Jiraiya ground his teeth.
Clearly—
Even now, the more he thought about it, the more upset he felt.
That was only natural.
Over all these years, aside from Tsunade, he had never been bullied this badly by anyone.
Namikaze Minato: "..."
He stood there, completely stunned.
Looking at Jiraiya, who seemed on the verge of losing his mind, Minato's own thoughts turned blank.
He genuinely couldn't understand it.
Because this wasn't how things were supposed to be.
Yes, Kai was deep and guarded—but that was only to be expected. As the leader of a powerful faction, how could he possibly control so many shinobi without methods of his own?
And more importantly—
Minato truly didn't feel there was anything wrong with Kai.
Especially after the mission involving the Third Raikage.
After that battle, Minato's impression of Kai had only risen higher.
Strictly speaking, the one who had made the first mistake… was Minato himself.
The village's task had been simple.
There had been no need for him to force the issue.
All they had needed to do was wait until the Third Raikage could no longer endure it—then step in to finish the job.
But Minato couldn't tolerate watching Konoha's shinobi fall one after another.
So he rushed forward and confronted the Third Raikage head-on.
From that perspective—
Even if Kai had never stepped in, no one would have been able to fault him.
Yet Kai still rushed out.
Not only that—he had stood in front of Minato.
It could even be said that during the entire mission against the Third Raikage, Minato himself hadn't contributed much at all. The victory had been carried almost entirely by Kai.
Given that—
How could Minato's favor toward him not skyrocket?
And beyond that—
What Sarutobi Hiruzen had done truly went too far.
So when weighed together—
Minato honestly didn't think there was anything wrong with Kai.
"Sensei, what exactly happened?" Minato asked, confused. "Kai has a very good temperament."
"What kind of conflict occurred between you and him?"
"Was there some misunderstanding?"
Even though Jiraiya was clearly furious, Minato still instinctively spoke up for Kai.
And that—
Was what completely shattered Jiraiya's defenses.
"W-what's going on here?!" Jiraiya exclaimed in disbelief. "Minato, I'm your teacher!"
"Why are you speaking on Kai's behalf?!"
Minato felt a headache coming on.
He was sure there had to be a misunderstanding, but since his teacher was already this agitated, what else could he say?
So—
After letting out a helpless sigh, he could only try to smooth things over.
It took nearly half an hour.
Only then did Minato finally manage to calm Jiraiya down enough to ask what had happened.
Jiraiya didn't hesitate.
He recounted his entire conversation with Kai from beginning to end.
After listening, Minato fell silent.
He crossed his arms and lowered his head in thought.
After a moment, he spoke quietly.
"Sensei… I'm sorry."
"But after hearing all this, I really don't think there's anything wrong with it."
"Didn't Kai already say that everything he's doing now is purely for self-protection?"
"Is that really unacceptable?"
"And think about it."
"The Uchiha have such a terrible reputation—so why are so many shinobi still willing to side with them?"
"To put it gently, would those ninja really make such a choice if they weren't being pushed into desperation?"
"To put it bluntly—"
"This is a struggle between Konoha's top leadership and the Uchiha."
"What does that have to do with those other clans?"
"I won't speak for clans I don't know."
"But I know the situation of the Aburame."
"You've been away from the village, Sensei, so you might not know."
"Aburame Ryōma—the next heir of the clan—was forcibly dragged into Root by Danzo."
"Aburame Shibi went to Sarutobi Hiruzen for justice."
"But the Hokage didn't care at all."
"The moment the Aburame clan defected to the Uchiha—Kai went directly to the Hokage."
"And only then did the Hokage finally speak."
"Aburame Ryōma was rescued."
"So tell me, Sensei—"
"Can you really blame the Aburame clan for siding with the Uchiha?"
"I don't know about the others, but I suspect it's much the same."
"If the Hokage acted fairly, would things have reached this point?"
"In truth, the Uchiha's current strength exists because of the village's darkness."
"They're only trying to protect themselves."
"Why shouldn't they?"
"Do they really need to bare their necks and wait to be slaughtered by the Hokage to be considered 'good people'?"
"If that's the standard—"
"Then if I become the Fourth Hokage one day, does that mean I can kill whoever I want?"
Minato's voice was low and steady.
Yes.
Just as he said—nothing in Jiraiya's account made him feel that Kai was in the wrong.
Even though Jiraiya was his teacher, Minato still stood firmly on the Uchiha's side.
And that was perfectly natural.
Minato was a man with a strong sense of justice.
He could clearly distinguish right from wrong—even when it involved his own mentor.
Right was right.
Wrong was wrong.
Jiraiya fell silent.
If even Minato could see it so clearly—
How could he, as a teacher, fail to understand?
But…
After a long, helpless sigh, Jiraiya could only remain silent.
Because Sarutobi Hiruzen was his teacher.
With his character, he could never bring himself to betray his mentor and sever his own roots.
Otherwise—
He wouldn't have chosen to escape in the first place, wandering the ninja world for so many years.
After a long pause, Jiraiya finally spoke slowly.
"Maybe… you're right."
"But I'm truly sorry, Minato."
"Sensei can't take action against Hiruzen."
"He is still my teacher."
"But one thing is certain."
"Minato—you will definitely become a great Hokage."
"I will support you."
"After you take office, do what you believe is right."
"Yes."
"You will become Hokage."
"And I, as your teacher, will help you."
Jiraiya's expression was solemn.
Yes.
Though he was bound by his conscience and unable to act against Sarutobi Hiruzen—
If Minato chose to act, Jiraiya would not stand in his way.
At the very least—
He would never stop it.
Because Jiraiya still understood something as basic as right and wrong.
His mentor… had truly gone too far.
Forcing the heir of the Aburame clan straight into Root?
What kind of place was Root?
How could Jiraiya not know?
Danzo was utterly despicable.
Yet Jiraiya had never confronted Danzo directly.
Because he knew—
Such actions could only have happened with his mentor's tacit approval.
Otherwise—
How could a shadowy organization without formal authority mobilize against an entire ninja clan?
So now—
Even though he still couldn't bring himself to oppose Sarutobi Hiruzen—
He had no intention of helping him either.
Instead—
He chose to place his hopes on Namikaze Minato.
On his proud disciple.
And let him take action.
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