Chapter Three
"Truly... unbelievable."
Jiraiya sat cross-legged on a stone pillar with his arms folded, gazing at the familiar Konoha Village before him, unchanged from his memories. His heart was filled with astonishment.
Even as one of the legendary Sannin, who once stood at the peak of the ninja world, the fact that he had traveled through time and returned to the past took some effort to process.
"If I came back... what about the Nine-Tails?" Jiraiya still remembered being sucked into that rift along with the Nine-Tails.
From the Nine-Tails, he had learned that even after Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was sealed away, the ninja world had not found lasting peace.
Even more powerful enemies had appeared—namely, the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Judging by the developments in the Pure Land at that time, the ninja world was facing a new crisis. But Jiraiya believed that Naruto and Sasuke—those kids who had grown so much—could handle it.
That was no longer something he needed to worry about.
With his personality, he quickly accepted the reality of his situation. Based on the current timeline, today should be the day he graduated from the Ninja Academy.
And his two classmates would be none other than Tsunade and Orochimaru, whom he had just encountered.
Jiraiya jumped down from the stone pillar and began walking toward the residence he had lived in during this period, recalling events from this era along the way.
This was shortly after the end of the First Great Ninja War. During the final stages of that war, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju of Konoha, and the Second Raikage of Kumogakure had both perished during what was meant to be an alliance ceremony between Konoha and the Cloud Village.
The Sarutobi-sensei Jiraiya had just seen was one of the escorts who had accompanied the Second Hokage to that very alliance ceremony near the war's end.
Ambushed by the rogue ninjas of the Cloud Village—specifically the Gold and Silver Brothers and their elite unit—the Second Hokage sacrificed himself to protect Sarutobi Hiruzen and several other young Konoha elites.
These included Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu—all of whom would go on to become key pillars of Konoha.
Sarutobi-sensei was entrusted with the mantle of Hokage in the moment of crisis and became the Third Hokage.
At this point, relations between Konoha and the Cloud Village were extremely tense.
To stabilize the village, Sarutobi and others had made many efforts. The Academy was one of the late Second Hokage's highest priorities.
So even after becoming Hokage and being burdened with numerous responsibilities, Sarutobi still chose to personally guide a class during his first year in office, nurturing new blood that could carry the village forward.
Then again... maybe being Hokage wasn't that busy?
"Hahaha!"
Jiraiya burst into laughter as he walked through the village. Had it not been for Sarutobi-sensei earlier, escaping from the furious Tsunade wouldn't have been easy.
After all, in his current body, he was only six years old. As much as Jiraiya didn't want to admit it, at this stage, he was still significantly weaker than both Tsunade and Orochimaru.
The only reason he knew where Sarutobi-sensei was hiding was because—back then—he'd been beaten by Tsunade almost to death before Sarutobi had to step in.
His outburst drew attention from passing villagers, but Jiraiya didn't care in the slightest. Hands behind his head, he strutted casually toward his home.
He had never known his parents. In this era, that wasn't uncommon. After all, this was the ninja world, and Konoha had only been founded for a little over ten years—many aspects of life were still underdeveloped.
So Jiraiya had been raised by Konoha's shinobi. With the talent to become a ninja, he naturally enrolled in the Academy.
The residence Konoha provided wasn't much, but it was more than enough for someone living alone.
Arriving at the building, Jiraiya climbed to the second floor and reached for his key to open the door, only to pause as something occurred to him.
"Oh right, if I remember correctly, that guy should be…"
He spun around quickly. The moonlight behind him was suddenly blocked by a small, slender figure.
On the wall across from him stood a boy with unnaturally pale skin and long black hair, gazing down at Jiraiya.
Those snake-like vertical pupils scrutinized him. Though the boy's expression was calm, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.
"Your sense of alertness is... sharper than I thought," the boy said, evaluating Jiraiya.
Just as Jiraiya remembered, the young Orochimaru was now standing behind him as he was about to enter his home.
After all he'd learned in the Pure Land about the ninja world and how much his old friends had changed, Jiraiya had long let go of his previous attachments.
Seeing young Orochimaru again should have stirred nothing in him.
But the tone of judgment in Orochimaru's voice instantly irritated the Sannin, who was still very much himself.
"Do you need something?" Jiraiya replied with an annoyed tone.
"I'm here to warn you—don't drag me down in tomorrow's test."
Orochimaru continued, "The test isn't as simple as it seems."
"I know that," Jiraiya cut him off. He remembered that back then, before Orochimaru could say much, he had just gone inside and ignored his arrogant blabbering.
"You know?" Orochimaru stared at Jiraiya, eyes filled with disbelief. Back at the Academy, Orochimaru had evaluated every student.
His evaluation of Jiraiya was just two words:
Hopeless idiot.
"Tomorrow's test is meant to assess how well newly graduated genin can cooperate as a team, right?"
Somehow, Orochimaru's brief remarks had awakened Jiraiya's competitive spirit. So he casually explained what was going on—something that hadn't changed in years of Academy tradition.
"How did you—"
Jiraiya's answer visibly shook Orochimaru. What he had just said matched Orochimaru's hypothesis exactly.
But how could someone like Jiraiya, a total idiot…
"It's simple. The graduation exam already assessed individual ninja abilities. Holding another test the next day—one that involves a team of three—points to teamwork as the focus."
"Most ninja missions are carried out in teams. The Ninja Handbook even has a whole section on team collaboration—more than enough proof."
To Jiraiya, who had long since become one of the Sannin, this sort of deduction was second nature. But in Orochimaru's eyes, it was a perfectly reasoned theory.
When Jiraiya finished speaking, Orochimaru's calm expression completely fell apart. He stared at the white-haired boy in front of him, unable to reconcile him with the idiot he'd seen at the Academy.
It was as if… this was a completely different person.
This doesn't make sense.
Because some of what Jiraiya said… Orochimaru himself hadn't even thought of it yet.
No matter how much of a genius he was, he was still only a six-year-old child.
Seeing the stunned look on Orochimaru's face, Jiraiya felt quite pleased. With a faint smile, he casually waved his hand and said, "It's all really basic. If you want to learn, I can teach you slowly from now on."
Content with himself, Jiraiya turned around, opened the door, and walked inside.
While Jiraiya was riding high with satisfaction, Orochimaru stood on the wall, letting the breeze sweep across his face, looking utterly bewildered.
Not far away, the young Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had witnessed the entire exchange.
He was equally stunned. Orochimaru coming to Jiraiya and realizing the true purpose behind tomorrow's test was already impressive enough.
But Jiraiya had effortlessly seen through the test's real purpose?
This was the same boy who just hours ago had been caught peeping at the women's bath by Tsunade—and now, he seemed like a completely different person.
At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Orochimaru shared the same thought:
This is absurd.
(Author's note: I adjusted the timeline slightly based on my reasoning, since Sarutobi was portrayed as older when leading the team than when he became Hokage.)
(End of Chapter)