Konoha's Arrangements

"Right now we don't even know how many members this organization has, who they are, or where their base is. How can we talk about dealing with them?" Jiraiya gave a wry smile.

Jiraiya sighed. "Originally I planned to keep investigating to see if I could find more news about this organization, but with you urging me so hard from this end, old man, I had no choice but to rush back."

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused for a moment and said, "You also know what our situation in Konoha is right now. Kakashi was originally capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities, but after a string of blows, he's grown decadent over these years and hasn't made any great progress. So even though Konoha looks prosperous on the surface, we have very few true pillars left."

Jiraiya said with an expression of disappointment, "Isn't it all because of what you people did? Back then, didn't the Uchiha Clan have a kid who earned the moniker Body Flicker Shisui? How did he end up dead without rhyme or reason? And what about Uchiha Itachi? He's a kid in his teens, and now he's like this. Is any of this reasonable of you people?"

Whenever this came up, Jiraiya felt his anger flare. The original Konoha never had all these tangled messes; a huge part of the current situation was brought upon themselves by their own actions.

If things had been handled properly back then, it wouldn't have been impossible to retain most of the Uchiha Clan's strength. With Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi around, they wouldn't have been pushed into such a desperate predicament.

The pillars of the new generation had all been squandered away by their own people.

Hearing Jiraiya's harsh words, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately said with guilt, "Sigh, I bitterly regret the