Chapter 139: Jiraiya! The One Who Should Reflect Is You! And That Giant Toad!
Kijiro’s words made Juzo Biwa’s expression extremely colorful, but the very weird blood-red face paint on the lower half of his face made it hard to see his emotional changes clearly.
“Ninja Cat… you say Ikeizumi knows a lot of information about Akatsuki? Among them, is there information about Orochimaru?”
Jiraiya never imagined that one day he would be asking a Ninja Cat questions.
But he was indeed eager to know where Orochimaru was.
“Capture the defected Orochimaru and bring him back to Konoha,” “Find the Child of Prophecy spoken of by the Great Toad Sage”—these two were almost the only goals Jiraiya pursued in the latter half of his life.
“Whether Ikeizumi knows or not has nothing to do with you.” Kijiro glanced disdainfully at Jiraiya and said, “Ikeizumi has no responsibility or obligation to share intelligence with you, right? What’s more, you, as Orochimaru’s former close friend, even if you really found Orochimaru one day, are you sure you would kill him?”
Jiraiya was stunned for a moment.
At this moment.
Uchiha Ikeizumi’s voice also rang out: “You’ve never gone looking for him with the thought of ‘killing Orochimaru,’ have you?”
His gaze toward Jiraiya carried a hint of indifference: “For you, your anger toward Orochimaru isn’t because of any evil deeds he’s done. It’s just that he defected from Konoha and betrayed the Will of Fire. That’s what you, Jiraiya, can’t tolerate the most.”
“This proves that our paths are completely different. I will also try to find Orochimaru, but my original intention in seeking him is to kill him, so that the innocent victims who died because of him can rest in peace in the Pure Land.”
With that said.
Uchiha Ikeizumi was about to leave.
Before Jiraiya could recover, Juzo Biwa suddenly shouted: “Uchiha Ikeizumi! Even if you know some intelligence about Akatsuki, you definitely don’t know the purpose of my visit to contact you, right? Aren’t you curious about my goal at all?”
He was anxious.
This was the first time in Juzo Biwa’s life that he had seen a ninja so dismissive of “information.”
He didn’t understand.
He couldn’t comprehend.
“If you want to express your desire to speak, then just say it casually.” Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently: “If you want to play riddle man, I’m too lazy to entertain you.”
Juzo Biwa: “…”
How is this guy so hard to get along with? Fortunately, he is a Konoha ninja, not a member of Akatsuki.
If this guy were a member of Akatsuki and might even be assigned to him as a partner, Juzo Biwa felt he would one day be pissed off to death by Uchiha Ikeizumi.
He gritted his teeth and said, “Information… requires equivalent exchange. I can tell you the purpose of my trip, but you must also tell me the information I want to know.”
Juzo Biwa said straightforwardly: “I want to know information about ‘Uchiha Madara’!”
He no longer arrogantly crossed his legs, but stood up with a face full of seriousness. His height was quite comparable to Uchiha Ikeizumi’s, allowing him to stare directly into Uchiha Ikeizumi’s eyes: “What do you know about ‘Uchiha Madara’ in the ‘Akatsuki’ organization?”
Jiraiya: “!!!”
Izumi: “!!!”
The name “Uchiha Madara” sounded somewhat familiar to Anko, and it shocked both Jiraiya and Izumi greatly. Because the latter two were very familiar with this name.
“Akatsuki, Uchiha Madara?” Jiraiya took a deep breath. This was intelligence even more shocking to him than the unattainable information about Orochimaru: “That man, he’s still alive?”
For Jiraiya, “Uchiha Madara” was already a remnant of the old era of the Ninja World from his previous generation and the one before that.
Most crucially, didn’t he die at the hands of the First Hokage on the day of the battle at the Valley of the End?
If he didn’t die but survived in some way, how old would he be now?
Jiraiya couldn’t suppress the shocked expression in his eyes.
He always felt a very weird conspiracy enveloping everything, like a layer of fog, making it impossible to see through the truth no matter what. And Jiraiya, who had almost no intelligence on this matter, suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
“Uchiha Madara…”
“That ancestor…”
Izumi was stunned for a moment, then realized: “No… the Uchiha Madara that this guy Juzo Biwa is talking about absolutely cannot be the historical Uchiha Madara. It’s more likely the Uchiha Madara impersonated by Uchiha Obito!”
