Jiraiya

While gathering material in the Land of Hot Water, Jiraiya received word that Orochimaru, his fellow Sannin, had appeared in the Land of Fields. He was planning to go there. He had spent years wandering outside the village, partly because he was dissatisfied with the Third Hokage, but also because he wanted to track down Orochimaru.

The Great Toad Sage had once made a prophecy about him: one of his students would bring about great change in the Shinobi World. At first, Jiraiya had thought it might be Minato or Nagato. Unfortunately, both had died far too young. After all these years of wandering, his main purpose was still to find the Child of Prophecy.

After leaving the Land of Hot Water and traveling for a while, he sensed a tremendous surge of Natural Energy. He immediately hurried toward its source. When he reached the village entrance, he sensed an even greater surge erupting from within, and there was something vaguely familiar about it. He swiftly rushed toward where the Natural Energy was coming from.

Naruto, who was in the middle of battle, sensed Jiraiya's arrival too. But he couldn't spare any attention for him now—the fight had reached its final moments.

Two enormous hands seized Kakuzu and tore him in half. The black tendrils making up Earth Grudge Fear writhed wildly, so two smaller hands sprouted from the giant ones and reached into Kakuzu's body for his hearts. Once they had grabbed them, the hands squeezed hard. With a wet pop, both hearts burst. Earth Grudge Fear stopped writhing, too. Kakuzu was dead.

Just then, Jiraiya arrived at the scene and saw Naruto crush the two hearts. "Is that the Nine-Tails? What's Naruto doing here?"

Naruto had never cut his hair, and he no longer sported a spiky style. Instead, he wore it just like Minato. Combined with the fact that he was using Kurama's power, it was easy for Jiraiya to recognize him.

Jiraiya hurried over to Naruto and asked, "Naruto, what happened here? And what are you doing here?"

Naruto was about to answer when he suddenly remembered something. "Pervy Sage, wait a moment." Then he dashed off, leaving Jiraiya standing there in bewilderment.

Naruto had run off because he remembered there was still one person he hadn't dealt with: Hidan. With his lower body gone, Hidan could only lie on the ground and curse. All he talked about was offering Naruto up to Jashin.

When Hidan saw Naruto come over, he knew what had happened to Kakuzu. He roared furiously at Naruto, "Brat, kill me! If you've got the guts, kill me! Otherwise, I'll bite you to death!"

Naruto didn't bother responding. He drew his kunai and cut off Hidan's head. Even after his head was separated from his body, Hidan kept cursing. Naruto carried his body in his right hand and his head in his left, then walked over to the crater left by the Rasengan and threw Hidan's body in.

Ignoring Jiraiya, who was still stunned, Naruto left a Flying Thunder God Mark on the spot. Then he formed the Ram Hand Seal with one hand and vanished, reappearing in the valley. He made a Shadow Clone carry Hidan's head into a cave and stand guard. Along with the Shadow Clone using the Crystal Ball, there were now two Shadow Clones there, so he didn't have to worry about the head going missing. He kept Hidan's head because it would come in handy later.

Naruto returned to the village. When he suddenly appeared again, Jiraiya snapped out of his shock and asked, "Naruto, was that Flying Thunder God? Who taught you?"

Naruto only said, "Come on, Pervy Sage, wait a little longer," then ran off again.

He went over to the crater, where Kakuzu's corpse lay, and jumped down. From Kakuzu's remains, he pulled out something that looked like a ball of thread. He stuffed it into his backpack, climbed out of the crater, and took out a handful of Explosive Tags. After throwing them into the crater, he detonated them. Once the explosions had stopped, Kakuzu and Hidan's bodies were buried beneath the rubble. The crater itself, however, remained.

Naruto then went over to the pile of dried corpses and carried them one by one into the crater. Jiraiya saw him and went over to help. Before long, all the corpses had been placed in the crater. Naruto formed Hand Seals and used Earth Release: Earthquake. The ground around them shuddered, and the crater slowly shrank until it disappeared. A small mound of earth appeared in the very center of where the crater had been.

After summoning Golem Jedi, Naruto had gained an affinity for Earth. Earthquake was a technique Minato had taught him a while ago. As for Earth-based martial techniques, Naruto hadn't trained in any yet. Though powerful, they took a long time to master.

"I've avenged you. The people of this rotten Shinobi World have become utterly twisted. I hope that, once you reach the Underworld, you'll never be persecuted again," Naruto sighed as he looked at the small mound.

He had said this for the villagers Hidan had offered to Jashin, and for Jiraiya, too. Then the two of them walked to one side.

When Naruto turned toward him, Jiraiya asked again, "Naruto, what are you doing here?"

"Pervy Sage, I came here to find you," Naruto replied.

Hearing that Naruto had come to find him, Jiraiya asked, "Why were you looking for me? And how did you leave the village?"

