Atop the First Hokage's stone face, the man in the black cloak slowly stood up. After scanning Konoha one last time, he vanished in a flicker.
Even someone like him dared not linger in Konoha for too long.
Though the First and Second Hokage were no longer alive, the village still had many powerful shinobi among its various clans. Of course, even if the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, were included, none of them were worthy of the cloaked man's attention.
None—except for one kunoichi whom even he had to be cautious of.
That was Uzumaki Mito, wife of the First Hokage.
Mito possessed extraordinarily powerful sensory abilities. If she were to detect his chakra, all of his meticulous planning would come to nothing.
Back at the Sarutobi household, Biwako had prepared a delicious meal for Jiraiya and the others. Though the era lacked the abundance of later times, the food had a unique charm.
It had been a long time since Jiraiya had tasted such flavors.
Throughout the meal, he occasionally gave Tsunade pleading glances, silently begging her not to tell Biwako what had happened earlier at the 7th Training Ground.
Naturally, Tsunade ignored him. Still, as a young girl, she didn't know how to bring up something like that with Biwako either, so in the end, she said nothing.
As a fellow ninja, Biwako certainly noticed their odd expressions. But she seemed to think it was because they had just become genin and were feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness.
When they left the Sarutobi home, Biwako even offered them warm words of encouragement in a gentle tone.
Afterward, Jiraiya waved goodbye to Tsunade and Orochimaru, but neither of them responded—instead, they quickly ran off.
Jiraiya knew they had gone to train. Their encounter with Hiruzen earlier had made them deeply aware of just how vast the gap was between themselves and a truly powerful ninja.
They were proud and ambitious. Though still weak now, both of them had strong convictions to become stronger.
As for Jiraiya, he leisurely walked away from the Sarutobi compound with his hands behind his head. It wasn't that he was slacking off—he simply knew the most efficient way for himself to become stronger.
Hard training was necessary, yes—but it didn't need to happen this very second.
He glanced once more at the now-closed gate of Hiruzen's home, recalling the image of Lady Biwako seeing them off with a warm smile.
And then, Jiraiya found himself thinking about the distant future of that older woman, once strict and even a bit harsh.
"When did Lady Biwako start to change into who she became later? Time is…"
He sighed with emotion. Being the Hokage's wife wasn't easy. Over time, even a person's personality could be completely reshaped.
The same was true for Hiruzen. For everyone.
Jiraiya chuckled to himself. After a while, he quickened his pace, heading for a wooded area on the outskirts of Konoha, and began his training.
By dusk, the forest was dim, and Jiraiya was breathing heavily, having completed his entire training regimen.
He had worked on physical conditioning, reflex development, and ninjutsu practice.
As one of the future Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, of course, possessed knowledge of many advanced jutsu. However, with his current six-year-old body, it was still too early to use most of them effectively.
Even though Jiraiya's chakra reserves were already large for a civilian-born shinobi, they were nowhere near sufficient for the consistent use of high-level jutsu.
So he focused on a few practical B-rank techniques, practicing them just enough to let his body get used to the chakra flow patterns they required.
He didn't need to learn the theory of ninjutsu from scratch—what he needed now was simply physical familiarity.
Lying spread-eagled on the forest floor, Jiraiya smiled and muttered to himself:
"Minato, under these conditions, the jutsu you developed is the most practical…"
With his current chakra capacity, the only high-level technique he could use efficiently was the Rasengan, created by his disciple, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
Among A-rank techniques, the Rasengan had the lowest chakra consumption.
However, in exchange, it was much harder to master than most other A-rank jutsu.
While most A-rank jutsu relied primarily on chakra nature transformation, the Rasengan demanded extreme control over chakra shape transformation.
"Sorry, Minato. Unless something unexpected happens, it looks like your signature jutsu is about to be stolen by your teacher."
Jiraiya said it sheepishly. Truthfully, he still didn't fully understand what had happened to him, nor did he know if he'd remain in this time.
If he were to stay, then without a doubt—armed with his knowledge of shinobi history—the entire course of the world could be drastically altered.
Is history truly fixed?
As someone once foretold by the Great Toad Sage to be the one who would guide the Child of Prophecy and bring great change to the world, Jiraiya deeply understood:
The future is not set in stone.
Just his decision to start practicing the Rasengan was already enough to change the fate of Minato, who wasn't even born yet.
"Judging by what Minato and the others have said, the disappearance of the Senju Clan probably had something to do with Madara…"
Back in the Pure Land, Jiraiya had never met the First Hokage or Uchiha Madara personally. But he had heard about them from Minato and the Nine-Tails during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
He knew that Madara didn't die at the Valley of the End. Not only did he survive, but he even obtained Hashirama's power and has been secretly orchestrating things ever since.
So Jiraiya had every reason to suspect that Madara had a hand in weakening Konoha—and targeting the Senju Clan in particular.
Not because Madara was petty, but because to execute his plan, he needed to reduce the power of the Five Great Nations, especially Konoha.
And at this moment, the Senju Clan was the most vulnerable target.
Upon closer examination, even the Second Hokage's death was suspicious.
As the teacher of the "Yellow Flash," Jiraiya knew just how powerful the Flying Thunder God Technique was. Killing a ninja who had mastered that technique was nearly impossible, let alone someone as powerful as the Second Hokage.
So the fact that Tobirama had been forced into a suicidal stand against the Kinkaku Force was highly questionable.
Even if Tobirama had stayed behind to allow Hiruzen and the others to escape, he still could have escaped himself using the Flying Thunder God.
Kinkaku and his elite troops were formidable, wielding relics left by the Sage of Six Paths—but even they shouldn't have been enough to corner someone like the Second Hokage.
That said, Flying Thunder God wasn't truly invincible. At least one person in history knew how to counter it.
Uchiha Madara.
Because his younger brother, Uchiha Izuna, had died at the hands of Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Technique.
With all these deductions, Jiraiya knew he had to stop Madara somehow. He had considered several plans, like coming clean with Hiruzen and revealing everything he knew.
But that wasn't the only option. Nor was it the best.
After weighing the pros and cons, Jiraiya came up with a better plan.
There was someone in this era who could serve as a counterbalance to Madara.
That person was the wife of the First Hokage, the current jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, Tsunade's grandmother—Lady Uzumaki Mito.
(End of Chapter)