"Hey... Little Jiraiya, what's going on here? He called you his teacher?"
Fukasaku shot Jiraiya an inquisitive look, but the expression on Jiraiya's face left him utterly stunned.
"Could he really be...!?"
"Yes." Rainwater—no, cold sweat mixed with rainwater—slid down Jiraiya's face. He clenched his fists tightly and spoke heavily.
"That face... there's no mistaking it! Without a doubt, he's Yahiko, one of those three children...! And he called me 'teacher,' so there's no question about it!"
When he had decided to infiltrate Amegakure and uncover the enemy's true identity, he had mentally prepared himself.
But when the enemy's true identity turned out to be his own 'student,' it felt like a boomerang twisting viciously in his chest, stabbing at his heart!
At that moment, he wished more than anything that Orochimaru was behind it all, wearing Yahiko's face and playing some tasteless prank on him!
But he knew all too well that, with Orochimaru's personality, he would never do something so meaningless!
He forced himself to calm down quickly.
"According to the intelligence, either the main body controlling the six is elsewhere, or the main body is hidden among those six. Either possibility means the enemy's true identity is either Nagato or Yahiko!"
"Heh, how ironic. I selfishly believed that no matter how badly my students had fallen, they would never truly attack Konoha. It seems that whether as a teacher or as a shinobi, I'm still far from mature enough!"
Having accepted reality, Jiraiya raised his gaze and smiled, speaking in a carefree tone. "Yahiko, is this how you greet your teacher—by meeting him with weapons drawn?"
Deva Path Yahiko said, "I did consider ending this battle without bloodshed. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned."
"Yes." Jiraiya froze. "Come to think of it, the enemy who can absorb