Chapter 603: Orochimaru and Jiraiya's Past
"I don't know? Daimyo-sama and the heir apparent came to see me together. You don't know who he went to see?"
Kushina gave a cold laugh and questioned him in return.
"Yes, I really don't know. Hokage, you're wrongfully accusing me."
The Daimyo had already decided to deny everything to the bitter end.
As the Daimyo, he was naturally extremely dissatisfied with the strong and dictatorial Hokage Kushina. He wanted to replace her with someone who would listen to him, or at the very least, someone who would not be able to trample him underfoot.
That was why he had secretly contacted Orochimaru, who was plotting to overthrow Konoha, hoping to help him carry out his Konoha Revival Plan.
"Wrongfully accusing you? Daimyo-sama, you are the lord, and I am your subject. In this world, only subjects can be wrongfully accused. How could a Daimyo ever be wrongfully accused?"
Kushina slammed her palm onto the desk with an imposing air and said this to the Daimyo. Then she waved her hand, and the ANBU dragged the heir apparent, Enshi Kyū, away to be executed.
Their blades had already been drawn.
"Father, save me!"
Enshi Kyū cried out desperately toward the Daimyo.
"Hokage, Hokage, he is my only son. I am already old and can no longer have children. Could you let Kyū father a child first, and then…"
The Daimyo pleaded desperately.
"Are you asking me to let him leave behind a bastard who will one day seek revenge for his father?"
Kushina coldly questioned the Daimyo, then turned her gaze toward the ANBU.
"Tanuki, what are you waiting for? Do I have to urge you?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
The ANBU dragged Enshi Kyū toward the floor-to-ceiling window of the Hokage Tower.
Enshi Kyū still tried to speak along the way, but the ANBU immediately drew the kunai from his waist and cut out his tongue.
After dragging him to the window, a crescent-shaped flash of blade light swept past, and Enshi Kyū's head fell from the Hokage Tower to the ground below.
The villagers below did not find the sight surprising.
Public executions like this had already happened more than once or twice.
What they would never have expected was that the person being executed this time was the Daimyo's only heir.
"Daimyo-sama, this rebellion by the heir apparent has nothing to do with you. But if there is a next time, things will not be this simple. Is there anything else you wish to tell me? If not, I still have to deal with the aftermath of this rebellion. Please go back to the inn and rest."
Kushina directly issued an order for him to leave.
"N-No, there's nothing else. As expected of the Hokage. You really are formidable, ten times greater than the First Hokage…"
The Daimyo left in disgrace.
Naruto stared at this scene, so shocked that he could not say a word.
Originally, he had only heard about how domineering his mother was. He had assumed she was merely strict. It was not until today that he witnessed the reality with his own eyes.
Naruto was so shaken that he had even forgotten to plead for the Daimyo's heir.
Naruto felt that he could perhaps understand the Sage of Six Paths now.
Perhaps his mother, Kaguya, had been this kind of brutal ruler as well?
Naruto was confused. For a moment, he did not know what he should do.
After everyone dispersed, Naruto thought of Jiraiya and decided to seek this world's Jiraiya for help.
He also wanted to understand why Jiraiya and Orochimaru had become involved in this matter together.
Even in the real shinobi world, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had not become mortal enemies, but they still belonged to the kind of people who could not walk the same path.
Their respective ninja philosophies were completely different.
Orochimaru valued reason and pursued science, while Jiraiya was purely driven by emotion and believed in prophecy.
As for Kushina, although she had thrown the mission to Neji and the others and given them a chance to atone through meritorious service, she herself still sent the ANBU to conduct a thorough investigation.
She carried out a purge both inside and outside the village.
It was said that one night, a husband and wife were making dirty jokes about Kushina and Shiromo in bed. Before the wife could even laugh, the ANBU hiding under the bed laughed first.
Then the two of them were gone.
It was utterly terrifying.
Naruto arrived at the Fire Temple.
He had only heard about this place in the real shinobi world and had never actually been there.
However, Naruto had heard Jiraiya say that there was a little Nine-Tails here.
He had no idea whether the same was true in the Engraved Tsukuyomi world.
"Pervy Sage!"
Naruto saw Jiraiya emerge from the Fire Temple with a nervous expression and immediately greeted him happily.
"Naruto?!"
Jiraiya's expression changed. He turned around and tried to run.
But the problem was that Naruto had already mastered the power of the Nine-Tails' chakra. His speed was so great that Jiraiya had no chance of escaping.
After Naruto caught him, Jiraiya looked utterly despairing.
"Naruto, for the sake of your father being my disciple, give me a quick death. Whatever you do, don't hand me over to your mother."
"…No, I'm not here to arrest you."
Naruto scratched his head.
"I came to ask you something, Pervy Sage. How did you end up getting mixed up with Orochimaru and become involved in this whole mess?"
"You're not here to arrest me?"
Jiraiya froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.
"Could it be that you also think Kushina is in the wrong, Naruto?"
"Uh… I guess so."
Naruto hesitated for a moment before admitting it.
"Excellent! Naruto, you have to join us!"
Jiraiya tightly grasped Naruto's hand.
"But… why exactly?"
"I can tell you. Actually…"
Jiraiya knew that unless he cleared up Naruto's doubts, there was no way Naruto could join their side with peace of mind.
So Jiraiya told Naruto about what had happened between himself and Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru and I are actually husband and wife."
Jiraiya dropped a bombshell right from the start, leaving Naruto stunned.
"You two are Bond-Type Ninjas?!"
Naruto was startled. By now, he had also learned to use the term freely.
No wonder Jiraiya had rebelled against his mother. So he was a Bond-Type Ninja too!
"No, I'm not."
To Naruto's surprise, Jiraiya shook his head and denied it.
"Orochimaru is a woman. And I don't mean that she only became a woman after reincarnation. She was originally a woman."
"I was reading ancient records when I came across a story in one of the books. It was about a tragic couple. I discovered that the couple's story was extremely similar to what happened between Orochimaru and me."
"At first, I thought it was just a coincidence. But more and more coincidences kept appearing, so I brought Orochimaru to the Fire Temple…"
"The monk Chiriku of the Fire Temple guards a Lightning Tower. Inside it, the memories of Orochimaru's and my past are sealed away."
"Why is there a Lightning Tower inside the Fire Temple?"
Naruto asked in confusion.
"Don't worry about those details. Anyway, Orochimaru and I came to the Fire Temple to reclaim our memories from our previous lives."
"Only now have I learned that I used to call Orochimaru my dear, while she used to call me Sage Husband."
"Orochimaru really was a white snake in her previous life. The forbidden technique she is currently practicing, Eight-Headed Serpent, is actually a method she left behind for herself in her previous life to return to her original form."
"She cannot practice the senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave because, in her previous life, she left Ryūchi Cave to be with me and was cast out by the enraged White Snake Sage."
"…"
The mystery was solved.
They were not Bond-Type Ninjas.
They were Furry Ninjas.
No wonder Orochimaru wanted to carry out the Konoha Revival Plan.
If the era when humans and animals lived in harmony did not return, then Orochimaru and Jiraiya's relationship would still be unacceptable to the shinobi world.
And when that happened, another monk or someone like Uchiha Itachi, would eventually appear and tear them apart.
(End of this chapter)