Chương 59: Interlude 17

Konohagakure Jiraiya of the Sannin, Jonin of Konohagakure It had been awhile since he'd been back home. Not since the attack Minato called him back to help with- and that was more than a year ago. He sighed and shook his head, a small rueful smile on his lips as he walked along the packed dirt that lead back into the bustling hidden village.

"Hey! If it isn't Lord Jiraiya!" A pair of familiar Uchiha stood at the gates, turning to face him with grins and waves. The regular gate-watchers of the Konoha Police Force, men almost as old as he was at this point.

"What brings you back to Konoha, Ha?" Jiraiya waved as he walked up to them.

"Nothing in particular this time- I was in the area and thought I'd drop by, see what everyone is up to these days." He chuckled and raised his hands, wiggling the fingers in a groping manner.

"Maybe check out the hotsprings again while I'm at it! He-hah!"

"Same ol Jiraiya huh?" The one on the left rolled his eyes, leaning back against the wall.

"I'd ask if you were worried about your reputation- but that's a lost cause at this point!" A mirror in the distance flashed, and the one on the left inclined his head.

"Well don't let us keep you, Lord Jiraiya- Me and this jerkass are the same as we've always been." The delay was just long enough for the Barrier-Team to evaluate his chakra signature and confirm that he was indeed himself at the moment, and relay that to the guard watchers. The signs were almost invisible if you didn't know what to look for. Jiraiya chuckled, waving them off and resuming his walk into the village.

The broad streets full of people, the kids playing with sticks and dogs, the occasional ANBU jumping openly across the rooftops- a reassuring gesture for the guys on the streets. He raised a hand and flagged one down, hopping up to kick off against a street pole, then again off the side of a noodle shop, then again to reach the roofs proper. A few moments later, one of the passing ANBU landed next to him- Mantis by the mask.

"Lord Jiraiya, do you need something?" Mantis asked in a curt, polite manner.

"That dweeb student of mine- is he at the office or at home right now?" He dropped the hand after flashing one of the old codes with his fingers.

"I'd got some info for him- but if he's busy…"

"Lord Fourth was at home, last time I was informed, Lord Jiraiya." Mantis nodded.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Nah- that's all. Go on with whatever it was you were doing before." Jiraiya waved off.

"Thank you, Mantis."

"Your welcome, Lord Jiraiya." With that Mantis hopped away, and Jiraiya turned towards the center of the village with a little frown on his face. He knew more than anyone what a workaholic his student was. If Minato was enjoying some family time at the moment, he'd hate to interrupt it… Jiraiya sighed, this was one of those things that was a bit too important to delay, unfortunately. He shook his head, hopped in the direction of the Namikaze house, and hoped he wasn't about to crash something nice and relaxing.

After he interrupted that Suna attack in Claw country, he waited for an Iwa team to swing by, briefly explained the gist of what happened, and moved on. He made sure to describe the attackers as ninja from Rain instead of Wind, as a small courtesy for Suna with their alliance in mind. Would they believe that? Probably not, but it was enough to throw them off a bit. Hunter-Toads sent after their trail found a destroyed bridge at the end, then a path leading back into Wind where the sand swallowed the tracks.

His toads didn't do well in the desert, so he went on foot down to his contacts in the Wind Capital after, and started asking around under a cunning disguise. He jumped down from the rooftops, wooden sandals making loud clacks as he hit the street below. A second to rise from his braced position later, and he stepped forwards to knock a predesignated pattern on the doorframe leading into the cozy family home.

He could hear the sounds of children laughing in the walled yard behind the house, putting a merry little smile on his face as he waited at the door. A return-knock came from the other side of the door before it swung open. Blond, spiky hair with face-framing bangs and bright blue eyes. His student, goofy long-sleeved blue turtleneck shirt and all.

"Jiraiya! I thought I felt you show up. Come in!" Jiraiya slipped off his big wooden sandals as he passed through the door, letting his bare feet tread across the hard wood floor inside.

"Thought? I know I trained you better than that." Jiraiya chuffed, slapping his student on the back.

