"Alright, sensei…"
Jiraiya quickly stood up. Looking at the serious expression on Hiruzen's face, he swallowed.
"Which matter should I talk about first, sensei…?" Jiraiya asked weakly.
"Start with your disciple and the matter of the suspected Rinnegan."
Hiruzen waved his hand. "We'll talk about the prophecy afterward."
"Back when the Second Shinobi World War had just ended, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and I ran into a few children."
"They were asking us for food. They were war orphans from Amegakure, and their parents had all been killed by shinobi…"
Jiraiya steadied himself and slowly said, "They kept following us, wanting food and wanting to learn ninjutsu so they could protect themselves…"
"You know, orphans are too pitiful. If war orphans are left with no one to look after them after a battlefield, their end will definitely be miserable. So I told Tsunade and Orochimaru that I would go stay with them for a while."
"Although the Second Shinobi World War wasn't started by us, still…"
Jiraiya paused, his face darkening. "Seeing the miserable state of those three children still made me feel a little sad."
Orochimaru frowned. "I remember now. Were they the three brats I wanted to kill?"
"It was them."
Jiraiya nodded and sighed.
"I stayed in Amegakure for three years and taught them ninjutsu. Among them was a red-haired boy named Nagato, who possessed the bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan."
"Not only that, his eyes looked extremely similar to the legendary Rinnegan. His talent was also fairly good. He could learn ninjutsu and taijutsu very quickly, but actually…"
"He actually wasn't all that special. Looking at it overall, Nagato's talent was in fact inferior to Orochimaru's, and also inferior to Minato's."
"You know how the shinobi world is—there are all kinds of people. Ripple-patterned eyes are rare, but not unheard of…"
"I had no way to determine whether those were truly the Rinnegan. So, together with the Great Toad Sage's statement about the Child of Prophecy, I left those children for the time being and returned to the village."
"I thought that if Nagato really was the Child of Prophecy, then he ought to be able to make a name for himself."
"But when I later went back to look for them again, I found out that Nagato and the others had died."
"So I never reported it to you…"
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "Then why are you thinking of bringing it up now? Weren't they already dead…?"
"Sensei, that brings us to the Great Toad Sage's prophecy."
Jiraiya said in a deep voice, "The Great Toad Sage had an extremely long dream, one that completely overturned the previous prophecy of the 'Child of Prophecy.'"
"This time, the Great Toad Sage saw a great tree that was half withered and half flourishing…"
"It was growing under the nourishment of firelight, rapidly growing into a towering tree…"
"And within that giant tree, a gigantic ape was being nurtured. Astonishing flames burned over that giant ape's body, and the light it gave off was as if it could set the entire world ablaze…"
Question marks popped up over Hiruko's head. Since when did Mount Myōboku understand business?
Why did this sound so much like a combination of the Will of Fire and a metaphor for the Third Hokage-sama…?
"After that scene, the Great Toad Sage saw multiple visions."
"At times, the giant ape tore open the thick trunk, scattering its sap across the earth and bringing peace…"
"At times, the giant ape ignited the flames of war, turning the entire world into scorched earth."
"And no matter which one it was, behind Him followed shinobi with different hair colors and fanatical expressions…"
"The Great Toad Sage said that he saw the Rinnegan existing on the battlefield—at times as the giant ape's opponent, at times as this giant ape's companion. Even it could not tell clearly."
As Jiraiya spoke, he watched Hiruzen's expression and cautiously said, "The Great Toad Sage said that this giant ape would be the incarnation of my guide. It told me to search for this 'master' from the prophecy, train seriously, and properly prepare for the changes that are about to happen in the world."
Orochimaru laughed, and there was considerable mockery in his smile.
"Although I don't know exactly what kind of background the Great Toad Sage has…"
"A towering tree, firelight, a giant ape, fanatical shinobi…"
"Don't you think that when these elements are stacked together, it's practically no different from stating it outright?"
