Even though Jiraiya had mentally prepared himself, the moment he returned to Konoha, his heart sank completely.
The once-thriving Hidden Leaf Village, renowned for its prosperity and peace, was now nothing but a wasteland of shattered walls and smoke rising from the rubble.
Villagers and shinobi who once took pride in living under the protection of the strongest shinobi village now wept amidst the ruins.
The few remaining capable shinobi were doing their best to rescue the wounded, but their efforts were a drop in the ocean compared to the devastation the village had suffered.
Jiraiya had no time to grieve. The first thing he did was take on the role of acting Hokage, rallying what was left of Konoha's forces and trying to bring some order to the chaos.
That's when he discovered—the Hokage building was gone too.
When he learned that the Hokage building, along with the two village elders, and decades' worth of classified documents, ninja records, and secret scrolls had all gone up in flames alongside Danzo's corpse, Jiraiya didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
If Danzo had left a body intact, Jiraiya honestly wouldn't have minded putting on a mask at night just to dig up his grave and give him a posthumous beating.
Once the situation within the village was stabilized to the best of his ability, Jiraiya quickly carried out three major actions.
First, he sent out peace proposals to Kirigakure and the other Hidden Villages, officially acknowledging Konoha's defeat.
Second, he established a temporary administrative council, led by Nara Shikaku and Hyuga Hiashi, to oversee the village's recovery and day-to-day operations. Jiraiya was never good with paperwork or politics, so he handed over all the rebuilding responsibilities to them.
Third, Jiraiya personally set out to bring back Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin.
Tsunade agreed to one request: she would temporarily return to help treat the tens of thousands of injured in Konoha.
But she flatly refused to take up the Hokage mantle again.
First, she had no interest in the title. Second, this political mess was a steaming pile of trouble, and whoever stepped into it was bound to be resented by all sides.
Since Tsunade didn't want to be the scapegoat, the role fell to Jiraiya. There was no one else left in Konoha powerful enough to make final decisions.
The other nations were pressuring Konoha to name a new Hokage quickly—someone with the authority to sign the peace treaties, land concessions, and reparations.
With the deadline approaching, and with everything hastily simplified, Jiraiya was left with no choice but to don the newly made Hokage hat and become the Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf.
...
Jiraiya's first act as Hokage was to attend the Shinobi World Peace Summit in Kirigakure.
Kazekage Gaara, Tsuchikage Ōnoki, and Raikage A also arrived by invitation. This would be the first true Five Kage Summit in history.
Before the summit began, the four Kage were ushered into a hall—only to be forced to sit through an entire concert by Killer Bee.
It was the first time Bee had ever finished an entire performance. He beamed at his big brother, throwing up his hand excitedly, "Bee—!!"
The Raikage's face darkened like coal.
He'd been back in Kumogakure tearing apart his office in worry over Bee every single day!
And this guy was out here in Kirigakure eating, drinking, and singing like a star?! Living his best life!
"Not bad," said Yagura, giving Bee a round of applause. He'd clearly enjoyed the show.
Maybe Bee's rap style was just too ahead of its time for most of the shinobi world. But to Yagura, it was perfect.
With the opening act out of the way, it was time to get serious.
The Five Kage and their guards entered the actual summit chamber.
Banners hung high on the walls, bearing phrases like:
"Peace and Development: The Core of this Summit"
"Building a Shared Destiny for the Shinobi World"
Raikage visibly relaxed once he saw with his own eyes that Killer Bee was alive and well. His fury settled.
He knew full well he was just here to fulfill appearances. As soon as he sat down, he leaned back, arms crossed, wearing a look that said "this has nothing to do with me."
"No need for pleasantries," said Yagura, pulling down a large map of the shinobi world from the wall.
"First, I'll relay the land reallocation terms from the Fire Daimyō on behalf of both the Water and Wind Daimyōs."
Konoha had lost the war, and with the Fire Country's unconditional surrender, land concessions and reparations were inevitable.
Including this most recent war—which could only be described as a lightning strike—there had now been four great shinobi wars. This was the first time Konoha had ever suffered a crushing, unequivocal defeat.
The other great nations' daimyōs were practically drooling. They weren't going to miss the chance to carve off a hefty piece of the Fire Country for themselves.
When it came to land division between nations, the Kage had no authority to interfere. That was the domain of the daimyōs. So Yagura was simply acting as the messenger, delivering the decisions made by the daimyō.
