In the hot spring bath, Hyūga Shinichi, Uchiha Shisui, and the others successively stepped into the water.
Shinichi quickly scanned Jiraiya's body and noticed several sword wounds on his shoulder and chest. The wounds were deep, but they had already scabbed over, indicating they were quite old.
Shinichi's voice caused Jiraiya, who had been enjoying the hot spring with his eyes closed, to snap them open. Seeing Shinichi, Shisui, and the others not far away, Jiraiya's face registered surprise.
However, Jiraiya quickly regained his composure. Wiping the sweat from his face with a towel, he asked:
"What are you doing here?"
"Did Minato send you to find me? Or is there some other mission that requires the help of the great Jiraiya-sama?"
Jiraiya did not believe that Hyūga Shinichi's appearance here was an accident. A Main Family member like Shinichi would not easily undertake missions, let alone leave the Land of Fire for the Land of Hot Water. If it weren't for something important, he would absolutely not appear in a place like this.
"Jiraiya-sama, before I answer your question, could you tell me about the injuries on your body?"
"Did you fight Orochimaru?"
Shinichi and Jiraiya actually had a relatively close relationship, though it was nowhere near the depth of the bond between Minato and Jiraiya; there was always a layer of separation between them. Nevertheless, through Kushina, Hyūga Shinichi was essentially Jiraiya's "grand-disciple," and Shinichi felt no need to mince words with him.
Orochimaru... just mentioning the name caused an uncontrollable look of sadness to surface on Jiraiya's face.
Just as Shinichi suspected, the wounds on his body were inflicted by Orochimaru. He had successfully tracked Orochimaru down and attempted to bring him back to Konoha, leading to a battle between the two.
The outcome was obvious: facing a powerhouse of Orochimaru's caliber, Jiraiya had no time to enter Sage Mode, and without using his Senjutsu, he was no match for Orochimaru, who was adept at forbidden jutsu.
Though Orochimaru defeated Jiraiya, the Konoha missing-nin hadn't ultimately become completely heartless. Facing his closest comrade from the past, Orochimaru merely defeated him but couldn't bring himself to kill him. Therefore, while Jiraiya sustained some injuries, his life was not in danger.
Failing to stop Orochimaru left Jiraiya somewhat disheartened and dejected. Visiting the pleasure quarters was partly for "research" and partly to soothe his "wounded" spirit. Unfortunately, Jiraiya seemed to have forgotten that he had lent all his cash to Tsunade for gambling a few days prior, and his inability to pay for the "services" had created quite the embarrassing scene.
However, it was precisely through Jiraiya's "misstep" that Shinichi's team obtained the clue to locate him. After a period of travel, they finally found Jiraiya in this town.
Hearing Shinichi mention Orochimaru, Jiraiya smiled self-mockingly after a moment of melancholy, then asked Shinichi:
"What, did you travel all the way to the Land of Hot Water just to mock me?"
"Or... does the village think I'm such a disgrace as a Sannin that they sent you youngsters to help me capture Orochimaru?"
Jiraiya spoke with a hint of resentment. Orochimaru had been a missing-nin for so long, and the village had remained completely indifferent.
The Third Hokage, as Orochimaru's master, not only failed to stop him initially but also showed no reaction after Orochimaru's defection. Konoha's actions seemed to abandon Orochimaru completely.
Even if Jiraiya knew the village's decision was strategically sound, he felt the town was acting "dishonorably." After all, Orochimaru was a Sannin who had rendered great service to the village. For such a ninja to defect and the town not even attempt to salvage the situation was heart-chilling.
In Jiraiya's subconscious, the value of those Konoha ninja killed by Orochimaru simply could not compare to that of Orochimaru himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't have insisted on trying to bring Orochimaru back to Konoha. Jiraiya always believed there was still room for reconciliation between Orochimaru and the village.
In reality, as long as the Third or Fourth Hokage sat in the Kage seat, they could never allow Orochimaru to remain in the village. Otherwise, how could they account for their actions to the victims' families? How could their position as Hokage remain secure?
This was completely different from Uchiha Sasuke later on. Sasuke defected as a youth, but the people he killed were either the Konoha missing-nin Orochimaru, the usurper Danzō, or even Itachi, who was widely considered a Konoha missing-nin.
