Chapter 567: Jiraiya’s Discovery

Chapter 567: Chapter 567: Jiraiya’s Discovery

A small dessert shop along a street in Konoha.

Jiraiya and Kawaki Yosuke sat across from each other. Jiraiya’s expression was a little stiff.

"You’re pretty calm," Jiraiya said after taking a deep breath. He stared at the completely composed spy from the Rain Village sitting in front of him. "Are you really not afraid that I’ll send you to Konoha’s interrogation unit?"

"To me, that would be an honor." Kawaki Yosuke smiled. "Since I came here, I’ve already prepared myself to make the ultimate sacrifice."

Jiraiya froze for a moment, and his eyes grew complicated. The man in front of him sounded completely sincere, and his expression was just as genuine. He clearly wasn’t pretending to be fearless. He truly felt that way.

It made Jiraiya feel strangely unsettled. It was almost as if the person sitting across from him wasn’t a spy, but a warrior prepared to die with honor.

"And since you brought me here, you clearly never intended to send me to the interrogation unit." Kawaki Yosuke looked around the shop and spoke honestly. "Leader Konan was right. You really are one of our comrades."

"Comrade..." Jiraiya rubbed his forehead, suddenly feeling that something was wrong with him.

Normally, when a spy from the Rain Village called him a comrade, he should have firmly denied it. After all, he was one of Konoha’s Three Ninja Legends, not a member of the Rain Village.

But when he remembered the advanced ideas he had heard while undergoing rehabilitation in the Rain Village, he hesitated.

Jiraiya rubbed his cheeks. In the end, he skipped over the subject of being called a comrade and asked bluntly, "So what exactly did you come here for? Did you just want to pass along Konan’s greetings to her useless teacher?"

At this point, Jiraiya openly admitted that he was a useless teacher. Compared with Konan, who had a grand ideal and had already begun successfully putting it into practice, he was far behind.

Kawaki Yosuke did not hide anything either. He answered directly, "Leader Konan also asked me to tell you this: Give up your illusions about Konoha’s ruling class and face reality."

Jiraiya went blank.

The moment he heard those words, Jiraiya froze, his eyes wide. "How does she know?"

Jiraiya truly couldn’t understand it. ℴℴ𝘮

From Konan’s words, he could tell that she seemed to know everything he had been doing lately. Had she been watching him? No, that was impossible!

Jiraiya was certain that no one had been spying on him. After training in Sage Mode, he had complete confidence in his senses. But if he hadn’t been watched, then how could she...

"Leader Konan gave me those words two months ago." Kawaki Yosuke seemed to understand Jiraiya’s confusion and spoke softly. "She told me to say them to you in person today, two months later."

Two months ago?

Jiraiya was completely stunned. Two months ago, he hadn’t even been released from the Rain Village. In other words, he had still been undergoing labor rehabilitation at that time.

Did that mean Konan had already predicted everything he would do two months ago? How had she managed that? Had Konan also awakened the Great Toad Sage’s ability to see the future?

No!

Even the Great Toad Sage probably couldn’t predict things with that much accuracy.

Jiraiya was beginning to question everything he knew about life. In that moment, he felt that his student was surrounded by mysteries. Whether it was her terrifying abilities or her unusual policies, none of them seemed like things a ninja could have come up with.

What exactly had happened to her?

Jiraiya thought for a long time, but still found no definite answer. He simply began considering the message Konan had passed on to him: Give up your illusions about Konoha’s ruling class.

Everyone knew that Konoha’s ruling class was the Hokage, in other words, Tsunade, his former comrade and companion. Was Konan saying that he shouldn’t hold out any hope for her? That even former comrades could never truly understand each other?

Jiraiya had already experienced that firsthand. He could say that he had begun to face reality.

But what good did facing reality do? Could he overthrow Tsunade, the Hokage? That was obviously impossible, and it went against Jiraiya’s principles and beliefs.

Wait.

Overthrow Tsunade?

Jiraiya’s expression shifted. He looked at Kawaki Yosuke and asked in a low voice, "What exactly are you Rain Village spies doing in Konoha?" If they were here to kill Tsunade, then Jiraiya would keep them here even if it meant offending Konan.

"Spreading ideas." Kawaki Yosuke still did not hide anything. He answered naturally, "Leader Konan only gave us one task: to spread these new ideas among all the oppressed people."

"New ideas..." Jiraiya’s expression grew complicated again.

He knew exactly what these so-called new ideas were. They were based on a theme somewhat similar to the Will of Fire, but the two were worlds apart.

Jiraiya still clearly remembered the look of disdain on Konan’s face when he had brought up the Will of Fire.

His student had let out a contemptuous laugh and said, "That kind of vague wordplay is supposed to be an ideal that people can truly follow? That’s ridiculous."

Jiraiya had been furious at her reaction back then. But later, he saw the Rain Village’s core slogan:

"The people, the working people are the true heroes!"

After two months of labor rehabilitation and his own reflections, he now truly understood the meaning behind that slogan. He had to admit that it was far more insightful than the vague idea of the Will of Fire.

This ninja world had been created by working people.

Ninjas depended on working people for everything they needed to eat, wear, and use in their daily lives. Yet those people all occupied the lowest level of the ninja world, and no one seemed to notice.

No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t that no one had noticed.

Jiraiya’s expression shifted as he looked toward the distant street. They had noticed. The rulers had always wanted things to turn out this way. They wanted the people at the bottom to serve as the pillars supporting their comfortable lives.

All this time, they had believed it was only natural. They had not shown even the slightest bit of gratitude. No ninja looked down on craftsmen and farmers. In their eyes, only ninjas were noble.

So was a society built this way really normal?

Jiraiya fell into deep thought and asked himself honestly: Compared with these workers who quietly labored and gave everything they had, which of them were the so-called heroes of the ninja world more like?

"You’ve finally started thinking in the right direction, Teacher Jiraiya." Watching Jiraiya’s expression on the screen, Konan’s lips curved into a smile. "So what choice will you make next?"

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