Looking at his former student, who was ready to deliver the final blow, he couldn't help but laugh knowing that this was the last chapter of his life.
"Never go back on your word, no matter what, and never give up, despite what the odds tell you to do. Naruto, if this is really your ninja way, then as your teacher I have no interest in whining. Because as everyone knows, a student inherits his ninja way from his teacher. Right Nauto? It's not like this? Never give up! No matter what. That was the real choice I had to make. Naruto, you are the prophecy. I'm sure of it now. I leave the rest to you."
With the resolution that there was no turning back, Jiraya used the rest of his strength for one last Rasengan, only for one of Pain's paths to pierce him in the back with 6 iron rods.
The force of the attack caused Jiraiya to fall into the lake, causing him to sink into the water, and with his numb pain, he knew it was his last moments.
"The Last Words - The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant. Now it will end a little better, I hope. The final chapter... I'll call it: Frog at the bottom of the well drifting towards the great ocean. Just a little glorious... Now I suppose it's time to put down my pen. Oh right... How should I name the sequence? I wonder... Let's see: The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki. Yeah… that sounds good"
Smiling to himself as he sank, he began to think about his life, the decisions he'd made, the people he'd taught, cared for, and eventually lost, and he couldn't help but feel a tightness in his chest thinking about his failure as a life.
"In the shinobi world it's not how you live, it's how you die. A shinobi's life is not measured by how they live, but by what they accomplish before their death. And looking back, my life was really filled with nothing but failures. Continually rejected by Tsunade, my one true love that was never returned. Ha, I always knew deep down that she didn't see me as anything but a brother, I hope she doesn't get drunk again when she gets the news of my departure."
He remembered when he was a child and meeting Tsunade and Orochimaru for the first time, and how he fell in love at first sight. He remembered how the years went by, and Tsunade found love with someone else, stood by her side when she lost the precious people in her life, and saw the once brash young woman decay into a bitter woman who wanted nothing but her own. death itself to put an end to his misery, but not courageous enough to do so. He would always love that impetuous woman, and he really hoped that she would move on, after all, life was beautiful even in a world marked by suffering.
"I was unable to stop my friend and unable to protect my student or my mentor. Compared to the great deeds of previous hokages, my actions are all futile and insignificant things. I wish I had died like each of the hokage. A short story is only good because it has that unexpected plot-twist of events. A plot twist. And mistakes are also an important part of a plot. I've lived my life always believing that the lessons I learned are what chased me and shaped me into the person I am today. I swore I would accomplish a feat so great that it would erase all my failures. I would die a splendid shinobi, at least that's how it should be. But my story ending like this... The Great Elder Lord prophesied that I would be the one to lead the revolution. A person who would make a great choice that will bring peace or destruction to the shinobi world. I thought I would defeat Pain, stop Akatsuki and save the world from destruction. But in the end, I failed that too. How unfortunate. How sad that this will be the final twist in the tale of Jiraiya the Gallant. What a useless story it turned out to be."
It was ironic that the one who mentored a hokage and the professia's son had lived a life full of flaws. He watched his best friend fall into his own despair and ambition, turning into a hopeless monster. He saw his student give his life, and his wife's, to save Konoha, only for his son to suffer the burden of carrying the hate of ignorant people, and where was the great Jiraya? Around the world using the excuse of his network of spies, as he didn't want to have to embarrass himself by looking into Naruto's eyes, and seeing that the boy could perhaps have grown up with a father and mother who loved him, had he been gift to defend the village. And years later, when he finally mustered up enough courage to face his nephew and fulfill the role given him by his parents, he failed again, failing to protect Hiruzen,
"Naruto. Now that I think about it, you are like the main character in this novel. You have inherited Minato and Kushina's wishes. Your hopes. And yet... And yet I..."
His greatest shame would never be the failures he had in life regarding his dreams, but of not having protected his disciple and seeing from afar that flame of hope extinguished prematurely. He hoped that Minato and Kushina would forgive him in the afterlife, but he would face all the hatred, which would be justified, from two of the most important people in his long life.
Jiraya couldn't help but smile as he remembers when he first met Minato, even as a shy child who had difficulties expressing himself, he was the son the Sannin never had, and how proud he was of the shinobi he had become. .
He could remember Minato's enthusiastic words when he welcomed him as his disciple, and he couldn't help but smile remembering the boy.
