Obito-Sensei Chapter 69
Can't Be Trusted
Jiraiya arrived for the meeting at Myoboku several hours before the agreed upon time and sat at the stone chair created for him, looking out the window and trying to contemplate the silence.
The toads had used earth ninjutsu to carve out a meeting room near the top of the mountain that was open to the air and looked out over the surrounding jungle. It was a small chamber with a squat square table in the center, around which were three chairs. There were two plinths set at either side of the chambers entrance, and sitting upon them like enthusiastically colored statues were the elder toads Fukasaku and Shima, who observed Jiraiya as they all waited.
The toads had laid out food, mostly stunned, squirming bugs. Jiraiya took one as a courtesy as he settled into his chair, biting its head off and chewing thoughtfully as he looked out over the riotous colors of Myoboku's jungle. A warm breeze tousled his long hair, and he wiped the bug's juices from his beard and waited.
It was a good setup, he thought. This was the kind of stage that could gracefully host more than one dashing hero. The sun was at its peak, casting the actual table in shadow; a good metaphor for moral ambiguity, though he didn't think that would be the case today. So, it would better be 'deals done in the dark.' As the great arbiter of truth blazed down, beautiful women and handsome men toiled out of its sight, constructing the ways of the world. He pulled a journal and a pencil from his pack and began sketching out a rough outline, not wanting to lose the thought.
"How much longer?" he asked the toads without looking up, and Fukasaku grunted and responded.
"'Bout forty minutes. Are you ready, young Jiraiya?" he asked, and Jiraiya waved him off. The table was a good height to bend over, he thought, making some notes in shorthand. Not appropriate for this sort of scene, but maybe in his ongoing Icha Icha… he could toss in something faux-serious, right? It wouldn't mess up the pacing too much. Chapter six had some space, it would be a good icebreaker for-
"You're not ready," Fukasaku grumbled. "Not even paying attention."
"I'm paying attention," Jiraiya said, shutting his journal. "I don't think I need to be too 'ready,' great elder."
"Myoboku is hosting nearly all its summoners today," Shima croaked. "All great men. Powerful men. Dangerous men. You included, little Jiraiya. It is the least you can do to prepare yourself."
"They may be dangerous men, but they're my students," Jiraiya said, but he stowed his journal and pencil nonetheless. "If I think things are going the wrong way, I'll speak up. They'll listen to me."
"Which way is the wrong way?" Fukasaku said, and Jiraiya paused, finally looking at him.
This is the part that's never shown in the story, he thought. The wise old mentor always offers advice so easily, but you never get to see him arguing with the other nosy old men about what wisdom is in the first place. That's too unsettling; it betrays the illusion that these people are supposed to know what they're doing, and that the hero will be okay if they listen to them.
Cause if you don't know what you're doing, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, supposed font of wisdom, what's the difference between you and any of the other dumb bastards out there?
"I'm not sure yet, great elder," he admitted, and Fukasaku harrumphed. "But I'll know when the conversation starts. The Nation of Rain has had such an atrocity visited upon it, so the focus will probably be on that first." He settled into his chair. "Minato is coming here because he wants to secure peace. He wants to know Rain's next move, so he can respond appropriately and support it if possible. He wants to get this under control, even if that will be impossible without some violence."
He scratched his beard, and the toads kept watching him like statues. "Yahiko, I'm less sure about. I haven't seen him since his home was attacked. He'll be angry; he'll be hurting. Most of all, he'll be afraid. He must be coming to make sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Minato isn't going to stab him in the back. There's no way Rain isn't going to hit back against Cloud; I don't mind if that happens, terrible as it might be. Peace is the finish line, but right now, pacifism would just be a very principled suicide."
"Do you believe young Minato would stab him in the back?" Shima said with a sour expression, and Jiraiya shook his head.
"In the front, maybe, if Yahiko made him," he said with a laugh. "But that won't happen, and Minato isn't that kind of person. He doesn't have that instinct for betrayal; it's part of why I trained him, y'know."
The toads grumbled and seemed mostly satisfied, but as they settled into their plinths Jiraiya privately turned the question over again in his mind.
