The next day, at Konohagakure’s hospital.
After buying flowers from Ino, Kitagawa Gen found Kakashi and Guy, and together they went to the hospital.
Last night, he had already heard that Jiraiya’s condition seemed to have worsened. But since Tsunade was carrying out emergency treatment and refusing visitors, he had come rushing over first thing in the morning.
“Ero-Sennin, why are you back in the hospital again?”
Pushing open the ward door, Kitagawa Gen called out with a smile—only to notice that there were other people present inside.
“Tsunade-sama. Hokage-sama.”
“Tch, brat, can’t you say something decent this early in the morning?”
Before Hiruzen or Tsunade could speak, Jiraiya had already started grumbling in annoyance.
“What do you mean ‘again’? I just ran into a bit of an accident, that’s all.”
“Mhm, mhm.”
With a grin, Kitagawa Gen arranged the flowers in a vase, then added with a laugh: “But I remember it used to always be Kakashi-sensei lying here. Didn’t think it would turn into you, Ero-Sennin.”
“…”
Kakashi, who had just been greeting the Third Hokage with Guy, froze stiff at those words. Rolling his eye, he shot a look at Gen.
“Hey, hey, hey. This isn’t the time to be talking about me. Besides, I’m doing fine now.”
“Looks like I’ve taken your place here, huh.”
Jiraiya gave Kakashi a somewhat resentful look. Back then it had always been Kakashi ending up in the hospital.
But later on, things changed. Either it was the Third Hokage, or it was him. It honestly made Jiraiya start to suspect there was some kind of curse at play.
Or maybe…
"Is this Konoha’s way of testing its medical system?"
Rubbing his head, Jiraiya didn’t care to say more. After all, both Konoha’s education system and medical system seemed to have their share of problems.
“Alright, enough of that.”
Hiruzen immediately cut off their chatter. Strictly speaking, he himself was a victim of those same issues, and he didn’t want the topic dragged out.
“Gen, Kakashi, Guy—you’ve come at just the right time. There are some matters I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Weren’t you all here to visit me?”
Jiraiya sprawled back on the bed, muttering with some frustration. But Hiruzen only smiled and shook his head.
“Sometimes timing works out just right. Since we’re gathered, we can talk now—with only us here.”
“Uh…”
Guy seemed a bit doubtful, unsure if he should really be present, but Hiruzen spoke on.
“Please invite the two Elders here as well. I’ll trouble you for that.”
“Yes, sir.”
The ANBU stationed outside gave a prompt reply and vanished. Hiruzen continued.
“Jiraiya, did you gain any information during your trip to Mount Myōboku this time?”
“I did. Does this pile of injuries count?”
Even like this, Jiraiya couldn’t resist making a joke. Only afterward did he speak a bit more seriously.
“I inquired about intelligence concerning Ōtsutsuki Genshiki. Unfortunately, the Great Toad Sage was unwilling to reveal much. But he did agree to one thing.”
“What thing?”
“He knows Gen has already learned Senjutsu. So he’s willing to provide some of the knowledge and applications of Senjutsu that Mount Myōboku has collected.”
“That sounds pretty good—wait, what? From the toads?”
“Right, according to them, Gen learned Senjutsu on his own—like a spirit of nature itself—so using it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”
“…”
Hiruzen was left a bit speechless. What he had prepared for Kitagawa Gen, after all, was something belonging to the First Hokage.
And yet Mount Myōboku was directly offering him techniques meant for toads. Sincere enough, certainly—but was it really suitable?
“Uh… maybe it can still serve as a reference,” Jiraiya said, somewhat awkwardly. He turned his head toward Gen.
“What do you think, Gen?”
“I don’t really mind. Might as well give it a try.”
Gen thought for a moment before answering. Whether the things from Mount Myōboku would be useful or not was uncertain, but there was no harm in studying them as reference.
Besides, he was curious about something. The Senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave carried certain unique aspects.
'For example, techniques like Inorganic Reincarnation and the White Rage Technique. I wonder if Mount Myōboku’s Senjutsu has anything similar.'
On that point, he truly was puzzled. His memory of it was a bit unclear—perhaps looking through Mount Myōboku’s records wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Let’s see, then. Could be worthwhile. A pity there wasn’t more information about Ōtsutsuki Genshiki.”
