Doing the same thing as Danzō.
Killing Yahiko and the others here, cutting off the chance that they'd grow up to become a threat to Konoha.
From the perspective of a loyal Konoha shinobi, this was exactly what Jiraiya should have done.
But because he is Jiraiya—because he isn't just a shinobi of Konoha, but a far more complex man—he couldn't bring himself to do it.
If he were that kind of person, he wouldn't have taken in three orphans from the Land of Rain ten years ago as his students.
Tsunade and Orochimaru had completely different attitudes back then.
There had to be another way.
Both busy men, Yagura and Jiraiya departed from the Akatsuki base one after another.
Yagura dispelled his clone.
As the memories of the clone returned to the real Yagura, a visible smile crossed his face.
This was the best news he'd received in years—without a doubt.
As for Jiraiya...
A flicker of something unreadable passed through Yagura's eyes.
Always stopping halfway—he trained Yahiko and the others, but never made sure they fully turned away from hostility toward Konoha.
He saw that they cared more about the Land of Rain than Konoha. He even realized Nagato had the Rinnegan—yet he still didn't "clean house" as a loyal Konoha shinobi.
Jiraiya had a kind of romantic idealism in his bones. It was one of a kind in the shinobi world. That was why people were so drawn to him.
But from a realist's standpoint, that very idealism would end up hurting both Konoha and himself.
"What's done is done. What can you do now, Jiraiya?"
Yagura quickly jotted down instructions for Kirigakure's next operations in the Land of Rain.
Hanzō's latest moves had made his stance crystal clear—he was pushing back against Kirigakure's economic incursion.
Until Nagato mastered the power of the Rinnegan and grew into a real threat, Kirigakure would temporarily scale back their activities in the Land of Rain.
The next strategic focus would be the Land of Wind and Sunagakure.
Previously, the Land of Wind had signed a trade agreement with the Land of Water, granting complete tariff exemptions on all imports.
With the war over, Kirigakure flooded the market with high-quality handicrafts at prices far lower than Sunagakure's local goods. They were crushing the competition.
Sunagakure was utterly powerless to fight back.
In contrast, on Konoha's side, Minato Namikaze had proven himself capable—cutting his losses on irretrievable D-rank missions and switching to a new model of revenue generation. But even that couldn't compare with what Kirigakure had pulled off.
Konoha had deep foundations, but they'd been forced to play catch-up. They copied every one of Kirigakure's business models, slapped a "Made in Fire Country" label on them, and slowly clawed back the market that Kirigakure had taken while they were distracted.
"Minato Namikaze…"
An undeniably formidable opponent.
Yagura rose from his seat and stretched, glancing westward through the window, toward Konoha.
"Jiraiya, you're not willing to kill Yahiko and the others. That means there's only one person left who can solve this problem—your fourth student, the one who became Hokage."
The most outstanding of them all.
In front of Minato Namikaze, no one else could truly be called a genius.
...
After leaving the Land of Rain, Jiraiya returned directly to Konoha.
As one of the Legendary Sannin, he encountered no resistance and was waved through every checkpoint straight into the Hokage's office, where he met his student—Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
They hadn't even finished three cups of tea when Jiraiya got straight to the point, laying out everything that had happened in the Land of Rain, including the situation with his three former students.
"The Rinnegan, huh… So that's what's got you so shaken."
Minato immediately understood. His eyes darkened with concern.
While Jiraiya had focused on describing Yahiko, Konan, Nagato, and the implications of the Rinnegan, Minato had picked up on another key detail—one Jiraiya had only mentioned in passing.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
"So it's the Mizukage again…"
Since assuming the role of Hokage, Minato had been juggling four major responsibilities:
Domestically, the post-war recovery efforts following the Third Great Ninja War, and the power struggle with Danzō, the Konoha Elders, and even Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Externally, constant provocations from the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure—not just militarily, but diplomatically and economically—and an unprecedented economic infiltration from Yagura and Kirigakure.