In this atmosphere, under Juzo Biwa’s eager gaze for a response, Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently: “Juzo Biwa, you’re only suitable as a killing machine on the battlefield, not as a spy gathering intelligence.”
Juzo Biwa was dumbfounded.
“When you asked me this question, you silently revealed the purpose of your trip—someone in Akatsuki sent you to contact me and probe for Uchiha Madara intelligence.”
“This is your purpose. This is Akatsuki’s goal.” Uchiha Ikeizumi paused, then continued: “Let me guess, who exactly is so curious about ‘Uchiha Madara’?”
“Nagato… he’s not the type with that personality. Whether Uchiha Madara is really Uchiha Madara doesn’t matter to him.”
Juzo Biwa was stunned.
Nagato…
Who is that?
On the contrary, Jiraiya, who had been listening intently, suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi with utter disbelief.
“Yahiko… oh, he should be dead by now. Or rather, he died very early and has become a puppet.”
“Konan… it should be her. So, it’s her, right? But you probably don’t know her real name. Speaking of which, what is her code name in ‘Akatsuki’?”
“White? White Tiger?”
“Right?”
The shock in Juzo Biwa’s eyes was no longer just shock; the way he looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi was like looking at a monster.
Every casual sentence from him, as if in normal conversation, revealed extremely confidential Akatsuki information.
It felt as if the Uchiha Ikeizumi in front of them was the true mastermind behind Akatsuki!
Intelligence that even he, a newbie, didn’t know—this guy knew it all too clearly!
“Nagato…”
“Yahiko…”
“Konan…”
“Only Yahiko died? Nagato and Konan are still alive?”
Jiraiya on the side murmured these three extremely familiar names, his reaction even more intense than Juzo Biwa’s. His three former disciples had joined that Akatsuki organization? And from the sound of it, they were likely high-ranking members?
Otherwise, how could they command the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?
Jiraiya even came up with a bold hypothesis.
Is it possible—Akatsuki was founded by them? Otherwise, why would Uchiha Ikeizumi single out just these three? The only explanation is that these three are the absolute leadership of Akatsuki!
Jiraiya’s mind was in chaos. He felt that the intelligence he learned in these short few minutes was far more than what he had painstakingly investigated over several years.
…
Ninja Academy.
Clan members of the Sarutobi Clan and Izushima Kaede’s family had all rushed over hurriedly and collected all the corpses.
Neji Hyuga silently watched the backs of the Sarutobi Clan ninjas carrying the corpses away.
He had witnessed everything that happened earlier from a distance.
This gave Neji a deeper understanding of Absolute Justice.
His emotional side told him—when Uchiha Ikeizumi was about to leave the Ninja Academy earlier, he should have hurried to follow and express that he was very interested in Absolute Justice and wanted to believe in his Absolute Justice.
But…
Neji clenched his fist tightly. Innate fear and inferiority prevented him from taking that step.
The fear came from Uchiha Ikeizumi’s powerful strength and the extreme methods that even Neji found chilling.
The inferiority came from the Caged Bird Seal engraved on his forehead.
Neji was afraid that because of this curse mark, he would be rejected from believing in Absolute Justice.
No one would have thought that the number one genius in the Ninja Academy would have such a conflicted and twisted moment.
“…Main Family!!!”
Neji knew his twisted thinking was very bad.
But he didn’t know what to do.
He could only vent that resentment on the Hyuga Main Family.
At that moment, a sudden voice rang out behind Neji: “Are you the weird but justice-loving Neji Hyuga that dead last mentioned today?”
Neji frowned slightly and turned around to see Uchiha Sasuke with his hands in his pockets.
Neji knew Sasuke.
Earlier outside the Hyuga Clan Compound, he had seen Sasuke and knew he was the second son of the Uchiha Clan Leader, and that Sasuke had previously killed a young member of the Hyuga Clan.
Even though he had just been rebuked by Yamanaka Ino, Sasuke still put on the signature cold expression of the Uchiha Clan.
He stared straight at Neji and said to him: “If you’re really interested in Teacher Ikeizumi’s Absolute Justice, even admiring it, then you shouldn’t hesitate. Those who are so conflicted and twisted cannot properly execute justice.”
Neji was slightly startled. Did this guy see through what he was thinking?
Or had his thoughts always been obvious on his face, easy for anyone to see?
