"Listen, I..." Jiraiya looked up and caught sight of Hiruzen's furious expression, and instantly froze.
When Hiruzen got angry, he could still be incredibly intimidating.
Hiruzen spoke in a low, steely voice, "You'd better explain everything clearly. The Rinnegan is said to be the Sage of Six Paths' eyes. In some sense, that suggests the legends about the Sage might not be just myths. Who knows what potential lies in someone with these eyes?"
"Hiruzen, the matter of the Rinnegan also involves the so-called Uchiha Madara," Danzo interjected, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Hiruzen. "We must understand this, or we'll be at a severe disadvantage."
"Uchiha Akira." Jiraiya glanced between Danzo and Hiruzen before turning toward Akira, who stood by Uchiha Fugaku. With a troubled expression, he asked, "Is the Akatsuki leader really named Nagato?"
"Yes, he's called Nagato." Akira nodded. "The man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara told me so."
Upon hearing Akira's confirmation, Jiraiya sank heavily into his seat, looking utterly dejected.
Bang!
Hiruzen slammed a fist onto the table, his eyes blazing, leaving a deep handprint in the thick wooden surface.
"Jiraiya, you'd better explain yourself," Hiruzen said coldly. "I may be old, but taking care of internal threats is still well within my capability." His gaze bore into Jiraiya, intense and unyielding.
No one in the room reacted outwardly to Hiruzen's outburst, they simply waited in silence, observing the scene.
Jiraiya let out a long sigh, propping himself up weakly on the table as he began his explanation.
"During the Second Shinobi World War, after Orochimaru, Tsunade, and I fought Hanzo... there were three kids..."
As Jiraiya's story unfolded, the people in the room exchanged looks of surprise, unsure of what to make of it.
There was just so much to take in that they didn't even know where to begin.
Orochimaru, remembering the past, gave a low chuckle. "Heh… I suggested we kill those three back then. If we had, none of this would be happening now."
"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya shot him an angry glare.
"Why didn't you bring them back to Konoha, Jiraiya?" Hiruzen's voice was frigid, and his gaze was heavy with reproach. "You knew they were extraordinary talents. One of them even possessed the legendary Rinnegan. Why let them roam freely in the Amegakure?"
Hiruzen clenched his fists, nearly trembling with anger. "Was it because of some prophecy? A 'Child of Prophecy' nonsense?"
"Now look where we are. This 'Child of Prophecy' you spoke of has joined forces with someone claiming to be Madara. You know who Uchiha Madara was, don't you?"
He scoffed bitterly, his eyes flashing with a mixture of despair and frustration.
"So, is that what the prophecy meant? Bringing peace to the world by wiping everyone out until no one's left to fight?"
Hiruzen's heart ached, thinking of the Rinnegan. This was the Sage of Six Paths' legacy, a power that could have been Konoha's, now poised against them.
"Sensei…" Jiraiya's lips moved, but no words came out.
It was too late—Nagato was already their enemy. Nothing could change that now.
"Don't even think about 'fixing' your mistake," Hiruzen said, sensing Jiraiya's thoughts. "Even if you could defeat him, don't forget—there's still this so-called Madara!"
"Sensei, I..." Jiraiya slumped over the table, utterly defeated.
"What a disgrace," Koharu Utatane scowled at him, then looked to Hiruzen. "Hiruzen, what should we do now?"
"My suggestion," Danzo interjected, "is to eliminate this threat before it fully matures. If the Rinnegan's wielder is still developing his power, we might be able to crush him now. But if he unlocks its full potential, Konoha may not be able to stop him."
Hiruzen didn't respond to Danzo directly but turned to Jiraiya, asking,
"How much do you actually know about the Rinnegan? What kind of abilities do these eyes possess?"
Jiraiya hesitated, then, after a long pause, admitted with some embarrassment, "Honestly, I… I don't know."
The room fell silent, an incredulous air settling over the group.
They had trained under Jiraiya for three years, yet he didn't know the abilities of the Rinnegan, the eyes of his own student?
Of course, no one voiced this thought. Jiraiya was, after all, one of the Legendary Sannin, a highly respected figure in Konoha and Hiruzen's student.
"You… don't know?" Hiruzen fought the urge to smack Jiraiya. What kind of answer was that?
Jiraiya hung his head, muttering, "I'm sorry, Sensei. I truly don't know."
Hiruzen sighed, then turned to Uchiha Akira, who was standing beside Fugaku.
"Jonin Akira, you're one of only two people here who have faced the Rinnegan. What's your assessment?"
Akira's tone was grave. "Without a doubt, the Rinnegan surpasses our Uchiha clan's Mangekyo Sharingan. Its immense ocular power is beyond comparison."
"What about you, Jonin Kaori?" Koharu turned to Hyuga Hizashi's side, where Kaori stood.
Kaori spoke calmly, "My abilities don't let me measure the full extent of his ocular power. But even the puppet he sent had ocular power that far surpassed my Byakugan."
Homura Mitokado and Koharu exchanged a glance. Then, Homura, his expression serious, looked to Akira.
"So, Akira, are you saying that if the Rinnegan's wielder fully matures, his potential could even surpass Madara's?"
Akira nodded. "It's possible."
No one in the room doubted Akira's words. As a clan with Kekkei Genkai dojutsu, the Uchiha understood ocular power well.
This revelation set off a ripple of murmurs through the room.
Uchiha Madara was a legend, his strength was on a different level from that of the current generation of shinobi. The only ones who ever matched him were the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Madara himself.
"And what's your view of this 'Uchiha Madara'?" Hiruzen asked, rubbing his aching forehead as he looked at Akira.
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