"Ah… nice to meet you. One of the 'Legendary Sannin,' Jiraiya-san."
Come to think of it, this was the first time Hii Kōri had actually met Jiraiya—unlike Orochimaru, whom he'd hit it off with after just a few meetings, practically inviting him as a "VIP seat in the second row." And unlike Tsunade, with whom he now had a rather intimate "cohabitation" going on.
He smiled, greeting Jiraiya, who was still asking passersby for information. In his mind, he quickly reviewed everything he knew about Jiraiya from the original work—his abilities, his ninjutsu, his personality—along with whatever information he had gathered about him in the current era.
Jiraiya's Fire and Earth Release techniques were nothing special. Barrier and sealing techniques—there were better people to learn those from.
The Rasengan was something Minato Namikaze would develop as an adult; it had nothing to do with Jiraiya at this point.
The Sage Mode passed down from Mount Myōboku could serve as a reference for utilizing natural energy. He'd probably get a chance to see it once they started fighting.
As for those hair-based techniques—they seemed interesting at first glance, but on second thought, not particularly useful. Compared to his own Rashōmon and spirit-thread nerves, they weren't worth mentioning.
In terms of ability, there was little about Jiraiya that Hii Kōri found noteworthy. After all, it wasn't like he could ask Jiraiya for the recipe for toad oil.
But in another aspect, Jiraiya's life experiences were quite something.
In short, this white-haired man had spent his entire life running around. But compared to Hii Kōri's foster father—Matazaburō, the wandering ronin who took the wind as his name and the world as his home—Jiraiya was far from free.
He was probably like Orochimaru: a war orphan taken in by Konoha.
Though he was a Disciple of Hiruzen Sarutobi, compared to Orochimaru—who had shown extraordinary talent from childhood—and Tsunade—who inherited her clan's excellent constitution—Jiraiya could hardly be called gifted. But being chosen by Hiruzen Sarutobi was itself proof of some kind of talent.
And indeed, that talent had shown itself.
When taught the Summoning Technique, Jiraiya attempted it without having made any contract—an act that should have been utterly ineffective. Instead, he was reverse-summoned to Mount Myōboku, one of the Three Great Sacred Lands.
Under the guidance of the "sages" of that sacred land, Jiraiya's abilities began to bloom.
But at the same time, he was given a mission by the Great Toad Sage: to find the "Child of Prophecy"—the savior of the world—and become his mentor.
The Great Toad Sage, Gamamaru, was a toad who had lived for over a thousand years, surviving since the age of Kaguya. In his youth, he had even assisted Hagoromo and Hamura Ōtsutsuki in sealing Kaguya away.
As the founder of Mount Myōboku, Gamamaru wielded immense senjutsu power. It was natural he could live so long.
But beyond that, this sage possessed the ability to dream of the future. Though vague, he had foreseen the coming turmoil hundreds of years earlier and anticipated Jiraiya's arrival.
The Toad Sage told Jiraiya that he would one day take on a disciple who would bring great change to the ninja world.
From that day forward, that prophecy became Jiraiya's driving force—but it also imprisoned him, trapping him within its bounds until his final death, his soul returning to the sea.
It was hard to say whether Jiraiya's entire life had been a scheme orchestrated by that old toad of Mount Myōboku.
After all, without a summoning contract, the Summoning Technique was supposed to fail. For someone to be reverse-summoned to a "sacred land" thousands of miles away in the entire history of the ninja world, Jiraiya might be the only such case.
But Jiraiya himself seemed to find meaning in it, so dwelling on whether he'd been "schemed" was ultimately pointless.
Driven by momentary emotion, dying for something was simple.
But finding something to fill one's life, realizing what one lived for—that was far more difficult.
We need not assume… he must have been happy.
More than Jiraiya himself, Hii Kōri was more concerned with Mount Myōboku—or rather, the Great Toad Sage's prophetic dreams.
Who knew whether Jiraiya's sudden appearance in this remote coastal town meant the Great Toad Sage had called him again, feeding him more vague, cryptic prophecies.
It wasn't that Hii Kōri's ego was overly inflated. Vague as they might be, and much as it might look like a scheme, the old toad's prophecies did foresee possible futures. And now, the trajectory of this timeline had already diverged significantly from the original due to his influence.
Sunagakure was thriving. Konoha had suffered a major loss, delaying both the research into Hashirama's cells and the establishment of Root.
Jiraiya had also not yet met Nagato—whom he would first believe to be the Child of Prophecy. The postwar journey to follow the prophecy after hearing of Nagato's supposed "death" also seemed not to have begun. Instead, Tsunade had left Konoha much earlier.
Large systems were prone to deviation from small errors. With a chain reaction triggered by the deviation in Jiraiya's own actions, the old toad might well have had another prophetic dream—one about Hii Kōri.
Or perhaps… my arrival itself was within Gamamaru's prophecy for this timeline?
Thinking this, Hii Kōri's thoughts paused for a moment. He glanced subtly at Shizune holding his hand, then at Jiraiya, who had just turned toward them.
It suddenly occurred to him—this guy Jiraiya… he had a crush on Tsunade. No, it was basically an open secret.
Was he making excuses to come out here because of that?
The thought nearly made Hii Kōri lose his composure. An urge rose within him—a grotesque, almost sadistic urge to say something that would easily send Jiraiya spiraling.
"Was she like that when she was with you?" "She's completely different when she's with me."
Unlike with Dan Katō, who had naturally fallen in love with Tsunade—Dan had been an outstanding jōnin, and Jiraiya had no grounds to object—Hii Kōri's methods were far more brutal. He couldn't use vague euphemisms like "by appearances… but actually…" No, his methods were a complete package of coercion, imprisonment, humiliation, and mental domination.