Sasuke sized up Neji and said, “I know you’re hailed as the number one genius in the Ninja Academy in the past two years. I’ve also heard that you, in just your second year at the academy, can already fight evenly with sixth-year students about to graduate. Once, I even considered you one of my goals to surpass.”
“Heh… now it seems there’s no point in surpassing someone so twisted. Or rather, I’ve already surpassed you.”
“I’m not twisted, and I’m not hesitating.” Neji’s eyes narrowed, and he emphasized heavily.
After all, some random person suddenly appeared and inexplicably criticized him…
Anyone normal would feel annoyed, let alone Neji, a Branch Family genius who didn’t think he was inferior to the Main Family.
Neji exhaled, calmed down a bit, and said in a slightly sunken tone: “What exactly are you trying to say? No need to beat around the bush.”
Sasuke’s mouth curved: “What I’m saying is—you know nothing about justice. What you showed to dead last as curiosity and longing for justice is actually your longing for power. In your eyes, justice means power, and you’re craving power.”
“Someone like you, even if you muster the courage to tell Teacher Ikeizumi what you want to say, he won’t accept you. In his eyes, you’re not truly devoted to justice.”
Neji was stunned: “Why?!”
Sasuke parroted what he had just learned, rephrasing Yamanaka Ino’s words in his own way: “Because true justice… is concern for victims, protection of the kind, judgment of sin, and upholding of correct morals.”
“Neji Hyuga, which of the above do you embody? You, who wants to believe in justice only for power, are ultimately just a puppet of power and will one day fall into the abyss of sin.”
With that, Sasuke didn’t give Neji a chance to respond and turned to leave without hesitation right in front of him.
To strike a pose, he even deliberately slowed his movements a bit.
He nailed the Uchiha Clan vibe.
“…”
Neji stood in place, silent for a long while.
…
“How was it? How did it go?” As soon as Sasuke turned a corner in the corridor, he ran into the curious-faced Naruto, who asked eagerly: “How did he react?”
Sasuke’s forced cool kid face and pose finally cracked.
He relaxed a bit, let out a soft hum, and asked: “Dead last, why make me do something so boring?”
Naruto answered frankly: “Because he longs for justice, but I feel like he’s just like the two of us before—he doesn’t really understand justice much. At times like this, someone needs to tell him what true justice is, just like how Yamanaka Ino told us what true justice is.”
“Once he understands, he can become our companion!”
Naruto grinned broadly, patted Sasuke’s shoulder: “Besides, what we’re doing is adding new justice blood for Teacher Ikeizumi! How could it be boring?”
“I think that guy has potential, and he’s pretty strong too. He might become the fourth person at the Ninja Academy to believe in justice!”
Sasuke disdainfully slapped Naruto’s hand away, his little face showing a hint of disgust: “Next time, you do it yourself.”
Naruto muttered: “If I could memorize all those lines, I would’ve done it myself.”
Yamanaka Ino standing behind Naruto: “…”
She increasingly felt that these two guys were very immature.
That Lord Uchiha Ikeizumi never said anything about developing new justice blood at the Ninja Academy, yet they acted on their own. Was there really no problem with that?
At this moment.
Ino seemed to notice something. She looked doubtfully in that direction and saw a pink-haired head suddenly duck back.
Ino was stunned.
“Sakura?”
…
“Pfft—”
In the Hokage’s Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was drinking tea to moisten his throat, almost sprayed tea all over Koharu Utatane after hearing a report from an Anbu Ninja.
“The Village of Rain envoy has been taken into custody by the Police Force?!” Sarutobi Hiruzen’s face was full of disbelief.
He thought that Uchiha Ikeizumi, having executed justice once today, would rest a bit. And he, the Third Hokage, also needed some time to digest what happened today.
But who would have thought that before his butt even warmed the seat, such news arrived, nearly throwing Sarutobi Hiruzen off.
“Which Village of Rain envoy?!” Koharu Utatane, who had dodged the sprayed tea without a word, couldn’t help but frown and ask: “Weren’t those Village of Rain envoys being hosted by Homura? Uchiha Ikeizumi couldn’t have arrested someone right in front of Homura, could he?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, even Koharu Utatane herself was stunned, realizing she hadn’t thought it through.
Because that guy Uchiha Ikeizumi not only dared, but was extremely bold in that regard!
He even dared to kill a Mitokado Clan member right in front of Homura Mitokado, let alone arrest someone.
“No.”
