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"The Savior, huh," Tsunade swirled the sake cup in her hand, shaking her head. "Does such a thing truly exist?"
"Of course, it does!" Jiraiya declared confidently. "The Great Toad Sage's prophecy is never wrong! As long as we find the Savior, the conflicts of this world will definitely end!"
Orochimaru glanced at Naruto. "And have you found him?"
Jiraiya stared back at Orochimaru, confirming his own conviction, and replied with equal firmness, "That's what I believe!"
Wujie looked at Naruto, who seemed oblivious to what was happening, and decided it was time to launch his attack on Jiraiya. He spoke up, "Speaking of the Savior, I recall, Master Jiraiya, that you found a Child of Prophecy before, didn't you? You even abandoned your duties to look after them for three years. Why didn't you continue guiding and caring for them? Was it because you believed the true Child of Prophecy wouldn't die, so you wanted to see if they would perish? Master Jiraiya, you truly are a cruel man."
"That's not true! I never thought that way!" Jiraiya immediately denied it. When the news of Nagato and the others' 'deaths' arrived, Jiraiya had grieved for a very long time.
"Three years? Those three kids from the Hidden Rain Village?"
Orochimaru and Tsunade snapped back to attention. No wonder back then, when asked why he insisted on staying in such a place, Jiraiya refused to say. So, he had been secretly training the Savior.
Realizing this, Jiraiya's expression instantly darkened. He stared intently at Wujie and demanded, "I never told anyone about this matter. How do you know!?"
A corner of Wujie's mouth curved up. "Well, let's just say I have some... special information channels."
Tsunade shook her head and downed her cup in one gulp. "This brat certainly does manage to say things others don't know."
"Is that so," Orochimaru asked, his eyes glinting playfully. "Then do you know why Jiraiya appeared here?"
Wujie nodded. "Of course. Master Jiraiya is here to ask Lady Tsunade to return to Konoha and assume the role of the Fifth Hokage."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "Then why are you here?"
"Me? That's a bit complicated. But for the time being, let's say I'm here to stop him."
"Heh heh, is that how it is," Orochimaru chuckled.
"Asking me to go back and be Hokage?" Tsunade laughed in surprise, then shot a harsh glare at Wujie. "You really weren't telling me the truth!"
"You can't blame me for that. If you had asked just one more question, I would have told you everything."
Tsunade stared at him and shook her head, not believing that nonsense for a second. "Forget it. It's not like I'd ever go back to be Hokage anyway. Your plans are destined to fail."
As Tsunade finished speaking, Wujie shook his head. "Master Jiraiya has certainly prepared a surefire trump card. If I hadn't judged his chances of success to be very high, I wouldn't have taken such a huge risk appearing before the three of you. Look at his face; quite confident, isn't he?"
"Trump card?" Orochimaru and Tsunade both looked towards the utterly confused Jiraiya, wondering what secret weapon he possessed that gave him such confidence.
But Jiraiya himself was completely baffled. Since when did he have a trump card?
Seeing that the tight-lipped Jiraiya had no intention of answering, the two turned their gazes back to Wujie.
And Wujie, naturally, didn't refuse their curiosity, because this was his objective. He immediately turned to Naruto and asked, "Naruto, isn't your Ninja Way to speak directly? Then do you dare tell us, what is your dream?"
A faint sense of foreboding bloomed in Jiraiya's heart, but he couldn't quite grasp what that fleeting thought was.
Naruto cared even less about all that; he didn't even understand what was happening. So, upon hearing Wujie's words, he immediately rubbed his nose with his hand, put on a bright, sunny smile, and declared with absolute conviction, "My dream is... to become Hokage!!!"
Seeing Naruto grinning broadly with that cheerful smile, Orochimaru and Tsunade were simultaneously stunned. A vague silhouette slowly began to overlap with the image before their eyes.
But immediately following that, Wujie's voice, like that of a demon, drifted over, "How about that? Quite the resemblance, isn't it? To Lady Tsunade's... deceased younger brother, Nawaki."
Crack! The sake cup instantly shattered into pieces in Tsunade's grasp. Her eyes, sharp as knives, stared deadly fixed on Jiraiya. "Jiraiya! Are you even using my most precious memories against me!?!"
Jiraiya immediately panicked. "No! That's absolutely not what I meant! You have to believe me! You know the kind of person I am! I would never do something like that!"
Witnessing this scene, Wujie was already laughing inwardly. Betrayal and exploitation by those closest are the hardest things to accept.
Moreover, the main reason Tsunade eventually returned to Konoha to become the Fifth Hokage was that she saw the shadows of Nawaki and Dan in Naruto.
But now, this crucial point had been triggered prematurely by Wujie, and without any emotional buildup!
Without sufficient emotional context, the sudden overlap of shadows seemed incredibly abrupt. Coupled with Wujie subtly implying that Jiraiya had specifically brought Naruto to manipulate her, it created resistance in Tsunade's heart.
