Chapter 37
JIRAIYA-The Toad Sage
There was a time when Jiraiya himself had dreamt of donning the hat and cloak of his sensei, hoping to succeed him as the next Hokage so that he may try to make the world a better place than it was.
Yet, he would then learn of his true destiny, that he was never meant to change the world. No, this was the destiny of a teacher, of being the one who would nurture the child who would change the world as we know it.
Jiraiya was not meant to be a Kage. His destiny was different, and so for years he had searched for this fabled student—the child of prophecy.
He had searched for him beyond Konoha, in Ame, in Kiri, and in lands far away, yet the answer lay closer to home.
Minato had become his student out of the academy, and just one training session later, Jiraiya had known that this was the boy he had been searching for all these years. That this was the child of prophecy, and yet he had not spoken of it to him, deciding not to burden the child, but he had been sure of it after a singular day.
But it was time now, and so now, as Minato sat infront of him, donning the cloak and hat of the Hokage, he decided to unburden himself of the responsibility that lay on him and told him of the dream of Toad Sage as Minato nodded.
"The Child of Prophecy?" he asked again, as Jiraiya sat in the Hokage's office, and found it a bit strange because of the absence of his own sensei, for he had gotten used to seeing the old man sitting where Minato sat now.
But times had changed; the war had ended, and Konoha now had a new Hokage.
"But you never mentioned it before?" Minato asked with a frown as Jiraiya shrugged.
"I did not wish to burden you any more than necessary. The toads are mythical creatures. They dream rarely, but their dreams hold many secrets in them," he added as Minato nodded.
"But what does it mean?" and he shrugged.
"I do not know myself, but according to the Toad Sage, the child of prophecy will bring great change to this world," and that change could be good and bad, and so that was his burden to bear, to nurture this child in such a way to change the world for the better.
"But prophecies are fickle things. They can be interpreted in a hundred different ways. It is for you to interpret," and with that, he leaned back as Minato began to rub his chin, and Jiraiya could see his mind racing.
He was still a bit young, in his opinion, to hear of this, but he had promised to tell him of this when he became a Kage. Jiraiya had just not expected that such a day would come so quickly.
But he should have expected nothing less of his most prized student.
"Forget about it, Minato and do what you think is right. In the end, prophecy or not, these are just the ramblings of an old toad," he added with a chuckle as Minato gave him a stiff smile.
"You are right," he said, easing up slightly as Jiraiya leaned forward.
"Still, it has been a week since you became the Hokage, and yet you have summoned me already. What happened?" he asked and saw his student's lips thin as he looked into his advice.
"Actually, I have summoned you here because I am in need of your advice?" Jiraiya frowned as he saw his troubled expression, for only a few things could ever trouble Minato, and that number should have gone down even more with him becoming the Hokage.
"About what?" he asked, becoming serious as well, and he saw Minato hesitate before he finally opened his mouth.
"About Izuna-kun?" and the name came as a surprise to him. He, of course, knew of the young Uchiha prodigy.
"What about him?" he asked and saw Minato hesitate before he sighed and continued.
"Izuna-kun came to my office the day I donned this hat and made some very serious accusations." Jiraiya was now far more alert than ever as Minato continued.
"He accused Lord Danzo of treason and bloodline theft," and the words made him still, but not in surprise, for of all the things he was expecting, this was not one of them.
He did not rush to deny or confirm these accusations because Jiraiya had heard many different stories about the secretive war hawk and knew of his involvement in some rather shady and duplicitous matters.
"You are not rebuffing his accusations," Minato added with a gasp as Jiraiya sighed and leaned back. And how could he?
"But I am not endorsing them either," he added as he folded his hands and realized just why Minato had summoned him so suddenly.
He was amongst his three advisors, the other two being Sarutobi sensei and Fugaku Uchiha, neither of whom would have an objective opinion on the matter.
Despite his brilliance, Minato had been Hokage for only a week, and his student was not yet fully equipped to deal with a sensitive matter.
"What were the details of the accusations?" he asked, hoping that this was nothing more than a simple exaggeration from a young and inexperienced shinobi. However, a part of him knew that this was a futile hope, given all he knew of Izuna Uchiha.
"It was not just a simple accusation," Minato added gravely as he brought together his hands and leaned on the desk.
And as Minato repeated the details of all the allegations, his fear was proven right once more as it was confirmed that this was not just a simple matter. The accusations were grave and dangerous, and if they were believed to be true, it would cause a great unraveling within the village.
"Did he have any proof?" Jiraiya asked, and Minato nodded. He reached into his pocket and pushed a storage scroll towards him.
"This contains half of the masks of the men who tried to kill him. I had the ANBU captain check the records, and according to him, none of them belong to any real ANBU. These all do belong to ROOT," and that was the great blemish on this village, but this was just one of the accusations.