It was true, right? Minato, his pride and joy in many ways, wasn't the kind of person to betray you, no matter what. He trusted easily and laughed off an insult without issue, and was in many ways the perfect ninja as Jiraiya envisioned it. Someone who fought to defend when they had to fight, and did so without any intention to be cruel or cause pain. Just to get the job done.
Minato was the perfect protagonist of a novel about moral virtues, monogamy, and the values of tempering strength with kindness, but if he had a spot of hamartia in him…
It was that he was so very, very good at being a ninja. When Minato decided that someone was his enemy, he killed them. He stabbed them in the front, back, side, wherever and whenever he could, until they died and he could move onto the next enemy. When it came to battle and war, he was the most practical man Jiraiya had ever known. He came up with flashy names for jutsu, but his fighting style would be better described as a killing style.
It was heartbreaking, Jiraiya thought. His student was world-renowned as a demon, more feared than the Tailed Beasts by some, killing so much and so easily and in his heart never desiring any of it. When a monster killed, at least it derived some satisfaction from it, right? Hanzo the Salamander has laughed for the duration of their battle, living every second of it with all the fury and joy he was capable of, but Minato never laughed in a fight, maybe never even enjoyed one. He had become as strong as he had for the sake of his friends, his village, and the family he had created. He'd always killed for others and never for himself, and yet he'd never piled those bodies on the ones he loved.
They weighed on him, Jiraiya was sure, even if he didn't show it. In his eyes, Minato was a man with infinite strength, but that strength was kept in reserve by unbreakable shackles. He had tied himself down to the shinobi world with his duties to Konoha and the Land of Fire, and placed an impossible expectation upon himself as he struggled against those chains.
How could someone who had taken Konoha to the zenith of its power push it even farther? Especially when the whole world was awaiting the answer, some eagerly and others with dread?
Jiraiya pondered his most successful student for some time, meditating in his stone chair with his arms crossed. He got distracted a couple times trying to enter Sage Mode, but wrote it off each time. Those were his shinobi instincts, not a teacher's. There wasn't going to be a fight here, so what good would Sage Mode do?
About five minutes before the meeting time, there was a puff of smoke and the rush of air, and Yahiko appeared behind one of the other seats, looking around in obvious anticipation. His gaze fell first on the empty chair and then on Jiraiya, and Jiraiya couldn't help but frown.
His student had come wearing a black undersuit and a flak jacket, and he looked terrible. Who could blame him though? Yahiko obviously hadn't slept in some time, and his body was covered in healed burns and scabs. He looked like a raw nerve exposed to the open air, the kind of thing Jiraiya would have dialed down to keep the aura of mystery and, frankly, hygiene in his work.
Still, him showing up first worked in the dramatic sense. Enter stage right, the passionate but lower-class presenting revolutionary leader, wearing a soldier's uniform and five o'clock shadow. See how he slouches, so tired with the work of the revolution and the cruelty of the universe that he can't spare common manners for the man who taught him the cursed power that all the world holds so close to its heart…
"He's not here yet?" Yahiko said, and Jiraiya rose, shaking off the fantasy.
"No," he said frankly. "Do you want a hug or something? That's not really my thing, but…"
Yahiko stared at him in disbelief for a moment, and then laughed and took a seat.
"I'll settle for being glad that I'm here before the fastest man in the world," he said with a tired smirk, and Jiraiya chuckled and sat back down, shamelessly looking Yahiko over. There was still strength and determination there, even if he was obviously tired. Beaten, but not beaten.
Of all his students, Yahiko and Minato were the closest in character. Both powerful men, leaders at heart who could inspire and direct those around them by instinct. But there was a critical difference, Jiriaya thought. Minato was a pragmatist: Yahiko was an idealist. Minato was famously unflappable, but Yahiko has an unbelievably keen sense of justice; he was the kind of guy who would say he'd take over a country to protect its people and mean it, after all. In almost any story, Yahiko was the hero, the man at the front of the cavalry coming to save the day at the last second, chafing against a great evil that had chained the land, and continuing to fight no matter what.
