Self-Reflection

"Why... did I not strike?"

Jiraiya's life and death rested in the hands of Lin Qing.

Yet, he could not summon the slightest thought of retaliation.

It was not a matter of being unable to win, or not daring to fight.

It was the guilt in his heart that rendered him unable to move.

Jiraiya was acutely aware of what a foolish thing he had just done.

This was a trap set by Orochimaru specifically for Lin Qing, a true dead end.

Lin Qing had used his own power to shatter this desperate situation and save Jiraiya.

From the moment the battle began, every action Lin Qing took had been flawless.

But what about Jiraiya?

What had he done—

At the most critical moment of the battle, with his teammate Lin Qing having completed 99% of the work, all Jiraiya needed to do was take one step and provide a slight obstruction to Orochimaru for them to secure victory.

Yet, he had done nothing.

This was a betrayal of a teammate.

If he were not Jiraiya, but a fledgling, emotional young ninja, Lin Qing would not be angry.

Being caught in a panic, frozen in fear, or unable to bring himself to strike a former friend—that would be understandable.

But Jiraiya was not a naive person; or rather, the older generation of ninjas—he, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and those above them like the Third Hokage and Danzo...

These people had all lived through the darkness of the ninja world.

When it was truly necessary to kill, they would never be soft-hearted due to sentiment.

"So, why didn't I strike?"

Jiraiya asked himself.

It was only when he saw the foreheads of Lin Qing and Sasuke, which lacked the leaf headbands, that he understood the reason:

Because Orochimaru had not, in any true sense, done anything to harm the "Will of Fire."

Orochimaru had not touched upon Jiraiya's principles, which was why, for many years, he had only tracked his old classmate's movements rather than hunting him down.

Jiraiya hoped for Orochimaru to repent, not for him to die.

"Because Orochimaru did not cross my principles, I hesitated, which led to Sasuke—whom Lin Qing has protected all this way—being harmed."

This was the reason for Lin Qing's anger.

Letting Orochimaru go?

It didn't matter.

It was nothing more than a few hundred Soul Shards; if he didn't want them, he could just let them go. Jiraiya could set out fine wine and food, and the matter would be settled.

Who didn't have some past connections?

Lin Qing could understand that.

But Sasuke's condition was dire; he...

He might very well die!

That was an entirely different matter.

Jiraiya was not a petty man who would make excuses. After interrogating his own heart, he lowered his eyes:

"I... have nothing to say."

"Lin Qing, this time, I have failed you."

He looked toward Sasuke.

From the spot on his neck where Orochimaru had bitten him, black tomoe were continuously leaking out.

The Heaven Cursed Seal.

Jiraiya said, "Lin Qing, if you truly intend to kill me, I hope it is only after Sasuke has been healed."

Lin Qing remained with his back to him, and Star Platinum suddenly vanished, causing Jiraiya to collapse to the ground.

He stood up, walked to Sasuke's side, and reached out to grab Sasuke's wrist.

A moment later, Jiraiya opened his eyes, his expression tense.

"Inside his body, there are three different powers clashing: chakra, natural energy, and the Ripple."

If it were only chakra and the natural energy brought by the cursed seal, given Jiraiya's decade-plus of mastery in Sage Mode, he could eventually find a way to achieve balance.

But with the addition of the Ripple, the situation had become complicated.

Lin Qing and Jiraiya fell into silence, the atmosphere gradually growing oppressive.

Just then, a gloating voice drifted from nearby:

"He's a dead man. Rather than letting him go to waste, give him to me to eat, and I shall forgive your insolence."

As expected of a snake sage, in just this short while, Tagorihime's injuries had mostly healed. She transformed into her human-headed, snake-bodied form, clutching the Dragon Snake Treasure Orb in her hands.

Lin Qing slowly turned his head.

"What did you say?"

"I said, as long as you give this child to me to eat—"

Before the words could finish, Lin Qing kicked Tagorihime, sending the dozens-of-meters-long serpent tumbling. The farmhouse collapsed, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

Hermit Purple lashed out once more, dragging her back like a dead dog.

