Chapter 239: All Ninja Clans Deserve to Die
The Rasengan in Jiraiya's hand dissipated instantly. His body tumbled heavily through the air.
Even as he fell, he forced himself to twist around. Through blurring vision, he glimpsed another familiar Edo Tensei body being blasted apart by the Two Toad Sages' combined jutsu.
That face—identical to the one carved on the Hokage Monument—was reassembling itself amid fluttering paper fragments. Like the First, his eyes were vacant and expressionless.
Jiraiya managed a weak murmur before crashing hard into the ground. The already grievous wound tore wider upon impact. Blood erupted from his chest like a fountain.
"Little Jiraiya!"
Both Toad Sages scrambled frantically to cover his wound, attempting to heal him with sage techniques.
But Mount Myoboku's sage arts weren't specialized for healing like Shikkotsu Forest's. They couldn't possibly repair Jiraiya's shattered heart—at best, they could briefly sustain his fading life for a few more moments.
"Hahaha..." Mizuki burst into triumphant laughter from across the field. "Lord Jiraiya, this method of completely controlling Edo Tensei bodies does limit each person to controlling only one at a time."
"But surely you didn't think I was the only one here who knew Edo Tensei?"
"Lord Kazuma already said it—we're normalizing forbidden techniques from now on. Naturally, the more people who master them, the better!"
"Of course, among those of us who practice Edo Tensei, those most trusted by Lord Kazuma control the stronger bodies."
"A shinobi as powerful as the First Hokage? Naturally, Lord Kazuma controls him personally. The one I control is actually the Second Hokage—Lord Tobirama!"
"We marked Lord Hashirama's Edo Tensei body with the Flying Thunder God seal beforehand, then had Lord Hashirama block your path."
"The moment you passed through Lord Hashirama's body, I had Lord Tobirama teleport over and blindside you."
"Lord Tobirama truly deserves his reputation as the Second Hokage. That blade strike was perfectly steady and precise—one blow, one kill."
"Well? Quite an impressive tactic, wouldn't you say?"
"I thought of it myself!"
"Ahahahaha... Who would have imagined? One of the legendary Sannin, the great 'Toad Sage' Jiraiya—dying at the hands of a nobody like me, Mizuki."
"I'm truly honored!"
Mizuki's excitement had reached a fever pitch. His entire being trembled with exhilaration. The affable mask he usually wore twisted and contorted, revealing the madness beneath.
He glanced toward Kazuma and the others in the distance. Confirming they were too far away to hear, he lowered his voice to a vicious hiss:
"Back when I graduated from the Academy, I only knew a handful of common jutsu."
"Those despicable ninja clans hoarded all the jutsu resources, refusing to let us bottom-tier civilian shinobi learn anything worthwhile."
"If I wanted to learn advanced techniques, I had to complete missions and earn merit—only then could I exchange achievements for jutsu from the village."
"But some people, just because they were born into ninja clans, could learn whatever they wanted. From birth, they already stood at a finish line I could never hope to reach."
"Do you have any idea how jealous I was back then?"
"But thank the heavens!"
"An accident happened. The village was destroyed."
"Trash like us at the bottom finally had the chance to trade our lives for access to more powerful jutsu."
"But I wasn't satisfied. Why should I be?"
"Why should I sell my life for those black-hearted ninja clans and village elites?"
"Just for a few measly B-rank or A-rank techniques?"
"So I pledged myself to... the right person!"
"Look at me now—I have everything!"
"S-rank jutsu? I learn whatever I want!"
"The Scroll of Seals? I read it whenever I please!"
"I didn't need to complete a single mission, and jonin status just fell into my lap."
"Power, prestige, position... everything I ever wanted, I now have it all!"
"Even you—the once-untouchable 'Legendary Sannin,' the Fifth Hokage himself—are dying by my hand!"
"Hahahaha... This is truly exhilarating!"
Jiraiya lay on the ground, feeling his life force drain away through the gaping wound in his chest.
He stared in horror at the raving Mizuki before him, keenly detecting something in those words that made his heart seize with dread.
"You... you hate the ninja clans and village leadership..."
"Of course I hate them." Mizuki made no attempt to hide it, laughing softly. "Konoha Village was ruined by those people. My family died because of them."
"All ninja clans deserve to die!"
"All the elites deserve to die!"
"Jiraiya, I'll be honest with you—you're a good man. Perhaps if you'd become Hokage years earlier, I wouldn't have turned out this way."
"But unfortunately, it's too late for any of that now."
"Konoha Village is rotten to the core. Beyond saving."
"Anyone who tries to save this village will end up just like you—dead in the most miserable way."
After these melancholy remarks, Mizuki reverted to his usual false persona, smiling pleasantly:
"Lord Jiraiya, rest assured—I'll send those ninja clans down to keep you company very soon."
"And don't expect these toads to spread word of what happened. I'm Lord Kazuma's trusted confidant. Do you think those people will believe me, or believe you and a couple of toads?"
"Most likely they'll assume these toads want revenge for you and are deliberately slandering me."
"Besides, even if they learned the truth, I wouldn't care."
"As long as I cling tightly to Lord Kazuma's coattails, what can they possibly do to me even if they know the truth?"
Watching Mizuki's smug expression, hearing his contemptuous dismissal of the ninja clans, Jiraiya felt ice spread through his veins.
"You... you can't..." Jiraiya coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, barely able to form words.
But for the sake of the village he'd sworn to protect, he still struggled to raise his head, turning pleading eyes toward Mizuki.
"Please... the village..."
"Heh..." Mizuki snorted coldly, slowly turning away. "Just look at yourself if you want to know Konoha Village's fate. Their ending is already written. They chose this path themselves. They have no one else to blame."
Watching his beloved village reduced to this state, Jiraiya's heart shattered. He vomited a massive spray of blood and finally couldn't hold on any longer. His consciousness began slipping away.
The world gradually lost its color. He dimly heard the Toad Sages' weeping, and Mizuki's triumphant laughter.
Through the haze of fading awareness, he seemed to see those departed loved ones and comrades, now waving to him from beyond.
Sarutobi-sensei, Tsunade, Minato, Dan...
In the final moment before eternal darkness claimed him, Jiraiya's thoughts drifted to the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.
"What a shame... I never found that Child of Prophecy destined to save the world..."
The thought flickered and vanished.
Jiraiya had taken his final bow.