But here, he was practically vibrating in his chair. Yahiko was meant to stand, not to sit, to challenge, not to wait and see. Konan and Nagato had always covered those things he lacked, forming a perfect team. Jiraiya couldn't help but wonder if maybe all the Amekage should have been here, but that obviously wasn't possible. Konoha wasn't fighting for its life like Rain was, so it could spare all its Kage where Ame couldn't.
They sat in an unfortunately awkward silence for several minutes, Yahiko seeming to practically doze off, until Jiraiya finally could not bear it and spoke.
"Are Nagato and Konan okay?" he asked, and Yahiko glanced up at him with one half-open eye.
"No. But they're alive," he said, and Jiraiya grunted. "Konan is in Frost; Nagato's at home."
"She's fighting?" Jiraiya asked, and Yahiko grunted back, seeming to mimic him. Cute.
"Do you disapprove, sensei?" Yahiko asked, and Jiraiya laughed.
"No. I wish her all the success in the world," he said as sincerely as possible, but Yahiko didn't seem to believe him. He shifted, looking sour in his chair. "Hey, don't make that face. I'm serious. What Cloud did… it was unforgivable. Something like that can't pass without punishment."
"Well, I'm glad we see eye to eye on that at least," Yahiko said. He stretched out, cracking his arms over his head. "It should be any second now, right?"
As if on cue there was another pop, a puff of smoke, and Minato settled into the other chair on the opposite side of the table, already seated. He was wearing the full official garb of the Hokage, white coat, hat, and all.
Rising from beneath the stage as if by magic, concealed until the last second, the symbol of success and prosperity in the shinobi world, with brilliant golden hair and a heart-stealing face…
Flashy entrance for the Yellow Flash. If Jiraiya had needed to bet his life on it he wouldn't have been one-hundred percent sure if Minato did that on purpose, something carefully cultivated, or if he was just born with an effortless talent for understated style.
"Sensei, Amekage," Minato said, perpetually polite and with an expression that hinted at a smile but didn't manage to be one. "Glad to see you both."
"You're all here," Fukasaku rumbled out and Yahiko twitched, as if he'd forgotten the ancient toad was there. "Please get going, and for the sake of Shima, eat some of your grubs, would you?"
"Well now I'll feel bad whether they eat or not!" Shima protested, and she and her husband began bickering from their plinths as Jiraiya looked back at his students and shrugged.
"It's your show," he said. "I'm just here to help out if things get heated. I couldn't blame either of you, given the circumstances."
"We appreciate your time, sensei," Minato said with a small bow, before turning his full attention to Yahiko. "And Amekage, let me start by expressing my sincere condolences for what your village has suffered. Obviously, Cloud's unprovoked attack is unconscionable."
So polite, Jiraiya thought with a grin. Too polite. Yahiko was going to take it as babying, probably, but that was part of working out a dialogue. As far as he knew, his two students had never been in a room alone together like this. They'd met, but only through semi-official channels or with subordinates present. This was new for both of them.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Hokage," Yahiko said, straightening up in his chair. "But let's be real; we're here for more than just a hundred thousand corpses. You're the one who requested this meeting; what did you want to discuss that couldn't be done by letter?"
Minato seemed nonplussed by Yahiko's terse tone: he took off his hat and leaned forward. "There were concerns that blame for the attack could fall on Konoha, given its timing in regards to Team Seven's infiltration mission. I wanted to be sure that the lines of communication between our villages were completely clear, to prevent any misunderstandings."
"Misunderstandings. Yeah," Yahiko muttered. "So it was a complete coincidence that after Sakura accomplished her mission, my city exploded?"
"Yes," Minato said, biting back. Jiraiya couldn't help but enjoy himself a little as his students verbally fenced. "Just like it was a complete coincidence that after Sakura reported to us that Rain had no Jinchuriki, Itachi Uchiha appeared to drop three Tailed Beasts in your country's lap."
Yahiko clenched his fist, seemingly ready to push back, but then laughed instead. "I guess we can settle on that," he said with a tired grin. "One coincidence after another, and another, and another… Orochimaru was your spy all along?"
