Konoha had been bustling a little while ago.
The inauguration ceremony for the Fifth Hokage had been a grand affair.
Although Jiraiya had repeatedly asked to keep things low-key, Konoha's higher-ups refused to pass up this opportunity to display the village's strength and prosperity.
The reasoning was simple. If even something as important as the inauguration of a village's Kage was handled perfunctorily, the first thing outsiders would wonder was whether something had gone wrong in Konoha. Was the village weak on the inside?
Looking at the Five Great Shinobi Villages over the past few years, Mei Terumi's inauguration as Mizukage had been the most low-key.
After all, Kirigakure had just experienced upheaval at the time. Even if they had wanted a grand ceremony, they could not have managed one. They truly had been weak on the inside!
Of course, Konoha could not follow Kirigakure's example and do something so embarrassing.
So not only did they have to hold the ceremony, they had to make it as grand as possible!
Helpless, Jiraiya could only accept the arrangements.
And so, the celebrations throughout Konoha lasted three days before finally ending.
Work on carving the new Hokage's likeness also began in earnest.
At that moment, inside Konoha's most recently constructed Hokage Building, Jiraiya sat in the seat that had once belonged to Hiruzen Sarutobi, handling official business with a miserable expression.
The mountains of documents threatened to bury him.
He regretted it. He truly regretted it!
Had he known,
he would have foisted this enormous headache onto Tsunade, no matter what.
Wasn't it just the Jashin Cult? If she could join, couldn't she leave?
And even if it came to that, he absolutely refused to believe Tsunade would betray Konoha's interests.
"Ugh! One wrong move!"
Jiraiya rubbed his temples and heaved a