"You are my Jiraiya sensei. You are a great ninja who possesses real talent. There is no one like you in the entire world!"
The boy's words made Jiraya at the time believe that he was finally on the right path, and he had sworn that day that he would turn Minato into the best shinobi he could be.
His memories go back to the beginning of the third great shinobi war, seeing a now-teenage Minato, trembling in fear as he saw the horrors of war for the first time. He knew he needed to show the young shinobi that the world had much more to offer than just sadness and pain.
"A true ninja is one who persists, no matter what is thrown at him. Let me explain something to you: There's only one thing that matters if you're a shinobi. And it's not the number of jutsus you have. What you need is the courage... to never give up!"
He knew he was forcing his ideals on the young man, but he couldn't help but feel his heart warm as he remembered Minato with teary eyes, nodding and smiling. He'd become too much like me for his own good, and that mindset led to his untimely death. And the worst, I'm sure that hardhead died with a smile on his face, after all, he molded himself to me, and I'm certainly not leaving this world crying with sadness! Ha, take that Nagato, you broke up with me, but I'm the one who laughs last.
Jiraya felt his vision darken, and his body so tired, so heavy, he wanted to sleep, but he knew what that meant, the time was coming. In his mind, the memory of a young Naruto, returning with him to Konoha after his 3 years of training, made him smile again, thinking that once again he had molded a person to his ideals, make no mistake, Naruto's life. it was his to decide what he wanted to do, but Jiraya knew, that boy was just as stubborn as he was, never go back on your word huh? What a way of looking at life, who said Jiraya didn't learn anything from the hyperactive young number one airhead?
"Never go back on your word, no matter what, and never give up, despite what the odds tell you to do. Naruto, if this is really your ninja way, then as your teacher I could sit and whimper. Because as everyone knows, a student inherits his ninja way from his teacher. Right, Nauto? It's not like this? Never give up! No matter what. That was the real choice I had to make. Naruto, you are the prophecy. I'm sure of it now. I leave the rest to you."
Jiraiya couldn't see anything else, and it was so hard to stay conscious. He was tired, it was time to finish his final chapter, and let the fiery will of the new generations shape the world.
Smiling one last time, Jiraya finally allowed himself to rest, thus ending his story, believing that the future was in good hands if the world was still capable of generating people like Minato and Naruto.
And with a tone of finality, the great sage of Mount Myoboku, the one who lived and died for what he believed in, who helped shape disciples, who gave their lives for what they believed in, just like his mentor, even though 3 of them fell on the dark path, he could never hate Nagato, Konan and Yahiko. They would always be to him the three little brats he raised in a war-torn land.
Thus ended the legend of Jiraiya the Gallant.
Or at least what should happen, for in a distant world, his maximum divinity by some irony of fate, while looking at the various arms of the multiverse, witnessed the end of that man.
The deity was astonished at this man's resolve, and wished there were more like him in his world. And then, an idea popped into his mind.
Why not give this man a second chance to live, in my world?
Arceus smiled to himself, and using a fraction of his powers, brought the man into his world.
With his job complete, Arceus can't help but look forward to the feats the so-called Jiraya would do in his world.
He couldn't wait for the next chapters of Jiraya's tale, as the man had called his own life.
It was late in the Littleroot Town Forest Reserve when she heard the sound of something falling through the woods. Experienced with Pokémon behavior she was wearing a top and a leaf loincloth, and had not seen a shower for 3 days, which left her with dirt marks. But to Sapphire it didn't matter, she was used to and frankly liked the feeling of living alongside Pokémon, and used every opportunity her father gave her, to spend days in the woods watching Pokémon do things their own way.
Running to the source of the noise, she soon came across a small clearing, spotting a pair of Mightyenas in a typical attack formation, a clear sign that they were hunting. She didn't like to see Pokémon being eaten, but it was part of nature and that's just the way it worked, not all Pokémon were lucky to have a trainer taking care of them.
She was about to walk away, not wanting to see a Pokémon dying, when she quickly saw a white tangle on the ground. Surprised at the unusual color for a forest, she took a good look and widened her eyes at what she saw.
It was a boy, apparently about 15 years old, judging by his build, he appeared to be of average size for his age, with messy white hair, an unusual hair color if you ask. He was dressed in ripped black clothes, shirt and shorts, with a mesh shirt underneath in better condition. He was wearing some kind of weird wooden sandals, and he was passed out... with two excited Mightyena seeing him as easy prey.