"As for the misuse of orphanages, he showed me the files, and they had been tampered with, but there was nothing concrete there." Jiraya nodded as he took the storage scroll and pocketed it.
"I see," he said as Minato sighed.
"I have heard many distasteful things about Lord Danzo over the years, but..." Minato hesitated as he continued.
"I do not know what to think of it. He was one of Lord Third's most trusted advisors, and the accusations are too much, if I am to believe even a single one of them, it would unravel the entire village," and it would, especially given that the Uchiha were already rather dissatisfied with the village after Fugaku Uchiha had been snubbed from becoming the Yondaime Hokage.
"Has Izuna shared these things with his clan?" and much to his relief, Minato shook his head.
"He has not," and that elevated his opinion about the boy in his mind.
"He has not even mentioned all the details to his own father." That was mature of the boy, as Jiraiya's own mind raced to think of an appropriate course of action.
"When I became the Hokage, on the last day, Hiruzen-sama showed me a file," Minato began slowly as Jiraiya listened aptly.
"He said that the file contained his darkest secrets. Secrets that would affect how I viewed both him and the village." That did not surprise him, for Jiraiya had an inkling about the distasteful and vile things his own sensei had sanctioned just to protect the village.
He had been a part of a few of them himself, and yet treason was an entirely different matter. Treason and blood line theft, and that against comrade clans.
No, that went beyond a difficult decision, and he hoped that it was all nothing but allegations. Though he feared, that they were not.
"He also mentioned Lord Danzo's role in it and spoke of how Lord Danzo had helped him face this dark aspect of being Hokage," Jiraiya's lips thinned as Minato looked into his eyes.
"Did you read the file?" he asked, and Minato shook his head.
"No, Lord Third gave me the opportunity to, but one could clearly see that he did not wish for me to see its contents. At least not at that time, and so I requested his wishes to let him take the file, hoping to see it once I had governed for some time and understood the intricacies of what it meant to be a Kage," which was wise of him.
But still, they were in a dilemma.
If these accusations were true, but the details were all actually a part of his own sensei's actions, then it would complicate the matter. And if not, it would make his sensei look too weak, for he had allowed his own advisor to betray the village right under his own nose.
"Let me look into the matter," Jiraiya offered, trying to lessen his friend's burden.
"I will talk to both sensei and Izuna and handle this matter myself," Jiraiya added as he saw Minato's shoulders drop in relief and gave him a smile.
"Thank you. I knew that I could depend on you," and Jiraiya smirked.
"Of course, you can. After all, I am the Great Toad Sage...." he praised himself as Minato chuckled.
"Speaking of that, I was hoping you could visit Kushina and me for dinner today. I have something I want to share with you...."
"Of course, I will be there..."
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HIRUZEN SARUTOBI
Having been Hokage for so long, Hiruzen did find it a bit difficult to transition into a retired life, though many could argue that a shinobi did not retire.
But still, he had been so focused and dedicated to the village that he had neglected his family, and only now, as he tried to make up for that lost time, he realized that perhaps he had been too late.
His eldest son had died in the war, and his second son had given up on the shinobi life, preferring to live on as a civilian as he took over their duties within the daimyo's court, and then there was the youngest of the three, Asuna.
And much to his regret, none of them had any time for him. His eldest now lay in a grave, while his second son had cut off all contact with him ever since he had tried to force him into the shinobi life, a mistake that he now regretted.
Asuna was a chunin now, very talented in Ninjutsu and Futon. Although he had tried to build a rapport with him, the boy remained evasive and distant, preferring to train with his sensei and teammates rather than himself.
So, while he was confronting his failures as a father, with every passing day, he realized that he had made some rather big mistakes over the years.
Mistakes that he needed to repent for.
So, under these circumstances, it was a bit relieving for him to get a surprise visitor in the form of one of his greatest successes.
"It is good to see you, Jiraiya," and his student had returned to the village a few days after the ceremony. His absence from the village was a necessity for them as it was Jiraiya who ran a rather comprehensive information network that spanned the five great nations, allowing them access to sensitive intelligence that their other operatives might miss.
"Well, of course, I would come. I was just busy with some research," and the mention of research made him chuckle as Biwako walked into the room with tea and confectionaries.
"It is good to see you as well, Biwako-sama," Jiraiya, being an orphan, had been mothered by Biwako when he was young, so his wife smiled at his student as she served him tea.
"How have you been, Jiraiya-kun?" she asked as his student shrugged.
"You know me, a man as dashing as me can only be fine," and she raised a brow.
"That is good, very good," she said as she served him some tea.
"You should visit more often. It will be good for both of you to see a bit more of each other." With that, she gave him a small smile before she left the room.
"She seems happy with your retirement," Jiraiya observed and his uncanny observational skills were what put him apart from others.
