Danzo was gone.
Gone with a smile tugging at his lips and victory swelling in his chest.
He was satisfied—perhaps more than he'd been in decades.
His plan was progressing exactly as he intended: Minato remained grounded, focused on Kushina's condition. The village was tense, the other nations were restless, and only Danzo stood poised to take action. All the spotlight, all the pressure, was his.
He welcomed it.
As for Jiraiya?
Danzo had dismissed him outright.
A rogue-nin without roots. A hermit with no loyal faction. A man revered by students but estranged from power.
Danzo didn't see Jiraiya as a threat. If he joined the war effort, Danzo's own reputation as Konoha's wartime leader would be enhanced. If Jiraiya chose not to engage, he'd be labeled a wanderer who abandoned the village in its time of need.
Either way, Danzo would come out on top.
And so, with all the poise of a man walking into a future he'd already claimed, Danzo departed.
"Hmph. That guy hasn't changed one bit."
Jiraiya stood near the doorway, arms folded across his chest, mouth pulled into a frown.
"Danzo's always been like that," Minato said, sighing.
"It's only because Lord Third indulged him too much," Jiraiya muttered, "letting him create that damned Root and run it like his own shadow village."
Minato didn't deny it.
They both knew the truth. Danzo wasn't subtle. His ambitions, his tactics, his philosophy of shinobi power over principle—none of it was new to them.
But calling him out directly? Declaring open rebellion against Danzo and his allies in the old guard would ignite a civil war in Konoha. And for years, both Jiraiya and Minato had avoided that.
Jiraiya had chosen to be a rogue-nin, traveling far from the politics of the village.
Minato had chosen compromise—accepting the role of Hokage in name, but ceding real power to the council and the elders.
But now?
Now that Uchiha Madara had returned from the abyss of myth, and the Akatsuki loomed over the world like a gathering storm...
Now, the time for half-measures was over.
"Minato," Jiraiya said suddenly. "Can I meet this 'Wandering Sage' you mentioned?"
"You mean Kai?"
Jiraiya nodded. "If he's real—if he really helped save you, and if he's warning you about Madara—I need to see him with my own eyes."
Minato smiled wryly. "I'd like that too, but… his appearances are unpredictable."
And just as the words left his mouth—
Whoosh.
A shimmer of chakra tore softly through the air, and Kai stepped into the room.
Not walked—appeared. As if space itself had folded open to let him through.
"Speak of the devil," Minato said with a small laugh.
Jiraiya, however, stiffened.
Not because of Kai's sudden appearance—but because of what was in his eyes.
A pair of glowing, ringed Rinnegan stared back at him.
"You… the Rinnegan…" Jiraiya whispered, stunned. "That's… impossible."
The pattern. The energy. The memories it stirred. Jiraiya had only seen eyes like that once before.
"Kai?" Jiraiya breathed. "Who… who are you really? Are you related to Nagato?"
Kai chuckled. "After teaching him for three years, you still can't tell the difference between a fake and the real thing?"
Minato blinked. "Teacher? Who's Nagato?"
Jiraiya drew a long breath, his expression clouded with memory.
"It was during the Second Great Ninja War," he began. "I stumbled across three orphans in Amegakure. One of them had the Rinnegan—the same eyes said to belong to the Sage of Six Paths."
"I thought… maybe he was the Child of Prophecy. So I stayed. I trained them."
"His name was Nagato. He mastered all the basic chakra natures by the age of ten. He was brilliant and compassionate."
Minato leaned in. "What happened after that?"
"I had to leave," Jiraiya said bitterly. "The war pulled me back in. I thought they could survive on their own. But then… we heard they died."
He trailed off, his voice barely a whisper.
"The Great Toad Sage prophesied a child," Jiraiya continued, voice raw. "A ninja who would change the world. Either bring peace—or destroy it."
"I thought Nagato was that child. But I was wrong."
He looked at Minato with a faint smile.
"Now… I think it might be you."
Minato flushed. "Me? No, I… I'm not that kind of person. I'm not the one to lead a revolution."
"You ended a world war," Jiraiya reminded him. "With your Flying Thunder God, you changed the way battles were fought. You have a heart that listens, and a mind that calculates."
"Minato, you are the best of us."
Kai, arms crossed, watched the exchange in silence.
Then finally: "Alright, that's enough."
He stepped forward.
"You're one of the Legendary Sannin, and you're still chasing some half-baked prophecy?"
Jiraiya blinked, confused.
Kai didn't hold back.
"Wandering the world, preaching about destiny, and chasing shadows while your village bleeds. No wonder Tsunade never gave you the time of day."
Jiraiya's face turned crimson. "Y-You—!"
"Don't start lecturing me about prophecies," Kai snapped. "If the 'Child of Prophecy' was so important, why did you leave Nagato?"
"That's not fair—"
"You say he was powerful. That he was good. But when it mattered, you left. Then you left Konoha. Then you weren't even here when Minato needed you most."
"Enough!" Jiraiya shouted.
He stood tall, fists clenched.
"I tried! I've always tried! I left Nagato because I thought he was strong enough to stand on his own. I left Konoha because I believed Minato could handle things!"
"I didn't run from responsibility. I chose."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "And yet your choices always led to tragedy."
Jiraiya didn't answer.
He didn't need to. The weight in his chest said enough.
"You lost friends. Comrades. Students," Kai continued, his voice gentler now. "I'm not blaming you, Jiraiya. But it's time you stopped running."
Jiraiya looked up.
"Nagato's not dead."
The room fell silent.
"W-What…?"
Kai nodded. "He survived. But he was manipulated. Warped. Danzo and Hanzo murdered his friend Yahiko, and now Nagato leads Akatsuki under the influence of Uchiha Madara."
Jiraiya staggered back a step.
"Danzo… did what?"
Kai's expression was calm, but firm. "He colluded with Amegakure's leaders to crush Nagato's peace movement. When Yahiko died, Nagato snapped. He became the very weapon they feared."
"No…" Jiraiya whispered. "That can't be…"
"He's out there. Stronger than ever. And soon, you'll face him again."
Minato stepped forward. "Teacher…"
Jiraiya didn't speak.
His mind spun. Everything he'd believed—his regrets, his hopes, the child he thought he failed—it was all being rewritten in real time.
Kai turned to Minato.
"He still has power. Potential. He's a Sannin. One of the few people who can walk between nations without being hunted."
"Are you saying…" Minato began.
Kai nodded. "It's time to stop wandering, Jiraiya. You can't undo your past. But you can fight for the future."
The silence lingered.
Then, slowly, Jiraiya lifted his head.
His expression had changed—no longer weighed down by guilt or lost dreams.
Only resolve.
"…Where do I start?"