Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 383 Jiraiya Knows the Truth

Jiraiya looked at Aokiji's face. The two were very close; if he took just one more step forward, he could reach out and touch him.

But even this one step away is unattainable.

It was as if a pitiful, thick barrier had separated the two of them, a feeling similar to that of Orochimaru when he betrayed the village.

"You should know what I'm going to ask you," Jiraiya asked.

Aokiji exhaled, his cold laugh laced with blatant sarcasm: "Instead of asking me, don't you think you should ask what your good teacher did to me, and what he did to Tsunade?"

"Wh-what?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened, his face filled with shock. After a few sounds, he opened his heavy lips and asked, "What... what happened?"

"There are some things you're better off not knowing."

Aokiji slowly closed his eyes: "For someone with your personality, knowing would only cause more trouble."

"Aokiji..." Jiraiya opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going. Unlike you, who likes to live a carefree life, I'm very busy."

Aokiji turned and left, leaving Jiraiya with a lonely silhouette.

Jiraiya stood rooted to the spot, his hand reaching out into the air as if trying to grasp something. He spread his five fingers, and after a long while, his outstretched hand fell limply to the ground.

Jiraiya lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Old man..."

◎

The Hokage's office building, inside the conference room.

The four elderly people who were having a meeting all looked up at the door at the same time.

The sound of an argument was coming from which direction?

"etc……"

"Lord Jiraiya, you can't go in..."

"The Hokage and the others are having a meeting..."

……

Jiraiya ignored the guards' attempts to stop him, roughly pushed open the door, and scanned the room before finally fixing his gaze on an old man in a white robe.

The guards failed in their duty by not stopping Jiraiya. Standing at the door, they looked at the old man inside, knelt on one knee, and were just short of saying, "This humble servant has failed in his duty and hopes that the Hokage will punish me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi expressed the superior's leniency: "I'm sorry to trouble you, you may leave now."

Jiraiya would come here; Hiruzen Sarutobi had already anticipated this and even laid out a plan.

"Yes."

The guard quickly stood up, bowed, and left.

Jiraiya stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his face stern: "Old man, I have something to ask you..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a while, then gestured to the people around him to leave, leaving himself to speak with Jiraiya alone.

Mitokado Yan and Utatane Koharu didn't ask any further questions. They got up from their seats and slowly walked away.

Danzo remained seated, unwilling to move for a long time.

Danzo.

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and urged him on.

"This is not your fault, it's mine."

Jiraiya frowned at Danzo's act of taking the blame, wondering how this matter had gotten involved with Danzo again.

After the other people left, only Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and Danzo remained in the room.

A heavy atmosphere filled the air. Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly broke the oppressive silence: "Jiraiya, you've come because of Aokiji, haven't you?"

Jiraiya remained silent, waiting for them to tell the truth on their own initiative.

Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes, looking troubled. After a long while, as if preparing to say something, he took a deep breath. Just as he was about to tell the truth, Danzo interrupted him.

"Hiruzen, you don't need to say anything about this. Let me handle it."

Danzo is portrayed as a villain to set the stage for and even highlight Hiruzen Sarutobi's image as an innocent and naive character who knows nothing.

Danzo asked tentatively in a deep voice, "Jiraiya, in your understanding, what kind of person is Aokiji?"

Before officially convincing Jiraiya, Danzo needed to accurately ascertain whether Jiraiya had visited Aokiji and how much he knew about the truth, so that he could proceed with the conversation.

Jiraiya, frowning, didn't understand Danzo's intention. He could only give an image of Aokiji based on his impression, and he organized his words, but the words slipped back from his lips.

He couldn't understand Aokiji anymore: "I...I don't know. But I do know he's not a bad person."

Danzo didn't explain the difference between good and bad people because it was useless. The best way to persuade someone is to present factual evidence and let them make their own judgment.

So, he proceeded with his next move: "You know, Aokiji can be a bit too childish sometimes?"

Jiraiya's expression froze for a moment, unable to believe Danzo was playing a trick on him: "Childish?"

"What is a child? A child is someone who will treat you well if you treat them well, but will treat you badly if you treat them badly."

