few steps, then suddenly stopped.

"Jiraiya."

"Hmm?"

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

"What message?"

"Tell him his father was an extraordinary man, and so was his mother. Tell him not to disgrace his parents."

Jiraiya froze for a moment, then nodded. "All right."

Tsunade continued on, soon disappearing into the woods. Shizune hurried after her, still holding the few yellow chrysanthemums she had left.

Only Jiraiya and Orochimaru remained by the lake. They looked at each other but said nothing.

Orochimaru turned and headed in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" Jiraiya asked.

"Leaving," Orochimaru said. "Did you think you were going to invite me to dinner?"

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

Orochimaru stopped but didn't turn around.

"You... really have changed."

Orochimaru chuckled softly. "I haven't changed. Konoha has."

With that, he continued onward, soon vanishing among the shadows of the trees.

Jiraiya stood alone by the lake, gazing at the sea of chrysanthemums and the water. He remained motionless for a long time.

The wind blew again, carrying the lake's fishy smell and the chrysanthemums' sweet fragrance.

He bent down, picked up a fallen petal, and held it in his palm.

"Uchiha..." he murmured. "I'm sorry."

Then he turned and headed toward the village.

He didn't go to the Hokage Building. He went to find Naruto—the child of Minato, the mistreated Jinchuriki, the boy who had grown up alone.

He wanted to see him.

The lake was as still as a mirror, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds.

The yellow chrysanthemums swayed in the wind, their petals drifting down onto the lake like golden rain.

In the distance, smoke curled up from Konoha. Everything seemed so peaceful, as if nothing had happened. But everyone knew that everything had changed.

It had begun with that night, with those signal flares rising into the sky, with Uchiha Setsuna's voice ringing across Konoha.

Konoha would never be the same again.

"I want to post a job..." On that peaceful night, inside the Bounty Exchange near the Capital of the Land of Fire, a figure in a black cloak appeared before a group of rogue shinobi. The woman's clear voice drew everyone's attention.

"Those eyes... Those eyes... That's the Sharingan!?"