Orochimaru. Jiraiya couldn't help but begin tapping his finger on the table. He'd known his teammate had been bitter, but from what Minato had told him, that bitterness had graduated to a full blown homicidal obsession with the Hokage's position. He didn't know how to wrap his head around it. If he were able to sit down and speak with his old friend, could he get him to see sense? Or was the man who had always been obsessed with perfection so furious with Minato's sheen that Jiraiya wouldn't be able to get through to him?
"Yes, but no longer," Minato confirmed. "And frankly, I can't trust any of the information he gave me. According to Sasuke, he's got quite the grudge against me."
"And you trust Sasuke's word?" Yahiko asked. Minato arched an eyebrow.
"He's your jonin," he said with a smile. "Would you have promoted him if he wasn't trustworthy?"
"Damn," Yahiko said frankly. "You're hard to rile up."
"Are you trying to rile me up?" Minato asked politely, and Yahiko shrugged.
"It's usually what I do," he said, and to Jiraiya that seemed like the first major hurdle cleared. Both men settled in, finding the tempo of the conversation as they continued to spar about the attack on Rain, Team Seven returning to Konoha, Sasuke's information about Orochimaru, the Hidden Cloud, and the temperament of the Fire Daimyo. It was almost ten minutes before Yahiko said something that disrupted the tempo and made Jiraiya blink in surprise.
"What can you guarantee me?" he asked abruptly, and Minato gave him a curious look. Yahiko had been growing more and more tense as they spoke, and now he had boiled over for no apparent reason.
"Guarantee you?" Minato said, and the Amekage waved him off.
"It's all well and good for you to say that despite the Daimyo offering you a mission to liberate Rain's former Daimyo, you'll turn it down so long as things stay peaceful, but what about the other Villages? What about Sand?" Yahiko said. Minato frowned.
"I can't control the other Villages," he said cautiously. "Not even my military allies. And I'm sure it would not come as too surprising to you that after Waves, there was serious consideration to demand Gaara of the Desert face justice or be responsible for the alliance ending. At the moment, that arrangement is up in the air."
"You can control the other Villages," Yahiko said after a moment. "Konoha is the richest in the land. You could pay them not to meddle in Rain, more than the Daimyo would offer to do it."
"I couldn't afford to pay all of them," Minato said, somehow staying patient despite the absurd idea. Jiraiya leaned forward, wondering if he should intervene, but Minato brushed the table towards him, a clear gesture for him to hang back. "And even if I could, I would be directly undermining Sugawara. That wouldn't be good for our relationship, obviously."
"How high would you jump if the Daimyo commanded it then, Hokage?" Yahiko said with a faint sneer. "Are you afraid of hurting his feelings?"
"A large part of Konoha's success has been thanks to subsidies provided by the Land of Fire," Minato said neutrally. "I understand that given your position, you see cooperation with a civilian government as foolishness, Amekage, but it's critical for my people. Konohagakure is not an island, and can't function without the government's support. In that sense, we're not as strong as Rain."
Yahiko seemed thrown off by Minato's earnestness, glancing at Jiraiya, who could only offer him a shrug. His initial impression had been mostly right; this was a meeting between a conqueror and an administrator. Despite both being Kage, their priorities were so different that at times it was like they were speaking a different language.
It was self-indulgent to think about, but if there was truth to his ancient curse, which of their revolutions had the Great Toad Sage prophesied? The one from inside, or the one from without?
"Then could you guarantee that shinobi of the Leaf stay inside their country, until this matter is settled?" Yahiko said. "For our peace of mind."
He said it so earnestly, but it wasn't something Yahiko should have said, Jiraiya thought. Something was strange here, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Not dispatching shinobi outside the Land of Fire?" Minato said, now genuinely confused. "No, that's unfortunately impossible. We've delayed international missions for now, but that cannot be the case forever. As I said, I would forbid any missions into the Nation of Rain for the time being, but the village relies on international assignments. Fire alone can't support the Hidden Leaf's current population."
"Is that so?" Yahiko said, and Jiraiya had an epiphany.
He was padding his word count, something Jiraiya was intimately familiar with. He sat up with a frown, ignored by his two students. Why use 'is that so?' when 'I see' would do? Why make demands he knew Minato would have no choice but to deny? Yahiko wasn't an idiot, and for as long as Jiraiya had known him he'd hated wasting time. Was he just intimidated by Minato, trying to buy himself time to explore every position? It didn't match up with his understanding of his student at all.
