Seeing Konan again left Jiraiya a bit dazed.
But Jiraiya quickly regained his composure, and his eyes gradually filled with vigilance as he fixed his gaze on Konan in the sky: "You've really grown up, becoming more and more of a beautiful woman, Konan..."
After saying this, Jiraiya's expression suddenly darkened, and he sharply questioned, "I never expected you to join the Akatsuki. What on earth is going on?"
"It's just as Naraku said."
Konan slowly manipulated white paper behind her to form a pair of paper wings, and spoke softly, "The world has already become like this. It doesn't matter what we say now. Naraku, there's no need to say more, just step aside a bit."
"Teacher, there's no need to rush!"
Uehara Naraku shook his head and spoke softly, "In any case, there's no way Jiraiya-sama can escape from here. At least let him know some truths before he dies, right?"
Hearing Uehara Naraku's words, Jiraiya couldn't help but look at him, his eyes widened: "You brat... you're underestimating me!"
Konan looked hesitantly at her disciple and her teacher, and gently shook her head, speaking softly: "Naraku, saying anything more now won't help. It'll just waste your resting time here..."
"Ha, you really do dot on your disciple!"
Jiraiya couldn't help but rub his chin, a smile appearing on his lips: "I didn't expect the little girl to become a teacher too! It's just a pity the disciple you taught doesn't seem to be up to much, Konan!"
Uehara Naraku: "..."
Isn't this statement openly mocking Konan, and attacking him as well?
"Jiraiya-sensei."
Konan's eyes tightened slightly, her gaze locked onto Jiraiya, her voice laden with defiance: "Naraku is the most perfect ninja in this world."
"Is that so?"
Jiraiya chuckled lightly, glancing at Uehara Naraku, and then looked up at Konan, speaking earnestly: "But I've always believed that my disciples were the most perfect ninja in the world, whether it's you, or Yahiko and Nagato... but that was the old you."
Jiraiya's voice slowly tempered down, speaking softly: "I always thought you died in the chaos of war, I never imagined you were alive, and have turned into what you are now, becoming the culprits who destroy Ninja Villages and kill the innocent..."
"Well, then you've misunderstood Teacher Konan."
Uehara Naraku interrupted Jiraiya's words, pointing at himself and squinting his eyes with a smile: "Jiraiya-sama, ever since I joined the Akatsuki, Teacher Konan rarely pays attention to Akatsuki's affairs."
Uehara Naraku continued to speak with a smile: "All along, the one who destroyed the Hidden Sand Village was me, the one who destroyed the Hidden Mist Village was me, and the one who destroyed the Hidden Rock Village was also me..."
After saying this, Uehara Naraku's smile deepened, and he continued with a laugh: "In the future, I will also destroy the Hidden Cloud Village, and I will destroy Konoha too..."
"..."
Jiraiya's expression changed drastically.
Uehara Naraku, this brat, was the first to say in front of him that he wanted to destroy Konoha, and it didn't sound like a lie at all, but more like a real declaration of war!
"What, don't believe me?"
Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead, speaking softly: "I just hid a little bit of the truth, how come you feel you can't trust me anymore!"
"Damn brat!"
Jiraiya suddenly clenched his fists, and his eyes gradually turned sharp: "Is this all your doing, brat? Is it because of you that Konan has turned out like this!"
"No."
Uehara Naraku's lips curled into a slight smile: "For the Akatsuki to become what it is now, you have Konoha to thank!"
"..."
Jiraiya's eyes gradually grew more piercing.
It seemed there were some things happening that he wasn't aware of.
Uehara Naraku looked at Jiraiya, chuckling as he spoke: "Let me tell you a very long story, I hope this story won't disappoint Jiraiya-sama. Twenty years ago, during that time, I probably hadn't been born for long, right?
At that time, a group called Akatsuki emerged in the Land of Rain, and its leader was one of the three disciples of Jiraiya-sama, one of the Konoha Sannin. Their dream was to mediate all the wars in the Ninja World. It was a dream that seemed both naive and noble, right?"
"..."
Jiraiya's expression showed a faint hint of emotion.
At this moment, he also recalled the conduct of Yahiko, their leader back then. It was indeed a grand yet naive idea, how could the Five Great Countries' Ninja Villages ever care about the mediation of such a small organization?
Uehara Naraku glanced at Jiraiya, continuing to speak with a chuckle: "But many believed in them, including a man who abandoned his wife and child. More and more people joined Akatsuki, strengthening its power.
This power quickly caught the attention of two people, one of whom was named Hanzo of the Salamander, because this power threatened his position in the Land of Rain;
The other's name was Shimura Danzo, because these naive fellows of Akatsuki wanted to mediate wars, and it just so happened that what Konoha needed was war."
"Danzo!"
Jiraiya's face turned slightly dark.
Upon hearing this name, Jiraiya felt a sense of unease. Is Shimura Danzo a troublemaker?
Damn it!
Whenever Konoha had troublesome issues, Shimura Danzo surely had a hand in it!
"Looks like you should know the outcome!"
