Jiraiya's Furious Smash of the Hokage's Desk, His Heart Turned Cold

The corridors of the Hokage Building echoed with the heavy, urgent clatter of wooden sandals.

"Lord Jiraiya! You can't barge in!"

"The Hokage is handling classified documents. Please announce yourself first!"

Four or five Anbu wearing animal masks stood firmly in the middle of the corridor.

With their arms spread wide, they tried to stop the white lion before them, who could go berserk at any moment.

"Move!"

Jiraiya didn't slow down, not even sparing them a glance.

With a casual wave of his hand, his wide sleeve swept up a violent gale.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several highly trained Anbu elites were sent flying by that monstrous force before they even had a chance to form hand seals.

They slammed into the walls like rag dolls, then slid to the floor, gasping in pain.

Jiraiya reached the end of the corridor and stopped before the solid wooden doors that symbolized Leaf Village's highest authority.

"Old man, I'm here!"

He didn't knock. Instead, he raised his right foot and kicked out with undisguised fury.

Boom—!

The deafening crash made the entire building tremble three times.

The expensive double wooden doors, along with their frames, were kicked into splinters that filled the air!

Amid the wood chips and dust.

Jiraiya strode into the Hokage's office.

Behind the desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi had a pipe clenched between his teeth.

He had just lifted his terrified old face from a pile of documents, still holding the mocking flyer from the Hidden Stone Village.

"Jiraiya? What the hell are you doing?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his palm on the desk, making the teacups rattle.

"This is the Hokage's office! Have you no respect for the rules?!"

"Rules?"

Jiraiya sneered and stepped over the splintered wood as he walked straight to the desk.

His towering body cast a shadow over the old man in the chair.

"Old man, stop putting on that stinking Hokage act."

Jiraiya planted both hands on the desktop, his bloodshot eyes locked onto Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Tell me, where did Minato go? Where did Naruto go?"

At that, the hand holding Hiruzen Sarutobi's pipe trembled slightly.

Avoiding Jiraiya's predatory gaze, he lowered his head, took a deep drag, and exhaled a cloud of gray-white smoke.

"What happened to Minato was an accident."

The old fox put on an expression of deep grief, his voice weathered and helpless.

"He was deceived by the Uchiha Clan's sweet talk. In a moment of confusion, he took the child down the wrong path."

"Confusion?"

Jiraiya looked as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

"Minato's mind worked faster than anyone else's. You think he could be talked into anything so easily?"

Jiraiya grabbed Hiruzen Sarutobi by the collar and yanked him across the desk.

"If he hadn't suffered some enormous injustice, would he have abandoned the position of Hokage and fled overnight to join the Hidden Stone Village?!"

"How dare you!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was choking, his old face flushing red as he slapped Jiraiya's hand away.

He sat back down, straightened his wrinkled Hokage robes, and resumed the air of a politician.

"Jiraiya, you don't understand how deep these waters run."

The old monkey tapped the ash from his pipe onto the desk and began spinning his familiar excuses.

"The Nine-Tails' Attack inflicted devastating losses on the village. The Uchiha Clan is evil by nature. They used the chaos to rebel, intending to overthrow Leaf Village!"

"Danzō sent people to investigate for the good of the village as well."

"Minato was too young and too emotional. He couldn't distinguish what mattered most, which was why he fell into Uchiha Yoru's trap!"

"Shut that shit-spewing mouth of yours!"

Jiraiya roared, veins bulging across his forehead like twisting green snakes.

On his way to the Hokage Building, he had already used his own informants in the village to uncover everything that had happened over the past few years.

And with the flyers scattered everywhere by the Hidden Stone Village, Leaf Village's dirty laundry had been exposed for all to see.

He knew the truth perfectly well!

"Blaming the Uchiha Clan? Pushing responsibility onto the dead?"

Jiraiya pointed at Hiruzen Sarutobi's nose, his spittle nearly spraying the old man's face.

"Old man, do you think you're the only smart person in the world and everyone else is an idiot?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was still stubbornly denying it.

"Nonsense? Fine, then let's settle this one matter at a time!"

