"Uchiha Itachi, meeting you in person beats hearing about you. I never imagined you would be such a young boy!"
On the rooftop of a tall building in Konoha, the man who had arranged to meet Madara Uchiha greeted him.
The ninja waiting there had Haku hair, Kurenai markings on his face, and a forehead protector bearing the character for "Oil." He wore a red vest and looked to be in his forties or fifties.
He was Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin alongside Orochimaru and Tsunade.
At the end of his previous life, Madara had witnessed Tsunade's strength and Orochimaru's mastery of forbidden techniques, but he had never met Jiraiya. Now, he was quite curious about Jiraiya's abilities as well.
"Jiraiya, what did you want to talk to me about? As the Third Hokage's student, shouldn't you visit your old teacher first now that you're back in the village?"
Madara had never had any dealings with Jiraiya in either his previous life or this one. He could not understand why Jiraiya had sought him out first after returning to Konoha.
"You little brat. Even your father would address me as Lord Jiraiya. I'll let it slide since you're young and don't know any better. As an apology, hand Naruto Uzumaki over to me."
As soon as they met, Jiraiya laid out his true purpose. He had returned to the village to teach the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki, and report some intelligence he had gathered outside.
"No."
Madara looked at Jiraiya as though he were insane. Had they not been in Konoha, where it was inconvenient to fight, his shuriken would have flown the moment Jiraiya finished speaking.
"Young people these days really don't know how to respect their elders."
Jiraiya had actually expected Madara to refuse his request.
After