Life's circumstances differed. Some people might go their whole lives without much improvement, perhaps because they had missed one or two opportunities that led to such a life. In Orochimaru's view, the biggest difference—the greatest dividing line—between herself and Jiraiya was probably in taking disciples. Jiraiya had taken Minato Namikaze as his student, and Minato's strength had indeed been quite impressive, but Minato still had some problems. Later, he had died on the night of the Nine-Tails Attack. And Jiraiya had terrible judgment. While everyone else lived ordinary lives and passed their days normally, Jiraiya, whether lucky or unlucky, was simply strange. Every student Jiraiya chose was bizarre and outrageous. Minato Namikaze had been good, but he died young. Nagato and Yahiko had even founded the Akatsuki. If not for her student's intervention, Jiraiya would have run into his own disciples sooner or later. In a sense, Jiraiya was quite a remarkable person. After all, the few disciples he had taken were all so peculiar that it was hard to know whether to laugh or cry. Unlike her, Orochimaru had not taken many students, and the one she was proudest of was Kenichi Amamiya. Kenichi Amamiya was very strong and had grown at an astonishing pace, which even made Orochimaru sigh in amazement. But now was not the time to discuss that. Orochimaru knew that Kenichi Amamiya intended to begin his experiment, so she followed him out. Watching Kenichi Amamiya and Orochimaru leave, Jiraiya rested his chin on his hand. He still remembered the prophecy the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku had once spoken of. Yet now, that prophecy seemed to have changed somewhat.
Jiraiya remembered that the Great Toad Sage's earliest prophecy had been that a blond-haired boy would become the savior. Thus, Jiraiya had firmly believed in