"Is there a problem with that?" Jiraiya said. "I think most people are like that."

Danzo sighed, "There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but the problem is that Aokiji is too childish, and children often act without considering the consequences."

After saying that, he glanced at Jiraiya, whose expression was solemn, and asked, "Do you remember the time when the son of the Fire Country's daimyo was kidnapped?"

The son of the daimyo of the Land of Fire has been kidnapped?

This happened so long ago that Jiraiya had almost forgotten about it. Danzo reminded him, and he vaguely said, "It seems there really was such a thing."

After saying that, he was suddenly startled, as if he had realized something.

Danzo bringing up old matters again is clearly not something he did out of boredom, so there's only one possibility.

A sense of foreboding washed over Jiraiya: "Could Aokiji be connected to this?"

"There is indeed a connection," Danzo sighed. "And a very strong one at that."

"..."

"Because...the person who planned the kidnapping of the daimyo's son..." Danzo paused, his voice resolute: "It was Aokiji!"

Jiraiya stared wide-eyed, his voice filled with undisguised astonishment: "How is this possible?"

"How could that be impossible?"

Danzo raised his voice to increase his credibility.

Jiraiya refused to believe it: "There must be some misunderstanding."

Danzo raised his voice: "So this so-called misunderstanding is just about arresting the daimyo's son, beating him up, and then extorting money from him?"

"..."

Danzo spoke calmly and slowly: "Back then, Aokiji failed his mission. Because the target he was protecting was special, he should have paid with his life. Fortunately, after much negotiation, the daimyo finally decided to forgive Aokiji and instead imprison him. Because of his good behavior, he was released early. It was thought that Aokiji would seriously repent, but unexpectedly, he was not repenting in prison. Instead, he was plotting how to take revenge on the daimyo after he got out."

Jiraiya's voice trembled: "Re...revenge?"

"I told you, Aokiji is as innocent as a child in some ways, so he doesn't even consider the consequences of doing this."

Danzo explained, "Holding a grudge, Aokiji used his time traveling to gather intelligence and recruit men. Since the daimyo had many skilled fighters around him, making it difficult to target him, he chose to focus his attention on his son."

"If he had acted immediately upon his release from prison, firstly, he would have lacked sufficient intelligence, and secondly, it would have easily led to speculation. Therefore, he deliberately spent six months taking a roundabout approach to avoid any connection to him."

At this point, Danzo lamented, "To possess such wisdom at such a young age is a pity; it's a shame he's using it in the wrong place."

Jiraiya wasn't stupid. Hearing this, he understood Danzo's motive. He walked up to Danzo, grabbed his collar with both hands, and said, "So, you killed Aokiji..."

He remembered that at that time, Danzo was the one in charge of the Hokage position, and given his personality, he was very likely capable of doing such a thing.

Danzo had his reasons, and quite valid ones at that. Meeting Jiraiya's questioning gaze, he said loudly, "I had no choice. Aokiji went too far this time. Given his personality and the power he possessed at that time, do you think he would obediently give in?"

When asked this question, Jiraiya was speechless, and the force he used on Danzo's hands immediately lessened.

Danzo had been waiting for this moment. He broke free from Jiraiya's restraints and, with this action, made his next words even more powerful: "I'm afraid not."

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward, called out Danzo's name, and signaled the other party to stop talking, thus highlighting his own noble and righteous image.

Danzo, with an air of "I'll do it anyway," declared, "At this time, the village will face its greatest crisis since its inception, one that will likely be even more severe than when the Uchiha led the Nine-Tails."

Immediately afterwards, Danzo, displaying a selfless attitude and playing the emotional card, said: "Tobirama-sensei entrusted Konoha to us disciples, and I cannot stand by and watch Aokiji destroy the village."

Caught between his best friend and the village, Jiraiya was like a drowning victim, struggling to even breathe.

"Why did things turn out this way...?"

Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi watched silently without saying a word.

Jiraiya hung his head, his spirits low for a moment, and asked, "Then what about Tsunade's matter?"

(End of this chapter)