"You knew it was me the moment I was at the gates!" Minato laughed awkwardly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"Well- Yeah I suppose I did."

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Jiraiya asked more seriously, smile falling a little bit and glancing around the house. No one was actually inside save the two of them- the rest were out in the yard, it seems.

"Oh- our youngest said their first words this morning- and Kushina demanded I take a day off to celebrate." Minato chuckled ruefully, reaching up to scratch his cheek.

"I had to ask Lord Danzo if he wouldn't mind handling the paperwork for a day."

"Hah- that old bonebag?" Jiraiya leaned in and nudged him in the side with an elbow.

"Why didn't you ask Hiruzen, huh? I'm sure he would've been happy to step in for a day." Minato's face fell and he pressed his lips together.

"Well- I didn't want to bother him. He's been in a pretty dour mood recently- which is my fault, of course- so asking him to step in would be…"

"Be a bit awkward, huh?" Jiraiya nodded in understanding, rolling his jaw.

"I'll have to ask what's gotten him down- but later, later!" He waved both hands in front of himself.

"I'd hate to interrupt a happy moment, but I do actually have some news-" The door to the back swung open, and Jiraiya glanced over curiously. Long, vibrant red hair and deep violet eyes, wearing a long green dress and cozy apron. Kushina of the Uzumaki clan- the last that he knew of, and his students spicy-sweet wife. His face fell in a combination of dismay and disbelief at her clearly-pregnant stomach.

"Another?! How many are you two up to already?!" Jiraiya cried out, waving both hands around. Kushina's face twisted into an evil grin as she stepped up to Minato, who looked sheepish.

"I'm not stopping till we're at nine! I got to at least match the fox!" She grinned competitively, embracing her husband from the side and holding him like an oversized trophy- as best as she could while being visibly pregnant at least. She pat her stomach in a triumphant manner.

"This one will be four!"

"Four?!" Jiraiya asked, confused. Their firstborn wasn't all that long ago, which meant…

"Twins!" She announced with a toothy grin. Jiraiya played up his surprise by comically falling back on the floor, feet in the air and body wiggling from theatrical astonishment. He pushed up with their shared laughter, opening up for a hug, which Kushina returned in an instant.

"Heh- it's good to see you're doing well, Kushina."

"You old pervert- what brings you back to Konoha this time?" She laughed, stepping back and leaning her head against Minato's shoulder. Jiraiya's smile fell, and he scratched the side of his head awkwardly.

"Well- I don't mean to interrupt your celebration today, but it's serious business again this time." Kushina huffed slightly, cocking a hip and nodding.

"Anything that would affect the kids?"

"I don't think so?" He shook his head.

"Not immediately, at least. It's about money in Wind Country, of all things."

"I see, I see." She nodded with crossed arms, before leaning over and kissing Minato on the cheek.

"Tell me if there's anything serious, and don't let this old perv keep you too long, alright? I want you back by dinner at least!" Minato smiled and nodded, tapping his forehead against hers.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." He pulled back, and Kushina waggled a finger as she returned to the back yard.

"You better not!" With that, the door closed, and they were left alone in the house again. Minato's smile fell into a somewhat more focused expression as he turned back to Jiraiya.

"Money in Wind Country?" He asked, stepping over to the kitchen to retrieve a bottle and two trays of sake. Jiraiya followed him to the table, taking a chair opposite to him and accepting the poured saucer.

"What's the most recent estimate for Suna's financial troubles? About thirteen years before disaster?" Jiraiya began after a long sip.

"Ten on the spot now- the Daimyo recently cut their yearly budget by about twenty percent." Minato shook his head.

"I suppose you found out on your own about it- it was pretty recent and you haven't been back until now."

"Recently, a team of Suna ninja including 'Typhoon' Arada tried to attack and destroy a Claw Country village friendly to Iwa." Jiraiya took another sip, Minato's eyes sharp and focused at the sudden reveal of information.

"I was there to stop them. No damage was done to the village, and I lied to the Iwa team when they showed up demanding to know who had tried attacking, said it looked like a group from Rain."

