Chapter 25: The One-Year Countdown
The faint smell of antiseptic lingered in the hospital room. Curtains were drawn tight, muting the pale light of dawn, yet the silence was heavy, pressing down like a suffocating weight.
Jiraiya sat propped up on the thin mattress, his bandaged legs covered by a blanket. His face was gaunt, lips cracked, and the sparkle of mischief that once defined him seemed extinguished. The pervy sage who had once laughed shamelessly at bathhouses, who had flirted and gambled and teased, was gone. What remained was a broken man haunted by loss.
Earlier, the medical-nin had left after one last apology. They had failed to save his legs. They had failed to save his pride as a man. And, as if fate took joy in piling misfortune upon him, even his tooth had been knocked out in his own desperate madness.
Now he lay in silence, his fists trembling against the sheets. He whispered a single name, his voice hoarse and venomous.
"Danzo…"
The word was not spoken but spat, dripping with hatred.
Shimura Danzo — the so-called "necessary darkness" of Konoha. The old war hawk who had schemed in shadows for decades, always preaching about sacrifice for the sake of the village, yet leaving nothing but corpses and sorrow in his wake.
"If it weren't for that bastard… if he hadn't meddled with the Uchiha clan…" Jiraiya's voice cracked. His chest heaved with fury. "None of this would have happened. Raizen… that monster… would never have been born. My sensei would still be alive. Konoha wouldn't be rubble. I wouldn't be—"
His voice broke. He slammed a fist into the thin mattress. "I wouldn't be this cripple!"
For a moment he sat there, shaking, his teeth grinding together. Images flashed through his mind — Sarutobi-sensei lying dead, nameless Konoha shinobi turning to ash in Raizen's spreading domain, the desperate faces of those who had died to drag him out alive.
And then, crueler still, the memory of his own weakness. The way he had collapsed in that suffocating darkness, his chakra ripped from his body, reduced to crawling helplessly on the ground like an insect.
He clenched his fists harder. "Danzo… Hiruzen-sensei… You two old fools let this happen. You covered for him, you let him rot this village from the inside. And now we all pay the price."
Jiraiya's chest burned. His heart screamed to rip open the fabric of time, to go back and strangle Danzo with his bare hands before the Uchiha massacre ever began.
But the past could not be changed. And he… he was no longer even whole.
A flicker of hope crossed his eyes. "Tsunade…" he whispered. His lips trembled. "If anyone can… maybe she can heal me. Restore my legs, my… my manhood. She's the greatest medical-nin alive. If I can bring her back, maybe… maybe…"
He clung to the thought like a drowning man clings to driftwood.
And then—
Hiss.
A thin snake slithered silently beneath the door. Its scales shimmered faintly in the dim light as it slithered across the floor, coiling and twisting. Then its body expanded grotesquely, bulging, and with a wet sound a figure emerged from its gaping maw.
The smell of snakeskin and musk filled the air.
"Orochimaru…"
Jiraiya's body stiffened. He pushed himself upright, hands instinctively gathering chakra — only to feel the emptiness where his strength used to be. His face hardened.
The pale, serpentine man rose to his full height, brushing off invisible dust. His golden eyes glowed faintly in the shadows as he fixed Jiraiya with a smile that was half amusement, half mockery.
"Don't be so nervous, Jiraiya," Orochimaru said smoothly, his voice carrying its usual silken menace. "I didn't come to finish you off. Not today. I came… to see with my own eyes whether the rumors were true."
His gaze slid downward, taking in the empty space where Jiraiya's legs should have been. "And it seems… they are."
Jiraiya's face flushed with shame. He turned away, fists tightening. "If you came to gloat, leave. I don't have the patience to deal with you."
"Hmhmhm…" Orochimaru chuckled, the sound low and mocking. "Always so hot-headed. No, Jiraiya. I didn't come to laugh at you. I came with news. About Raizen."
At that name, the temperature in the room seemed to drop. Jiraiya looked up, his jaw tightening.
"You mean Uchiha Raizen. The one who destroyed Konoha. I already know."
His eyes darkened. "Sensei died because of him. Countless others too. I don't need your updates, Orochimaru. I already know enough to understand he's a living disaster."
But Orochimaru's smile only widened. He stepped closer, his footsteps soundless, his presence like that of a stalking serpent.
"You know, do you? Do you know that his domain continues to expand with no sign of stopping? That if it continues, within a single year, this planet will be uninhabitable?"
He leaned closer, golden eyes gleaming with malice. "One year, Jiraiya. That's how long we have before everything you've ever loved is erased."
The words struck like thunder.
Jiraiya's pupils contracted. His body trembled. "O… one year?"
The thought was unbearable. The prophecy of the Great Toad Sage echoed in his ears — the world-destroying catastrophe, the deathly silence swallowing all. He had thought there was time. That Raizen's domain, horrific though it was, spread slowly enough that he could still act. Still search for the Child of Destiny.
But one year…?
His voice rasped. "No… if I can find the Child of Destiny… Nagato, maybe… the boy with the Rinnegan… he might be the key. The Mangekyō Sharingan can't possibly surpass the Rinnegan. It's impossible."
He muttered as though convincing himself. "I'll find him. I'll bring him back. That's… that's my way. That's my answer."
Orochimaru tilted his head, studying him with a mixture of curiosity and pity. "Still clinging to prophecies and hopes, I see. You haven't changed."
He let out a cold laugh. "Look at yourself, Jiraiya. No legs. No strength. Your body broken. And yet you talk about saving the world? You, who couldn't even stand against Raizen for a heartbeat?"
The words cut deeper than any blade.
Jiraiya's fists trembled, nails digging into his palms. He wanted to scream, to strike Orochimaru, to deny it. But the weight of truth pressed down harder than his pride.
Still, he raised his chin. His voice was hoarse, but his eyes burned with defiance.
"Maybe I am broken. Maybe I am a fool. But I am still Jiraiya of the Sannin. I will find the Child of Destiny. Even if I have to crawl across this world, even if I have to give the last of my life, I will not let Raizen end everything."
For a fleeting moment, Orochimaru's smile faltered. Then it returned, sharper than before.
"Very well. Continue your little quest, then. Just remember this — one year. That's all the time you have."
He turned, his body dissolving into serpents that slithered back toward the door. His voice echoed as he vanished.
"When the end comes, Jiraiya… I wonder if you'll still be so defiant."
And then he was gone.
Silence returned to the room.
Jiraiya sat trembling, sweat beading on his brow. His nails dug crescents into his palms until blood welled. His face was pale, but his eyes… his eyes still burned.
"One year…" he whispered. "Raizen… I swear… I will find the one meant to stop you. I will not let you destroy this world."
The vow lingered in the dim, suffocating air.
Outside, the sun was rising over the refugee camps of Konoha, but its light did not reach the growing shadow on the horizon.
The countdown had begun.
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