"Shinichi, how could you disrespect the Great Toad Sage?"
Jiraiya spoke in disbelief.
"I just can't stand watching you blindly believe whatever others tell you and make a complete mess of your life."
Shinichi said flatly, "If you had any backbone, would you have spent all these years failing to win Tsunade over? For the sake of this so-called Child of Prophecy, you abandoned Naruto and didn't even dare approach the woman you loved. Do you even call yourself a man?"
As far as he was concerned, although Tsunade still had unresolved emotional wounds, there was no way she felt nothing at all for Jiraiya.
If Jiraiya had spent all these years doggedly pursuing her, Shinichi refused to believe her heart really was made of stone.
"Y-you... how did you know I felt that way about Tsunade..."
With his deepest secret exposed to his face, Jiraiya could barely get his words out.
"I'm not blind."
Shinichi said, exasperated, "How many people in Konoha can't tell you're interested in Tsunade? You're the only one who thinks a secret crush is the height of romance. You keep foolishly waiting for her to respond, but in the end, you'll be left with nothing."
For many Naruto fans, Jiraiya's death was surely something they could never quite come to terms with.
Everyone knew how he felt about Tsunade, and Tsunade knew it better than anyone. Yet even when Pain killed him, Jiraiya had never gotten the chance to tell her how he felt. To Shinichi, that was a terrible regret.
Since he had come to this tragedy-filled world, he didn't mind giving Jiraiya a hand and making up for that regret from his previous life.
"Are you trying to help me?"
Jiraiya wasn't stupid. He immediately recognized Shinichi's goodwill.
That left him rather puzzled.