"If such a prophecy were used in Konoha to refer to the Hokage, and the person who started it wasn't taken away by Danzō that very day, I'd have to impeach him for dereliction of duty!"
Hiruko nodded in strong agreement. "Then I'll impeach Hizashi!"
Orochimaru couldn't hold back his laughter.
Recently, a joke had been circulating in Konoha.
It said that members of the Uchiha Clan were drinking in a tavern, telling jokes about the Hokage.
When they joked about the First and Second, everyone laughed. When they occasionally mentioned the Third after drinking too much, everyone stopped laughing—but laughter from Hizashi could be heard from the ceiling…
"Orochimaru, you're overthinking it."
"The Great Toad Sage probably doesn't know much about Konoha or sensei. I didn't tell them about these things…"
Jiraiya said with distress, "So when I thought about the Great Toad Sage saying that a shinobi with the Rinnegan also existed on the battlefield, I wondered whether Nagato might still be alive."
"Or perhaps it was the choice I made back then that caused Nagato to die and led to a deviation in the world."
"I respectfully ask sensei to clear up my doubts!"
Jiraiya bowed deeply.
"Don't think too much about it, Jiraiya."
Hiruzen spoke slowly. "For the world, if you wave your hand one extra time, it doesn't necessarily cause a hurricane on the neighboring shore. Most likely, it will have no effect at all."
Jiraiya was stunned.
"The Great Toad Sage…"
"Its prophecies should have a certain degree of reference value. They are probably some kind of technique."
"But from the fact that prophecies can undergo enormous changes, it can be seen that the so-called future is not fixed, but is influenced in real time by various factors."
"Its prophecy may be something that could happen in the future, but it is also only one of the countless possibilities derived from present factors."
"Just like that giant ape it foresaw—whether it destroys the world or saves it, it is the same one."
"For example, the next Hokage of Konoha might not necessarily be impossible for it to be you."
Hiruzen continued slowly, "But it could also be Orochimaru, or Danzō…"
"Or some Konoha shinobi none of us expected. For instance, Minato—perhaps in some future, he really does become the village's Fourth Hokage…"
Orochimaru nodded slightly.
A thought suddenly crossed his mind.
If sensei had not dared to test an experimental kinjutsu of the Second Hokage on himself and hardened his resolve to carry out sweeping reforms in the village…
And if the sensei and disciple had not reconciled…
Then perhaps there really would have been a slight possibility that he would not become Hokage!
And Namikaze Minato, who possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique, did indeed seem to have some competitiveness…
However, that kind of future had already been disregarded by Orochimaru.
"As for the matter of you taking a disciple behind my back…"
Hiruzen smiled slightly. "There are some things you didn't dare say, right? I'll say them for you…"
"First, in the past the village's ambiguous attitude toward Uzumaki orphans was regarded by many as a scandal among the higher-ups. Yet Nagato possessed the bloodline of the Uzumaki Clan while also being a descendant of Amegakure, making his identity overly sensitive."
"Second, Danzō's conduct at that time was rather extreme. You were worried that if that disciple of yours named Nagato came to Konoha, even if what he possessed was not the Rinnegan, with his Uzumaki bloodline and his status as someone from another village, he would not receive good treatment."
"Third, at that time the morale of Konoha's people was somewhat scattered. Although you loved Konoha, you could not see any possibility of the village obtaining peace, so you immersed yourself in the hope brought by the 'Child of Prophecy.'"
Looking at the dumbfounded Jiraiya, Hiruzen shook his head. "Am I right about all that?"
Cold sweat broke out on Jiraiya's back.
Those words were actually all correct, but when stated so directly, they sounded especially harsh.
In summary, Konoha in the past had begun to rot, and he, the Hokage's disciple, subconsciously did not trust the Hokage, which led him to make those decisions.
"Essentially, it still comes down to the fact that I, as Hokage, had certain problems in the past."
"I failed to win the trust of the village's shinobi. I did not establish clear regulations. Even my own disciple developed doubts about me."