When the two Pokémon were going to attack, they were hit by sparks of flame, scaring them and making them run into the forest. The author of the feat was a Pokémon similar to a chick, which tried to impose an angry face, failing miserably, because anyone would find it cute, well, until you saw that the little chicken released flames from its mouth at will.
"Good job Chic, could you watch the grounds while I go check on the boy?" Said Sapphire looking at her Pokémon. The little chicken jumped excitedly and turned around trying to strike a pose of intimidation, making the girl laugh, showing her two small fangs on her upper teeth. She snapped out of her reverie and refocused on the boy, running to his side and checking his heartbeat in her neck, and felt a mixture of relief and fear that even though he was alive, he was beating weakly, which was worrying.
With surprising strength for a girl of her stature, she supported the boy on her back with some difficulty to stabilize him, and when she did, called her Pokémon back to her Poké Ball, taking a deep breath and running through the forest, towards her base. temporary that I was using these days living in the woods.
The path was crooked and now and then branches slapped her face and body, but she was used to it, she was proudly a girl of the woods, strange as her father found that statement, and a scratch or two wouldn't be enough to stop her. there to do what he needed to do, and this boy urgently needed help.
After a few minutes, Sapphire arrived at a small entrance of what looked like a cave, and preparing to enter, accommodated the unconscious boy so he wouldn't hit his head on the rocks, and entered carefully.
Inside what looked like a cave on the outside was a small base, with a tent, air mattresses, a small, unlit fire and LED lights that she quickly turned on to bring light to the normally dark place.
Seating the boy on the air mattress, she can get a better look at the boy. He wasn't the least bit out of shape, in fact, he was even too well for his age, as she could see the prominent muscles in his body, showing muscular definition not so far-fetched, but the kind you get from living a lifetime. of daily exercises.
She thought he'd bleached his hair, but she couldn't deny that he looked cute in her eyes, kind of rough looking, with two tiny red streaks at the sides of his eyes, which she ran her finger through curiously, and seeing he didn't. seemed to be easily removable ink, gave up and continued looking at the boy.
After a few seconds, she snapped out of her reverie and remembered why she had brought him here, and ran to her tent getting a first-aid kit, which contained a syringe of adrenaline, which she would use to increase the boy's heartbeat, which were stable, more dangerously low.
Placing her emergency medical equipment beside her, she readied the syringe, trying to remember how her father had taught her, and swallowed hard, remembering that she had to apply it directly to the middle of her chest for immediate action, she shivered in mild fear of to do something wrong, because the boy, even without knowing it, was counting on her, and any mistake would be fatal, there wouldn't be time to reach civilization.
Summoning all the courage she possessed, Sapphire raised her arms and forcefully applied the syringe to the middle of the boy's chest, quickly dispensing the entire contents.
She withdrew the syringe and after a few seconds, she began to fear the worst when she saw the boy's chest stop moving, signaling that he wasn't breathing. In a panic she began CPR, connecting her lips to his as she pumped her fists into his chest, always 5 times, then stopped and placed her lips on his again to get air into her lungs.
She stayed like that for two minutes and was already crying thinking she had failed. Even if it wasn't her fault, she still felt responsible for not being able to save the boy.
His Pokémon, sensing its trainer's anguish, got out of its Poké Ball and looked with concern at the scene in front of it, of its trainer trying to save the strange human male. Seeing her cry, the little Pokémon snuggled into her leg trying to comfort her pain.
Sapphire felt her Torchuic trying to comfort her, and even touched by her Pokémon's act, she couldn't take her eyes off the boy she failed to save, feeling wetness on her face, she knew she was crying. It was a situation she had never been through before, and even without knowing the boy, she felt helpless seeing someone her age, passing away right in front of her.
And suddenly she was startled when the boy let out an agonized sigh and widened his eyes, starting to breathe frantically. Sapphire couldn't believe it, she was sure the boy had died, only for him to come back to life out of nowhere, but she wasn't going to complain, and impulsive as she always was, hugged the boy while crying, but now relieved to have managed to save his life. .
Her Torchic looked at the now happy scene, happy that her trainer had managed to save the human male, bouncing happily around like she always did when she got excited.
