The air within Mount Myōboku was so still it was almost suffocating.
As Jiraiya opened the scroll, the crooked writing on it came into view.
The first line had been fiercely crossed out.
Although the ink had long since smeared into a blot, he could still tell that whoever wrote the letter had pressed down hard when crossing it out.
Jiraiya brought the scroll up to his eyes and squinted at it for ages before he could barely make out what it said.
-I am Ghost Eye...
The second line, however, had been written with great care.
-I am Dragon Princess Hayashi, now officially online.
"What the hell? This handwriting is awful."
Jiraiya grumbled and was about to toss the scroll aside when something suddenly struck him.
Wait, what Dragon Princess?
Dragon Princess Hayashi!
Right, that kid-that was his name!
The name exploded in Jiraiya's mind.
Then, as though he had found a priceless treasure, he raised the scroll high above his head and shouted.
"Great Toad Sage, thanks!"
He hurriedly slipped on his wooden sandals and flew out the door.
The clatter of wooden sandals against the floorboards followed him all the way outside.
Outside, Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima of Mount Myōboku had been waiting for Jiraiya to finish questioning the Great Toad Sage and come out.
Neither of them knew what was going on.
Early that morning, Jiraiya had stormed in, loudly demanding to see the Great Toad Sage.
If they refused, he threatened to keep rolling around Mount Myōboku.
From the way he acted, he clearly intended to make himself the entire mountain's problem.
Left with no other choice, Sage Fukasaku had let Jiraiya inside.
Yet before Jiraiya went in, he distinctly remembered that the Great Toad Sage had given him no instructions lately.
Nor had