Sitting inside Akatsuki's temporary base, following the new members who had joined with him to drink a little with the old members, while exchanging stories about their pasts and their original intentions for joining Akatsuki—
That was what Jiraiya had done today.
And as an elite jonin who could complete more than a hundred S-rank missions for Konoha, Jiraiya very easily obtained quite a bit of interesting intelligence from the conversations between the new and old members around him.
But this did not make him happy.
Instead, it made him even more convinced that his trip here was necessary.
"Precious Kekkei Genkai shinobi are being watched by only a few scattered guards. The organization's upper and lower structure is too crude. The scope of responsibilities for the combat, intelligence, and logistics departments is still not clear enough. Most importantly, the mechanism for screening members is seriously immature…"
Jiraiya took small sips of the liquor in his cup.
As he scanned the Akatsuki members around him, who were drinking and chatting merrily, he could not help sighing.
Just in the time tonight that he had spent drinking with the old members and building relationships, Jiraiya had already discovered three or four people who had clearly received professional spy training and were quietly extracting information from old members whose guard was insufficient.
And judging from how those people intentionally or unintentionally maintained distance from one another, they even belonged to different forces…
"Sigh. Nagato, Yahiko, Konan… The knowledge I taught you back then to protect yourselves was only the tip of the iceberg among the countless strange and treacherous things in the shinobi world. If you treat all these people as companions without any guard, then they will betray you so badly it will be miserable…"
Having a deep understanding of the shinobi world's darkness, Jiraiya drained the liquor in his cup and silently made up his mind.
As for Konoha, Minato had Teacher Sarutobi and the other jonin assisting him. Even without Jiraiya's help, with the ability Minato had honed in the war, he should be able to guide the village back onto the right track fairly easily.
But the newborn Akatsuki organization was different.
Although Akatsuki's three leaders had grown up in wartime, they had never participated in war or commanded war. They could not be called familiar with operating an organization at all. Their understanding of things like dispatching large amounts of supplies and manpower was even more seriously lacking.
If he did not find a way to secretly help them, then just the spies from various villages who had infiltrated them would already be enough to make Akatsuki's already poor foundation be consumed even faster, achieving the goal of causing internal conflict in Akatsuki without shedding blood.
If a few high-level iron-blooded hawkish shinobi like Danzo secretly caused trouble as well…
The Child of Prophecy, who should bring peace and change to this world, might even be forcibly dragged into darkness and become an extreme and twisted avenger.
At a time like this, it should be me, their unqualified teacher, the Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya the Gallant, who protects his disciples' dream. Hm.
But before that, I need to apply to Konan for a position in the intelligence department…
If I'm thrown into the combat department responsible for stopping conflicts and resolving fights, I might expose something during battle. It also won't be convenient for me to pass on the experience I've accumulated to Nagato and Yahiko, who are still far too immature.
Jiraiya pushed the mask on his face, which served as the first layer of his disguise.
After standing up and greeting the people who had joined at the same time as him, as well as several Akatsuki seniors who could now be considered nodding acquaintances, he returned to the room temporarily assigned to him and calmly fell asleep.
…
At the same time, Nagato, whom Jiraiya was anxiously worried about, was using the unique secret technique of the Rinnegan—the Magic Lantern Body Technique—to contact Rei Kaguya, who was far away in Kirigakure and had just finished a day of work, preparing to sleep and rest.
"It is this late already. What do you need me for, Nagato?"
Rei yawned without worrying about his image and asked lazily, "Don't tell me there are too many people trying to take away the Kekkei Genkai shinobi in your hands and it's too annoying, so you're planning to sell those hot potatoes to me?"
"Has something major happened in Konoha recently?"
Nagato did not answer directly.
Instead, he threw the question back at him indirectly.
"Konoha? Something major? Uh, let me think… It seems that aside from the defection of Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, there hasn't been anything that can really be called a major incident…"
Rei's phantom looked around at Nagato's surroundings and asked in confusion, "Why are you asking about that? Does Akatsuki not have members specifically responsible for gathering intelligence on various nations?"
Hearing this news, Nagato first froze.