In Hiruzen's view, Jiraiya's issue belonged to a historical problem of a crisis of trust.
There was little meaning in focusing on dealing with it, since it had not been him who managed Konoha in the past.
What mattered was that, by taking this opportunity to clean up this mess, the subsequent rules and systems could be properly handled, allowing Jiraiya, this muddle-headed kid, to completely return his loyalty to Konoha.
"Sensei, you mustn't say that! Th-this… this is my own problem!" Jiraiya's face flushed red with anxiety.
He had seen that sensei had been governing Konoha more and more prosperously.
So subconsciously, Jiraiya felt that the former Hiruzen had been laying out a grand strategy all along, and it was simply that he himself had failed to understand it.
A surge of guilt welled up in his heart…
"Whether those eyes were the Rinnegan or not, what has happened has already happened."
"There is no meaning in immersing yourself in regret. Just do our best with what we can do now…"
Hiruzen glanced at Hiruko.
"Hiruko, I'll speak and you write. Afterwards, send it to the Administrative Department to form it into a written regulation, notify each committee, and have them implement it step by step—from the jōnin under their supervision down to the various ranks of shinobi."
"Understood, Third-sama!" Hiruko skillfully picked up paper and pen.
Hiruzen mainly spoke about two points.
The first was the "Supplementary Regulations on the Code of Conduct for Konoha Shinobi."
If a Konoha shinobi establishes a private relationship with a shinobi from another village, it must be reported to the Administrative Department for registration at the earliest opportunity, clearly stating the motives of both parties and the origin of the relationship.
Those who register in advance will receive institutional protection from the village.
Those who conceal it and fail to report will be deemed to have intentionally evaded supervision, and the accountability will be doubled.
The second was the "Reporting Regulations on Rare Resource Intelligence in Konoha."
Whenever contact is made with rare resources such as dōjutsu, secret techniques, or Kekkei Genkai, regardless of whether the target is alive or whether it can be used by Konoha, the information itself must be reported immediately to the Intelligence Department for archiving and must not be withheld due to personal judgment.
If the village requisitions it, the reporting shinobi will be compensated with equivalent money or ninjutsu.
If these two regulations had been introduced in the past—especially the second—there would most likely have been opposition.
Because shinobi in the past were poor, rare resources were often regarded as the spoils of a shinobi's battle.
Even if compensation was promised after submission, shinobi lacked confidence that the village could actually provide payment.
But in Konoha, where the framework of shinobi protections had already begun to take shape, these problems no longer existed.
Further regulating the behavior of Konoha shinobi was essentially administrative logic of "equal rights and responsibilities." Hiruzen only needed to issue the regulations.
If the Konoha councilors had objections, they could naturally raise them.
But most likely, there would be none.
"The law does not apply retroactively…"
"What happened before will be considered past. But if it happens again in the future, Jiraiya—"
"I'll make an example out of you…" Hiruzen said with a smiling face.
"Don't think your sensei is joking. I don't want to have to clean up my own house."
Jiraiya shuddered all over and waved his hands repeatedly. "Sensei, I'll go file the registration right away! I'll report every woman I've ever had drinks with in Tanzaku Town!"
Orochimaru chuckled.
"By the way, Jiraiya, I haven't asked you yet—how do you plan to deal with the Great Toad Sage's prophecy?"
"In the past you searched the whole world for disciples. Now are you going to search the whole world for a sensei?"
"I've never heard of the Hokage's disciple going to take a second sensei…"
"How about you first sever the sensei–disciple relationship with sensei?"
Orochimaru appeared to be mocking Jiraiya.
But in reality, he was warning this slow-witted toad in advance not to do something foolish.
"What did you say, you rotten snake?"
Jiraiya glared fiercely at Orochimaru and said loudly, "Don't you understand yet? Sensei is the 'Master of the Prophecy'! I've already found him—why would I keep searching?"
Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya expressionlessly and suddenly punched him on the head.
"You're still clinging to that prophecy? Talk about something serious!"
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