He spread out the map. The southern region of the Fire Country had been split three ways.
The eastern coastal lands were almost entirely handed over to the Water Country, leaving only a sliver of territory near the Iron Country to serve as the Fire Country's remaining access point to the Eastern Sea.
In terms of land area, combining this with their earlier conquest of the Bear Country, the Water Country's holdings on the continent now rivaled their island territory.
They had officially set foot on the mainland. Given a few more years to stabilize their position, the Water Country would go from being an island nation to a continental Eastern Sea power.
The southwestern lands were given to the Wind Country.
Between the Fire and Wind countries lay the River Country—lush, fertile land originally awarded to the Wind Country in the first Five Kage Summit, but later declared independent. Now, it had been returned to the Wind Country.
At long last, the Wind Country had acquired the farmland it had coveted for five generations.
Only the southernmost strip of land remained in the Fire Country's hands.
In the northwest, another slice had been handed over to the Rain Country.
Not only that, the Rain Country's new borders now swallowed most of the Grass and Waterfall countries. They were also granted a port on the Northern Sea.
As for the opinions of the Grass and Waterfall Countries... well, their hidden villages were completely powerless against Akatsuki.
The Waterfall ninja had even lost their Tailed Beast—the Seven-Tails.
The land between the Fire and Earth countries was now controlled by the greatly expanded Rain Country.
All told, the Fire Country had lost a full quarter of its territory. It was a massive downsizing.
Yagura added, "As for the Rain Country: the Grass and Waterfall ninja villages will be dissolved and folded into Amegakure—now to be known as the Akatsuki Organization."
"And regarding the Iron Country—since Mifune fell under the influence of Danzo's Kotoamatsukami genjutsu and died in that final battle, the fate of the Iron Country now..."
"The samurai army has also taken a major blow."
"In the future, the Akatsuki will replace the Land of Iron's samurai as the new symbol of neutrality."
Yagura had already discussed many details with Gaara and Ōnoki beforehand. The three of them had reached an agreement before arriving.
His own student had grown and was now achieving the very ideal of peace they once dreamed of. From a personal standpoint, Jiraiya was proud. But he just couldn't bring himself to smile.
The Raikage didn't care either way.
The Akatsuki becoming the new ambassadors of peace and development—passed. No objections.
"The Land of Rain separates us. The daimyo of the Land of Earth didn't demand any enclaves from the Land of Fire."
Yagura tilted his chin at Ōnoki with a grin. "You want to say it, or should I, Tsuchikage?"
"Hmph, I'll speak for myself. Really now, the young and strong ought to show some consideration for their elders."
Ōnoki shot back at Yagura with a half-hearted grumble.
"The Land of Earth has no territorial demands. Unlike the impoverished backwaters of the Land of Wind."
A jab at Gaara, thrown in with casual contempt.
Gaara pretended not to hear him. His clear eyes remained focused entirely on the map, especially the newly acquired territories of the Land of Wind.
"I handled the negotiations with the daimyo myself," Ōnoki said, holding up two fingers. "Iwagakure has two requests. First—I need a child who possesses Earth, Fire, and Wind chakra natures to inherit my Dust Release."
His gaze swept over everyone present. "And I will choose that child from among all the villages."
For decades, Iwagakure hadn't produced a single child with the triple-nature chakra needed to wield Dust Release.
As his age advanced, and the reality of Dust Release dying with him loomed closer, Ōnoki had no choice but to make this bold demand.
A child with three elemental chakra natures was already a rare genius—one in a hundred, if not rarer.
But more importantly—handing such a child over to Ōnoki meant helping Iwagakure cultivate a new wielder of Dust Release?!
Considering that Ōnoki was nearing death and the technique might be lost forever, many of Iwagakure's enemies would be thrilled to see Dust Release die with him.
Could anyone really agree to this? Let's not forget—the Second Tsuchikage perished alongside your Second Mizukage in mutual destruction!
Both the Raikage and Jiraiya turned to Yagura.
Yagura's expression didn't waver. He even clapped lightly for Ōnoki.
"No problem. Dust Release is a valuable asset to the ninja world. It aligns with the goals of this summit—peace and development. Approved."
The Raikage clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Forget it. He couldn't remember a single ninja from Kumogakure who had Earth, Fire, and Wind chakra natures.
None of those three aligned with the typical Lightning-based genetics of his village. Same for Kirigakure with Water.
Let Konohagakure and Sunagakure bleed for this one.
