Surging

Outside Konoha, in the forest.

A vortex appeared in midair.

Obito, who had just been spying on Konoha's streets, stepped out of it.

Even now, he still looked utterly bewildered.

The intelligence he had gathered over the past few days had completely dumbfounded Obito.

The Uchiha Clan's way of doing things had changed completely. Under Zhengye's leadership, they were equally determined to crush everyone.

In just one day, Konoha had suffered another loss.

Had Uchiha Zhengye become smarter along with awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan?

If the Uchiha continued developing like this, they would likely become the Eye of the Moon Plan's greatest obstacle in the future!

A tremendous sense of crisis rose within Obito.

At that moment, a black-and-white-faced pitcher plant slowly emerged from the ground. It was Zetsu.

"So, what do you think?"

At this point in time, the Akatsuki was still expanding, the White Zetsu army was still being cultivated, and Obito's task was to weaken the Five Great Shinobi Villages while extracting benefits from them.

Zetsu was also curious about Obito's thoughts regarding the Uchiha's sudden rise.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Obito wore a mask. Through deliberate disguise, he spoke in a deep, magnetic voice—the voice of Uchiha Madara.

"I went to investigate Konoha's prison. Root only carried out a nominal investigation. In reality, they merely placed them under temporary custody."

"That means the Third Hokage still doesn't want to kill Danzo."

Zetsu let out a flippant, sinister laugh. "But Danzo has already become a limbless stump. Do you still intend to work with him?"

"Heh..." Obito raised his slightly pale right hand.

"Isn't that perfect? If he hasn't been driven into a corner, how can we negotiate terms with him?"

"Oh my, that's quite a good idea. Looks like I'll soon have another companion."

As soon as that flippant voice finished speaking, it shifted into a deep, hoarse voice.

"When do you plan to go?"

"Now."

Konoha Prison.

Inside the spacious, brightly lit special prison cell, two people were talking.

"Hiss..."

"Old man, you were really ruthless. You nearly beat me to death."

Jiraiya, his face bruised and swollen, complained in an aggrieved tone.

He poured medicinal oil onto his hands and rubbed the bruises on his face and body.

That would keep them from swelling up the next day.

"Who told you to let Uchiha Zhengye catch you with something on you?"

"Do you know how much trouble you caused me?"

Jiraiya knew he had made the Third Hokage bleed money again, but having been beaten so badly still left him resentful. He muttered unhappily,

"Weren't you using a crystal ball too..."

"Shut up!"

The Third Hokage snapped, thoroughly disappointed in him.

"You were caught, understand!? Was the pleasure district not enough for you? You just had to go peeping."

Jiraiya turned serious. "You don't understand, old man. Only natural expressions can reveal a woman's beauty."

"The women in the pleasure district are far too affected."

Seeing Jiraiya acting like such a carefree rogue, the Third Hokage's eyes were filled with helplessness.

The shinobi world was currently in an era where old and new ideas were colliding.

Old beliefs held that ordinary civilians were nothing but lowly commoners with no rights whatsoever, that human lives were as worthless as grass, and that women were merely commodities and resources.

But new beliefs held that even ordinary civilians could create benefits for villages and shinobi. They advocated that civilians' lives were just as precious as shinobi's and that they should enjoy equal human rights.

As one of the foremost among the Five Great Shinobi Villages and the place that spoke most highly of human rights, the Third Hokage always showed great respect for human rights in public.

For example, a few years ago, he had driven Orochimaru out of the village on the grounds that Orochimaru had used infants for evil human experimentation.

But as the disciple of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, how could the Third Hokage truly be so benevolent?

He had seen his teacher kill no fewer than eight hundred, if not a thousand, people through all manner of forbidden technique experiments.

It was simply that the times had changed, so the Third Hokage naturally had to wear the mask of respecting the people.

Only then could he gain better business opportunities and win more public support.

Jiraiya was also someone with extremely poor morals. It was only because he was strong that no one could deal with him.

This time, he had fallen flat, but that did not mean he believed he had done anything wrong.

He had merely been targeted this time.

Such ideas that refused to advance with the times clearly did not suit the image of a village leader.

The Third Hokage also knew that Jiraiya could not help him at all in that regard.

So he merely changed the subject. "You fought him. How strong is he?"

At those words, Jiraiya's expression turned grave.

"His Mangekyō Sharingan ability is extremely strange. He can impose gravity on my body."

"In just a few seconds, my body became four times heavier. I was no match for him at all."

The Third Hokage paced two steps with his hands behind his back, then turned and asked, "What if you used Sage Mode?"

In the current shinobi world, Jiraiya was the only person who could use Sage Mode.

Only he himself knew exactly how strong it was.

Jiraiya pondered for a long while. "I don't know how long his technique can last, or whether he can keep increasing the gravity."

"With the power of Sage Mode, I can probably withstand six times gravity."

"He also hasn't used Susanoo yet."

"Besides, even if I can beat him..."

"The Uchiha have more than just one Mangekyō Sharingan user..."

Jiraiya spread his hands, looking as though there was nothing he could do.

The Third Hokage closed his eyes, his brow full of sorrow.

"Any news about Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya scratched his head. "I forgot for a moment. I'll ask."

He dipped a finger in the blood at the corner of his mouth, formed hand seals, and slapped his palm against the ground.

Summoning Technique!

Poof!

After a cloud of smoke cleared, a crimson toad roughly thirty centimeters tall appeared in the prison.

"Jiraiya, you finally summoned me." The toad looked as though he had been waiting for a long time.

"Kosuke, did Ryūchi Cave send a reply?"

Toad Kosuke spat a scroll from his mouth, his tone somewhat resentful.

"Don't make me go there next time. I nearly got eaten."

Jiraiya picked up the scroll and apologized awkwardly.

"Sorry, sorry. It was an emergency this time too. Next time, I'll buy you more white bean caterpillars as an apology."

Toad Kosuke's expression eased slightly. "Fine. Call me if you need anything. I'm leaving first."

With another poof, he turned into smoke and vanished.

Jiraiya opened the scroll, and the corner of his eye twitched.

"Old man, Orochimaru doesn't seem willing..."

"Let me see." The Third Hokage held out his hand.

Jiraiya hesitated. "Maybe you shouldn't read it. What he says isn't very pleasant."

The Third Hokage frowned and directly snatched the scroll away.

The contents began with a thorough tirade against the Third Hokage, without saying whether Orochimaru intended to return.

He merely told Jiraiya that he needed some funding and certain specialized equipment.

For example: a Multimodal Cellular Activity Recorder, a Constant-Temperature Chakra Oscillation Incubator, a high-purity chakra serum centrifugal separation tower, a Three-Dimensional Chakra Meridian Tomography Scanner...

Jiraiya recognized every individual word in the names of those devices, but once they were put together, he did not understand a single one.

When the Third Hokage saw them, his frown relaxed.

"He still holds a grudge. It doesn't matter if he says a few unpleasant things."

"These medical instruments are not easy to buy through outside channels."

"By deliberately writing them here, he is testing my sincerity."

Jiraiya's expression brightened. "So Orochimaru is willing to return?"

The Third Hokage suppressed the joy between his brows.

"I'll make arrangements first. These things won't be easy to gather in a short time."

Then, he thought of Danzo, who was still in the hospital.

As expected, keeping Danzo alive was the right decision.

Orochimaru still has some old subordinates. They must all be called back. I'll have Asuma make the trip.

Meanwhile, an uninvited guest arrived in Danzo's intensive care ward.