"Then not dispatching shinobi into the minor countries with which Rain has alliances, and Frost as well," Yahiko said, and again Minato shook his head, drumming his fingers on the rim of his hat.
"Again, unfortunately impossible to guarantee," he said. Yahiko stared at him for an unsettlingly long moment.
Something was wrong here. Jiraiya tried to step back, to no longer be a master looking at his student but just be a ninja watching two others, but the situation was too sticky for him to disentangle himself from.
"What about Team Seven?" he said. It was the first thing he'd said that elicited an obvious reaction from Minato; he stopped drumming his fingers on his hat. "Would you return them?"
Minato considered Yahiko, his fingers starting to drum again. "I'm not completely against their ambassador plan," he eventually said. "But I would not order them to return. If that was their wish, I wouldn't stand in their way."
"Even your son?"
"Even my son," Minato said. "But frankly, I'm not sure if it would be good for them. Rain left them with deep scars."
"They grew," Yahiko said, almost bitterly. "They grew so fast. I'm furious to have lost such incredible shinobi, especially Sakura."
"Well, maybe they could be a bridge to peace between us," Minato said, not committing one way or another. "But precisely because they've grown so much, I'd be loath to let them go. I'm sure you can understand."
"Too well," Yahiko muttered, and Jiraiya finally took his opportunity to step in.
"Yahiko," he asked. "What are you doing?"
Both his students looked over at him as Jiraiya shook his head. "Asking for these kinds of concessions, when you know that Minato isn't going to be able to give them. What's the idea? Shouldn't you get serious? You both have a once in a lifetime opportunity here, and I feel like…"
Minato was thinking the same thing, Jiraiya was sure, but he was also desperate to treat the summit he'd set up in good faith.
"I feel like you're squandering it," Jiraiya said, but his student shot back without hesitation.
"I'm seeing if Nagato and Konan were right, sensei," Yahiko said. "They said the Hokage would be open to negotiation. They're the whole reason I agreed to this summit."
"Respectfully, Yahiko, you're not negotiating," Minato said patiently. "You're wasting my time." Jiraiya couldn't help but nod along. "I want to help the Hidden Rain however I can, but please recognize that my options are limited."
Yahiko looked back at him, and his face twisted into a sneer. "You shouldn't be so conceited just because you're sensei's favorite, Namikaze," he said, and Minato raised an eyebrow. "'Your options are limited?' Nonsense. You're just not willing to break your little self-imposed rules. Don't annoy the Daimyo, don't lose the Village any money, don't tread on any toes, don't, don't, don't…"
He slammed his fist down on the table, a sudden and violent action, but Minato didn't flinch. "The whole world is lining up to bury a knife in the wound Cloud left, and you're happy to stand by the side and offer platitudes while we bleed. Don't act otherwise."
Finally, Minato looked a little frustrated. Before Jiraiya could try to calm Yahiko down, the Hokage spoke, his voice icy.
"I would be happy to fight against Cloud, or even destroy it if that was necessary," he said, the words of a man who had personally killed hundreds. "But you have not asked for that, Yahiko. You have asked Konoha to restrict itself as you wage war against Kumogakure yourself. I'm left with the conclusion that you don't want help; that you think this is a battle you must fight alone. Is that the case? If it is, please say so, and stop wasting my time."
"Oh? You'd fight Cloud with us?" Yahiko said with a laugh. "While your good friend Sugawara pays you to hang back and let us do all the bleeding, I'm sure! Ready to stab us in the back like you have so many others, Minato?"
"If that's what you think of me, there's no dialogue to be had here," Minato said, still cold. He started to stand up.
The heroes walk away from the table, marching towards the same destination but too stubborn to do it side by side…
"Wait," Jiraiya stood up and spoke, and to his credit Minato did wait. Yahiko crossed his arms, looking…
Satisfied? That little shit. He was making a fool of himself. What did he have to be satisfied about?