Uehara Naraku looked at Jiraiya's expression, smiling as he said: "Back then, Jiraiya-sama spent three years smoothing out someone's hatred towards Konoha, yet Shimura Danzo took only a day to rekindle that hatred."
"...Is that how it is?"
Jiraiya looked up with a complex expression and turned to Konan: "So it was Shimura Danzo and Hanzo of the Salamander who attacked you... Who exactly died at their hands, was it Nagato?"
After speaking, Jiraiya seemed to confirm the matter, and said in a deep voice: "So Yahiko transplanted Nagato's Rinnegan and established a terrifying mercenary organization to gather rogue ninjas and capture Tailed Beasts, is that it?"
"..."
Konan shook her head in silence.
Seeing Konan shake her head, Jiraiya glanced at Uehara Naraku again: "Kid, what exactly is your goal? Even if you're filled with hatred, you shouldn't let it control you..."
"If it were only for revenge, the hatred should have ended long ago."
Uehara Naraku interrupted Jiraiya, chuckling as he spoke: "Eight years ago, we ambushed Hanzo of the Salamander at the same location, and four years ago, Shimura Danzo mysteriously disappeared from Konoha. Konoha must have been curious about Danzo's whereabouts, right?"
"..."
A look of shock gradually appeared on Jiraiya's face as he recalled the timing of Shimura Danzo's disappearance and immediately deduced the truth.
"Did you kill Shimura Danzo?"
"Yes."
Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead and spoke softly: "I used the bait of killing the Third Hokage to lure Shimura Danzo to show himself. His corpse became a souvenir I gifted to my teacher after my trip back to Konoha."
"..."
Konan's expression turned a little unpleasant, as if she remembered some not-so-good experiences, recalling those strange gifts from Uehara Naraku.
Blastsword·Shibuki.
Tandem Paper Bomb Jutsu.
Shimura Danzo's corpse.
Konoha's Sealing Scrolls.
Jiraiya's expression was evidently even more unpleasant, as he remembered another unpleasant fact: "You were really good at disguise back then! We never would've suspected you!"
Uehara Naraku's face showed a joyful smile: "Who would suspect someone who made a pact with Danzo and fulfilled the terms... would be the one who killed him? If it weren't for Teacher Konan, I wouldn't have bothered with such a filthy guy."
In fact, killing Danzo was quite a brilliant move.
Even Uehara Naraku had to admit, the rewards from killing Shimura Danzo were incredibly rich, with just the Dark Harvest skill alone granting him tremendous gains, otherwise, he'd still be desperately doing tasks to find skills.
From a personal perspective, Uehara Naraku should have taken Danzo to pieces; but from a moral standpoint, he should burn some paper money for Danzo...
And he should burn some for Hanzo of the Salamander too.
Because these two took the blame for quite a lot.
Come to think of it, Uchiha Obito and Orochimaru also deserve some, as those two were blamed for quite a bit and were tricked by Uehara Naraku for a long time as well.
However, Uchiha Obito has been reanimated through Reanimation, and Orochimaru's soul is in Ryuchi Cave as Yamata no Orochi, so there isn't much need.
Jiraiya stared intently at Uehara Naraku, his face dark: "Kid, to be able to hide so deeply, you're truly frightening!"
"Am I?"
Uehara Naraku continued to squint his eyes, smiling as he asked: "Lord Jiraiya, then why do you think I no longer hide in front of you?"
"Because you want to kill me."
Jiraiya clenched his fists, a complex smile flashing across his face: "It's ironic, isn't it? A member of Akatsuki leading the Ninja World against Akatsuki's actions;
A person wanting to destroy Konoha once saved a Konoha Ninja, and the killer who destroyed the Hidden Sand Village is an ally of the Sand, while the killer who destroyed the Hidden Mist Village is at the Mist's alliance table."
Jiraiya slowly lifted his head to look at Konan in the sky, sighing quietly: "What's more ironic is that someone who should be the gentlest teacher in the world ended up teaching a ninja intent on destroying it."
Clearly, Jiraiya's words were referring to Konan.
In Jiraiya's impression, Konan was always the girl silently supporting her friends, but now, driven by hatred, she walked down the wrong path and led Uehara Naraku, a diligent disciple bent on destroying the Five Great Countries' Ninja Villages.
This world is truly twisted.
However, Jiraiya's mindset had changed, feeling regret only for not knowing whether it was Yahiko or Nagato who died back then.
Since Konan just shook her head, denying Yahiko transplanted the Rinnegan...
Or could it be that both died?
Now, besides finding out Pain's identity, there's no need to uncover the other truths, for he already knows enough.
Once he figures out Pain's identity, he must immediately escape The Hidden Rain Village.
Originally, Jiraiya had thought along the way of risking his life to deal with the misguided Konan and Yahiko, but after learning of their tragedy, his determination wavered, especially with so much intelligence gathered.
Now, the most important thing is to get this information back to Konoha.
Every bit of information is crucial and will change the state of the Ninja World.
Unfortunately, just as Jiraiya began to strategize, another figure appeared quietly above them, looking down at those present, frowning and asking: "Uehara, Konan, have you not dealt with it yet?"
Animal Path Pain, arrived.