"Stop right there—!!!"
Just as Naruto realized the truth hidden within Orochimaru's corpse, a panicked Jiraiya came sprinting out from Training Ground Three without stopping for a breath. Ignoring his pounding heart and the burning in his lungs, he instinctively raised his hand in the direction he had sensed the Nine-Tails' chakra erupting from and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"You bastard, Orochimaru! Don't you dare! If you so much as lay a finger on that kid, I'll… I'll… I'll—huh?"
But as Jiraiya caught his breath and focused his gaze, all he could see was the bizarre expression on Naruto's face—somewhere between a laugh and a cry. No matter how he examined him, Naruto didn't seem to have suffered a single injury. What's more, the familiar, emotionless figure he'd expected to find was nowhere in sight. If not for the craters and scorch marks left behind by the earlier clash between the Tailed Beast Bomb and the Rashomon, Jiraiya might've even started to think the whole Nine-Tails outburst had just been some prank Naruto pulled.
'What the… Where did… Where did Orochimaru go? I could've sworn I felt that bastard's chakra here just moments ago…'
Seeing both Naruto and Sasuke completely unharmed, and having found nothing even after thorough searching, Jiraiya became convinced that the threat of Orochimaru's invasion had quietly resolved itself. Even so, he couldn't help but scratch his head in confusion as he slowly relaxed his stance.
Then, his gaze drifted to the blackened corpse lying stiffly on the ground behind Naruto. The clear signs of a fierce battle and the charred remains sparked a wild yet oddly plausible thought in his mind.
"Don't tell me… you kids actually took that guy down?!"
"...Uh… cough cough... I mean, you could say that, but also… not exactly…"
Noticing Jiraiya's exaggerated expression—his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets—Naruto stammered out a vague response while instinctively covering his poor butt with both hands, as if afraid his earlier theory had come true. To cover his awkwardness, he casually took a step to the side and waved his hand, summoning a gentle breeze to blow the ashes off the corpse's face, revealing the true identity of the unlucky sacrifice Orochimaru had used for his Living Sacrifice Clone.
Of course, under Naruto's precise control, the wind only cleared the ash from the corpse's face, allowing Jiraiya to see it wasn't his old friend Orochimaru, while cleverly keeping the rest of the body covered—particularly the Akatsuki robe, which had been reduced to burnt charcoal. No matter how sharp Jiraiya's eyes were, he wouldn't be able to recognize the signature black-and-red cloud uniform like this.
"We did run into Orochimaru, and yeah, we managed to… cough defeat him. But from the looks of it, I think what we beat was just some kind of clone—one that inherited a portion of his power through a secret technique."
As Naruto explained as simply as he could, he deliberately withheld any mention of the Living Sacrifice Clone's true nature, especially the fact that it could mimic Orochimaru's chakra and consciousness so perfectly due to the Rinnegan. Instead, he brushed it off as just a guess based on what they saw.
Not because he didn't trust Jiraiya—he did. But...
'Who knows what would happen if I told him the clone technique is tied to the Rinnegan? This idiot might instantly think of his three disciples in the Hidden Rain Village and charge into the Akatsuki's base alone like in the original story… and die!'
That was no joke. Knowing Jiraiya's personality, the odds of him doing exactly that were terrifyingly high. Naruto had to use four tails of the Nine-Tails' power just to deal with this incomplete version of Orochimaru. If Jiraiya ran into the real thing, surrounded by danger at every corner, he'd be dead for sure. With that thought in mind, Naruto firmly decided he would never reveal this information—not about the technique, not about the Akatsuki, and especially not now.
"...Is that so? But Naruto…"
Having confirmed from the stranger's ordinary face that the deceased wasn't his old friend, Jiraiya felt a complicated mix of relief and worry. Relief that the guy was still alive somewhere, but dread that with his vengeful personality, Orochimaru would surely come after Naruto again. There was also something gnawing at him… a vague feeling that Naruto was hiding something important. But just as he was about to question him again, he saw Naruto's expression.
No lies. No jokes. Just a serious look on his face, brows furrowed, and deep, pleading blue eyes.
"I promise… When the time is right, I'll explain everything. But for now… please don't ask, Grandpa Jiraiya."
It was only then that Jiraiya realized… he didn't truly understand this kid at all.
Sure, when Naruto killed Danzo, it could be chalked up to inheriting the courage of his parents. And his ability to train and help others at the same time could be seen as natural talent.
But now?
Even if it was just a clone, it had Orochimaru's memories, his personality, and even his ruthlessness—evident from how not even the victim's face was spared. And yet, Naruto and Sasuke defeated him with little real battle experience…
That couldn't be a coincidence.
'Maybe… maybe he's not just Minato and Kushina's son… Just how many secrets are you hiding, Naruto…?'
'The Great Toad Sage once said… "My student will either bring peace to the world—or destroy it." If, over the past year, this boy has truly become my student… then which path will he walk?'
Muttering to himself, Jiraiya glanced again at the boy who had just saved the day so effortlessly, yet stood there nervously, not knowing where to put his hands or feet under Jiraiya's intense gaze. In the end, emotion won out over reason. The guilt from not being there for Naruto—leaving him to face the villagers' ridicule alone for three years—pushed Jiraiya to make his choice.
He smiled, then raised his fist gently in reassurance.
"...Alright. Like you said—let's make a promise, just between us old men. I'll wait until you're ready to tell me the truth yourself, Naruto."
"...Yeah! It's a promise, believe it!"
Just like always, Naruto earned Jiraiya's unconditional trust without fail. And though he felt guilty for hiding the truth, though he nearly caved under the pressure of Jiraiya's gaze… he held it in. He had to. Revealing everything too early could mess up the timeline even more. And above all, he couldn't let Jiraiya walk to his death like in the original story.
So he clenched his teeth, pushed away the weight on his face, and grinned again.
Then raised his fist to bump Jiraiya's.
"Absolutely!"
In that moment, with the bump of a fist, Naruto discreetly left behind a small, unnoticeable sealing formula on Jiraiya's hand.
And in just a few seconds, the mark faded—disappearing without a trace, as if it had never existed at all.