In the drizzling rain, the whole world was hazy and indistinct.
Then, in this setting, a toad suddenly surfaced from the lake with a splash.
"Pfft!"
It opened its huge mouth and spat out... a hand.
Then came the upper body, Jiraiya's head, and finally, his entire body emerged onto the water's surface.
"Whew..."
Jiraiya caught his breath. "The enemy is powerful. I'm almost unable to stay hidden..."
"You were never able to hide from the beginning, Jiraiya-sensei."
Wuye's voice suddenly came from above.
Jiraiya reflexively stepped back, then looked up.
Wuye beat his wings and slowly descended in front of him.
Looking at Jiraiya, his heart was filled with emotion.
Whether Jiraiya's battle to become a legend, his immortal battle, could be avoided depended on whether Wuye could persuade him next.
Although he deeply admired Jiraiya's final choice—his resolve to send back intelligence even at the cost of his own death, his determination to pave the way for those who came after him with his life...
This was the real world. He could not simply watch Nagato kill Jiraiya just to make him immortal.
Too many things had already changed. This one need not remain the same.
"Wuye? You... why are you here..."
Jiraiya's voice abruptly stopped. Extreme shock appeared in his eyes. "You... this organization is yours!"
After years spent gathering intelligence abroad, all kinds of clues began converging in his mind, eventually forming a storm of thoughts.
He took half a step back and rubbed his brow. "I always found it strange. Why was this organization so powerful? Why did it accept commissions from every side, most of them from Ōnoki of Iwagakure? Yet while its other operations always succeeded, anything targeting Konoha always failed... So that was it..."
Wuye nodded and said bluntly, "Nagato is the