Pakura's decisive abandonment of profit may have aligned with Chiyo's strategic thinking, but wasn't her retreat just a little too fast?
Normally, when a new Kazekage takes office, shouldn't they at least do something to bolster their prestige, maybe earn some goodwill from the villagers?
Why does she seem so skilled at selling out her own village?
"The top priority should be to initiate negotiations with Konoha. That way, we might even be able to reclaim some of our interests in the Kingdom of Rōran..."
Chiyo shot Ebizō a discontented glare.
Didn't you say this one was a radical hawk? You told me I absolutely had to stop her from making reckless moves.
Listen to her now—how is this a hawk? She's nothing but a fledgling chick!
Ebizō, too, found it strange. How had Pakura changed so drastically after being betrayed once?
"Advisor Chiyo, there's no need for you to say any more. As the Fourth Kazekage personally appointed by the Daimyō, it is absolutely impossible for me to engage in any form of negotiations with Konoha, who insulted us. This is also the Daimyō's will."
With that, Pakura turned and left the room without looking back.
Wait a second—why is she the one leaving? This is the Kazekage's office. We're the ones who should be leaving!
It wasn't until Pakura had gone far down the corridor that Chiyo and Ebizō realized what had just happened.
"What do we do now, sister?"
Ebizō himself had no idea. This newly appointed Kazekage seemed completely unhinged. Her slogans and words were as hawkish as they came, yet her actions bent in compromise toward Iwagakure...
"Forget the Kazekage. We'll contact Konoha in our capacity as advisors. Anyway, Rasa is already dead, and without him, our gold-dust mines can't be efficiently mined. We'll trade them away in exchange for Konoha's support."
Chiyo's expression was grim. She might hurl insults at Konoha with her mouth, but in her heart, she knew very well that the real threat came from Ōnoki.
After all, Konoha wasn't fond of expansion. Iwagakure, on the other hand, was.
She feared that if Pakura kept compromising like this, Sunagakure's very interests at home would be handed away.
Damn it, can't an old lady just enjoy her retirement in peace?
...
After wrapping up his discussion with Shikaku about Konoha's development plans—and how best to compensate surrounding residents during expansion—Takeshi stretched lazily and accepted a file from Itachi.
"What's this?"
As Takeshi casually signed his name and handed the file back, he asked offhandedly.
He had skimmed it while taking it—looked like a list. Jiraiya's name was even on it.
Could it be that one of the demolition sites included his house?
Instinctively, Takeshi assumed it was just a compensation list for relocations.
"It's this quarter's execution list."
"Oh, then Jiraiya's luck isn't so bad—huh?"
Takeshi quickly snatched the file back from Itachi's hands, flipping through it again until he found Jiraiya's name.
Sure enough, next to it was the listed crime.
Peeping. Insulting the Hokage.
Hiss...
"As far as I know, Jiraiya's a master of sealth. How'd he get caught peeping this time?"
Takeshi was honestly curious how Jiraiya had managed to botch it again.
"Sensei, the police force isn't just Uchiha now. It's Hyūga, Aburame, Inuzuka too. If the Sharingan can't see it, the Byakugan will. If the Byakugan can't, then the dogs and insects can. Forget Jiraiya—even if it were..."
Itachi stopped himself before finishing the thought. What he'd nearly said was that even if the Third Hokage himself tried it, he'd get caught. But considering the generational respect due to Hiruzen as his grand-teacher, it didn't sound very polite. So he let it go.
"Oh..."
Takeshi crossed his own name off the approval and scratched out Jiraiya's as well.
"Send someone to bring Jiraiya out. A little punishment is fine, but you can't seriously kill him. He's one of the Sannin, after all—our future most loyal workhorse—I mean, our trusted comrade."
A kindly smile spread across Takeshi's face.
Itachi's gaze toward his teacher grew strange.
He knew his teacher all too well. Whenever he wore that "kindly and gentle" smile, whoever it was directed at would be better off dead.
Poor Jiraiya... he probably had no idea what kind of trouble he'd really stepped into.
As Itachi took back the file, he suddenly understood why Takeshi had smiled that way.
Ah—"insulting the Hokage."
...
Konoha's former Root prison.
With Root disbanded, the place had been converted into a death-row prison.
All prisoners sentenced to death were sent here. Unless their cases were appealed successfully—or unless they were lucky enough to be transferred to Konoha's Research Bureau for "further contributions"—their fates were sealed.
In one of the solitary cells, Jiraiya sat, staring blankly at the ceiling, looking utterly lifeless.
All he'd done was fail in an act of peeping. How had that earned him a death sentence?
And Tsunade... did she really hate him that much? Enough to prefer seeing him executed rather than—
Jiraiya scratched his head with a bitter smile.
"Sigh... if there really is a next life, I swear I'll never peep again."
At last, he admitted his actions had been peeping. But it was too late.
"Hyūga Isamu, Yōmei Kenjin, Umekawa Naoi..."
In the corridor, an Internal Affairs shinobi called out names one by one, escorting the condemned to their executions.
"Jiraiya..."
Finally, the footsteps stopped outside his cell.
"I was wrong! I demand to see the Hokage! I want to see Danzō! I've contributed to Konoha! I've bled for the Land of Fire! I swear I'll never peep again!"
Hearing his name, Jiraiya abandoned all pretense of dignity as one of the Sannin. Clinging to the bars, he shouted desperately, listing his accomplishments.
"Your name's been crossed off. The person sent to pick you up is waiting outside. Come with us."
The Internal Affairs shinobi's voice was devoid of emotion as he opened the cell. His job was to enforce orders, nothing more.
"I really won't—eh? I'm... not being executed?"
Jiraiya froze mid-sob, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Let's go."
The shinobi didn't bother with him further, pushing him out of the cell.
As Jiraiya walked down the dim corridor, countless envious eyes followed him. For the first time in a long while, sunlight hit his face at the prison gates, nearly bringing him to tears.
"Yo, Jiraiya. How was your stay in prison?"
At the entrance, Tsunade stood waiting, her tone playful and without the slightest trace of apology.
"Tsu—Tsunade! You!"
When Jiraiya saw her, his first emotion was fury. Only afterward did the gratitude sink in.
Thank goodness. Tsunade hadn't forgotten him. She'd come to take him out herself.
Tsunade, however, felt a bit awkward.
After she'd posted bail for herself, she really had forgotten all about Jiraiya.
If Itachi hadn't noticed the accuser was her and sent someone to remind her, she might never have remembered—not even after Jiraiya's death.