It was dark and her senses were messed up. He expected many things from the beyond, he expected to face his loved ones, go straight to heaven or hell depending on his actions, he even expected reincarnation, even if he didn't believe in such a thing, but he didn't expect to stay in apparent nothingness, without having any sensation in your body.
Was this hell? Not a purgatory of fire and brimstone, but a place with nothing, where you were alive and at the same time dead, without having any sensation? It was terrifying for him.
Jiraya hoped and hoped with all his might for this to stop, he would accept anything, but he didn't want to continue in the situation he found himself in, until a light appeared out of nowhere, and he felt himself being pulled towards it.
As he got closer, he could now feel his body, which was stretching and shrinking, he felt something was messing with him, and without being able to do anything, he grudgingly accepted the current situation.
And the moment he reached the light, he heard a disembodied voice.
"I expect great things from you Jiraya, or as you like to call yourself, Jiraya the Gallant. May you enjoy your second chance, I will be watching you."
And after hearing that voice, everything went white and he felt himself being pulled down, as if something caught him and dragged him through the air at an absurd speed, and with a feeling of shock, his eyes widened and he let out a desperate sigh.
He was hyperventilating, shivering and not knowing what to do with the events he witnessed. Was he in Konoha? No, he was long gone when Nagato killed him... Wait, he was dead, wasn't he? So how was he alive and kicking? It was impossible for him to survive the wounds he sustained, his traitorous disciple assured him.
His daydreams were ignored when he felt something hit his chest, and then grabbed it, only to hear a cry, obviously from a girl. Not understanding any of what was happening, he slowly looked down and was surprised at what he saw.
One girl, in her mid-teens if he could judge by her bulging assets, was dressed in what looked like a thong and a leaf top. The girl was dirty with dirt on some parts of her body, she was barefoot and had brown hair tied by a red ribbon, also dirty, that let her hair down the sides.
She was crying profusely as she held him as if her life depended on it, and although Jiraya would normally be wearing his trademark perverted smile, even he knew when to get serious and quickly pushed the girl away as he stared at her.
Said girl was surprised by the action and stared at him too. Jiraya knew he needed to take the initiative, and he also needed to know where he was, so he started the conversation.
"Girl, where am I? I don't remember being in a cave when... I woke up. I could clarify my doubts, my name is Jiraya by the way" he finished smiling at the girl, trying to give the first impression of someone trustworthy.
The girl blinked three times in shock and quickly walked over, ignoring any notion of personal space, grabbed her face and started poking her head as she started talking frantically.
"I can't believe you're alive! I found you in the forest unconscious and I thought you wouldn't survive, but look at you now, it doesn't even look like you got hurt, how did you do that?! And how do you not know where you are? Do you have amnesia or something? Are you one of those crazy hermits? Why do you have these red marks near your eyes? Because..."
Jiraya got tired of the girl strafing him with questions and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her away while trying to calm her down.
"Wait a minute, one question at a time, please. I don't know where I am, and you said you found me half dead? – He was apprehensive, because that could mean they were close to Nagato – And no, I don't have amnesia, and I'm not a crazy hermit, where did you get that? Eye marks are birthmarks. But you didn't tell me your name, and I believe it's a courtesy to introduce yourself when someone else does." Jiraiya finished now looking at her, waiting for her answer.
Sapphire blushed in embarrassment for having acted impulsively again, but soon plastered on her trademark smile, with her small fangs showing, which intrigued Jiraya, starting to think she had ended up in the clutches of an Amazon project. He wrote an Icha Icha about Amazons, but even he knew that reality wasn't pretty for anyone at their mercy. The girl pointed her index finger at her face and spoke excitedly.
"I'm Sapphire Birch, I stay in the forest because I like to see Pokémon in their natural habitat, my dream is to be a successful trainer and my father is Professor Birch, who lives in a laboratory at the end of this forest" She finished, still smiling for him.
Jiraya blinked a few times, he had only asked the girl's name and she threw him a genin performance when she met her jonin instructor. Deciding to play along, he tried to keep the conversation under control.
"Well, uh, Sapphire, can I call you that? Anyway, I don't know what this Pokémon you're talking about is, and you mentioned that your father is some kind of researcher. I don't have much information about where I am, could you help me?" he said with a disarming smile.