The Anbu Ninja shook his head and said: “The one arrested is Juzo Biwa, who defected to the Village of Rain! And it wasn’t Uchiha Ikeizumi who caught him—it was the Uchiha girl named ‘Uchiha Izumi,’ Uchiha Ikeizumi’s subordinate, who captured him.”
“Her?!” Koharu Utatane’s expression immediately became colorful. She clearly remembered this little brat mocking her, and doing so openly right in front of her.
She had a very deep impression of that Uchiha girl.
Of course…
It was a negative impression.
Koharu Utatane questioned again: “You must be one of the Anbu Ninjas tracking Juzo Biwa, right? Since you witnessed everything, why didn’t you stop that Uchiha kid?”
“Because Lord Jiraiya was present.” The Anbu Ninja reported truthfully: “Moreover, after Uchiha Izumi and Mitarashi Anko demanded to take Juzo Biwa to the Police Force, Lord Jiraiya happened to appear. He seemed to want to take Juzo Biwa down as well.”
Now it was Koharu Utatane’s turn to be confused. The incident with Sarutako Sarutobi at the Ninja Academy involving Tsunade was one thing.
After all, Koharu Utatane didn’t have high hopes for that female gambler. How could someone addicted to gambling have normal values?
It was reasonable for Tsunade to be blinded by Absolute Justice.
The problem was…
How did Juzo Biwa get involved with Jiraiya too?
What was going on with the Konoha Sannin? It was fine if they didn’t return to the village, but as soon as they did, all sorts of troubles arose.
“Juzo Biwa has been arrested…” Sarutobi Hiruzen furrowed his brows: “This is no small diplomatic incident! If he were just a Hidden Mist rogue ninja, it would be fine, but he’s also a Village of Rain envoy. If something goes wrong, it won’t be easy to explain to the Village of Rain.”
“However.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly thought of something: “Ikeizumi’s subordinate had a direct armed conflict with Juzo Biwa right away—does that mean nothing major will happen?”
Koharu Utatane was taken aback: “What do you mean?”
Sarutobi Hiruzen said: “Because, given Ikeizumi and his subordinate’s style, if Juzo Biwa were a heinous villain, their first reaction wouldn’t be to arrest him into the Police Force, but to execute him on the spot in the name of Absolute Justice.”
“By the time we realize something happened, Juzo Biwa would either be a corpse or have fled far away. Since he’s only been arrested now, it means he won’t be killed by Ikeizumi or his subordinate for the time being.”
Koharu Utatane’s mouth twitched.
It actually made a lot of sense.
“But we can’t let a Village of Rain envoy be held in the Police Force—what would that look like? If the Village of Rain leader finds out, it won’t be easy for our Konoha to explain.”
Koharu Utatane said.
“Mm.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slightly and said to the Anbu Ninja who came to report: “Go contact Fugaku and have him use his authority as Captain of the Police Force to order the Police Force to release Juzo Biwa.”
“Yes! Hokage!”
…
In the Uchiha Police Force Interrogation Room.
Uchiha Ikeizumi’s calm and indifferent gaze formed a stark contrast with the shocked expressions of Jiraiya and Juzo Biwa.
“Akatsuki…”
Jiraiya took a sharp breath, no longer caring about the others present, and directly asked Uchiha Ikeizumi: “Ikeizumi, was Akatsuki founded by those three—Yahiko and the others?”
Uchiha Ikeizumi glanced at him, and Jiraiya read the answer in that cold gaze—yes!
Jiraiya inhaled another cold breath inwardly.
He didn’t mind Uchiha Ikeizumi’s reluctance to talk to him.
Jiraiya hurriedly asked politely again: “What exactly is the purpose of them founding Akatsuki? Because from my investigations of Akatsuki over these years, it seems purely a mercenary organization that incites wars among small countries for profit. This… this doesn’t match their style at all.”
“What illusion makes you think you can see into their hearts?”
Uchiha Ikeizumi finally spoke to him.
“What illusion makes you think that because they were once your disciples, they must follow the future you envisioned for their lives?”
Uchiha Ikeizumi said slowly: “Put away that face of yours that thinks you’re the only one who’s right, Jiraiya. What kind of extreme thoughts a twisted and diseased Ninja World will breed, and what kind of extreme beasts it will produce, is beyond your imagination.”
“Your three naive disciples, after the most naive one died, the remaining two have been brainwashed. Or even if no one brainwashed them, they would be influenced by the twisted Ninja World and develop equally diseased ideals.”