Sasuke had the possibility of returning to the village, but Orochimaru, who attacked innocent comrades in the village, did not.
Jiraiya ultimately failed to grasp this, whereas Orochimaru clearly understood his own actions. His decisive harshness toward Jiraiya was also because he didn't want his comrade to be stained by his own "infamy." At the same time, Jiraiya was protective of Orochimaru, which is why he was somewhat guarded when he saw Shinichi and the others.
In this world, besides Shinichi himself, the people who understood him best were probably his nominal master, Kushina, and Jiraiya, standing right before him.
Since Orochimaru's defection, Jiraiya had spent most of his energy tracking Orochimaru, but he still used the toads to keep an eye on Kushina's training progress. When Kushina successfully mastered Senjutsu and "left seclusion," Jiraiya also knew who had been constantly sparring with her.
In Jiraiya's eyes, Hyūga Shinichi was not just a simple Hyūga brat, but a terrifying individual whose taijutsu was strong enough to rival Kushina in Sage Mode. Such a powerhouse leading an Uchiha and other village elites to this location was highly likely a unit assembled to pursue Orochimaru.
Hyūga Shinichi sensed Jiraiya's defensive posture and, after a brief thought, knew how he should answer Jiraiya:
"Our squad's target isn't Orochimaru. He is one of the Legendary Sannin; sending us young people to pursue him? That's giving us too much credit."
"We are investigating a mysterious organization. We thought that Jiraiya-sama, with your extensive sources of intelligence, might have information about this mysterious organization, so we specifically came to consult you."
"As for Orochimaru... whether he's related to our mission is another matter."
Hearing Shinichi's words, Jiraiya vaguely understood the purpose of their visit. However, Jiraiya didn't completely trust Shinichi's explanation, even though he was his grand-disciple and a fellow Konoha ninja. In fact, to Jiraiya, Shinichi's words sounded like confirmation that Orochimaru was involved in the organization they were seeking.
"A mysterious organization?!"
Connecting Shinichi's team's objective with Orochimaru, Jiraiya suddenly remembered that the last time he encountered and fought Orochimaru, Orochimaru's attire was strange, and he wore a ring, something he had never done before.
At the time, Jiraiya didn't notice anything amiss and even joked that Orochimaru's style had become flashy after becoming a missing-nin.
Now, upon careful reflection, that strange attire, that mysterious ring inscribed with the character '空' (Void/Sky)... All of this seemed to confirm that Orochimaru had joined some organization!
Thinking this, Jiraiya couldn't help but frown slightly.
Shinichi watched Jiraiya's expression closely, and this subtle change in emotion was naturally captured by Shinichi. However, Shinichi did not intend to press the issue yet and continued speaking:
"Yes, we are investigating a mysterious organization."
"This mysterious organization is attempting to raise a huge amount of capital and previously attacked many underground Bounty Stations within the Land of Fire."
"During my investigation, I fought members of this organization. The enemy's attire was quite striking: black robes embroidered with prominent red cloud patterns."
"I killed a missing-nin from Sand named Sasori and a missing-nin from Waterfall named Kakuzu escaped. The one who covered his retreat was a mysterious person, all dressed in white."
"That person also attacked the village during the time Kushina-sensei was giving birth."
Hyūga Shinichi was selective with the information he revealed, considering Kakashi's presence. Kakashi might appear calm and composed, but that was only on the surface; his heart was as passionate as Jiraiya's. If he knew that Uchiha Obito was still alive and had once attacked Konoha, posing a threat to the village, it was hard to imagine what he might do.
Hyūga Shinichi spoke vaguely, but Jiraiya, who knew the truth of the incident years ago, understood exactly what Shinichi was referring to. When he heard Shinichi describe the characteristics of the mysterious organization's attire, his expression clearly froze.
It matched....
Orochimaru's appearance was identical to the mysterious organization described by Hyūga Shinichi. The red cloud patterns... such "eccentric attire" was too distinct to be a case of "coincidence."
Undoubtedly, Orochimaru had joined that organization.