No. Can't laugh yet—at least wait until things really escalate!
Warning himself inwardly, Hii Kōri suppressed the malicious smile tugging at his lips and calmly led Shizune forward.
"?"
Hearing someone clearly call his name, Jiraiya, who had been urgently questioning a passerby, turned in surprise.
Even compared to Hii Kōri's height, this white-haired man was quite tall and robust. Adding to that his preference for wooden clogs with high teeth over standard ninja sandals, Jiraiya had the advantage of looking down on almost anyone.
When he saw Hii Kōri and Shizune holding his hand, his pupils contracted sharply. His expression darkened.
Forcing down his emotions, Jiraiya apologized to the passerby he'd startled with his gloomy face, then strode rapidly—almost charging—toward Hii Kōri.
Not having the dynamic vision of a seasoned ninja, Shizune only recognized Jiraiya when he got closer. She tugged Hii Kōri's finger and looked up, cheerfully introducing him: "Uncle Kōri, this is the uncle who brought Aunt Tsunade home when she was drunk!"
The little girl seemed very pleased with herself for recognizing someone and being helpful. Hii Kōri looked down, praising her with a smile.
"Ah, yes, that's me! The great and famous White-Haired Child of Mount Myōboku, Toad Sage Jiraiya! Want an autograph—as if I'd say that?!"
Closing the distance in a few aggressive strides, Jiraiya's voice rose sharply.
He saw through Hii Kōri's minimal disguise in an instant. But with young Shizune present, he could only suppress the urge to act immediately, grinding out the epithet infamous in Konoha through clenched teeth: "Crimson of Agony!"
"Oh?"
Catching Jiraiya's hostile tone, Hii Kōri curled his lip, his own voice cooling noticeably. With undisguised distaste, he looked down and responded: "You already know my name, yet you still use that obnoxious title… you're quite skilled at being unpleasant, Jiraiya-san."
Though Hii Kōri's own address carried a hint of malice, one thing was one thing. Being strict with others while lenient with himself had always been his remedy for internal conflict.
If Jiraiya responded calmly, he had no plans to escalate. After all, the white-haired man was Tsunade's old teammate.
But now…
"Skip the nonsense! Why are you here?!"
Unaware of Hii Kōri's thoughts, Jiraiya noticed his voice seemed to have startled Shizune and lowered it slightly, resulting in an awkward rasp.
"Was that all your doing?!"
Jiraiya was referring, of course, to the string of Konoha shinobi who had gone missing recently.
Though Hii Kōri was not well known among ordinary clients—never having taken outside missions—he was certainly one of the most dangerous individuals on Konoha's threat assessment. He could be considered Sunagakure's "face."
In fact, Danzō Shimura had already begun pushing a plan to use the black market to spread word of Hii Kōri's reputation in other villages.
For such a dangerous man to appear in the Land of Fire without warning was cause for concern. Jiraiya had begun to suspect that the Wind Country monk and Pakura's escort were mere decoys to cover Hii Kōri's tracks.
Though it might be disrespectful to his missing comrades, Jiraiya was more concerned about why Hii Kōri was with Shizune.
"Did you learn nothing from the toads of Mount Myōboku but their loud voices?"
Hii Kōri quipped, thinking that Ahaha-kun was much more likable.
Clearly, he had no intention of answering Jiraiya's questions. He crouched down and said calmly to Shizune: "Shizune, can you go home by yourself? I have some things to discuss with this loud uncle."
"Okay."
Shizune glanced at Jiraiya's gridm face, then at the smiling Hii Kōri. She seemed to understand something and nodded firmly.
"Good girl. If only 'Kao' turns out as well-behaved as you."
Admiring her adorable earnestness, Hii Kōri took out a small storage scroll, packed the supplies and groceries inside, handed it to her, patted her head, and added: "Tell Aunt Tsunade I'll be back soon. Ask her to prepare the beef for tonight's stew."
Shizune counted off the key points on her fingers, then held the scroll and trotted toward home with the endearing steps of a young child.
Hii Kōri watched until her small figure disappeared around the corner, then slowly turned his attention back to Jiraiya, who had grown noticeably agitated at the mention of Tsunade.
"Those 'doings' you mentioned—I don't know what you're talking about, and I'm not interested. I've been quite busy lately; I don't have time to concern myself with Konoha's affairs."
He brushed invisible dust from his hands, his gentle expression fading to cold indifference. "As for why I'm staying here…"
"Why not just assume I've had enough of the Land of Wind's godforsaken desert and wanted a change of scenery?"
"Tch. You expect anyone to believe that?"
Jiraiya's voice was thick with disbelief.
"How amusing. Is the Land of Fire Konoha's property? I have no obligation to report what I do here."
"Besides, I find you quite unpleasant—shouting at me the moment we meet, no manners at all."
Hii Kōri examined his nails with exaggerated boredom.
"——"
Jiraiya said nothing, but an oppressive aura emanated from him, like the dark clouds before a storm. His clenched knuckles cracked faintly; veins bulged at his temples.
He clearly had no intention of letting this go with just a few casual remarks.
"…How tiresome." Just as planned.
Saying one thing while meaning another, Hii Kōri sighed wearily, then continued to provoke Jiraiya: "You're not planning to start a fight in town, are you? Not that I'd care. This is the Land of Fire. If civilians get caught up in it, that's no concern of mine."
"Or… shall we talk elsewhere?"
Before the words faded, Hii Kōri's figure dissolved like a ghost in sunlight. In the next instant, Jiraiya's face as dark as storm clouds, he followed without hesitation, silent.
***
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