Then his mind uncontrollably recalled the scene of Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya supporting and relying on one another at that time.
Afterward, he shook his head and said with a somewhat emotional tone, "…Because Jiraiya-sensei, after putting on a disguise, somehow ran to the Land of Iron and joined our Akatsuki."
Nagato's words made Rei stop rubbing his eyes and yawning.
Rei narrowed his eyes and thought for a while before saying, somewhat uncertainly, "Could it be because I provoked him before by saying he was a hands-off teacher? Or did Jiraiya suffer some other mental shock after Orochimaru defected, so he temporarily decided to leave Konoha for a while and clear his head?"
"Is there no worse possibility? For example…"
Nagato took a deep breath.
Then he tentatively spoke a malicious guess that was somewhat excessive.
"Jiraiya-sensei has also become completely disappointed in Konoha, or something like that?"
"That is absolutely impossible."
Rei denied Nagato's guess without any hesitation.
"Minato Namikaze, as Jiraiya's disciple, is still sitting safely in the Fourth Hokage's seat. Jiraiya himself is also not someone who values power that much. What reason does he have to defect from the village?"
"That is true…"
Nagato continued asking, "Then Jiraiya-sensei is simply a bit confused because of his mood, so he chose to come to us and see what our dream looks like in concrete form?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. But what does that matter?"
Rei yawned and said listlessly, "Just treat his disguised identity as a useful tool and use him."
"With a newly founded organization like yours, Jiraiya, an old senior of the shinobi world, can see eighty or ninety percent of your internal problems at a glance. If you give him authority, I cannot say he will help you fix those issues perfectly, but at the very least, he can plug the major defects and problems that are easy for others to exploit."
"And do not forget. There is still a bet between us regarding the Land of Rain and Hanzo of the Salamander that has not ended."
"If you bring Jiraiya, who once fought Hanzo, by your side, then if Hanzo of the Salamander truly takes action and plots against Akatsuki, you will not be the only person capable of resisting…"
"You are still that pessimistic about Hanzo, Rei Kaguya."
"It is not pessimism. I am simply good at analyzing things based on reality."
Rei shook his head and said unhurriedly, "The Land of Rain is not large, and its population is not high. Although Amegakure, under Hanzo's leadership, once became one of the initiators of the Second Shinobi World War, a small nation is still a small nation. After passing its peak during the Second Shinobi World War, the remaining active strength of Amegakure is probably only six or seven hundred people."
"If Akatsuki were still a scale of ten or a few dozen people, then even if you possessed the Rinnegan, Hanzo should still be able to tolerate Akatsuki continuing to operate in the Land of Rain."
"But now, you have become a large organization with nearly two hundred members, most of whom are shinobi with some ability. Just that scale alone is already enough to make Hanzo, who has lost his ambition and only wants to preserve his own position, feel fear toward you."
The phantom created by the Magic Lantern Body Technique began to sway.
It seemed that Rei, far away in Kirigakure, no longer intended to continue the conversation.
Taking advantage of the last moments before the phantom disappeared, Rei said sleepily to Nagato, "In short, my opinion is this. If Jiraiya wants to help you, let him help freely, and pretend you do not know he is Jiraiya."
"And if you truly intend to use the Land of Rain as Akatsuki's main base, then it would be best to guard more carefully against a backstab from Hanzo of the Salamander…"
"That is all. I am going to rest first."
Rei cut off the remote chakra link with Nagato.
Then he rose and pushed open the window of his room, staring at the waning moon in the sky as he slowly exhaled a white mist.
Although Jiraiya was not someone I intentionally placed into Akatsuki, if he is present, then even if Hanzo really does backstab Akatsuki like in the original story, there is a high probability he will not be able to force Nagato into a dead end with no path out.
And if Nagato does not fall into darkness because of Yahiko's death, then Madara Uchiha's carefully prepared resurrection plan will not be very usable…
"I have already stuffed so many variables into the chessboard. I wonder if you will take actions outside the history I know because of them, Madara Uchiha… and Black Zetsu?"
Staring at the bright satellite created by the mighty power of the Sage of Six Paths, Rei thought silently.