Meeting

"Old man, I..." Jiraiya looked up, saw the furious expression on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face, and jolted.

When Sarutobi Hiruzen got angry, he was still a terrifying sight.

Sarutobi Hiruzen said gravely, "You'd better explain everything clearly. The Rinnegan is said to be the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths. To some extent, that means the legends about the Sage of Six Paths might not have been entirely made up. No one knows how far someone with those eyes might go!"

"Hiruzen, this matter also involves someone claiming to be Uchiha Madara. We have to get to the bottom of it, or we'll be at a serious disadvantage." Danzo narrowed his eyes as he watched Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Jonin Akira." Jiraiya glanced at Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen, then turned to Uchiha Akira, who was standing beside Uchiha Fugaku. Looking uneasy, he asked, "Is the leader of Akatsuki really named Nagato?"

"His name is indeed Nagato." Uchiha Akira nodded. "The man who called himself Uchiha Madara did say that."

At Uchiha Akira's words, Jiraiya slumped back in his seat, utterly crestfallen. His whole being seemed drained of life.

Bang!

Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed his hand on the table, his eyes blazing with fury. The thick hardwood bore the imprint of his hand.

"Jiraiya, you'd better explain this clearly. I may be old, but cleaning house is still easy enough for me." Sarutobi Hiruzen fixed Jiraiya with a cold stare.

The people present showed little reaction. They simply waited quietly to see how things would unfold.

Jiraiya let out a long sigh, braced himself against the table, and began his account. "During the Second Shinobi World War, after Orochimaru, Tsunade, and I fought Hanzo, there were three children..."

After hearing Jiraiya's account, everyone present looked astonished. For a while, nobody knew what to say.

There was just too much to pick apart. They didn't know where to begin.

As Orochimaru listened to Jiraiya's account, he was reminded of what had happened back then.

The incident had been little more than a trivial matter in his memory, but as a highly skilled ninja, he still remembered it.

"Heh..." Orochimaru chuckled and murmured, "I suggested killing those three children at the time. If we'd killed them then, none of this would be happening now."

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya glared at him angrily.

"Jiraiya, why didn't you bring them back to Konoha?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was icy, his eyes filled with confusion.

"You knew full well that all three were rare geniuses, and one of them even possessed the Rinnegan, a legendary Kekkei Genkai. Why did you let them grow up freely in the Land of Rain?!" Sarutobi Hiruzen was exasperated. His anger nearly consumed him.

"Was it because of that so-called prophecy? The so-called prophecy of the Child of Prophecy?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze turned cold as he demanded,

"Now let's see how your Mount Myoboku prophecy comes true. He's joined forces with someone calling himself Uchiha Madara! Who is Uchiha Madara? You ought to know!

"Your prophecy said that the Child of Prophecy would bring peace to the world. Is this what it meant—that the Child of Prophecy would kill everyone, and with no one left, there'd naturally be peace?"

His heart ached so badly he could hardly breathe. The Rinnegan!

Those were the eyes of the legendary Sage of Six Paths. Even a fraction of the Sage's power would be enough to sweep across the Shinobi World.

That power might once have belonged to Konoha, but now its wielder had turned against them.

"Sensei..." Jiraiya opened his mouth, but no words came out.

It was now an established fact that Nagato was Konoha's enemy. Nothing could change that.

"Put aside the thought of correcting your mistake yourself." Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to see right through Jiraiya's intentions. He said coldly, "Even setting aside whether you could defeat your beloved student, don't forget there's also that so-called Uchiha Madara!"

"Sensei, I..." Jiraiya lay helplessly across the table, utterly dejected.

"This is ridiculous!" Utatane Koharu glared at Jiraiya, then turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen. "Hiruzen, what should we do about this now?"

"My recommendation is that we gather a large force of elite shinobi and nip this threat in the bud," Danzo said.

He continued, "The Rinnegan's wielder is still young and hasn't truly come into his own, so we still have a chance to eliminate him. If he manages to unlock the Rinnegan's full power, Konoha might not be able to handle him."

Sarutobi Hiruzen made no comment. Instead, he looked at Jiraiya and asked gravely, "How much do you know about the Rinnegan? What abilities does it have?"

"I..." Jiraiya was at a loss for words. After a long pause, he admitted awkwardly, "I actually don't know what abilities the Rinnegan has!"

At that, everyone in the meeting room was struck by an absurd feeling.

They had spent three years together, and Jiraiya had been their teacher, responsible for teaching them ninjutsu—and yet he didn't know what the Rinnegan could do.

Wasn't that a little ridiculous?

Of course, no one present would say such a thing aloud. They only thought it to themselves.

After all, Jiraiya was one of the Sannin, a highly respected figure in Konoha and Sarutobi Hiruzen's student. It was enough to keep such thoughts to themselves.

"You don't know?" Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to go over and slap Jiraiya. What kind of answer was that?

Jiraiya lowered his head and mumbled, "I'm sorry, Sensei. I really don't know."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and turned to Uchiha Akira, who stood beside Uchiha Fugaku.

"Jonin Akira, you're one of only two people here who have fought the Rinnegan. What do you think of it?"

Uchiha Akira spoke gravely. "There's no doubt about it: the Rinnegan surpasses even the Mangekyō Sharingan of our Uchiha Clan. Its immense ocular power is beyond anything the Sharingan can match."

"Jonin Kaoru, what do you think?" Utatane Koharu asked, turning to Hyuga Kaoru, who stood beside Hyuga Hiashi.

"I can't accurately sense the limits of my opponent's ocular power. If the one I fought was only a puppet, then even that puppet's ocular power far surpassed my Byakugan," Hyuga Kaoru said calmly.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance. Then Mitokado Homura looked at Uchiha Akira with a serious expression.

"Are you saying that if the Rinnegan's wielder grows up without a hitch, his potential will exceed even Uchiha Madara's?"

"It's possible." Uchiha Akira nodded.

No one present doubted Uchiha Akira's words too much. As members of families with bloodline ocular techniques, they were the experts when it came to ocular power.

His words stirred a small wave of discussion in the meeting room.

Who was Uchiha Madara? Though those present didn't know the full extent of his power, they understood that he stood on a level entirely beyond that of shinobi today!

In all the Shinobi World's history, only two people had possessed power like that: the First, Senju Hashirama, and Uchiha Madara.

"What do you think of this so-called Uchiha Madara? How strong is he?" Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his throbbing head and looked at Uchiha Akira.