The Amazon grinned even wider, hell, that scared him a little, it wasn't common for a girl to smile at him without it meaning a lot of pain involving kunais and shurikens being thrown at him. She pointed her finger at Jiraya and spoke with finality.
"You have amnesia! Cool, daddy always told me about these mental cases, I'll finally be able to test the theories, he doesn't even remember about Pokémon and..." The girl started talking at an indecipherable speed, making Jiraya more and more uncomfortable, reaching the point of considering using a replacement jutsu and running through the forest, but he quickly gave up on the idea as he felt as if a ton of boulders had been thrown at his body.
Starting to get annoyed with the girl who reminded him a lot of a certain blonde with a mustache, he again grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly, snapping her out of her reverie.
She blushed again for having done the same thing, and calmed down. He had amnesia and she was throwing information at him unfiltered.
"Sorry, I get excited easily and forget that there are other people around me hehehehe" She said while smiling with her eyes closed and scratching the back of her head.
Jiraya couldn't help but smile as it reminded him of Naruto when he got excited, but he soon turned his attention back to the girl's words.
"Well, I'll try to explain slowly so I don't overwhelm you, okay?" She asked, and Jiraiya nodded, wanting to see how far this would go.
Then she started to explain what these so-called Pokémon were about, and the Sannin felt his spine go cold at how similar the description was to Bijuus. Hell, the girl pointed to a chicken project and said it was one of those so-called 'Pokémon', and the miniature chicken blew embers out of its mouth for Kami's sake! He swallowed hard as he continued to listen to the girl, who even though she said she was going to control herself, had gotten excited again and didn't stop throwing information, about where they were, what they called regions, that this one they were in was Hoenn , and with every word Jiraya feared that he could be in much bigger trouble than simply being in an unfamiliar location.
"Hey, do you have a map of the regions with you, I would like to take a look" Said Jiraya looking at Sapphire, which made the girl perk up and run with surprising speed for a non-shinobi, entered a tent and quickly brought a huge roll of paper. She laid it out on the ground and placed small stones on the ends of the large paper to keep it open, sat down beside him and began to explain about the regions, pointing her finger at each one.
The Sannin had their fears confirmed, as the map was nothing like the elemental nations. Somehow he'd ended up in a different world, without any information, and the only reason he didn't scream in panic was because he had good sense not to scare the easily impressionable girl in front of him.
He knew panicking wouldn't do any good, so he decided to play along with the girl and embrace the role of amnesiac. And that's when he noticed her voice wasn't as thick as usual, and fearing what had happened, he slowly looked at Sapphire.
"Hey, do you have a mirror or something, I want to see if I had any injuries on my face" Said Jiraya with his disarming smile trying not to show his fears. The girl nodded excitedly and ran back to the tent, grabbing a small mirror and holding it in front of it.
"I didn't see any bruises on you when I met you, your face is even cute if you ask me" Sapphire choked at the end of her sentence and wanted to shove her face in a hole with such embarrassment, her big mouth had betrayed her again.
In 90% of cases this would be a reason to inflate the Sannin's ego, but he was more concerned with another factor.
He was in his body from when he was 15 years old, around the time he participated in the second great shinobi war.
If it wasn't enough to be in a new world that nothing was known to him, he was now in a young body, much weaker than his former self. He mentally groaned that he would have to train like crazy to get back in shape, as he wasn't going to risk being vulnerable in this world full of bijuu projects loose around.
Looking at the girl who had apparently saved him, he couldn't help but give a slight smile at her infectious enthusiasm.
"Sapphire, did you say your father lives in a correct laboratory? Could you take me there? Maybe I can get more information there than here in the middle of the forest."
The girl perked up and nodded, after all, she would have to go back today anyway. She started running around the camp, picking up some things that Jiraya didn't know about, putting them all in a small backpack and putting them on her back.
"Can you walk? I brought you here, but I don't think I can get you home, it's too far." She said worried about the state of the boy she just met. Jiraya stood up and felt that she could walk, but she couldn't try too hard.
"I think I can walk, but not much further than that, so I'm sorry, but I'm counting on you to help me again." He said, smiling awkwardly, genuinely embarrassed to throw a burden on the girl again.
Sapphire didn't seem the least bit bothered, as she smiled again and took his hand, leading, I mean, dragging him out of the cave as she walked beside him.
And so, an unlikely duo who had just met returned to civilization.