"Yahiko and Nagato are dead...?"
Jiraiya took a deep breath, steadying himself enough to accept the news.
At first, he had taken the three of them in out of sympathy. Later, when he discovered that Nagato possessed the legendary Rinnegan, he had trained him and wondered whether Nagato was the Child of Prophecy he had sought for so long.
In the end, Nagato had only been a tool for someone else to use.
Though master and students had not seen one another in years, the bond they had forged remained.
"Then if the Rinnegan wasn't Nagato's, whose was it?"
"Madara Uchiha's," Kazan said.
At the name, Jiraiya shot to his feet, his expression graver than ever.
"How is that possible? The First killed Madara Uchiha with his own hands at the Valley of the End!"
"The Uchiha Clan has a genjutsu called Izanagi. At the cost of permanently blinding one Sharingan, it can rewrite an unfavorable reality—even death."
"A technique like that exists?"
"Yes. Even within the Uchiha Clan, it's a Forbidden Secret Technique."
Kazan had told Uchiha Hikari his "theory" on the way back.
The reasoning sounded strained, and the evidence was thin. But if Kazan said his instincts told him so, he was probably right.
"Do Minato and Teacher Sarutobi know about this?"
"Not yet. We came to find you as soon as we got back."
Kazan jerked a thumb toward Konan behind him.
After her devastating loss, she had not smiled once in days. She was as cold as a plum blossom in winter, still reeling from the blow.
"Then let's go, Kazan." This was too important to delay. Jiraiya had to inform Konoha. He turned to Konan. "I'm sorry, Konan. I have something important to take care of."
"I understand, Jiraiya-sensei."
They moved quickly and