Spoilers

"Want to know who exactly attacked Minato Namikaze and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? That wouldn’t be difficult, but even if I told you the truth, what could you do about it?" Yota slowly relaxed his fighting stance. "Konoha as it is now wouldn’t support you in seeking revenge, would it?"

"So you really do know." Jiraiya looked up at Yota, a faint killing intent showing in his eyes. "It seems I’ll have to subdue you to get the information?"

"Subdue me?" An amused expression appeared on Yota’s face. "With that half-baked Sage Mode of yours? Aren’t you dreaming a little too big?"

At Yota’s words, Jiraiya’s expression shifted slightly. But before he could speak, Yota continued, "But it doesn’t matter. Since you want to know, I’ll tell you everything."

"Hm?" Jiraiya’s expression changed. He had never expected Yota to say something like that.

Before coming here, he had already prepared himself to die in battle. After all, this Black Shadow Ninja’s performance in the battle at Konoha had been truly astonishing.

Danzo Shimura’s Root had been completely wiped out, and Danzo himself had only escaped with his life through a secret technique. The Third Hokage and Konoha’s numerous jonin had been utterly suppressed. Even the Uchiha Clan Head, who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, had been easily defeated.

Honestly, even if Jiraiya entered Sage Mode, there was an eighty-percent chance he still wouldn’t be a match for him. That Dark Release, which combined offense and defense and resembled another dimension, was a terrifying ninjutsu nearly comparable to Dust Release. Even now, Jiraiya had not thought of a way to counter it.

If not for the death of the disciple in whom he had placed such high hopes—the one he believed to be the savior—Jiraiya would never have rashly confronted Yota without confidence in his chances.

It was not that he feared death. Rather, Konoha in its current state simply could not withstand any greater turmoil. If news came that Jiraiya, one of the Three Sannin, had died as well, another Ninja World War might break out.

"There’s no need to be so surprised. Consider it my respect for your character!" Yota said. Jiraiya was one of the rare characters in Naruto without much dirt on him—well, aside from being somewhat lecherous.

Yota hated the profession of ninja, but that did not mean he hated every ninja.

"Ha, respect for my character." Jiraiya sounded as though he were mocking himself. "Someone like you has thoughts like that too?"

Yota said blandly, "Why can’t I? Because I attacked Konoha?"

"You attacked a ninja village without cause and plundered its secret techniques. Isn’t that enough?" Jiraiya frowned.

"Heh, you make it sound as if Konoha has never done the same. Every ninja village in this world is probably doing exactly that. Why am I a terrorist for doing it, while you get to call it Konoha when you do?" Yota said with a cold sneer.

"Are you… dissatisfied with the current system?" Jiraiya asked, his expression turning somewhat serious.

"Are you satisfied with a ninja village system that forces seven- and eight-year-old children onto the battlefield?" Yota mocked him outright. "If you were truly satisfied, would you need to scour the streets looking for the Child of Prophecy?"

Jiraiya was immediately left speechless. No matter what, he could not go against his conscience and approve of the current ninja village system. Otherwise, he would not have stayed away from Konoha all this time, wandering outside.

After all, if he returned to Konoha now, the position of Hokage would practically be his for the taking—there were hardly any competitors left in Konoha.

"Enough. I’m not here to discuss the ninja system with you." Jiraiya fell silent for a moment before continuing. "You just said you would tell me who released the Nine-Tails!"

Yota did not press the matter further and directly gave Jiraiya the answer. "The one who released the Nine-Tails was Obito Uchiha."

Upon hearing Yota’s answer, Jiraiya was completely dumbfounded. "Who? Who is Obito Uchiha? That name sounds kind of familiar."

"He’s your disciple’s disciple. That makes him your grand-disciple, I suppose," Yota said helplessly. Fine, perhaps Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the Third Hokage might not know, but Obito Uchiha was at least his grand-disciple. Why did Jiraiya look like he had no idea who he was too?

Jiraiya paused slightly, thought for a moment, then said with disbelief written all over his face, "That Uchiha brat who wore goggles every day and was always late? Didn’t he already die? You’re not lying to me, are you?"

Before awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, Obito Uchiha had been the famously foolish Henji, with barely any presence at all. Compared to his teammate Kakashi, he was far inferior.

His talent certainly was not bad. After all, he had been a member of the elite class, and even before awakening the Sharingan, he had already become a chunin at the age of twelve.

That level of talent ranked among the best of the Uchiha. It was only because he was so careless and scatterbrained that he had been labeled dead last.

But to say that, with his abilities, after only two or three years, he could counterkill Minato Namikaze and release the Nine-Tails… this…

Even Jiraiya, a novelist himself, would not dare write such an exaggerated plot in one of his books!

"Forget it. I should start from the beginning." Seeing the distrust in Jiraiya’s eyes, Yota said, "Back then, Obito Uchiha didn’t die after being crushed by that giant rock. If you don’t believe me, you can go look for his remains."

"After that, because of his unique talent, he caught Madara Uchiha’s attention…"

"Wait, where did another Madara Uchiha come from?"

"Are you talking, or am I?"

"Uh, you talk. Go ahead."

"Fine. Where was I? Oh, Madara Uchiha took an interest in Obito Uchiha and brought him to his base, using White Zetsu derived from Hashirama Cells to repair his body…"

"What exactly is this White Zetsu derived from Hashirama Cells?… Forget it, I won’t say anything."

Under Yota’s gaze, Jiraiya shut his mouth sheepishly.

"I should really start from the beginning. Mm, starting with the Sage of Six Paths…"

"Hey, what Sage of Six Paths? Isn’t that getting a bit too outrageous?" Jiraiya truly could not hold back any longer and spoke to Yota.

"The Sage of Six Paths really existed! If you don’t believe me, go ask that Great Toad Sage of yours at Mount Myōboku!"

Yota refuted him, then continued, "If you want to listen, then shut up!"

Though disbelief still lingered in Jiraiya’s eyes, he finally stopped interrupting and listened as Yota went on.

"The Sage of Six Paths had two sons, named Indra and Asura…"

"The two fought endlessly, and their Chakra reincarnations remained entangled as well…"

"The previous reincarnations were Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha…"

"The altered stone tablet… the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan…"