Jiraiya planted one foot on the chair, his imposing presence crushing the room.

"How do you explain what happened to Hizashi Hyuga?"

"When the Raikage tried to exploit the crisis, instead of drawing your blade and striking back as Hokage, you forced a hero of your own village to take the blame for the enemy?!"

At the mention of that matter, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes shifted, and his momentum instantly weakened.

"That... that was to avoid fighting on two fronts! Leaf Village's current strength couldn't withstand further losses. It was a necessary compromise!"

"Compromise? What a pretty way to put it!"

The mockery in Jiraiya's eyes deepened.

"So your so-called compromise means groveling before outsiders while coming down hard on your own people?"

"Why does your grand vision only ever demand that others die? Why don't you go take the blame yourself?!"

"Jiraiya! Watch your place!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been struck where it hurt. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he roared at the top of his lungs.

"I am the Hokage! Everything I do is to protect the place where the leaves dance! That is the Will of Fire!"

"Don't insult the Will of Fire!"

Jiraiya's voice was even louder, making the windowpanes hum.

Staring at the former teacher before him, his face covered in age spots, Jiraiya felt only overwhelming estrangement and disgust.

"When White Fang abandoned a mission to save his comrades, what did you do?"

"You allowed the village's rumors to spread unchecked and watched as he was driven to commit seppuku!"

"And now, Minato risked his life to seal the Nine-Tails. What did you do?"

"You let that mad dog Danzō bite at the Uchiha Clan, hoping to seize power, forcing them to flee overnight!"

The more Jiraiya spoke, the angrier he became. His chest rose and fell violently, his breathing heavy as a bellows.

"You keep saying it's for the village, but really, you just can't bear to give up that chair beneath your ass!"

"You indulged Danzō in all those filthy deeds that couldn't see the light of day, digging the village's foundations full of holes!"

Smack!

Hiruzen Sarutobi shot to his feet, trembling all over.

"What do you know?! Without the darkness of Root, how could there be Leaf Village's prosperity beneath the sun?!"

"I think your brain's full of water!"

Jiraiya finally exploded.

He raised his right hand high, violent sage chakra gathering madly in his palm.

A blinding blue glow lit up his muscular arm.

Bang—BOOM!!!

His fist came down!

The Hokage's desk, crafted from the finest redwood and witness to decades of Leaf Village's changes in power, instantly shattered into four pieces!

And it wasn't just the desk.

The terrifying force pierced through the wood and smashed a crater three meters wide into the granite floor tiles beneath it!

Stone fragments flew everywhere as dust billowed through the office.

The shockwave knocked Hiruzen Sarutobi onto the ground on his backside, leaving him in a miserable state.

His pipe flew far away, while his Hokage hat rolled off to one side.

Hearing the commotion, the Anbu outside surged into the office.

But the terrifying killing intent radiating from Jiraiya nailed them in place. Not one of them dared take another step forward.

Amid the dust.

Jiraiya slowly withdrew his fist and brushed the wood chips from the back of his hand.

Looking down at Hiruzen Sarutobi on the floor, the last trace of respect he had held for his former teacher was extinguished completely.

All that remained was endless disappointment and chill.

"You're old, old man."

Jiraiya's voice was exceptionally calm, yet colder than any roar.

"That heart of yours, the one that once belonged to a hero of the shinobi world, has long been completely corroded by power and suspicion."

"Leaf Village's fire has been snuffed out by the schemes and tricks of people like you."

Jiraiya turned around, his broad white cloak cutting a resolute arc through the air.

Without sparing another glance for the revolting office, he strode toward the doorway.

"Jiraiya! Where are you going?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted hoarsely from behind him. "The village needs you now! You can't leave!"

Jiraiya paused at the door.

He turned his head slightly, leaving the old monkey only a cold, hardened profile.

"I won't help you clean up your filthy messes anymore."

Jiraiya sneered, his tone carrying an unprecedented resolve.

"I'm going to the Hidden Stone Village myself, to find my godson."

"And while I'm there, I'll see what that Child of Prophecy looks like—the one who has been playing you old fools for fools!"