"Pervy Sage, it's a long story. You can enter the Sealing Space, right? Why don't you go in for a moment?" As he spoke, Naruto lifted his shirt and revealed the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style on his stomach.

Jiraiya didn't ask any more questions. He placed his right hand on Naruto's stomach, and his consciousness entered the Sealing Space.

The moment he arrived, Jiraiya was startled—not by the surroundings, but by the sight of Minato and Kushina, who had died long ago, standing in front of a huge iron gate and looking at him. Behind them, an enormous beast lay inside the gate. Its body was covered in bulging muscles, and the sight made Jiraiya's teeth ache.

Minato stepped forward and said, "It's been a long time, Jiraiya-sensei."

"Jiraiya-sensei, you haven't changed a bit," Kushina said. What she meant by that, only she knew.

Jiraiya's shocked expression faded. "Minato, what's going on? Weren't you and Kushina dead?"

At Jiraiya's question, Minato smiled. "Jiraiya-sensei, Kushina and I died when we sealed Kurama. We're only spirits now."

"So it really is as I thought," Jiraiya sighed. When he saw Minato, he had kept hoping that Minato and his wife hadn't died during the Nine-Tails' attack, but had gone into hiding for some reason.

Back then, while searching for Orochimaru, he had heard that Minato and his wife had died in battle. Unable to believe it, Jiraiya rushed back to Konoha. He simply couldn't accept that Minato had died like that.

Even though he had hurried back as fast as he could, he was already too late. He hadn't even seen the couple's bodies. The Third Hokage told him that Minato and Kushina's bodies had already been taken care of. Only their clothes had been buried in Konoha Cemetery.

The reason was that Minato was the only person in the Shinobi World who could use Space-Time Ninjutsu, and Kushina was a princess of the Uzumaki Clan. Their bodies were too valuable to bury in the cemetery, where someone else might steal them.

In truth, by the time Jiraiya returned, their bodies were already in Danzo's hands. After he was refused when he asked to take Naruto away, Jiraiya had gone to Hiruzen Sarutobi and asked him to hand over the bodies for study. He thought there might be something special about Minato that could reveal the secret of mastering Space-Time Ninjutsu.

Considering Flying Thunder God's impact on warfare, Hiruzen was persuaded by Danzo and handed both bodies over to him. Why hadn't they been left with Anbu? Because many of Minato's supporters were in Anbu at the time, including Kakashi Hatake. Giving the bodies to Danzo was both a last resort and what the Third Hokage considered the best course of action. He simply didn't know that Danzo would trade the bodies to Orochimaru.

Jiraiya then went to Konoha Hospital. Seeing Naruto fast asleep, he said to Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Third Hokage, I'm taking Naruto with me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi naturally refused. "Jiraiya, if he were just an ordinary child, I'd certainly let you take him. But he's now the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki. Even if I agreed, Danzo and the others wouldn't let you leave with him."

"Besides, you're only one person, and your missions are often dangerous. You couldn't guarantee his safety while traveling with a child. If you leave him in Konoha, I'll take good care of him. He's the only surviving child of Minato and Kushina, after all. I'll make sure he can live in Konoha as the son of heroes."

Back then, Jiraiya had disapproved of some of Hiruzen Sarutobi's usual conduct, but he still trusted him. After hearing his promise to take good care of Naruto and considering that it would indeed be inconvenient to travel alone with a child, he left Konoha.

"Then what's going on now? And why is Naruto here? Why isn't he with anyone else from Konoha?" Jiraiya continued asking. He had seen the destruction caused by Naruto's fight with Kakuzu and Naruto using the Nine-Tails' power. He knew Naruto might be very strong, but given his age, Hiruzen Sarutobi should have sent a few shinobi along if he had left the village.

"Jiraiya-sensei, take a look at this," Minato replied. At the same time, he waved his hand, and countless glowing orbs flew toward Jiraiya.

The orbs recorded what Naruto's life in Konoha had been like. As he watched, Jiraiya's expression grew more and more shocked, then turned grim. By the time he finished watching the last orb, his face was so dark it looked as if water could be wrung from it.

The first orb showed Naruto being abused in the hospital. It had started right after Jiraiya left. It was clear that Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't kept his promise. The scenes that followed showed people treating Naruto worse and worse, while calling him the Demon Fox.

Jiraiya looked up at Minato and Kushina, his face full of remorse. "Minato, Kushina, I'm truly sorry. I didn't take good care of Naruto."

Minato shook his head. "Jiraiya-sensei, this isn't your fault. Kurama recorded what you said by Naruto's bedside when you went to the hospital. Kushina and I both know what happened, so we don't blame you."

"Ah, if I'd known it would turn out like this, I would've taken Naruto away no matter what. But what about you two?" Jiraiya sighed when he heard Minato say he didn't blame him.