Among them, the internal political battles were the most frustrating. These were Konoha's own people he was up against, and the power struggle affected every other area of his work.
Even being able to implement Kirigakure-style projects was only possible because the Elders had seen themselves missing out on the benefits and begrudgingly agreed.
"So you met the Mizukage, huh?" Minato said with a note of regret. "I'd like to meet him myself someday, but all my diplomatic invitations have been rejected."
Jiraiya frowned. "That kid… not someone to take lightly."
Minato nodded. "I understand that much already."
After the war, Kirigakure had revealed its true strength.
The village had reinstated the bloodline clans it once suppressed, introduced a new generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and was shedding its "Bloody Mist" reputation in favor of one that emphasized raw power.
And it was expanding its forces nonstop.
"Jiraiya-sensei, you don't need to worry too much about the Akatsuki."
Minato had already honed in on the key issue.
"From what you've said, they are like you—ninjas who believe in peace."
He saw through Hanzō's trap for what it was. If Yahiko had fallen for it, it only confirmed the kind of man Hanzō was.
"Konoha has both you and me," Minato said calmly. "Surely they won't be against maintaining peace with Konoha, right?"
Jiraiya's eyes lit up.
Right. How had he forgotten Yahiko's ideals?
He'd panicked—so overwhelmed by the standard political patterns of nations on the continent that he'd assumed an alliance with Kirigakure meant Rain would become an enemy.
"You're right."
Jiraiya exhaled deeply and looked at Minato with clear approval, inwardly smug: As expected of my student!
...
Yahiko was alive again.
And the one most rattled by this wasn't Hanzō or Danzō—it was Uchiha Obito.
Sitting alone in the underground hideout, Obito's face was grim.
Nagato had gotten his idealistic friend—his guiding light—back. There was no way he'd ever turn to Obito now.
And without the Rinnegan's power, Obito alone couldn't hope to capture all the tailed beasts.
He couldn't even defeat the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.
Danzō and Hanzō—those so-called titans—couldn't even manage to kill one Yahiko!
And Obito himself? He couldn't assassinate Yahiko personally. If he did, Nagato would turn on him first.
Jiraiya! Kakuzu!
Nagato had gotten lucky—he hadn't really lost Yahiko. Their old master Jiraiya had even come back to save them!
And Yahiko—Yahiko was luckier still. He had literally come back from the dead.
These two carried something Obito didn't—good fortune.
It would be a long time before another chance like this would come. Obito was completely thrown off.
Two major failures back-to-back.
And this was just the beginning.
With a Kamui distortion, he vanished from the underground base...
...and reappeared outside the Akatsuki's hideout in the Rain Village.
In the rain, from afar, Obito watched and listened to Yahiko and Nagato inside the compound.
They had suffered the same kind of despair—so why were they so different from him?
When Rin and Kakashi were surrounded by Iwa-nin… when Rin threw herself into Kakashi's Chidori…
Why had no one come to save her?
Where was their team leader then?
Where was the so-called Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze?!
...
"Wow, Kushina, your belly's really big now."
"It's been eight months—of course it is!"
Obito snapped back to reality. He was in Konoha again, watching from a distance as Kushina Uzumaki chatted with Uchiha Mikoto on the street.
Mikoto held a baby that looked just like her.
"Come on, Sasuke, say hi!"
Kushina cooed, "Aww, he's adorable!"
As Mikoto brought Sasuke close to Kushina, the baby seemed to sense something—and immediately burst into loud sobs.
"Wah! Wah!!"
"Ahh! What's wrong, Sasuke?" Mikoto quickly pulled him back. "Don't cry, don't cry…"
Obito could use Kamui's space-time transfer to bypass the village's sensory defenses—slipping into the heart of Konoha unnoticed.
But his presence was too distinct. It wasn't long before a patrolling Uchiha noticed him.
"Who's there?!"
Obito turned around. His gaze—dead, bitter, hateful—swept over the fellow Uchiha, paralyzing the man with terror.
Without a word, he activated Kamui again and vanished from Konoha.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
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