Lin Qing looked down at Tagorihime, raised a hand, and summoned the still-searing Blade of Ruin, hovering it beneath the snake demon's throat.

Feeling the touch of the blade against her throat, Tagorihime's scalp went numb.

Lin Qing asked earnestly: "Can you save him?"

"No, I cannot. Just as that ugly ghost said, besides the Cursed Seal, there is a third type of energy. I am powerless; only by finding Orochimaru and having him undo the Cursed Seal will it work."

"Can you find Orochimaru?"

"I can!" Tagorihime acted as if she had found a lifeline: "As long as I wait for him to come to Ryūchi Cave, I can contact him, and then—"

"Too slow."

Little Sasuke could not wait that long.

Lin Qing said: "Right now, can you find him?"

"No, I cannot."

Orochimaru's movements were erratic; he could not be summoned via Reverse Summoning. As long as he did not voluntarily reveal his location, no one knew where he was hiding.

Lin Qing's gaze grew increasingly icy.

"You can't do this, and you can't do that. What makes you think you can walk away alive?"

"You dare kill me?!"

Tagorihime was truly panicked. As she struggled to rise, Star Platinum suddenly appeared, pressed down on her head, and slammed it viciously into the ground. She was struck with terror.

Centuries of life had not allowed Tagorihime to see through life and death; instead, in her pursuit of longevity, she had become increasingly fearful of the arrival of death.

"You cannot kill me! I am a Snake Princess of Ryūchi Cave, an elder personally chosen by the White Snake Sage!"

"If you kill me, you will face the endless retaliation of Ryūchi Cave, until the bitter end!"

She turned her head to look at Jiraiya.

"I want to see the Toad Sage! Even if I am truly at fault, it is not for a human to judge me! For the sake of the history between Ryūchi Cave and Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya, you cannot let him kill me!"

Jiraiya licked his parched lips.

Tagorihime was right. If low- or mid-level snakes or toads died, they died.

But for elders of this caliber—like Tagorihime, Fukasaku, or Shijian—if they were to die out in the world, it would inevitably invite retaliation from their ancestral lands.

Just as Jiraiya was about to open his mouth to offer a plea, a flash of blade light suddenly crossed his vision.

Tagorihime's head tumbled onto the ground, transforming in the blink of an eye into a massive, cyan snake head.

He killed her!

He actually killed her!

The cyan snake head fell, retaining a sliver of life force. Not yet fully dead, it glared with a pair of venomous snake eyes, staring fixedly at Lin Qing as it hissed:

"Lin Qing, you will suffer the agony of ten thousand snakes devouring your heart, you will die without a burial ground, Ryūchi Cave will not let you go—"

Before the words were finished, the Blade of Ruin descended once more, splitting the snake head in two and spilling brains all over the ground.

"You... you..."

Jiraiya's eyes were filled with shock and worry: "That was Ryūchi Cave!"

Lin Qing shook the blood and brains off his blade: "What dragons? Just a bunch of beasts."

Did they really think of themselves as "sages"?

If they were truly so powerful, why did the world belong to humans, rather than these so-called "sages"?

Lin Qing looked once more at the suffering Sasuke.

His body temperature was rising bit by bit. If this continued, it wouldn't be long before Sasuke burned himself to death from the inside out.

Jiraiya had no solution, Tagorihime had no solution, and the culprit, Orochimaru, had fled...

To save Little Sasuke, only one method remained—

Draw a new Stand.

Bet that this Stand would possess restorative abilities, such as Crazy Diamond, Gold Experience, or Pearl Jam.

Lin Qing opened the system interface, finally finding the time to check his gains.

"Slayed Kimimaro, obtained 320 Soul Shards."

"Slayed Jugo, obtained 290 Soul Shards."

"Defeated Orochimaru, obtained 890 Soul Shards."

"Slayed Tagorihime, obtained 400 Soul Shards."

Adding these to the 900-plus shards Lin Qing had remaining, along with the fragments obtained from defeating scattered small fry (Root ninjas), his current total of Soul Shards was—

2,990.

Lin Qing took a deep breath and tapped on the system interface.

Draw cards!