Jiraiya, you came back too late

The toad at the end of the street crouched beside a stone lantern, its massive body crushing half a paving stone.

Jiraiya stood atop the toad's head, his white hair stirring in the night wind. His usual carefree expression was gone.

When he received the Third Hokage's urgent message, all he knew was that something was wrong with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and that unrest had broken out within Konoha.

But upon returning to the village, he saw the collapsed walls of the Advisor Residence, scorched windows in the Hokage Building, bloodstains still uncleared on Central Street, and a group of exhausted yet tense shinobi.

The most jarring sight was Naruto.

The six-year-old stood in the middle of the street, his orange jacket dirty and worn, the wound on his forehead not yet fully healed. But his eyes had golden, slit pupils like the Nine-Tails'.

Jiraiya stared at that face.

He looked like Minato.

And like Kushina.

His throat tightened.

"Naruto..."

Naruto didn't call out to him.

There was no curiosity, no warmth.

He simply looked at a stranger who had finally shown up.

"Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya jumped down from the toad's head and landed before him.

"I'm your father's teacher."

Naruto nodded.

"I know."

Jiraiya froze for a moment.

He had prepared so much to say—about Minato, about Kushina, about his years spent investigating the Akatsuki, about how it wasn't that he didn't care about Naruto.

But Naruto's simple "I know" left all those words lodged in his throat.

Naruto asked, "Then do you know how I've lived all these years?"

Jiraiya's expression changed.

Standing behind him, the Third Hokage said quietly, "Jiraiya, this isn't the time for that. Mitokado Homura escaped. There may be a trap at the Memorial Stone."

Jiraiya looked at the Third Hokage.

For the first time, he saw a kind of disgrace on his teacher's face that he had never seen before.

It wasn't the disgrace of defeat.

It was the disgrace of having old wrongs dragged into the light.

Jiraiya looked around again.

The Konoha Military Police Force was there, a Hokage Advisor was wounded, members of the Sarutobi clan were under guard, and the ANBU no longer stood with their usual unquestioning obedience.

Something truly serious had happened in Konoha.

"Let's get to the point first." Jiraiya suppressed his emotions. "Why did Mitokado Homura run? Where's Danzo?"

Uchiha Tekka's voice was cold.

"Dead."

Jiraiya's pupils contracted.

"Who killed him?"

Tekka looked at Naruto.

Jiraiya followed his gaze.

Naruto didn't deny it.

"I did."

Even the little toads on the toad's back widened their eyes.

Jiraiya drew a deep breath.

"Danzo was a Hokage Advisor. Even if he was guilty, a child like you couldn't just execute him on your own."

Naruto's gaze turned cold.

"You just got back."

"So you'd better look at all the evidence before you speak."

Jiraiya frowned. "I'm not making excuses for Danzo, but the village has rules."

Naruto walked up to him.

"Rules?"

He pulled the half-burned letter from inside his jacket.

"The advisors burned the letter my mother left me."

Then he took out Minato Namikaze's Inheritance Inventory.

"The inheritance my father left me was sealed away for six years, and some of it is missing."

Next, he tossed the Jinchūriki Observation Scroll to Jiraiya.

"Every day, I was insulted, had things thrown at me, and was sold expired milk. The ANBU recorded me as a test subject for loneliness-induced stress."

Finally, he laid the ANBU deployment orders from the Nine-Tails' Attack and the secret letter at Jiraiya's feet.

"The route to the delivery room was leaked."

"The Uchiha took the blame."

"Root conducted human experiments."

"Danzo's arm was covered in Sharingan."

Naruto looked up.

"Now tell me about rules again."

Jiraiya bent down and picked up the scroll.

He read through it quickly.

At first, his brows were tightly furrowed. Then his face gradually went pale.

When he reached the page titled "The effects of loneliness-induced stress on the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's obedience," his fingers stopped.

At that moment, Jiraiya couldn't bring himself to meet Naruto's eyes.

He really had spent those years investigating things outside the village.

Investigating the prophecy, investigating the Akatsuki, gathering intelligence on other nations.

He had thought Naruto would at least be cared for in Konoha.

Because he was Minato's child.

Because the Third Hokage was his teacher.

Because Konoha was the village Minato had given his life to protect.

But his trust couldn't erase the words on the scroll.

Every page of those records showed exactly what all those years of "care" had done to Naruto.

"I didn't know," Jiraiya said hoarsely.

Naruto looked at him.

"I don't accept that."

Jiraiya looked up.

Naruto's voice was level.

"Your not knowing doesn't mean it didn't happen."

"And your coming back late doesn't mean I still have to wait for your explanation."

Those words made Jiraiya's chest tighten.

He could face enemies, wars, and countless dangerous missions, but he could hardly bear having Minato's son look at him like this.

There was no hatred spiraling out of control.

No tearful cries of hurt.

Naruto had simply shut him out of his trust.

The Third Hokage walked over.

"Jiraiya, we need to go to the Memorial Stone first. Homura may have the final record. He told Naruto to come to the Naka River before sunrise, but his actual escape route leads beneath the Memorial Stone."

Jiraiya tightened his grip on the scroll.

"I'm coming too."

Naruto turned away.

"I don't need you to lead the way."

Jiraiya opened his mouth.

Naruto was already walking toward the Memorial Stone.

Jiraiya followed behind him, unsure for the first time what right he had to speak.

As a teacher?

An elder?

His father's mentor?

All those roles had come too late.

Konoha's Memorial Stone stood in a quiet part of the village.

No one stood before it that night. Only a few bouquets left during the day remained, soaked with dew.

Kakashi stood there.

He had originally come only to pay his respects to Obito and Rin, but after hearing about the unrest in the village that night, he had rushed to the Memorial Stone and discovered signs that the underground seal had been tampered with.

His body visibly stiffened when he saw Naruto.

"Naruto..."

Naruto walked past him and approached the Memorial Stone.

Names were carved densely across the stone.

Heroes, the fallen, comrades.

Yet now, someone had hidden an escape route beneath them.

Naruto raised a hand and pressed it against the monument's base.

Golden sealing formulas lit up.

A mechanism turned beneath the base, and a hidden passage slowly opened.

Cold, clammy air surged up from below.

It carried the smell of burned paper.

Kakashi's expression changed.

"Why is there a hidden passage here?"

Naruto glanced at him.

"You come here often."

"You didn't know either?"

The color drained from Kakashi's face.

An elderly man's cough sounded from deep inside the passage.

Then Mitokado Homura's voice rose from underground.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"The final piece of truth you want is right here in my hands."

"But do you dare come down?"