Jiraiya had no authority to object. Ever since his loss to Hanzo the Salamander, and his emergence as one of the Legendary Sannin, he'd never felt this powerless.
Gaara… Gaara was still admiring the Land of Wind's beautifully expanded borders.
Ōnoki continued, "Second—Kirigakure must return our Five-Tails."
Now they were getting to the heart of things. The room's tension spiked as the other Kage grew alert—even Gaara reluctantly tore his gaze away from the map.
"Ahem. Since the Tsuchikage has brought up the Tailed Beasts, I'll address the future distribution."
Yagura began with historical context.
"During the first Five Kage Summit, the original Kage of each village gathered to discuss peace across the ninja world. Under the guidance of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, the nine Tailed Beasts were distributed evenly among the villages to maintain balance."
"The truth is, Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara could have crushed the entire world if they wanted. Hashirama divided the Tailed Beasts in a bid for peace. But because of ideological differences, Madara eventually turned against him."
"You should understand this well, Tsuchikage. Didn't you and the Second Tsuchikage run into Madara on your way to ally with Konoha?"
Ōnoki let out a cold scoff, clearly displeased with Yagura digging up old history.
"Obviously, Hashirama's idealistic plan failed. Peace during his era was nothing more than the result of four villages being powerless against him and Madara—two monsters."
"After they died, the First Great Ninja War broke out."
"It's clear now that Hashirama's method—equal distribution—was flawed."
"Following this summit, Iwagakure will continue to hold the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails."
"Kirigakure will return the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, Killer Bee, to Kumogakure. The Two-Tails will go to Sunagakure—giving them both the One-Tail and the Two-Tails."
Under Jiraiya's intense gaze, Yagura added, "Ah, and Hokage—I'm obligated to inform you of something. During the Nine-Tails incident, the Fourth Hokage sealed half of the Nine-Tails into himself using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal."
"Years ago, we cooperated with Orochimaru to break that seal. That half of the Nine-Tails is now sealed inside a child of the Uzumaki Clan."
"In other words, the Nine-Tails has been split into two and is currently sealed within two separate jinchūriki. Both are registered under Kirigakure's census."
Yagura paid no mind to the Raikage's fury or Jiraiya's stunned expression. His tone left no room for argument.
"Kirigakure now holds the Three-Tails, Six-Tails, Seven-Tails, and Nine-Tails."
"Wait a minute! Mizukage!"
Jiraiya finally lost his composure.
"Konoha has no Tailed Beasts?! What about the village's safety—?"
"You have Mount Myōboku."
Yagura had long prepared for this pushback.
"You have the toads of Mount Myōboku. You have Sage Mode from Mount Myōboku. No other village has that."
Sure, there were still Ryūchi Cave and Shikkotsu Forest, but Tsunade refused to return to Konoha, and Orochimaru had vanished without a trace.
If Jiraiya could master Sage Mode, and like Ōnoki, find a successor to pass it on—great. If it's lost forever, that's Konoha's problem.
"The Nine-Tails jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto, is the Fourth Hokage's son. He should return to Konoha!"
Jiraiya was clearly flustered.
But Yagura easily countered, "Lady Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. She isn't affiliated with Konoha either."
Jiraiya was crushed and slumped into his seat.
"Mizukage."
The Raikage finally spoke. "I lost to you. I accept the loss of Yugito Nii and Killer Bee. But Kumogakure hasn't been defeated."
Unlike Konoha, which had suffered total defeat, Kumogakure still retained the strength to claim second place in the ninja world.
He could accept the loss of the Two-Tails without protest, but he needed proper compensation.
Yagura's stance was simple: as long as Kumogakure bowed its head, he was willing to entertain reasonable demands.
"What do you want?"
"The Byakugan—of the Hyūga Clan."
The Raikage's demand avoided stepping on the toes of Iwagakure and Sunagakure, both too stubborn or too poor to matter.
His real target was his old enemy—Konoha.
Even a sinking ship has nails of gold.
Konoha still had resources. The Byakugan had caught his eye a decade ago—it was a coveted dōjutsu.
"You'll have to take that up with the Hokage."
As for the smaller details, Yagura made it clear—he wouldn't interfere.
With the Akatsuki replacing the Land of Iron and the redistribution of Tailed Beasts now in motion, Yagura's primary goals had already been achieved.
The next step would be to gradually, over time, push for the creation of a new international peace order.