Naruto: The Abstract Strategist of the Akatsuki

"What? You're not kidding me, are you?"

The prisoner in the next cell was stunned when he heard the charge.

"Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, you can ask the jailer. I am just that powerful."

Jiraiya was very pleased and enjoyed the feeling of being worshipped.

This kind of worship does not stem from admiration for his strength as one of the Legendary Sannin, but rather from admiration for another kind of strength, which is completely different from the worship that Konoha had previously received.

"I don't disbelieve you, actually... well, anyway, you'd better be careful and remember to watch your words and actions."

The sounds from next door disappeared for a while before reappearing.

And he spoke with a serious and earnest air.

Jiraiya was taken aback upon hearing this; something was amiss.

"What's wrong? Is there discrimination in this kind of thing in this prison? Is it that being too strong isn't allowed?"

Jiraiya asked.

"Of course there's no such strange discrimination anymore. To tell you the truth, there used to be a prisoner here who was just as confident and strong as you."

We don't remember his name, only his nickname, "Three Legs."

"Is it the 'three-legged' one from the saying, 'A three-legged toad is hard to find, but a two-legged man is easy to find'?"

Jiraiya's expression turned solemn. He never expected that such a powerful figure had once appeared in this small Hozuki Castle.

Yes, that's the one.

At that time, the lord of Ghost Lantern Castle was still Lord Wuwei.

Three-Legged was a righteous man. His talent caught the eye of a jailer's wife, who called him over alone.

After a relentless, life-or-death struggle day and night, he finally received a reward and brought back a lot of delicious food. However, he distributed all the food to his fellow inmates, saying that as long as he contributed, everyone would have something to eat.

But those three-legged creatures, just like you, have big mouths and love to brag about their achievements, and eventually their misdeeds were exposed.

And guess what happened?

The prison guards, taking revenge on their official duties, insisted during a routine inspection that Three-Legged had hidden something in preparation for his escape.

Everyone knows that the area outside Hozuki Castle is all sea. Even if someone escapes, they'll die without chakra or a ship.

He not only falsely accused the three-legged man of escaping from prison, but also frantically grabbed at places he thought were hiding things.

That was absolutely awful.

He died from the excruciating pain.

Later, when the prison guards helped collect the body, everyone peeked at it and saw that it was a bloody mess.

Although what the three-legged man did was unethical to the jailers, he was very loyal to us.

Unfortunately, we have no way to avenge him. With our chakra sealed, we are no match for the jailers no matter what.

The jailers here are all Chunin-level, and in their eyes, I, whose chakra is sealed, am not even as good as a bandit.

In the end, the matter was left unresolved.

The legendary story of the three-legged creature was gradually forgotten.

If you hadn't reminded me of the three-legged creature I once knew, I might have already forgotten about it.

In the end, the prisoner next door looked lost and dejected.

Then he stopped talking.

After hearing the whole story, Jiraiya felt a mix of emotions, including regret.

He regretted that he had only taken a short stroll through the Ghost Lantern Castle before deciding that there was no need to research the place and then left.

I never imagined there would be such a legendary and heart-wrenching love story here, a tale encompassing love and friendship.

More importantly, the three legs in this story are remarkably similar to his.

After all, Jiraiya really was a three-legged toad.

Furthermore, as a friend to women, if a jailer's wife really needed his help with cleaning, he would definitely do the same thing as the protagonist of the story, readily offering his assistance.

And if they get something delicious, they will indeed share it with everyone.

This is practically another version of myself.

Fortunately, his cellmate next door reminded him. Otherwise, if the jailer's wife was still there and had taken a liking to him, wouldn't he be in danger if he didn't know?

Just as both sides were filled with emotion, the jailer came over and brought Jiraiya some basic supplies, such as a change of clothes and toilet paper.

"Excuse me, sir, could you tell me what crime the person next to me committed that landed them here?"

The prisoner next door had actually come to believe what Jiraiya had said.

After all, he had been telling the story for so long that Jiraiya hadn't stopped working while listening from next door.

To be able to fight for such a long time, one must indeed have the strength of three legs.

He asked this question not because he suspected Jiraiya, but because of Jiraiya's earlier statement, "You can ask when the jailer comes," and now that the jailer has actually arrived, it was just his subconscious reaction.

"You mean that new guy next door? He's just a dead eunuch."

You would never guess what this guy did.

When the prison guard heard the prisoner ask this question, he immediately became interested and stopped to start chatting.

"Huh? That damned eunuch? But didn't he paralyze several people in their lower limbs?"

The prisoner was somewhat puzzled.

Was the guy next door just bragging and lying to me?

"Oh? You already know? It seems you two have talked, but he didn't tell you the whole truth, right?"

He did indeed paralyze the lower limbs of several people working in the brothel district, but after a thorough examination by Konoha authorities, it was found that there were almost no residual cells.

Do you know what this means?

This shows that he didn't have any contact with those people at all.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that he was using ninja tools.

Think about it, a grown man going to that kind of place and only using ninja tools to attack, what is that if not a eunuch?

Moreover, I think the reason this guy committed the crime is because he was a eunuch and had become mentally disturbed, which is why he committed such a heinous act.

"..."

"..."

After hearing what the jailer said, the prisoner was dumbfounded.

Upon closer reflection, the jailer's words did indeed make a lot of sense.

Even with three legs, it didn't cause lower limb paralysis, did it?

Not to mention those battle-hardened warriors in the red-light district, how could they be defeated so easily?

But the sound coming from next door was probably not the "lasting so long" he initially thought, but rather "it couldn't be started at all," so he could only keep winding it up.

Jiraiya was dumbfounded.

He never expected that his final charge would be like this.

The key point is that this actually seems to be the truth behind the clone's crimes, and he can't refute it.

The problem is that I just finished bragging to someone, and the jailer's words are a ruthless slap in the face, aren't they?

Jiraiya was relieved that the person next door didn't know who he was.

"How did such a serious criminal manage to get in alive?"

After a moment of silence, the prisoner next door asked the jailer.

If someone causes several people to become paralyzed in their lower limbs, and it was done with malicious intent, wouldn't they be killed outright?

"That's true, but do you know who's next door to you? He's the famous Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin alongside the current Hokage, Tsunade."

The Hokage, remembering their past friendship, personally healed the victims, thus sparing him some of his punishment.

"..."