Swoosh, swoosh~
In the darkness of night, under the scattered starlight and the distant glow of village lamps, two figures leaped continuously across the dense rooftops of Konoha Village. Soon, these two figures, one leading and one following, came to a stop on the Hokage Monument, high above the slumbering village, directly behind the Hokage Tower.
These two figures were none other than Jiraiya and Tatsuya.
Standing on the precipitous edge of the cliff atop the Hokage Monument, Jiraiya gazed out at the sprawling village below, lost in thought, his eyes somewhat hazy with a mixture of nostalgia and unspoken emotion. Beside him, Tatsuya stood quietly, respectfully. He didn't speak, unwilling to break the contemplative atmosphere of the moment.
After a long, comfortable silence, Jiraiya slowly withdrew his gaze from the distant scenery, his eyes finally settling on the massive carved head on the Hokage Monument directly below the cliff edge. Beneath them, the stern, yet hopeful stone face was that of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
Jiraiya finally spoke, his voice a low rumble in the night air, "I heard you've been privately tutoring Naruto in ninjutsu recently?"
Tatsuya nodded lightly. "That's right. I've been privately teaching him and Sasuke."
Jiraiya turned his head, his gaze piercing as he looked directly at Tatsuya. "Why? Why did you take the initiative to teach Naruto? And why pair him with that Uchiha kid, of all people?"
Meeting Jiraiya's intense, questioning gaze, Tatsuya's expression remained calm as he replied simply, "Because they are both outstanding students with great potential."
Jiraiya's voice turned grave. "You should know that the Nine-Tails is sealed within him. Having him learn ninjutsu too early, pushing him too hard, will only increase the risk of the Jinchuriki losing control."
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched Tatsuya's lips. "Risk? In my presence, the mere Nine-Tails poses no risk whatsoever. If, solely for the sake of the village's perceived interests, a boy like Naruto is forced to live such a lonely and miserable life, ostracized and feared… that's something I simply cannot stand by and watch."
"I believe," Tatsuya continued, his voice firm, "the reason the Fourth Hokage chose to seal the Nine-Tails within his own son, Naruto, was because he fundamentally believed in his child! He hoped that everyone would treat Naruto as a hero of the village, a living legacy, allowing him to grow up surrounded by care and affection, not as a despised demon fox to be shunned!"
Jiraiya fell silent upon hearing Tatsuya's impassioned words, his own expression unreadable. After several tens of seconds, he spoke again, his voice softer now, "Do you have issues with the village's official arrangements for Naruto? The Old Man… Lord Third… he made those arrangements primarily for Naruto's safety, to prevent him from being targeted by spies from other villages, to shield him."
"Hah." Tatsuya let out a soft, almost dismissive scoff, neither confirming nor denying Jiraiya's statement. He then continued, "That's because Lord Hokage wasn't confident that he could adequately protect Naruto's safety under those circumstances. But I am! As the son of a hero, Naruto should not have been treated the way he was, regardless of the risks."
"As for arranging for Sasuke to study with him," Tatsuya added, "it was simply so he could have a friend, a rival, during his arduous training. Besides, with a genius classmate beside him as constant motivation, wouldn't he naturally progress even faster?"
Jiraiya fell silent again, his gaze fixed intently on Tatsuya. He was trying to discern from Tatsuya's eyes, from the subtle nuances of his expression, whether his true thoughts and intentions were as noble and straightforward as he claimed. Tatsuya met his gaze evenly, without flinching. Neither of them spoke further for a long moment, and the atmosphere between them grew somewhat tense, charged with unspoken questions.
Their mutual gaze lasted for several minutes before Jiraiya finally let out a soft, weary sigh. "I never expected… that something we, the older generation, failed so miserably to do in the past would end up being accomplished by a junior like you. Tatsuya, I am very grateful to you!" As he spoke, Jiraiya's eyes were filled with a surprising sincerity, and a faint, moist shimmer even seemed to glint within them in the dim light.
After saying this, he turned his head again to look down at the village spread out below them like a jeweled tapestry, then continued, his voice laced with a profound melancholy, "Konoha's current peace, fragile as it may be, was bought with the blood, sweat, and sacrifices of countless village ancestors. I have always hoped, with all my heart, to protect this peace forever. But there are simply too many conflicts, too much hatred, festering in the ninja world; it's impossible for Konoha to remain aloof and unaffected indefinitely. To achieve true, lasting peace, the endemic conflicts that plague the ninja world must be ended completely, once and for all."
