Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression stiffened, but he still nodded.
"Jiraiya, as long as you haven't been misled."
"This must be a scheme by the village's enemies to divide us."
"You understand me. I have never placed that much importance on the Hokage position. Whoever succeeds as Hokage, so long as they can do the job well, I would accept it."
"The truth is, I'm already tired. I've wanted someone to inherit the position of Hokage for a long time."
As Hiruzen spoke, he let out a sigh.
"Minato… what a pity."
"Originally, after the war ended, I had planned to hand the Hokage position to Minato. But because Orochimaru had Danzo's support, I wanted to wait a little longer—until Minato's chances of winning the election were greater."
"Orochimaru changed. I felt that if he became Hokage, he would only lead the village down the wrong path."
"But I never expected Minato to die."
"If I had known it would turn out that way, I should have gone sooner."
"It should have been me who used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal on the Nine-Tails."
Hiruzen's eyes reddened, his face showing deep regret and self-blame.
"If only Kushina had not been pregnant."
"Jiraiya, do you know why I chose to cooperate with Kirigakure back then, even at the cost of offending Sunagakure?"
Hiruzen decided to reveal that secret to strengthen his persuasiveness.
He was worried that Jiraiya would not truly believe him.
"Yagura Karatachi gave me a condition I could not refuse—a set of information that could allow Kushina to approach the level of a perfect jinchuriki. To Konoha, its value was far too great."
"Not only could it prevent another incident like the Nine-Tails' rampage from happening again…"
"It could also allow Kushina to become a powerful jinchuriki shinobi."
"Just like Yagura Karatachi before, and like Killer B of Kumogakure."
"Kushina would have become even stronger than them."
"If that happened, the strength our village possessed would have become extraordinary. We could have returned directly to the position of the number one shinobi village and reclaimed everything Konoha had previously lost."
Jiraiya showed a trace of interest.
"Close to a perfect jinchuriki?"
"That's right."
Hiruzen nodded.
"Unfortunately, Kushina was already pregnant at the time. During pregnancy, the Tailed Beast becomes unstable, so we could not attempt it. I originally intended to give that information to her after she gave birth."
"But then, all of a sudden, the Nine-Tails broke free."
"Minato died. Kushina died as well."
"Minato died to save the village."
"Many people saw it clearly that day. There were obvious Sharingan patterns in the Nine-Tails' eyes. Most likely, it had been controlled by someone from the Uchiha. That was their revenge."
Jiraiya's expression darkened slightly.
"To control the Nine-Tails' rampage and create so many casualties… whoever was behind it has utterly abandoned their humanity."
"Teacher Sarutobi, I'm fine. You should go handle the village's affairs. I absolutely won't be affected by the enemy's schemes. You can rest assured."
Hiruzen nodded.
"Then rest well, Jiraiya. Try to recover as soon as possible. In the future, there may not necessarily be no way to repair your hands and feet."
After receiving Jiraiya's confirmation, Hiruzen let out a breath of relief.
Then he went to the newspaper office.
"Hiruzen."
Mitokado Homura received the notice and hurried downstairs to greet him.
"Homura, how is the newspaper office doing?"
"It's manageable."
Mitokado Homura led Hiruzen upstairs as he introduced the situation.
"Our Konoha Weekly is doing quite well now. We have news, and we have stories. I deliberately searched throughout the Land of Fire and brought back dozens of writers…"
Hiruzen asked,
"How does it compare to One Piece?"
Mitokado Homura stopped talking.
They entered the office and shut the door.
"Homura, you should have heard about the recent rumor, haven't you?"
"I have. It's definitely slander."
Mitokado Homura said, "If nothing unexpected happened, Sunagakure should be behind it. They have grown fond of doing things like this lately."
Hiruzen shook his head.
"This time, it may truly not be them."
Mitokado Homura revealed a puzzled expression.
"Why?"
Hiruzen explained, "The spread of such a rumor is actually disadvantageous to Sunagakure as well."
"After the battle between Rasa and Jiraiya, many people in the shinobi world already believed that Rasa was the undisputed number one shinobi in the world. But this rumor would damage Rasa's title as the strongest."
"And Jiraiya is already crippled."
"For Rasa to drive a wedge between me and Jiraiya would not bring Sunagakure much benefit."
"But it would harm Sunagakure."
"How could Rasa possibly do something like that?"
Mitokado Homura froze for a moment.
"Hiruzen, what you said makes sense. But if it wasn't Sunagakure, then who was it?"
Hiruzen said,
"Iwagakure and Kumogakure are both possibilities. Kirigakure is too busy taking care of itself. They don't have time to do something like this, and they wouldn't dare offend Konoha again."
"Relatively speaking, I think Kumogakure is the more likely one."
"They used this opportunity to obtain the Byakugan. They know Konoha will certainly hate them for it, so they deliberately used this kind of rumor to create trouble for me."
Mitokado Homura nodded.
"Even Kumogakure has started using such despicable methods?"
"The atmosphere of the shinobi world truly is declining."
"When we were young, where were things like this? Ever since Onoki started that bad precedent, Sunagakure followed and carried it forward. Now Kumogakure is doing the same."
"In the future, I fear no one in the shinobi world will have a decent reputation anymore."
"There will never again be opponents who respect each other."
The two sighed for a while, both feeling that the shinobi of today no longer followed the rules and could not compare with those of the past.
Their morals had fallen far too low.
"Homura, I came here this time because I want you to publish a statement in Konoha Weekly. I already met with Jiraiya earlier. Neither of us believes that rumor."
"Publish a statement saying that Konoha sternly condemns this act of rumor-mongering."
"We will do everything in our power to find the one who spread this rumor, and make them pay the corresponding price."
Naturally, Mitokado Homura would not refuse.
"Hiruzen, don't worry. I will definitely place this statement in the most conspicuous position."
…
…
A post town outside Konoha.
Kakashi sat by the window of a teahouse, listening to the discussions about the rumor involving Jiraiya. He let out a cold snort.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi, for the sake of the Hokage position, there really is nothing you won't do."
"My father. Teacher Minato. And now Senior Jiraiya."
"Is the Hokage seat really that important?"
"When the village itself is gone, what use will that Hokage position be?"
A figure walked toward him.
Kakashi raised his hand.
Soon, that figure came upstairs and sat down across from Kakashi.
"Senior Kakashi."
"Shisui."
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