Furthermore, hearing Shinichi state that the organization's members were either missing-nin from Sand or Waterfall, combined with Orochimaru's status as a missing-nin, Jiraiya was now certain that Orochimaru had a close relationship with the organization Shinichi was investigating.
Jiraiya's initial intention was to protect Orochimaru and not disclose any information about him to the formidable Hyūga Shinichi.
But now... Jiraiya changed his mind.
The mysterious organization Shinichi spoke of was involved in the Nine-Tails attack years ago, which touched Jiraiya's bottom line. Even his old comrade Orochimaru was not more important than the safety of the village.
As a student of the Third Hokage, it was obvious that Jiraiya was a person who carried the "Will of Fire." What? Did you think the Will of Fire was to protect the village's future and the children known as the "jewels"? Wrong.
The Will of Fire was to protect the village, meaning the village was more important than everything else! Otherwise, so many "child" ninja would not have been sent to the battlefield during the Third Great Ninja War. This was due to the village's desperation, but it was also a manifestation of the "Will of Fire."
"Orochimaru... is probably a member of the mysterious organization you speak of."
After a long silence, Jiraiya poured more sake into his cup and said in a deep voice. Hearing this, Shisui, Guy, and Kakashi all focused their gaze on Jiraiya. Hyūga Shinichi, however, showed no surprise, resting his hands flat on the rock edge of the bath, waiting for Jiraiya to continue.
"Two months ago, I tracked Orochimaru to a secret base in the Land of Grass, and it was there that a battle broke out between us."
"Orochimaru's attire was very strange then, unlike his usual style. I thought it was just a temporary change in fashion..."
"Black robes embroidered with red cloud patterns. That must be the uniform of that organization..."
"After the defeat, I returned to the Land of Hot Water, and I haven't seen Orochimaru since."
Jiraiya's tone was heavy. When mentioning his defeat, he showed not shame, but regret.
"Two months ago, huh..."
"His experiment base shouldn't be easily abandoned. Although you found it, given Orochimaru's pride, he probably wouldn't give up his secret base just like that."
"After all, the base is in the Land of Grass, not within the Land of Fire, so he doesn't need to worry too much about encirclement and suppression from Konoha."
The Land of Grass was Orochimaru's main base, which is why Shinichi made this assumption. Moreover... to put it bluntly, Orochimaru probably didn't see Jiraiya as a serious threat. He wouldn't be overly wary of this easily defeated comrade, or rather, Orochimaru already understood Jiraiya's personality and knew what kind of person he was.
"Take us to find Orochimaru."
"Jiraiya-sama, this is extremely important for us and for the village."
Shinichi felt that using Orochimaru as an entry point to find Akatsuki would be a good choice. Given Orochimaru's personality, leaving Akatsuki was only a matter of time. He was an experiment fanatic, and Akatsuki was a war machine; fundamentally, they were on different paths.
Orochimaru joined Akatsuki partly because he lacked security after becoming a missing-nin, using the organization to accumulate funds to establish his experiment bases.
Once he cultivated enough trustworthy subordinates and established the Village Hidden in the Sound, firmly controlling the Land of Grass, he would naturally kick Akatsuki aside. At that time, Akatsuki would become a nuisance to Orochimaru, and he likely wouldn't mind letting Konoha and Akatsuki fight each other.
Shinichi could somewhat guess Orochimaru's intentions, and precisely because of this, Shinichi felt that Orochimaru was valuable for cooperation.
From a macro perspective, Orochimaru would not affect the Hyūga clan's survival, but Akatsuki would. It was clear who should be prioritized for elimination. As long as Shinichi wanted to avoid Konoha being destroyed, eliminating Akatsuki was the top priority!
Unfortunately, he arrived in this world too late. By the time he grew strong enough to change things, some things were already irreversible.
After Yahiko's death, the direction of Akatsuki was completely skewed by Uchiha Obito, and Shinichi was not Naruto. He didn't believe his talk-no-jutsu could change Nagato's mind. The only thing that could change the outcome was Shinichi's fist!
"You all must have just arrived in the Land of Hot Water, right?"
"Rest for two days. Once you are well-rested, I'll take you there."
"You should adjust your condition to the best possible state before facing Orochimaru, shouldn't you?"
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