[That said, while it's regrettable, calling Jiraiya a frog lost to the ocean isn't entirely wrong. To a certain extent, his death was limited by his perspective. A frog in a well knows nothing of how vast the world truly is; once it reaches the ocean, death becomes its inevitable end.
Against the conventional methods of the shinobi world that Jiraiya understood, very few people could have held him back. After all, in Sage Mode, Jiraiya unquestionably reached Strong Kage Level strength.
However, what he encountered was essentially an unsolvable opponent—the pinnacle of mortals, a Super Kage Level existence. Even as a gatekeeper at that level, it was not something a Kage Level fighter could contend with.
Across centuries of the shinobi world, countless experts had emerged, yet those who reached Super Kage Level were extremely rare. And somehow, he ran into one.
And to make matters worse, it was his own student. The Hokage lineage really does seem to have a tradition of disciples killing their masters.]
"Sage Mode? Strong Kage Level?"
Uchiha Itachi wrote the terms down in his notebook.
And before that, there was Koji Kashin.
He didn't know much about cloning technology, but he had at least heard of it and roughly understood what it entailed.
In other words, Koji Kashin could essentially be regarded as another version of Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.
Kaede Kitahara had mentioned concepts like Kage Level, Strong Kage Level, and Super Kage Level in his diary before, but the exact distinctions between them were unclear.
All they knew was that Super Kage Level had to be overwhelmingly powerful, while what exactly defined Strong Kage Level remained uncertain.
After all, this classification came solely from Kaede Kitahara.
Before this, the shinobi world had never formalized such concepts. Even the idea of "Kage Level" itself had only been clarified and solidified through his descriptions. Previously, people had only referred to figures on the level of the Five Kage without categorizing them as a distinct tier.
"So that means, in his normal state, Jiraiya is Kage Level, and with Sage Mode, he reaches Strong Kage Level… Sage Mode."
Itachi had heard of Sage Mode before.
The Uchiha Clan had stood against the Senju Clan for generations, and they were well aware of such things—especially considering that Senju Hashirama, one of their greatest enemies, had possessed Sage Mode.
From his perspective, Sage Mode seemed similar to the state Uchiha Sasuke had previously displayed through the Cursed Seal—a state that drastically amplified combat ability.
In his second-stage Cursed Seal form, Sasuke had briefly gained the power to contend with him.
If not for the overwhelming abilities of the Mangekyō Sharingan, along with the third power of Susanoo, Sasuke might have succeeded in that moment.
Unfortunately, while the Uchiha knew of Sage Mode, none of them could learn it, nor did they have access to it. It remained something they had only heard of, never witnessed firsthand.
"Jiraiya is already powerful, and with the boost from Sage Mode he reaches what Kaede Kitahara calls Strong Kage Level… yet he still couldn't win against a Super Kage Level opponent?"
Itachi silently evaluated the strength implied by that term.
If this scale held true, then the power of a so-called Super Kage Level would far exceed imagination. The leader of the Akatsuki, Pain, had already demonstrated the ability to destroy Konoha in a single attack.
And even that was merely a gatekeeper?
If so, then Jiraiya's defeat was hardly unjust.
"So even Sage Mode was forced out… and it still wasn't enough?"
Namikaze Minato finished cleaning up the dishes before finally looking at the diary entry. Seeing his teacher's future fall, he felt a tightness in his chest, even though he had already prepared himself for it to some extent.
As for Sage Mode, he knew it well. He had recently begun learning it himself and had already made a trip to Mount Myoboku.
Now, he had fully completed the training.
He had talent for Sage Mode. While his progress and proficiency couldn't match his future son Naruto's, he had already surpassed his teacher Jiraiya in that regard.
Because he had personally experienced the amplification brought by Sage Mode, he had a clear understanding of what Kaede Kitahara meant by Strong Kage Level. With that enhancement, he might not be invincible, but if his goal was to escape, even one or two Kage Level opponents wouldn't be able to stop him.
And yet, even under such conditions, Jiraiya had still been defeated.
That alone spoke to the terrifying nature of Super Kage Level.
As for this so-called tradition of disciples killing their masters within the Hokage lineage, Minato couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. Judging from what Kaede Kitahara had shown so far, it was hard to argue otherwise.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had died at the hands of his student Orochimaru. Orochimaru, in turn, had been killed by Uchiha Sasuke, who was practically his own direct disciple.