Hiruzen rubbed his brow, unable to help himself, then pressed on with another question.
“By the way—did you ask Mount Myōboku about Naruto?”
“As I said before, the Great Toad Sage didn’t give me an answer. Probably wants me to figure it out myself.”
Jiraiya pursed his lips. Unlocking the two chakras sealed inside Naruto wasn’t difficult in itself.
But what they wanted was more than just releasing them. There were truly many problems that needed to be solved.
“A real pity. Seems we’ll just have to take it step by step.”
Hiruzen nodded slightly. But beside him, Gen raised his brows. He was thinking that perhaps he could give it a try himself.
With his recent breakthrough, his control over chakra had reached an unbelievable level.
And it wasn’t only his own chakra—he could now manipulate external chakra just as precisely.
'For now, let’s see. We’ll deal with these things when the time comes. Honestly, I don’t think it will be that hard for me.'
Gen murmured inwardly to himself. Just then, a sound came from outside the door.
“Third Hokage, you called for us?”
The doors opened, and two elderly figures stepped inside.
At their appearance, Jiraiya pressed his lips together in silence, while Tsunade folded her arms and gave a sharp little huff, refusing to acknowledge them.
Gen, however, looked them over with some curiosity. He knew these two were Sarutobi Hiruzen’s other old classmates.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
From what he remembered, both of them were products of the old shinobi mindset.
When things happened, they did dare to step forward—during the Nine-Tails incident, they hadn’t shrunk back.
But when it came time to make decisions, they never showed the slightest leniency. Like with the Uchiha massacre…
'Of course, they also ended up covering for Danzō.'
If memory served, when Pain came to destroy the village, Danzō went straight to them, saying Akatsuki’s target was the Nine-Tails.
And so the two of them hurried to Tsunade, demanding that Naruto be barred from returning—essentially letting Danzō set them up.
'Of course, they hadn’t failed to trip Danzō up plenty of times themselves.'
Twice they had portrayed him as the crippled yet selfless man who silently sacrificed for Konoha—yet during the Hokage selection, they never mentioned his name at all.
“You’ve come. All the better—let’s settle some matters here and now.”
Hiruzen gave a small nod—sending a chill straight down Jiraiya’s spine.
“Hey, hey, hey—this is my hospital room. Was that really necessary?”
“Jiraiya, you’ve been far too careless. At such a critical time, you’ve gone and gotten yourself injured again.”
Utatane Koharu cast him a glance and spoke flatly. Mitokado Homura followed with a nod.
“That’s right. With the Chūnin Exams about to resume and immense pressure from the outside, this was truly something you shouldn’t have done.”
“I—”
Jiraiya’s fists clenched tight. Like Tsunade, he was never fond of these two. Fortunately, Hiruzen spoke up.
“Enough. It was an accident. What’s important is Sunagakure. You’ve received the reports, haven’t you?”
“We’ve already seen them.”
Koharu did not press Jiraiya further. Nodding, she turned her eyes toward Kitagawa Gen, studying him briefly before continuing.
“Sunagakure has decided on unconditional surrender. They’ve promised certain reparations, but demand that the One-Tail and the rest of their shinobi be returned.”
“I believe this is acceptable.”
Homura voiced his opinion from the side.
“Sunagakure may not be in the best state, but it remains one of the Five Great Nations’ shinobi villages. Even with the loss of a Kage, they still retain a degree of military power.”
“Beyond that, there isn’t much profit to squeeze from Sunagakure. And we’re already tangled up in disputes with Kirigakure over the Land of Waves.”
Koharu continued, and Homura immediately picked up her words.
“Exactly. We can cede the Land of Waves to Kirigakure, fully secure the benefits from the Land of Grass and the Land of Rivers, and then focus entirely on countering Kumogakure—that is the real threat.”
The two spoke back and forth, essentially laying the matter of Sunagakure bare.
In simple terms, there was little oil left to be pressed from Suna.
Even if they were crushed completely, all that Konoha could gain would be fragments of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Grass.
Better to accept Suna’s surrender, avoid fighting on multiple fronts, give up the off-shore profit of the Land of Waves in exchange for nearer benefits, and concentrate fully on Kumogakure.
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