"Minato, Yahiko's obviously having a bad week. Please, give him a bit of grace." Minato gave him an unreadable look. "And Yahiko, for your own sake, try to be serious about this, would you?" Jiraiya placed both his hands palm down on the table, leaning forward. He could feel the toad's eyes burning into his back. "We're here to help you, and help your country. No matter how upset you are, you would have to be a true idiot to not seize this opportunity."
"Are you calling me an idiot, sensei?" His brown eyes were burning, furious. There was an anger inside Yahiko that was eating him alive. There always had been, but Jiraiya had never seen it so close to the surface.
"Yes, if you're just going to let the Hokage walk away." Jiraiya straightened up. "For fuck's sake, Yahiko, let him help you in Frost. Hell, I'll help too. Leaf and Rain and a washed-up Sannin should be more than enough to convince Cloud they've made a mistake. We'll dismantle that cannon of theirs, keep anything like that from ever happening again."
Yahiko paused. Pondered. Opened his mouth.
There was a puff of smoke, and Jiraiya's train of thought was obliterated. Another summoning? That wasn't in the itinerary.
A small blue toad appeared in the center of the table. Gamaden, the one who Jiraiya knew Obito had taken a liking to. It was bleeding from a single deep slash along its back and spun towards Jiraiya and the elder toads with wide eyes, collapsing and sprawling on the table as it did. Everyone in the room stared at the new arrival in shock.
"Konoha is under attack," the toad croaked. "The Hokage's-"
In the blink of an eye, the Hokage in question leapt over the table, shattering the stone under his feet. There was already a knife in his hand, and he drove it with bone-shattering force into Yahiko's throat, both men slamming to the ground and cratering it beneath them.
The heroes come to blows, one having learned that the other has betrayed him-
The tip of Minato's knife broke off, and Jiraiya blinked, feeling like everything was moving slowly, impossibly, that there was no way in hell he'd just seen one of his students try to murder the other in front of him.
"The Hokage's wife is in danger!" Gamaden finished, bleeding on the table.
Konoha was under attack? Kushina had been targeted? How-?
"You-!" Minato hissed. More fuel to the fire of this being a dream; Jiraiya had never heard his student sounding so furious in his life.
Somehow, impossible as everything else, Yahiko stared up at them from the floor with horizontal pupils and golden eyes. He'd entered Sage Mode, and in an instant too, faster than the fastest man in the world could stab him in the throat. Minato's kunai had snapped against his impenetrable skin; Yahiko shoved the Hokage, throwing him off with strength that was beyond superhuman.
"Good instincts, Minato." Yahiko chuckled as he dragged himself to his feet. The Hokage slammed into the wall and fell into a crouch, eyes wide. Murderous rage and chakra boiled off him, shattering the stone under his feet and making the entire room groan as the rubble of the table jumped up and down. "But really, did you think I was some jumped up megalomaniac from sensei's books? I knew you would reject my terms: your village is already burning."
Minato grit his teeth, but as he took a step forward Shima shrieked from the entrance, her voice filled with grief.
"No!" she called, and everyone in the room was compelled to spin towards her. "No! There will be no blood spilled in this place! That is your business, not Myoboku's!"
There was no hesitation. "Then send me back, elders," Minato said, murder burning the air around him. "Right now."
He was too far for the Hiraishin to function, Jiraiya thought numbly. Something that had only come up twice before, on his previous visits to the mountain. Had Yahiko known, or only suspected? It was another critical waste of time, delaying his return by even a second.
Fukasaku and Shima began making the signs for the reverse summoning, and the Hokage pulled two pronged knives out, holding them at his sides.
"Yahiko," he said. His chakra was still screaming, but his tone had returned to its normal passivity, as if they were discussing the weather. "I'm going to kill all your ninja. And then you." He glanced at Jiraiya as a summoning seal began spreading out beneath his feet. "I'm sorry we couldn't resolve this peacefully."
Then there was a burst of smoke, a pop, and the Hokage was gone.
Jiraiya stared, the world collapsing around him.
This hadn't been the story he'd assumed it was.
"Ha!" Yahiko let out a bark of laughter. "Running home, and too late for it! That's the Yellow Flash for you."
