"Back then, when I traveled across the Ninja World with Akihara Kagura and met Nagato and Konan again, Kagura had already completely colluded with the Akatsuki Organization..."
Jiraiya's expression gradually became heavy because what he had to say was quite troublesome: "Over the years, Akihara Kagura has always maintained contact with the Akatsuki Organization, even secretly using his position to interfere with Konoha's investigation into Uchiha Obito and the Akatsuki Organization..."
"..."
Tsunade gasped.
Because this news was quite shocking to her.
Jiraiya glanced at Konan and Nagato in the hospital room and took the initiative to add: "The reason Kagura initially colluded with the Akatsuki Organization was that he wanted the Akatsuki Organization to support him in becoming Hokage, and in return, he would assist them in capturing the Tailed Beasts and concealing their activities..."
"Such a scheme..."
Jiraiya hesitated for a while, then looked in the direction of Salamander Hanzo: "He probably learned from the previous Root Leader, Shimura Danzo..."
"Danzo and Lord Hanzo also had contacts, and Danzo's purpose was to get Lord Hanzo to support him in becoming Hokage, but Lord Hanzo did not agree..."
"Of course..."
"There wasn't much the Akatsuki Organization could do for Akihara Kagura."
"..."
Tsunade's eyelids twitched.
Why are the two generations of Root Leaders from Konoha so troublesome!
The previous Root Leader was always disliked, but this one, rare as it might be, is even more extreme than the last one!
"I have a question..."
Tsunade hesitated for a moment, looked at Jiraiya, and posed a question: "Kagura didn't become Hokage; did he not fall out with the Akatsuki Organization because of it?"
"Because becoming Hokage wasn't his goal in itself."
Jiraiya shook his head, continuing in a somber tone: "The idea of having the Akatsuki Organization secretly support him to become Hokage was merely a pretext for Kagura's collusion with them. His true goal was Nagato's Rinnegan..."
"..."
Tsunade didn't know how to respond.
Though Akihara Kagura's actions were somewhat excessively dark and he even colluded with members of the Akatsuki Organization, if it was to obtain the Rinnegan, it might not be utterly unacceptable...
Root, after all...
Always involved in the dirty work...
Moreover, Akihara Kagura had been actively pushing for the investigation into the Akatsuki Organization and Uchiha Obito in Konoha, even repeatedly proposing at the Five Kage Conference that the former Hokages should kill Uchiha Obito.
Tsunade frowned, raising another doubt: "All this while, Kagura has always been adamant in front of me about pursuing the Akatsuki Organization and Uchiha Obito at all costs..."
"Yet, none of those efforts were successful, right?"
Jiraiya looked at Nagato and Konan again, answering the question: "Because Nagato and Uchiha Obito always demanded that Kagura cancel Konoha's actions, so the pursuit by the former Hokages was always intermittent..."
"Furthermore..."
"No matter what he did, no one would suspect his collusion with the Akatsuki Organization or suspect he had private contact with Uchiha Obito."
"And the purpose of all this..."
"Was to acquire Nagato's Rinnegan."
"And the war weapon that the Rinnegan could control."
"This time, when I went to the Land of Rain to investigate the Akatsuki Hideout, all my movements and actions were within Akihara Kagura's plan..."
Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and spoke somberly: "Kagura used the potential conflict between me and Nagato, using me to gather information on Nagato. He believed I couldn't gather too much information on my own, not even that guy Orochimaru was exploited by him..."
"Orochimaru!"
Tsunade heard a name that should have been dead long ago!
"Yes."
"Akihara Kagura has been colluding with Orochimaru, and he is a spy placed in Konoha by Orochimaru; perhaps he used Orochimaru to get back to Konoha."
Jiraiya spoke of these past events, continuing in a somber tone: "Uchiha Sasuke didn't kill Orochimaru; perhaps it was just a ploy for Orochimaru to escape Konoha's hostility by feigning death..."
"Orochimaru and Akihara Kagura have always had contacts. To cover Nagato and Konan's escape, Orochimaru triggered the trap set by Konan and is currently still missing..."
"Wait..."
The amount of information was a bit much for Tsunade to process.
This Hokage felt the need to take a breather; she rubbed her temples, trying to gather all this information bit by bit.
The Hokage Assistant in the village is Orochimaru's spy?
The one who had been actively pushing for the investigation into the Akatsuki Organization and Uchiha Obito in the village is actually the one most deeply colluding with these enemy ninjas?
"Tsunade..."
"I'm sorry..."
"There's no time to take a breather now..."
Jiraiya shook his head, looking at his somewhat headache-ridden old friend, he could only continue to point out the prickly aspects of the situation: "We escaped Akihara Kagura's pursuit, but this doesn't mean the end of it, the real trouble has just begun..."
"There's no rush to issue a wanted order..."
Tsunade was still rubbing her temples, clearly stating her attitude: "Jiraiya, do you know how much turmoil it would cause in the village if the Hokage Assistant's collusion with the Akatsuki Organization and Orochimaru came to light?"
Frankly speaking...
Most of Konoha's crises were resolved by Akihara Kagura!
Though many of those crises were also caused by Akihara Kagura...
Tsunade, as the Fifth Hokage of Konoha, understood very well how much the Konoha Ninjas of this era admired Akihara Kagura; they had all witnessed Akihara Kagura's power, the village could go on without her as the Fifth Hokage, but definitely not without that Hokage Assistant!
"These matters are trivial compared to what I'm about to say..."
Jiraiya shook his head, his gaze turning immensely serious, he continued to speak to Tsunade: "The Ninja World is truly about to face a terrifying crisis..."
"The Akatsuki Organization originally planned to gather the Tailed Beasts to create a terrifying war weapon, a war weapon controlled by Nagato's Rinnegan. They intended to use this war weapon, capable of destroying a great nation in one strike, to deter the major Ninja Villages in the Ninja World from engaging in war..."
"But..."
"This plan is going to be used by Akihara Kagura."
"Akihara Kagura is searching for Nagato's Rinnegan, planning to use that war weapon to destroy the Ninja World himself, killing all ninjas in the Ninja World to end this era's Ninja Villages, and create new ninjas, opening a new era of the Ancient Ninja Sect!"
"Let me catch my breath again..."
Tsunade took a deep breath, turned around, and punched the wall!
For Tsunade, today felt like a rollercoaster; she was initially mourning Jiraiya's death, only for Jiraiya to come back alive...
Alright.
This was something worth celebrating.
But the result was that she learned about her Hokage Assistant's collusion with the Akatsuki Organization and Orochimaru, and in fact, that within Konoha, the matter was still manageable; it's not without precedence...
The previous Hokage Assistant Shimura Danzo used to always do wrong without the Third Hokage knowing, as long as things were kept internal, a small meeting in the conference room could address it...
But...
Then Jiraiya came up to tell her...
The "future of Konoha" phrase that Konoha Ninjas always liked to say has now become the most dangerous traitorous ninja in the history of the Ninja World.
Tsunade turned to look at everyone present, her gaze also fell upon Nagato's Rinnegan, her solutions were often somewhat violent: "Since everything is caused by the Rinnegan and war weapon, can't we first destroy this Rinnegan that brings chaos?"
"No way!"
This was the resolute opposition from Konan.
"It seems that's not possible..."
This was Jiraiya shaking his head with a worried expression.
"Tsunade, it's best not to do that..."
This was Orochimaru stretching his neck and peeking into the hospital room from the window.
Wait...
Orochimaru?