Jiraiya was stunned.
“Uchiha Ikeizumi, what you just said… how does it sound like you know them even better than I do?” Juzo Biwa spoke up.
He looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi and continued: “The feeling you give me… is like you’re the true mastermind behind Akatsuki!”
But Juzo Biwa didn’t expect Uchiha Ikeizumi to completely ignore him. He continued to Jiraiya: “Want to know what your two surviving disciples are thinking?”
“Yes!”
Jiraiya’s response was almost without thought.
Juzo Biwa: “…”
Damn it! He was once a Hidden Mist elite, but in this damn place, do his words carry no weight?
He’s ignoring me!!!
However.
Juzo Biwa didn’t speak again, because he was also very curious about what Akatsuki’s leader was thinking. He only had a half-understanding of Akatsuki’s true goals and what they wanted to do—after all, he was just a newbie who had just joined.
He was curious too.
Uchiha Ikeizumi didn’t treat Nagato’s secrets as secrets at all, since they weren’t his own: “Your disciple named Nagato believes the Ninja World is already sick. He thinks there is no peace in this cursed Ninja World, and that people can never truly understand each other.”
Jiraiya was dazed.
This…
This was completely different from Yahiko’s ideas—completely opposite!
“He tries to find a secret weapon capable of destroying a country, using that power to bring fear and pain of war to the world. He believes that by making the world feel pain, he can use people’s fear of pain to suppress wars in the Ninja World.”
“As for your other disciple Konan, she doesn’t have much of her own opinion. Whatever Yahiko’s goal was, she followed Yahiko; whatever Nagato’s goal is, she follows Nagato.”
At this point, Uchiha Ikeizumi smiled.
Though it was just a slight curl of the lips, Jiraiya saw it.
And it wasn’t a smile of appreciation, but one of sarcasm.
“Jiraiya, when you taught them, did you not teach them cultural studies?” Uchiha Ikeizumi said to Jiraiya without reservation: “I can’t imagine what kind of despairing illiterate would come up with such a way to suppress war. It’s on par with Uchiha Itachi as a pair of crouching dragon and phoenix chick.”
Jiraiya didn’t understand what crouching dragon and phoenix chick meant.
But he could tell… Uchiha Ikeizumi utterly despised Nagato’s idea of “making the world feel pain.”
And Uchiha Ikeizumi’s final question left Jiraiya unsure how to respond.
Because…
He indeed hadn’t taught them cultural studies. After all, it was wartime, and the Village of Rain was in turmoil. All he could teach them was the power to survive—there was no time for cultural lessons.
But now Jiraiya regretted it.
Maybe… he really should have taught Yahiko and the others cultural studies back then.
No, Yahiko might not have needed it; he was the only normal one.
But Nagato and Konan absolutely needed it!
Unfortunately.
It was too late.
“Ha… seems like I heard some secret intelligence I shouldn’t have.” Juzo Biwa’s expression was a bit stiff, making him feel like he might be silenced by that woman when he got back. Of course, the prerequisite was that she knew what he experienced in Konoha.
“So you’re the root of all evil! Meow!” Kijiro pointed a cat paw at Jiraiya and said without any politeness: “The three people Ikeizumi just mentioned—aren’t they one of the so-called Children of Prophecy you were looking for back then, meow?”
Jiraiya’s expression stiffened.
“This is the Child of Prophecy that the Great Toad Sage spoke of? This is the savior? Jiraiya, the savior you found and taught harbors extreme ideas of destroying the entire Ninja World.”
“Meow, how do you ensure the Child of Prophecy you find later won’t be raised crooked by you? Or rather… they turned out this way because of you! Because you raised them crooked, meow!”
“The one who really needs to reflect is you, Jiraiya! I think you’ve been completely fooled by that Great Toad! Believing that Great Toad is less reliable than believing our Ninja Cat Clan!”
“At least, our Ninja Cat Clan truly thinks about whether the Ninja World can restore justice and order. We truly help Ikeizumi relieve his worries with our own power.”
“Not like that Great Toad, or like you Jiraiya, placing the Ninja World on the so-called Child of Prophecy.”
Kijiro was freely criticizing Jiraiya and the Great Toad Sage.
Jiraiya opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a single rebuttal.
He suddenly felt his face burning with shame.
…
…