And now Jiraiya had died at the hands of his student as well.
It might have been written as a joke, but there was an uncomfortable truth behind it.
"Have Nagato and Yahiko really become this strong?"
Jiraiya himself was also reading the diary. Others could only speculate about his strength in Sage Mode, but he knew it firsthand, and that made the shock even deeper.
The children he had once saved had grown into something so terrifying.
Still, he had never regretted saving them back then. That would go against his ninja way.
It was simply… a complicated feeling.
At the same time, Uchiha Sasuke stood under the moonlight, reading the diary as well. He was particularly interested in the Akatsuki, especially their leader—the one said to have destroyed Konoha with a single move.
Kaede Kitahara had described him as if he stood above everything else, and Sasuke couldn't help but feel a flicker of defiance.
Could someone really be stronger than his future self?
[The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant—at last, the frog is lost to the ocean.]
At that moment, a video appeared within the diary. Sasuke immediately tapped it open.
The scene began in the Hokage's office within the Hokage building. Jiraiya had come to find Tsunade, telling her that he had discovered the location of the Akatsuki's leader.
Upon hearing this, Tsunade, now the Fifth Hokage, shot to her feet.
"What? Really? Tell me everything, now."
"With this information, we should immediately draft a surprise attack plan," Shizune suggested from the side, clutching the small pig.
Despite Tsunade's urgency, Jiraiya showed no sign of rushing. Instead, he invited her out for a drink.
That suggestion immediately set her off.
"Idiot! I'm the Hokage—how could I drink in broad daylight? Don't you feel any responsibility toward the shinobi out there on missions?"
Yet the moment she finished speaking, the two of them were already seated in an izakaya, and Tsunade downed a bottle of sake with her usual boldness.
"You… at least take some responsibility for what you say."
Even the Jiraiya in the video couldn't help but complain.
Outside the scene, Tsunade felt her face heat up. In her life, aside from gambling, drinking was the one thing she indulged in the most.
Only through alcohol could she forget the painful memories she didn't want to remember.
"Hahaha, that really is just like Tsunade."
Jiraiya laughed as he watched the exchange in the diary.
Annoying as it was, that was Tsunade, through and through.
"So this is one of the Sannin? The future Hokage? That's way too unreliable… I'd do a better job as Hokage."
Sasuke couldn't help the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. Seeing the future Hokage like this, he suddenly wondered if the position itself had always been so… questionable.
He even felt that if he were Hokage, he'd be far more dependable than those two old-timers.
Maybe even that dead-last Naruto would be better than them.
In the video, as the two old friends sat together, they even brought up the now-taboo name of Orochimaru.
Tsunade didn't support Jiraiya's decision to head to the Land of Rain. After all, they didn't even know how powerful the enemy truly was.
From what little they knew, the Akatsuki was already filled with formidable individuals.
And the one who led them could hardly be ordinary.
Facing Jiraiya's insistence, Tsunade could only say quietly, "Come back alive."
She couldn't deny his request.
Gathering intelligence on the Akatsuki leader was essential, and in all of Konoha, only two people could even attempt such a task.
Anyone else would be helpless against a group of Kage Level fighters.
And as Hokage, she herself couldn't leave the village.
That left only Jiraiya.
"If even you die, then I…"
Tsunade's voice faltered, her tone edged with resignation.
"Would you be sad for me? That'd make me pretty happy," Jiraiya replied lightly. "Though probably not as heartbroken as you were over Dan."
"Idiot."
"Then let's make a bet—the one you like best," Jiraiya said. "Bet that I'll die. You always lose your bets, right? So when I come back alive—haha, just kidding, just kidding. Still, I'm grateful. A man grows stronger after being rejected. If you can't laugh things off, you're no man at all. You've got to turn it into inspiration."
After a bit of joking, Tsunade finally spoke seriously.
"If anything happens, contact me through the toads immediately. I'll come right away."
"Don't worry about it. You can't leave the village. Everything here revolves around you now," Jiraiya replied without hesitation.
He knew very well that if he couldn't make it out, bringing Tsunade along wouldn't change the outcome.
Watching himself in the video turn away without ever confessing his feelings, Jiraiya let out a quiet sigh.
No… to be precise, she probably already knew.
He had never hidden his feelings that well.
But at the final moment, knowing that this journey would be his last, he hadn't managed a proper farewell, nor a proper confession.
And that… left a trace of regret.