At this point, Naruto as a 'card' could almost be considered neutralized by him! However, what left Wujie speechless was that Tsunade truly did see the shadows of Nawaki and Dan in Naruto!
And thinking carefully, it wasn't just Tsunade. Gaara saw his own shadow in Naruto, Kakashi saw Obito's shadow, Jiraiya saw the Fourth Hokage's shadow, Nagato saw Yahiko's shadow, and even the two Great Sages Fukasaku and Shima of Mount Myoboku saw the shadows of the Fourth Hokage and Jiraiya in him...
Oh right, and Gennou, the ninja from the Kagerō Village who planted explosive tags in the Hokage Rock. In the original timeline, he also saw the shadow of his deceased son in Naruto, which ultimately made him abandon his plan to destroy Konoha.
Did Tobirama perhaps see Hashirama's shadow in him too? So, could there be a possibility...
That Naruto's bloodline mutated after being mixed from Minato and Kushina, granting him a completely new Kekkei Genkai? Perhaps called something like Shadow Release, or Shadow Warrior, with the effect of allowing others to see the shadows of their most important people in him, increasing his Talk-no-Jutsu power by 500% or something.
Wujie shook his head, casting these chaotic thoughts aside. Jiraiya and Tsunade had known each other for decades; this small issue wasn't enough to completely crush him in one go.
He needed to do more, to negate Jiraiya fundamentally, to completely erase his influence in Tsunade's mind!
Indeed, at this moment, amidst Jiraiya's vivid and emotional explanations, Tsunade gradually began to believe it was just a coincidence.
Jiraiya caught his breath and sat back down. Shizune quickly waved to order more food and drinks.
Being the legendary Sannin, none of them were fools. They clearly understood that this was Wujie's tactic to prevent Tsunade from returning to Konoha.
However, he had executed it very well. Tsunade couldn't forgive the perceived exploitation of her treasured memories, and Jiraiya had no way to prove his innocence. So, in this round, Wujie had won.
Jiraiya frowned, staring at Wujie. He no longer felt as confident about bringing Tsunade back as he had when he arrived. "Why are you targeting Konoha like this? Isn't your revenge aimed at the entire ninja world?"
Tsunade and Orochimaru also looked over. Wujie sighed, then asked, "Do you know Maki from the Hidden Sand Village? The one from the Chunin Exams."
Kabuto answered, "Maki is the commander of the Hidden Sand's combat forces and the right-hand man of the Fourth Kazekage. He is a very capable individual."
"Yes, that's him," Wujie nodded. "Maki is a Jonin. Excluding those two old elders with one foot already in the grave, whether in terms of skill or intellect, he could be considered the number one person below the Kazekage. Now then, do you remember Konoha's Tsume Inuzuka?"
Tsunade thought for a moment before replying, "The little girl from the Inuzuka clan?"
Little girl? Compared to Tsunade, Tsume indeed was just a little girl. "Yes. She's already a Special Jonin now, though she doesn't hold any particularly important position, focusing only on raising ninja hounds. But even such a Special Jonin, whom most aren't too familiar with, if she took a secret medicine and used a combination technique with her ninja hound to transform into a three-headed wolf form, and then used the secret technique Fang Rotating Fang... that so-called number one person below the Kazekage would be instantly killed!"
"Without a doubt, Maki's only outcome would be death! And the number of people in Konoha capable of killing Maki could easily reach several dozen," Wujie looked at Jiraiya. "Do you think a Hidden Sand Village like that truly qualifies to stand alongside Konoha as one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries?"
Konoha's strength was simply too immense.
Jiraiya's face darkened. "So you've been continuously weakening Konoha, aiming to balance the military power between villages, allowing war to continue endlessly?"
Wujie laughed. "Yes, that is precisely my objective."
Jiraiya suppressed the fury in his heart, slamming his fist on the table. "Do you know how many people die in Shinobi World Wars! Do you know how many civilians die during wartime!?"
Wujie's eyes also grew cold. He addressed Jiraiya, "Then, Master Jiraiya, allow me to ask you: During the Second Shinobi World War, when you led Konoha's ninja forces into the Hidden Rain Village, did you ever kill innocent civilians due to the collateral damage of battle? Please don't tell me you were already strong enough back then to show mercy to your enemies."
"Furthermore, after you turned the Hidden Rain Village into ruins, those whose homes were destroyed, who were displaced, and who ultimately starved or froze to death because they couldn't find food—who should be held responsible for their deaths? And after experiencing all that, why didn't you prevent the arrival of the Third Shinobi World War? Is it perhaps because you feel that we 'little guys' who seem poised to ignite a Fourth Shinobi World War are easier to bully? Master Jiraiya, we ninja are the root cause of the turmoil in this world!"
The Fourth Shinobi World War would inevitably arrive; it was only a matter of sooner or later.