"Yahiko," Jiraiya said, not turning from where Minato had stood. "What have you done?"
"Secured Rain's future," Yahiko said, completely self assured. "Konoha will be crippled, I'm sure of it. The rest of the world will see that Rain is still a premier power, and we can prosecute our war with Cloud in peace-"
"In peace?!" Jiraiya roared, spinning on him, and Yahiko stumbled back in shock. "You stupid bastard! You've attacked the only ally you possibly had! Now all the world hates you even more! What are you thinking?!"
"An ally?!" Yahiko laughed. "Until the Daimyo demanded otherwise, you mean! It was inevitable!" He stepped forward into Jiraiya's rage, still in Sage Mode; Jiraiya couldn't find it himself to give a damn. He had an overwhelming urge to reach out and strangle Yahiko where he stood. "This is the moment for Rain, for the revolution, sensei! This is the time where it is do or die!"
He threw his arms out, half begging and half gloating. "It was sealed the moment Cloud attacked! From that moment, Rain would only ever grow weaker, like a stuck boar! This is it, Jiraiya! From here, the Nation can only win, or bleed to death! There's nothing in between!"
"This will only make you weaker!" Jiraiya roared. "End it, now, before it's too late!"
"I don't think it will, sensei. I think this will show the world that Rain will dictate the future, not the Leaf," Yahiko said, so furiously sincere that it made Jiraiya's heart crack in half. "We will break the Leaf, and bury Cloud. Then, the other countries will have no choice but to depose their Daimyo, or have the job done for them. The world will finally be rid of pointless wars."
"Other than this?!"
"The final one! The necessary one!" Yahiko said. "Condemn me if you like, but when the dust settles and the graves are made, you'll understand! Rain will win. Nagato will win, and he and Konan and I will carry all of us to a better world. Your world, sensei!"
"My-?" Jiraiya gagged, feeling like he was going to choke on his anger. "You…"
"Yeah, yeah, 'you bastard, how dare you, I'll kill you,'" Yahiko said, dismissing him with a wave. His golden eyes were full of contempt. "Will you side against me, sensei? I don't want you to be in one of those graves. It would be a lot easier for everyone if you just sit this one out."
The revolutionary, burning down the world to reshape the ashes. But…
"Was this all of you?" Jiraiya asked suddenly, and Yahiko stiffened.
"What do you mean?" He was finally cautious; this was the crack in his armor. His security, his moral superiority, his finely tuned sense of justice, they all pivoted on this.
"Nagato and Konan. Was this their plan as well?" Jiraiya stepped forward, chest to chest and towering over his student. "Or did you go behind their back?"
For the first time, Yahiko hesitated. "They don't know," he eventually admitted. "But this is all for them. They talked like you; they didn't understand how things would go. Even after everything, they're still naive. I'm saving them from a threat they're too kind to understand."
You're a failure, Jiraiya. You've spent your life chasing a single fucking day without war and all you've done is make perfect killers and paranoid maniacs. The great change coming to the world is going to be a great firestorm that sweeps over everything and 'changes' perfectly good people into corpses and ash. You're not the wise mentor who dies to inspire the next generation; you're the doddering old man who sits in his home as the invading army sweeps over it and carries him away before he can understand what's happening.
"You became strong together," Jiraiya said, knowing in his broken heart that he was a fraud. "By doing this, you have destroyed yourself."
Yahiko didn't respond. Jiriaya didn't care why. He turned his back on his student, sweeping the Hokage's hat off the table and pressing it to his chest.
"I won't fight you," he said, feeling his rage and sorrow crystalize into resolve. "I can't. But your patsies are another story. Don't expect me to show them mercy if they attack my home."
"Konoha hasn't been your home for-" Yahiko said, and Jiraiya spun on him with a stone face. Fukasaku and Shima had already begun the reverse-summoning jutsu, sensing his intent.
"Yahiko," he said, feeling like the words were coming from somewhere else, a book he'd not yet begun to write. They had the clarity and certainty of a third draft, and he spoke them without regret.
"Unless you're saved by a miracle, you're going to die alone."
Without another word or a spared thought for his student, Jiraiya vanished, sent hurtling through time and space to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.