"She is, though I cannot say the same for my sons," he lamented as Jiraiya shrugged.
"They will come around," he said as he sipped his tea. Hiruzen could sense that his student was eyeing him with some intrigue as if he was hesitating and probing before speaking up.
"You did not come here simply to meet me, did you?" he guessed as Jiraiya's lips thinned as he put down his cup.
"I should have known that you would guess that," he replied, the smile and easy-going attitude vanishing in seconds as Hiruzen frowned, trying to reason out why Jiraiya had decided to visit him so suddenly.
"What happened?" he asked, and his student was quiet for some time as he gazed intensely into his eyes.
"Some rather troubling accusations have been made against some people around you," Jiraiya began, making him frown.
"Accusations? Of what kind?" he asked, as he sipped his own tea.
"Accusations of treason," and the mention of that word stilled him as Hiruzen's eyes tightened.
"That is not a word one must speak without caution," he warned quickly, but Jiraiya did not back down.
"I know, and I do not use it lightly. But the nature of these crimes and accusations warrants the use of this word," Jiraiya clarified, making him frown.
"And who makes these allegations, and who is the subject of them?" he asked quickly.
"I won't name who, but as for the one being accused," Jiraiya picked up his cup and took a sip.
"It is none other than your oldest friend, Danzo," and his heart stilled at that, as he closed his eyes, a bit of understanding dawned on him.
"I understand," he said, but Jiraiya was quick to cut in.
"Do you?" and he raised a brow.
"Do you really understand the severity of these accusations and what it would entail if any word of them got out, regardless of the truth?" and he nodded.
"And that is why it must never get out," he added as Jiraiya's eyes widened.
"So, they are true," he gasped. It pained him to see his student shaken up by that, and he could see the change in expression—the pride, the anger, and most importantly, the shame that came over Jiraiya's face.
"Partly," he replied.
"Danzo traversed the darkness I could not, did things a Hokage could not, and in doing so, often stepped beyond what was necessary. It was one of his flaws, which even time itself could not correct, but he believed loyal to the village," he argued, but Jiraiya ground his teeth.
"So, you knew about the Foundation?" The mention of that name from Jiraiya's mouth surprises him, and his eyes widen a bit.
"How do you know that name?" he asked as his student's face shifted.
"My job is to gather intelligence," he argued, and this just showed that Jiraiya was quite good at his job.
"Do you have any idea about how they operate, how they recruit, and what they do..."
"I do," he cut in. Jiraiya shook his head in disappointment, and after his sons' behavior, it pained him to see his favorite student so disappointed in him.
"I will not defend mine or Danzo's actions..."
"You cannot," Jiraiya cut in, and his gaze hardened as he corrected him.
"But they were necessary, Jiraiya," and his students were not convinced.
"You may not understand it yet, but one day you will, and so will Minato," he said sharply.
"Those were dark times, and the entire continent was at a continuous war. Whatever we did was necessary for the well-being of the village. You can question our decisions, have an opinion on them, but do know this...." he added sharply.
".....whatever I did. Whatever Danzo did, we did so for the betterment of Konoha, and sometimes his decision were not the most sound and rational. Still, I have no doubt about his loyalty to the village, and neither should anyone have one about mine own," for he had been the Hokage, and while sometimes questionable in his methods and decisions, Danzo's loyalty to the village was absolute.
"I had feared such a reaction. It was why I advised Minato against reading the classified files regarding the Foundation's missions; he was not ready yet, and this has just proven my point." And again, this was Danzo's advice, which he had taken.
"Still, I wonder when you learned of the Foundation?" he asked, and Jiraiya's shoulders dropped, and it pained him to see his student avoiding looking at him.
"I learned of it years ago when I found the remains of one of their operatives, and so I dug around and found some rather disturbing things." his lips thinned, for he knew that Danzo's way of training and utilizing men was, in many ways, gruesome.
His old friend was too old-fashioned, trained and molded by the Warring States Era, when shinobi lives were counted like cattle and treated no differently.
"I had hoped that you did not know of it, that this was an independent project, yet a part of me had always known that such a project could not have been launched without your supervision," and as Jiraiya finally looked up at him, he could see the disappointment in his gaze. In the eyes of one who had gazed at him as a hero for all his life, now those same eyes saw him as a disappointment.
"I never confronted you about it, stopping at the last moment. But now that I do know the truth, I doubt if I can ever trust you again like I used to," and with that, Jiraiya stood up and made to leave.
"No one can know of all this, Jiraiya," he added as his student was about to slide the door.
"You may not agree with my decisions, and I pray that you and Minato make better ones. But this is the past. I have retired, and so has Danzo. The Foundation has been dismantled. Let these secrets and accusations vanish into the past, for if a light is cast on this darkness. Then it could one day unravel this entire village." Jiraiya ground his teeth.
"Goodbye, sensei...."
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