"For all these long years," Jiraiya went on, his voice heavy with the weight of his journey, "I have been actively, desperately searching for that elusive answer, for a path to that true peace. But so far, I have found nothing but dead ends and heartbreak. I once had such high hopes for Minato… and for Nagato. Minato died far too young, a hero to the end. And Nagato, my other student, so many years later, grew up to become the leader of an organization that now threatens the entire ninja world. All of this… it makes my decades of effort, my unwavering belief, seem utterly, pathetically ridiculous."
"But I still won't give up," Jiraiya declared, a spark of his old fire returning to his eyes. "I can't. And this time… this time, Tatsuya, I want to place my hopes in you."
Hearing these momentous words, Tatsuya looked genuinely astonished. What in the world does he mean by that? And why does that phrase sound so incredibly, troublingly familiar? Recalling certain memories from his previous life, from a world of stories and fiction, a strange, almost unnerved expression flickered in Tatsuya's eyes.
After thinking for a moment, Tatsuya hesitated before speaking, choosing his words carefully, "Lord Jiraiya, I deeply respect your ideals, and I understand your desire for peace. But… I don't quite understand the meaning of your last sentence. Placing your hopes in me?"
Jiraiya turned back to face Tatsuya, a faint, enigmatic smile on his lips. "You don't need to understand it, not fully. Just continue to act according to your own will, your own convictions. Here, this is for you." Saying this, Jiraiya took a worn scroll from within his robes and tossed it casually to Tatsuya.
Tatsuya quickly reached out and caught it. After examining the scroll for a moment, he glanced up at Jiraiya, his expression one of clear confusion.
Seeing his puzzlement, Jiraiya explained, "Before returning to the village this time, I happened to run into Tsunade. According to her, you seem to be very interested in collecting many high-level and rare ninjutsu. She even mentioned you bought the Yin Seal scroll from her at a rather exorbitant price. Although I don't quite understand why you're gathering so many advanced ninjutsu, I imagine it must be helpful to you in some way. This scroll I've given you records the training method for Mount Myoboku's sage techniques. I'm giving it to you now. Compared to any sage technique training method you might have obtained from… Orochimaru, this information should be far more complete and authentic."
"The training method for Mount Myoboku's sage techniques?" Hearing this, the expression on Tatsuya's face became even stranger, a mixture of surprise and disbelief. Mount Myoboku, as one of the Three Great Sage Regions, wasn't exactly known for easily sharing its most sacred and powerful intellectual property with outsiders. If Jiraiya hadn't received explicit permission from the elders of Mount Myoboku, it would be absolutely impossible for him to teach their revered sage techniques to someone else, especially someone not formally a student of the toads. Tatsuya didn't understand when, or how, he had ever caught Mount Myoboku's discerning eye to warrant such a gift.
However, if someone was generously offering him such a valuable boon, Tatsuya certainly wasn't foolish enough to refuse. Why look a gift horse in the mouth, especially one of this caliber? And when it came to something as potent and versatile as sage techniques, the more, the merrier.
Putting the precious scroll away safely, Tatsuya flashed Jiraiya a brilliant, grateful smile. "Thank you very much, Lord Jiraiya. In that case, it would be impolite of me to refuse!"
Jiraiya nodded at this, a pleased look on his face. "Very good! That's the kind of bold spirit a young man should have!" Saying this, Jiraiya turned his body as if to depart. Just as he lifted his foot to take a step, he paused again. With his back still to Tatsuya, he said, his voice carrying a new weight of sincerity, "Tatsuya, I hope you will use the considerable power in your hands to properly protect Konoha! And also… I'm entrusting Naruto to you! Please look after him."
With those final words spoken, Jiraiya's figure flickered and vanished into the enveloping darkness of the night.
Watching Jiraiya depart so abruptly, Tatsuya opened his mouth as if to say something, perhaps to reveal a truth that might ease the old Sannin's burden. But in the end, no words came out. For the sake of the invaluable Mount Myoboku sage techniques, Tatsuya had genuinely considered telling Jiraiya that the Child of Prophecy he had been tirelessly searching for across the world for so many years was actually Naruto, hoping it might convince him to stay and rest, to stop his endless, weary wandering. But then he thought about how he would even begin to explain such knowledge, how to justify it without revealing his own secrets, and he ultimately decided against it.
Besides, Tatsuya mused, in the original storyline, Jiraiya only found out about Naruto being the one much, much later anyway. Knowing the truth a bit later than sooner probably wouldn't hurt things too much. Furthermore, Naruto and Sasuke, this fabled pair of "children of destiny," were merely Tatsuya's long-term backup plan, a safety net for the world's future if his own efforts failed. He wasn't counting on relying entirely on them to solve everything.
What Tatsuya didn't know, however, was that the Great Toad Sage's prophecy had already irrevocably changed precisely because of his own unforeseen existence and actions.
Now, he was the true Child of Prophecy.