HLnovel Chapter 345: Master and Disciple
Chapter 345: Master and Disciple
Chapter 345: Master and Disciple
Back home, Jiraiya still couldn’t figure out what the Great Toad Sage meant.
Naruto’s eyes are blue, how could they turn red?
Wait, did Minato mention before that when Kushina lost control and entered the Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak state, her eyes turned into the Nine-Tailed’s red vertical pupils?
Does the Eye that controls life and death really refer to the Rinnegan?
While Jiraiya was deep in thought, a somewhat helpless female voice sounded.
"Teacher, it’s time to eat."
Konan’s Chakra was currently sealed, her ankles were shackled, and there were additional Chakra Seal talismans on the chains to Seal her Chakra.
If it weren’t for Jiraiya, she might have already entered Orochimaru’s laboratory.
"Alright."
Jiraiya sat at the dining table and picked up his chopsticks.
"Konan’s cooking has improved a lot; it smells so good. I’m digging in!"
After saying that, Jiraiya began to eat heartily.
At this time, Konan was completely bare-faced, and the ring on her hand, the Labret piercing under her lip, and the Navel piercing on her belly had all been removed and destroyed.
Because Nagato might be able to locate Konan’s specific position through those things.
She watched her teacher’s defenseless appearance and quietly clenched her hands.
"If you like it, then please eat more, Teacher Jiraiya."
Hearing the abnormality in Konan’s tone, Jiraiya took a few bites of rice and then put his bowl and chopsticks on the table.
He chewed casually, swallowed the food in his mouth, and then looked at Konan with a smile.
"Yahiko’s body is in Naruto’s hands; I will try to get it for you. As for Nagato, he wasn’t killed by Naruto; he should have escaped."
Hearing that Nagato was safe and sound, Konan’s hanging heart finally settled.
"I’ve troubled you, Teacher."
"What trouble is this..."
Jiraiya lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on his hands, which were slightly rough from years of forming hand Seals and holding pens.
The light from the ceiling cast a glow on his hair, but it obscured most of his face, which usually wore a bright and heroic expression, revealing a deep, sorrowful exhaustion.
He was silent for a long time, so long that Konan almost thought the conversation had ended, before he slowly spoke, his voice low and carrying a regretful rasp:
"After I left the Land of Rain before... I actually kept secretly inquiring about news of you all."
Jiraiya’s gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, returning to those years of traveling alone and searching for clues everywhere.
"I heard you were doing very well in the Land of Rain, helping many people suffering in the war,
"But then the news cut off.
It seemed a huge upheaval occurred within the Land of Rain, and it was strictly blockaded.
I used many methods, and finally..."
Jiraiya’s voice became difficult,
"What I got was... a piece of news I could hardly believe."
He raised his eyes and looked at Konan. Those eyes, usually full of vitality, were now filled with thick, inseparable pain and remorse:
"They said Yahiko was dead, and all three of you were dead."
"At that time..."
Jiraiya gave a bitter smile and shook his head, as if unwilling to recall his feelings then. "I thought... I had really lost the three of you as disciples forever. I thought our parting in the Land of Rain back then was a final farewell."
Jiraiya still remembered the scene of the four of them wearing Frog suits in that small house.
Yahiko and Konan accepted it quickly. At that time, Nagato was really shy, just like a little girl!
Time really has changed a lot.
That cute little girl has become this cold and detached person now.
He looked at Konan again, his eyes extremely complex, with the relief of regaining something lost, unspeakable heartache, and even deeper powerlessness and self-reproach:
"I am your teacher, yet I couldn’t protect you in times of chaos, and now we meet again in this situation..."
"Am I a failure..."
Jiraiya thought of what Orochimaru had said before.
When others needed him, he was always absent.
During the war, even though Nawaki had just died, and he knew the importance of Medical Ninjas, he didn’t stand firmly by Tsunade’s side.
Later, when the Land of Rain was in turmoil, he wasn’t by his three disciples’ sides either.
Then there was the Nine-Tails Attack; he wasn’t in the Village.
Finally, he missed Naruto’s entire childhood. When the boy most needed an adult who could shelter him from the wind and rain, he was still not there.
Endless regret tormented Jiraiya’s heart.
"My life really is a joke!"
The atmosphere at the dining table became silent.
Only the faint sound of the Hidden Leaf Village night wind rustling through the leaves outside the window could be heard.
The lights seemed to dim a bit, shrouding the master and disciple in a heavy and sorrowful silence.
Konan lowered her head, and tears finally fell uncontrollably, large drops rolling down and dripping onto the back of her tightly clenched, white-knuckled hands, spreading into a small patch of dark water stains.
She thought of the continuous rain in the Land of Rain, Yahiko’s warm and firm smile and ideals, Nagato’s painful and paranoid transformation, the blood-stained paper flowers dancing in her hands, and the path of the Akatsuki Organization that strayed further and further, eventually leading to destruction and hatred...
All the struggles, all the pain, all the sins... In her teacher’s eyes, were they all proof of his failure to fulfill his responsibility?
"It was Teacher Jiraiya who taught us Ninjutsu, allowing us to gain a foothold in the Land of Rain and help those in need..."
"It was you, in that war-torn Land of Rain, who gave us three orphans the strength to live on—not just to fill our bellies, but the strength to... protect ourselves and each other."
Her voice gradually stabilized, carrying the warmth of memory:
"It was you who taught us the meaning of ’Ninja’—that it’s not just about killing and missions, but can also be for protecting important people, for creating a peaceful world where children no longer have to experience war and loss."
Konan also thought of the days studying Ninjutsu under Jiraiya as a child. She always felt that that time and the period when the Akatsuki Organization was first founded were the happiest times of her life.
A reliable teacher like a father, the cheerful Yahiko, and Nagato, who was sensitive but would definitely stand up for his friends...
"It was you who lit the fire in our hearts, making us believe that even in the mud, we could look up at the stars and rely on our own hands to help those struggling in misery just like us."
Konan’s tone was incredibly earnest, even carrying a hint of pleading:
"Please don’t... carry our mistakes on your own shoulders."
"You already gave us the best enlightenment, the most precious gift. It was we... who failed your teachings."
If she had been stronger and hadn’t fallen into the trap and been captured, Yahiko wouldn’t have died...
If they had been stronger, the Original Akatsuki Organization wouldn’t have nearly been wiped out..."
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