"That's good, at least." Minato frowned, taking another sip with furrowed brows.

"It's gonna be troublesome to deal with that though- Suna is probably going to want something in return for the interference… And if they're attacking Claw Country… do you know why?" The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"No- but they also destroyed at least one bridge before leaving, which tells me they probably aren't pulling an offense here." Jiraiya nodded confidently.

"Otherwise, why destroy your route deeper into the country?" Minato spoke the obvious question as he nodded in understanding.

"Accepting a mission like this- The Kazekage isn't stupid, they'd know what it would mean for relations with Iwa. Do you think they're trying to provoke a later attack?" Jiraiya pressed his lips.

"... I'm not sure. That's possible, but I'm not sure what they'd really gain from a move like that. Not unless they're intending to start bleeding off Iwa teams to keep their rivals weak."

"Playing the long term." Minato nodded, before frowning and shaking his head.

"I don't think they'd make a move like that with the recent budget cut from the Wind Daimyo though. Wars between ninja are always costly, and they especially can't afford one of those right now- not unless they're anticipating more aid from Konoha than we're prepared to give."

"I'm not sure." Jiraiya muttered, chewing on his thumbnail.

"That Wind Daimyo- he's convinced that his alliances with the other Great Countries means he doesn't need to have such a large military anymore. He's been cutting spending down to invest in large shipping fleets and reduced taxes. It's noble, but word from the capital is that he doesn't understand that you can't simply downsize a military like he's wanting."

"I'd heard something like that." Minato muttered, taking another sip.

"Lord Danzo keeps suggesting that we have him killed and frame Kirigakure for the act to put increased pressure on them with their recent instability, and I keep having to politely tell him no."

"Yeah that sounds like him." Jiraiya shook his head.

"Whatever their plans were- they were interrupted by an attack on their allies in Tani. I learned about it while traveling back from the Wind Capital."

"An attack on Tanigakure?" Minato frowned seriously. So not a Konoha-sanctioned mission, from the looks of it.

"A giant snake rampaged briefly through their village." Jiraiya frowned back.

"Anything more is conjecture and rumor, but there's already blame being assigned to Orochimaru. I'm not sure if this was just a random attack or it's someone trying to frame him here- but we'll need to investigate further. I'll see if he can ask the Snakes if they've formed any recent new contracts." Minato's face was stony, slowly he set down his sake dish. Jiraiya frowned back.

"You don't think it was actually Orochimaru who did this, did you?"

"No- I'm almost certain it wasn't Orochimaru who did this." Minato shook his head before staring him straight in the eye.

"Jiraiya. I was looking for an opportunity to tell you in person, but Orochimaru has been dead for several months." Jiraiya blinked, then almost dropped his dish. He reared back in surprise, setting the saucer down and putting both hands on the table.

"He's dead?!" He asked with a faint bewilderment. Orochimaru was entirely too strong, too slippery to just up and die! Jiraiya knew that mansnake better than almost anyone, he had backup plans for his backup plans- and he didn't just jump into dangerous situations thoughtlessly. For him to have died meant a powerful and unexpected- Jiraiya's brows furrowed.

"Was it-?" Then he performed a handseal- one used to refer to the two subjects who attempted to attack during Kushina's first pregnancy a few years ago. Minato slowly shook his head.

"It wasn't- I was the one who killed him." Jiraiya stared at his student for a few more moments, then slumped back in his chair.

"That's-that's what got Hiruzen dour, isn't it? I-" He stopped, licked his lips, and looked down at the table to collect his thoughts.

"W-why?" He asked with a baffled expression. It was about the only thing he could think of at the moment, repeating over and over in his head uselessly. Why did his student kill his old friend? He knew Minato well enough that he wouldn't have just done it for no good reason.

"... We uncovered one of his labs." Minato began slowly, fingers folded together and elbows on the table.

"He attempted to escape when I asked him to come in for questioning, and then turned aggressive when I cornered him." Minato reached down, pulling up his shirt to expose his torso- -and the hideous, warped, twisting knot of scar tissue that dominated his lower right abdomen.

