This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 156 The Three Ninjas Gather

"Wow, that's amazing!"

"They're not even in the same league as us!"

"The legendary Sannin are actually this powerful!"

In front of the mansion, the Sand Village guards and low-ranking ninja who stayed behind stood at the gate to watch the battle.

Jiraiya's ninjutsu, summoning beasts, and even his current taijutsu have greatly shocked them.

but.

They were just low-ranking ninjas doing odd jobs. Even if the high-ranking ninjas weren't as good as Jiraiya, they still had some knowledge.

Although still shocked, it wasn't so bad, and he quickly came to his senses and analyzed the situation of the battle.

"Although the three legendary ninjas are powerful, they were still suppressed by Lady Ayaki."

"Although the Sannin's ninjutsu and summoning beasts are very powerful, they are all useless against Lady Ayaki. Now, in the taijutsu contest, Lady Ayaki has also suppressed them."

"So the so-called Sannin are nothing special. Lady Ayaki is much more powerful."

"Um..." a genin said, somewhat puzzled, "Although Lady Ayaki is very powerful, isn't she a puppeteer? Why doesn't she use puppet techniques or puppets?"

"..."

Everyone was speechless.

They're more confused about this problem than this genin is.

A legendary genius puppeteer on par with Sasori of the Red Sand, and the leader of the puppet army, yet he didn't use puppets or puppetry techniques in battle, instead personally leading the charge... They were also curious to know why!

If the duel with Uchiha Setsuna five months ago was because he felt his opponent was too weak, it would be understandable that he didn't use his strongest techniques.

But their opponent at this moment is the legendary Sannin, a figure who stands at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

Is it not worth going all out against such an opponent?

They didn't know, but their intuition told them that wasn't the case.

They could only watch the two fight obediently.

bang bang bang! ! !

The punches and kicks continued to clash, but Jiraiya was forced to stagger backward.

It wasn't that he was weaker than Ryuji, but rather that his physical skills were inferior. He was slightly better at timing his attacks and defenses, which made each of his attacks relatively rushed, causing him to be forced to retreat.

"Jiraiya, what makes you risk a rift between Sunagakure and Konoha to come looking for trouble with me?" Ryuji asked, taking a moment to pause during the attack.

Jiraiya hastily parried the attack, roaring angrily, "It's the hatred for my disciple's death!"

"Is that so?" Ryuji sneered. "If that's the case, why do you still ask me why I did it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You yourself can't control your hatred and come looking for trouble with me, so why do you expect others to back down?"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya was startled and stopped what he was doing.

Long Er seized the opportunity and kicked him away.

Jiraiya flipped in the air to dissipate the force, finally landing steadily on a boulder.

He squatted on the boulder, looking at Long Er with a complicated expression.

Long Er's words just now touched on his soft spot.

Influenced by the Toad Sage's prophecy, he firmly believed that lasting peace could come. But he also knew that stopping war was difficult and beyond the power of an individual to solve.

After traveling through the ninja world and witnessing countless instances of human ugliness and brilliance, Jiraiya attributed the cause of war to the inability of people to understand each other.

He believes that people are not born good or evil; everything is shaped by external factors. If everyone could understand each other, empathize with each other's difficulties, and make concessions, there would be no war.

However, he believed this and even wrote this idea into his novel, hoping to let more people know about it.

But saying it is one thing, doing it is another.

Jiraiya used to view problems from an outsider's perspective, but when it happened to him, he found it extremely difficult to achieve mutual understanding and compromise.

He knew that war was merciless; it was a fight to the death.

He also knew that Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko died in the war and had no one else to blame but themselves.

Even so, he couldn't suppress his inner pain and came to cause trouble for Long Er.

"Is this the price we have to pay to achieve peace?" Jiraiya cried out in anguish, looking up at the sky and letting out a long howl, tears streaming down his face.

The memories of living with Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, and others kept flashing through his mind, making his heart ache more and more. He really, really, really wanted to... really wanted to take revenge at all costs.

What bullshit prophecy, what bullshit overall situation? He really wanted to throw all of that to the back of his mind and just go for revenge.

but……

The days he spent on missions with Sarutobi-sensei, Orochimaru, and Tsunade; the days he lived with the toads of Mount Myōboku; the days he taught Minato; every little detail of his life in Konoha... Whenever Jiraiya wanted to take revenge at all costs, those beautiful memories would pop up to stop him.

Revenge may vent hatred, but it will only breed more hatred.

Reason made him abandon hatred, but his heart compelled him to seek revenge.

The conflicting emotions left him in pain and confusion.

"Jiraiya!"

A shout came from afar.

Everyone looked over at the sound and saw Orochimaru and Tsunade rushing over from a distance.

As Jiraiya murmured their names, his conflicted and tormented heart finally leaned towards reason.

"Tsunade, Orochimaru..."

He called out their names, and, deeply moved, ran up to greet them.

But what met her was Tsunade's iron fist.

"What the hell are you doing, you bastard?!"

After knocking Jiraiya to the ground, Tsunade clenched her still-smoking fist and angrily scolded, "You're so old, yet you still don't know your place! Do you know that what you're doing will cause misunderstandings between Sunagakure and Konoha? Who will be responsible if war breaks out then?"

Jiraiya was stunned.

Weren't you all worried that I wouldn't be able to win, so you came to help?

Why am I the one getting beaten up?

"Apologize now!"

Tsunade pulled Jiraiya to Ryuji's side, then pressed the back of his neck and bowed deeply to Ryuji. "I'm very sorry, Jiraiya has some mental issues, so he did something offensive. Please forgive him."

This……

Everyone was stunned by what they saw.

What the hell is this?

Shouldn't the script have it be Lady Ayaki fighting the three legendary ninjas alone?

Why are the legendary Sannin all here just to apologize to Lady Aya?

Not only the Sand Village ninja watching, but even Ryuji's lips twitched when he saw it.

Jiraiya is one thing, but you're Tsunade!

Where did that incredibly powerful medical ninja go?

Where is your integrity?

Wait a minute, Tsunade doesn't seem to have any morals.

Remembering how Tsunade often transformed into a little girl and an old woman to avoid gambling debts, Ryuji felt relieved.

However, he was not prepared to let them off so easily.

"You think you can just get rid of me like that? You're overestimating yourself!" Ryuji looked at Tsunade with a half-smile. "If you could just let me go so easily, wouldn't every Tom, Dick, and Harry come looking for trouble?"

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya was enraged. He looked up and glared at her, "Tsunade, afraid of him...?"

Before he could finish speaking, he was silenced again.

(End of this chapter)