Chapter 21: The Mysterious Girl
Jiraiya and the girl walked, one in front of the other. He deliberately made his steps a bit frantic, as if he were rushing, afraid of being left behind.
He had barely taken two steps when the girl's voice came from ahead: "Keep up. I'm not responsible if you step on a trap."
"Oh, right, right!" Jiraiya, in character, quickly scrambled to catch up.
After a few more steps, the girl spoke again. "You don't come here often, do you."
Jiraiya had just formulated an excuse and was about to reply, but the girl started explaining on her own.
She casually pointed to a closed door. "This room is Otogakure's selection room, but it hasn't been used in a long time."
"Lord Orochimaru used to bring talented children here to 'practice,'" the girl's voice suddenly became distant, as if lost in a memory. "He'd make them kill each other. Only the ones who survived were qualified to become true Oto-nin."
"Later... fewer and fewer children made it this far, so it was abandoned."
Her tone was terrifyingly calm, without a single ripple, as if she were commenting on the weather.
Killing each other? That's Orochimaru's style, alright.
Jiraiya knew his former teammate all too well: he would use any means to achieve his goals.
A simple deathmatch was a fast way to filter out those most suited to be shinobi.
Low cost, low effort. The only drawback was that it was rather costly in terms of manpower.
The girl didn't seem to expect a response. She dropped her hand and continued walking.
"Behind this door," she suddenly stopped in front of a cracked wooden door, "was where Lord Orochimaru's most prized experiment was once kept."
"It was very lively here when that experiment was around."
She glanced back at Jiraiya, a strange, unreadable smile on her lips. "But later, that thing vanished. It's so quiet now, I'm still not used to it."
"Vanished?" Jiraiya couldn't help but ask.
He had to know what this "most prized experiment" was, and why it had vanished.
But the girl didn't answer. She just looked away, turned, and kept walking, leaving him with a light, airy comment: "Who knows? Maybe it escaped. Or maybe Lord Orochimaru disposed of it."
Since the girl didn't answer, Jiraiya could only follow, but his mind was racing over this "most prized experiment."
Escaped? Or disposed of?
If the former, just how dangerous was this experiment that it could escape from Orochimaru's base?
If the latter, what could have possibly made Orochimaru willing to destroy his "most prized experiment"?
The girl continued to lead Jiraiya deeper into the underground base.
The corridor went deeper, the air growing more damp and cold. The candlelight on the walls flickered, twisting their shadows into grotesque shapes.
"We're here."
The girl suddenly stopped in front of a metal door.
This door was different from all the others. It was covered in a dense array of sealing formulas.
She reached out, turned the handle, and with a soft click, the heavily sealed metal door swung open as if it were a normal room.
"Come in. There's no one else here."
Jiraiya's mind was spinning. Why could this seemingly ordinary girl open such a highly classified room so easily?
Her emphasis on "no one else here"... what was she implying? Was it a test? An invitation? Or a trap?
Countless questions flooded his mind, but he couldn't back down now.
If he refused, his entire cover would be blown, and his identity exposed.
He took a deep breath and followed the girl into the room.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the sight before him made him freeze.
The room held none of the experimental equipment, glass vats, or piled-up scrolls and reagents he expected. There was only a simple desk in the center, not a speck of dust on it, holding only a wooden pen cup and an open notebook.
Beside the desk was a simple wooden chair. In the corner, a small bookshelf held a few scattered books, their covers heavily worn with age.
The girl walked behind the desk and sat down. She pointed to the chair opposite her. "Don't just stand there. Sit."
Jiraiya feigned nervousness, bowing slightly. "Ma'am, you still haven't told me what you need me to do."
The girl didn't answer right away. She took a scroll from the drawer, her gaze thoughtful as she looked at its contents.
"Did you know?" she asked suddenly. "Lord Orochimaru has recently become very interested in... memories."
Memories? Jiraiya's heart skipped.
What's this? Is the chef suddenly reading a war manual instead of a cookbook?
"Especially memories that shouldn't exist, but are terrifyingly real," she continued. "For example... things about the future."
Her gaze suddenly lifted, staring straight into the Oto-nin's eyes—or rather, straight at Jiraiya, hidden in the shadows.
"Do you think... something like that is possible?"
Jiraiya's nerves screamed, but he forced a reply: "Memories of the future? That's just something from a third-rate novel. Why would Lord Orochimaru believe in something like that?"
"Oh? Just a plot from a third-rate novel, you say?" The girl's tongue suddenly snaked out of her mouth, licking the side of her nose.
The tongue was unnaturally long, flexible as a serpent's.
"But what if something that even a third-rate novelist like you finds unbelievable... actually happened?"
"For example, what if someone remembered their future suffering? What if someone suddenly knew who the world's future savior would be? And what if... someone knew for a fact that Konoha was about to face a devastating attack."
"If all of that were true... what should that person do? Should they sit back and let it happen? Or should they take action... to influence, or even change, the world as it was meant to be?"
As the girl's tone grew heavier with each word, Jiraiya's heart began to pound.
What was this girl getting at? He had no idea, but he had to answer.
"You shouldn't be asking me about things like that. I'm just a simple, ordinary ninja."
"Something as big as the future... only a great man like Lord Orochimaru can decide that. I... I wouldn't even dare to think about it."
Hearing his answer, the girl let out a soft laugh.
She walked around the desk, placing a hand on the "Oto-nin's" shoulder. "If you're just an 'ordinary person'... then I suppose I can't really be 'Lord Orochimaru,' can I?"
"Right... Jiraiya?"