To understand the weight of this moment, one must look at the timeline.
Currently, Hatake Kakashi is roughly ten years old. Uwabami Ui is twelve. In terms of rank, Ui is a Chunin, and a relatively recent one at that. However, if you look at combat effectiveness—even just the data on the surface—Ui's level is far beyond that of a typical Chunin.
For his age, he is already a phenomenon. And when you compare his mastery over nature transformation, specifically Lightning Style... let's just say even Jiraiya would find it hard to keep up.
That sounds like a terrifying claim, as if Ui is somehow more powerful than the Toad Sage himself. In reality, a direct comparison is meaningless because Jiraiya isn't a Lightning Style specialist. But in the specific domain of lightning manipulation? Ui reigns supreme, smooth and peerless.
It was this specialized expertise that made Jiraiya believe Ui could successfully stall and escape from Sasori of the Red Sand.
The Bureaucracy of Secrets
"I've received these three pieces of intelligence," Jiraiya said, his tone shifting back to that of a commander. "Given their severity, they are now classified. Do not speak of this to anyone else. I will report this to the Hokage, and he will make the final determination."
By escalating this to the Third Hokage, Jiraiya was effectively validating Ui's report. Considering Konoha's current alliance with Sunagakure, the Hokage might even choose to share some of this with them. Suna's strongest Kazekage was indeed gone—murdered by the very ninja they had once been so proud of.
"How was the rest of your mission?" Jiraiya asked.
"Completed without any major hitches," Ui replied.
The encounter with the Fuma clan was significant, but compared to the Sasori incident, it was practically a footnote. Aoba could handle that report with the intel department; there was no need to bother a Sannin with it.
"Good to hear you didn't face any other crises... Anyone injured?"
"Some," Ui said with an airy wave of his hand. "The others are fine, but Asuma... well, he's got some soft tissue contusion."
If Asuma had heard this, he would have dragged his broken body out of the hospital to fight Ui then and there. Contusion? The man had broken ribs! What kind of medical dictionary was Ui using?
The "S-Rank" Cannon
"By the way," Jiraiya said, his eyes narrowing slightly, "that move of yours... 'Raion Juugoku' (雷苑重国). How much longer before you've accumulated enough chakra to use it again?"
Ui's Railgun had been witnessed during the battle with Shukaku, and he'd given Tsunade a rather vague, pseudo-scientific explanation back then. Naturally, it was recorded in Konoha's confidential archives.
In Konoha, Ui's "original ninjutsu" had to be registered. To avoid it sounding too out of place in this world, he couldn't call it "Super-Electromagnetic Gun" (超電磁砲), so he had improvised a more traditional-sounding name.
Lightning Style: Raion Juugoku. (The Heavy Realm of the Lightning Orchard).
Regardless of his naming sense—which was still arguably better than Minato's—the technique was officially classified as an S-rank ninjutsu. It didn't really matter how it was ranked; no one else could learn it anyway.
Jiraiya was asking because he had a very specific target in mind. The Third Raikage was famous for his "Absolute Defense," a Lightning Style Armor that allowed him to go toe-to-toe with the Eight-Tails. He possessed both the "Strongest Spear" (Hell Stab) and the "Strongest Shield."
But what if someone hit the Raikage with a Railgun? Could the "Strongest Shield" hold up against a projectile that was exponentially more "spear-like" than the Raikage's own spear?
Ui, sensing he was being sized up as a strategic weapon, decided to maintain his "self-imposed seal." While he could technically fire whenever he had a coin and a bit of juice, he couldn't let the village know he was a walking artillery battery.
"It will take at least another year to accumulate the necessary energy," Ui said, feigning a look of deep calculation. "I can't be certain, but a year is the absolute minimum."
This made sense to Jiraiya. A move that supposedly turned a restrained Shukaku into scrap metal should have a massive cooldown. If it didn't... well, the "Ui Capture Project" would probably be fast-tracked. Like Shisui Uchiha's Kotoamatsukami, the most broken powers usually come with the longest wait times.
A Final Note
"I see. Your team will remain here for a brief rest, though you may be summoned at any time regarding the Sasori report..."
Ui didn't realize he had just been mentally drafted as Konoha's "Main Battery," waiting for his cooldown to finish so he could be pointed at the Raikage. He stood up to leave, but stopped at the tent flap as if he'd just remembered something.
"By the way, regarding why our fight with Pakura ended inconclusively... it was because we ran into a group of ninjas in the Land of Rain. They didn't seem to belong to the Hidden Rain village. They claimed to be acting to prevent conflict and maintain peace. They stopped the fight and allowed us to leave peacefully."
Ui looked back at Jiraiya. "I don't know the name of the organization, but the leaders were three young ninjas: two men and a woman. One with orange hair, one with red hair, and one with purple hair."
With that, Ui turned and walked out.
He didn't stick around to see Jiraiya's face. He didn't need to. He could already imagine the look of bittersweet pride on the Sage's face, hearing that his former students were actually out there, living out the ideals he had taught them.