"Damn, where on earth did Yahiko and the others go?"
Jiraiya had been probing for two days but hadn't gathered any information on the Akatsuki Organization. Even when he encountered civilians who might know about it, they absolutely would not tell him anything.
He wasn't very skilled at Illusion Techniques, and interrogating civilians would violate the Ninja Code, something he could never bring himself to do.
"Damn it, why are these people's lips so tight, and obviously they know about the Akatsuki Organization. I'm not a bad person; what's wrong with telling me a bit?"
Jiraiya crouched outside a civilian's house. The people inside definitely knew people from the Akatsuki Organization, but no matter how he asked, he couldn't get any answers. He could only keep watch.
What he didn't know was that even if the Akatsuki Organization members had dispersed, most civilians had benefited from them. So, when Jiraiya, an outsider, tried to inquire about the Akatsuki Organization, they would never be so ungrateful as to disclose anything.
Just as Jiraiya was about to resort to silly methods and stakeout, a shuriken suddenly flew towards him.
"Who's there?"
Jiraiya formed a double-handed seal, and his hair instantly hardened, directly blocking the shuriken.
Then he saw a shadow flash past, but didn't catch the face. However, this person attacking with a shuriken was clearly trying to lure him away.
"Not quite like the style of Hidden Rain Ninja, so it must be Yahiko's Akatsuki Organization. This guy's style is not bad, knowing how to protect civilians...."
Jiraiya immediately gave chase, but the person who threw the shuriken wasn't slow either.
The two quickly left the small town, one after the other.
They soon arrived at a deserted area on the outskirts, surrounded by barren open space with some forest nearby. Yet, Jiraiya lost track of the person.
However, before Jiraiya could search around, a person emerged from the adjacent forest.
Red hair, Rinnegan — although his face was much thinner and there were unknown white objects on him, Jiraiya recognized him as Nagato at once.
He then asked in surprise, "Nagato, was that you just now? You brat, throwing a shuriken at your teacher...."
"Jiraiya-sensei, why are you looking for the Akatsuki Organization?"
Jiraiya was stunned at his words. Then he noticed Nagato's indifferent expression, and instantly suspected that the information might be true... His heart ached for a moment, so he asked, "I came to see you all, Nagato. Where are Konan and Yahiko?"
"Yahiko is already dead, killed in an assassination by Hanzo and Danzo working together. After killing Yahiko, they also destroyed the Akatsuki Organization...."
Nagato spoke in a flat voice, then looked coldly at Jiraiya and continued, "Jiraiya-sensei, if you came to see Yahiko, you can go back now."
"Nagato, there must be some misunderstanding here; I will investigate this thoroughly."
Jiraiya, seeing Nagato in this state, knew that he already hated Konoha; but Nagato was the child of prophecy from Mount Myoboku that he believed in. With his Rinnegan, he had the hope of changing the fate of the Ninja World, so Jiraiya hoped Nagato wouldn't bear a grudge against Konoha.
"Nagato, I promise you, if it really was Danzo...."
"Jiraiya-sensei, it was indeed Danzo."
Nagato interrupted Jiraiya, then pointed at his own Rinnegan and said, "One of the Rinnegan's abilities is to directly extract information from the soul. A person's mouth can lie, but soul memory cannot. Yahiko's death was indeed Danzo's doing!"
"....."
Upon hearing this, Jiraiya frowned immediately. He didn't expect the Rinnegan to have such a capability; given what Nagato said, the only options were to believe him or continue to deny it.
If he believed Nagato, he would have to honor his earlier words and go back to confront Danzo for an explanation regarding Yahiko's death; if he didn't believe Nagato, their teacher-student relationship might end here.
"Nagato, I hope you'll trust me this once...."
"We've always trusted Jiraiya-sensei, which is why Yahiko went to find you, only to be forced to death by Konoha Ninja...."
Nagato already discerned Jiraiya's choice, which made him very angry. His parents had died at the hands of Konoha Ninja, and Yahiko died believing in Jiraiya-sensei's ideals, ultimately forced to death by the combined pressure of Konoha Ninja and Hanzo....
However, recalling how Jiraiya had cared for them for three years, Nagato was unwilling to strike against him.
"You should leave, Jiraiya-sensei; the Akatsuki Organization no longer exists."
"Nagato!"
Seeing Nagato about to leave, Jiraiya hurriedly approached to try to stop him for a proper talk.
But then Nagato suddenly turned around, raised his hand towards Jiraiya, and said, "Almighty Push!"
A powerful repulsive force instantly spread out from Nagato, creating a circular deep pit that tore up the solid ground as it expanded outward.
Jiraiya was directly blown away, tumbling dozens of meters before landing among the rocks.
"I told you, don't come looking for us anymore, Jiraiya-sensei! Yahiko's dream and the old Akatsuki Organization are gone."
After speaking, Nagato intended to leave. Despite Jiraiya having cared for them, Nagato still found it difficult to strike against him.
However, after Jiraiya got up, he coughed up blood and said, "Nagato, you little punk, you dare to strike at your teacher... Fine, let me see how strong you've become recently!"
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Netherworld!"
Forming seals quickly to use Ninjutsu, Jiraiya skillfully transformed the ground in front of him into a vast swamp; he knew that if he let Nagato leave, there was a chance he would become hostile towards Konoha, so the best option was to stop him and clear up the misunderstanding.