"I was unable to subdue him nonlethally." Minato's voice was somber.

"To survive his poison- I had to quickly remove the envenomed region."

"One of his labs?" Jiraiya repeated dumbly, staring at the ugly wound with a sickened curiosity. What the hell was Orochimaru hiding that warranted such a reaction? Minato nodded, dropping the shirt.

"An experimental facility he requested and was granted access to for the sake of replicating the First Hokage's Wood Release. Orochimaru claimed that he might be able to force an artificial cell division on dead tissue samples to replicate Hashirama Senju's specific biological markers in lab conditions, and through doing so recreate a user of Mokuton through deliberate gene administrations."

"... I don't really get it." Jiraiya muttered. Minato reached back to rub his neck again.

"To be honest, I didn't really get what he was talking about either- medicine has never been my strong suit."

"Okay so- the Lab?" Jiraiya asked, leaning forwards.

"What was the issue?" Minato's face darkened.

"... Several orphaned subjects were removed from their homes and brought to the facility, I followed up on the investigation." Jiraiya felt a creeping, horrible dread rise in his gut.

"Of the sixty 'subjects' found in his facility, there was one survivor." Minato continued, looking down.

"The survivor did display the appropriate affinity for Wood Release, but…"

"Sixty." Jiraiya repeated with a horrified expression.

"... After his death, his other laboratories were raided, all evidence gathered, and returned to Konoha for analysis. The number of expended test subjects located was… significantly more than sixty." Minato shook his head, then nodded.

"We found his apprentice in a Lab in the Land of Sea, delirious, sick, and branded with a strange type of seal, there was no reference to it in any of his recorded notes. I was planning on asking you to check on it when you returned."

"A type of seal?" Jiraiya asked, mind sharpening and focusing around his area of focus.

"What do you know about it so far?"

"It's definitely not Fuinjutsu- or any kind of Shiki I'm familiar with." As one of the foremost masters of Sealing and Jutsu Shiki in the world, hearing his student say that was deeply concerning.

"I think- I think it may be a Juinjutsu of some type." A cursed seal technique. What the hell was Orochimaru playing with before he died? Jiraiya pushed up from the table with a heavy brow and deep frown.

"Show me." Minato nodded calmly, pushing up from the chair and stepping over to the door leading to the outside. He cracked it open and then called out.

"Jiraiya and I have to run to the office for a moment!"

"I thought you left already!" Kushina called back distantly.

"Ouah- don't pull mommy's hair, you brat!" Jiraiya's lips twitched up at the sounds of childish giggles, before falling sharply again.

"We'll be back soon!"

"By dinner mister!" Minato closed the door and nodded at him, stepping over to slip on shoes at the door. Jiraiya did the same before laying a hand on his student's shoulder. A moment later, with a flash of light, they were in the Hokage's office. An old man absolutely covered in bandages blinked over at them, holding a stamp above a document. His hair was dark and messy, pushed up by the layer of wrapping that covered the man's forehead and right eye.

An x-shaped scar across his chin made the old man very recognizable.

"Lord Hokage, Lord Jiraiya." Danzo greeted calmly, setting the stamp to the side and pushing up out of the chair.

"Important business, I presume?" He took up a cane and stepped to the side, vacating the seat for Minato and bowing as best as his old spine was able.

"I'm afraid so- I just need to show Jiraiya the brand."

"Ah. Yes, that would make sense." Danzo nodded slowly, walking towards the door.

"I will vacate the room for you then- I'll make myself busy with the lounge room tea, I think."

"Thank you, Lord Danzo." Minato nodded, walking over to his desk and reaching into the desk. Two layers of unlocking and unsealing layer, and a small scroll was in his hands. As soon as Danzo had left the room, Minato called out.

"Seal the chamber." The ANBU disguised as a potted plant unveiled himself in a puff of smoke, flashing through handseals and putting up a glowing barrier around the room. Minato unfurled the scroll across the table, Jiraiya leaned forwards to look at the inscription. The office was silent for a few moments.

"What the fuck is this?" Jiraiya quietly muttered.