I had always believed in the concept of life after death and reincarnation, especially since i am a Hindu. But it was always suppose to happen on the 'Prithvi(Earth)', reincarnating again and again, till i attain 'Moksha(Salvation)'. I even believed that not in every reincarnation i will be reborn as a human. It could have been as an animal, bird, fish, insect or even plant or tree, based on my available good 'Karm(Karmic Points)'.
There is a famous verse in Hindu scriptures that states that you will be reborn into whatever or whomever you are most attached to or thinking about of just before your death, becoming exactly that in your next life just like King Bharata (the son of King Rishabhadeva) who was reborn as a deer because he became overly attached to a fawn before his death. And i was thinking about my unfinished Naruto fanfics just before having a wonderful meeting with cutie pie Truck-kun on the highway, as a consequence i was reborn as a Character in the world of Shinobis. Yeah! Bhagwan(God of Gods) is all powerful and he can turn myth into reality and reality into myth.
When i reopened my eyes, i found myself in a hospital room within a teenage body, wrapped in bandages which looked exactly like a mummy with lots of tubes, oxygen mask and blood packets attached to my broken body. This body was in a lot of pain, i had a lot of difficulty even while doing something as basic as breathing, tonnes of pain assault me every time my body does even a tiny movement. So forgive this poor soul for not realising that it had died and has been reborn in another world. I thought the bandages, pain and treatment are a result of my treatment going on after the accident.
Still wrapped in bandages, even after one week with no sign of improvement or recovery, i was full of panic thinking about the huge hospital bill it will cost my family and whether i will even recover totally so that i could repay the loan they must have taken to admit me in this hospital. The hospital was quite luxurious which was a given sign that it wasn't a Government Hospital but a private one. Looking at the Nepali++ kinda facial features of the nurses and doctors treating me, i was a little confused but then i thought these doctors must be from North-eastern India because Nepal was expert in the treatment of eyes not body, i reassured myself, even though i was full of doubts because the mummy-fied bandaged body was a little shorter from my usual height and from what little i could see, i think i saw speck of white hair; mine were black. But i still refused to believe it and denied it. I sometimes suggested myself that i might have been referred to foreign hospitals for treatment but then i thought of my family's financial situation and again felt conflicted.
Even when i saw a women with a purple, diamond-shaped mark on her forehead and bright-red hair arranged in two high, symmetrical buns on top of her head from each of which hangs down a long, white ceremonial tags (tanzaku) inscribed with fūinjutsu (sealing) formulas, framing her face, i refused to believe it. I had already seen a vague Hiruzen-like person with Hokage head already once but even then i had reassured myself somehow that it was my imagination due to the side effects of all the medicines accumulated in my body.
My castle of phantasm continued to protect my sanity until i saw Monkey King Enma. It had, probably, came to check on me and report back my health conditions to Hiruzen. Realization dawned on me! It struck like a bolt of lightning. My castle of illusion collapsed! This is another world. A world of Shinobi where 'Might is Right' rules. Full of violence and gruesome death. In another world! In another body! My body is gone! Mother! Father! Grandpa! Grandma! Family! Clan! Friends! Customs! Culture! Pets! Everything! GONEEEEEEEEE!
WTH! Why? Why did this happen to me? Even if it happened to me why was i reborn as 'JIRAIYA'? He was a playboy with zero reputation and a simp for Tsunade. Shamelessness isn't guts! Having guts never meant being shameless! The whole purpose of the character Jiraiya and Elder Toad Prophecy is that Jiraiya must travel the world and meet these six people and remember their faces since they will be chosen by Nagato to become Six Paths of Pain so that Jiraiya eventually uncover this secret for Naruto. This was his fate or character assigned by the Manga. PATHETIC! I wanted to scream. Jiraiya wasted his life. If he had the dedication of Orochimaru then he would have been a lot more powerful instead he just wasted his life in debauchery and spying instead of practicing Ninjutsu. Remember Tsunade was heir to the mighty Senju Clan and Orochimaru had two prestigious Shinobi Parents yet Jiraiya despite being an academy student was the one who actually developed the A-rank Invisibility Jutsu to satisfy his perverseness which he taught to Hiruzen. Jiraiya wasn't a Orphan contrary to the popular belief. He clarified it during his talk with Naruto about bringing back Sasuke on the hospital bed.
I knew that i was in the body of Jiraiya because the nurse had had addressed me as such while debriefing about the chances of my recovery with a fellow nurse. They didn't like me at all! I meant the owner of this body. Apparently, i am already famous or rather infamous in the village as 'Village's Madness'.
Few days later, i gradually accepted this grim reality with a sadness, all of my precious memories from previous life are now nothing more than an illusion of pain. With this final acceptance, a sudden burst of mental energy assaulted my consciousness. BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A few weeks later! With exhaustion, i opened my eyes, but my vision was a useless blur and shifting shadows. I tried to speak but the only sound that escaped my throat was the pained scream. The nurse rushed to me trying to stabilize my body. One other immediately exited the room, rushed to call the doctor. The memories didn't just belonged to Jiraiya of the current body but also from his future. His parents has died one after other a few years ago. I could discern from the memories that it was probably Tuberculosis. Father would have lived a few more years but he hastened his death, trying to earn enough money to treat the incurable disease of his wife. He used to take care of her never allowing Jiraiya to come close and eventually got infected and worked himself to death. Sad! It will take Tsunade a few more years to find the cure of this disease.
TSUNADE! Hahahaha! The simp is gone. I am going to take revenge, fill you and your clan into full of regrets, swindle your money, guilt-trip you into having my way and salvage my reputation. I am not going to get demoted back to Genin from my hard earned Tokubetsu Jōnin reputation. Yes! I am a Tokubetsu Jōnin before Tsunade and Orochimaru. I had helped solve a murder mystery in which Senju clan member was accused and i pathetically worked my ass off to solve the crime and caught the culprit, freed the accused Senju, thinking it will impress Tsunade. Later, i tormented Hiruzen day and night into giving me the Jōnin Rank, arguing that i solved a case which even seasoned Jōnin failed to solve and as such i deserve the Jōnin rank. Eventually i resorted to blackmailing the Hokage, threatening him to reveal about their adventures together at hot springs to his wife. Seeing that his student, his own student is ready to ruin his peaceful and beautiful marriage life over a simple shinobi rank, Hiruzen caved in and created the rank of Tokubetsu Jōnin. The other reason was that he had already created several specialised departments for the village and was in headache as Full Rank Jōnin isn't suitable enough to run these specialised institutions and Chunin rank isn't appropriate enough to run these institutions. Hence, the rank of Tokubetsu Jōnin was created. A rank higher than a Chunin but lower than Jōnin.
Youngest Tokubetsu Jōnin Rank Holder!! That was why i dared to spy on Tsunade. Once discharged, i will be demoted and ridiculed by the whole of Konohagakure. I won't salvage my reputation until sometime later when i uncover the secret assassination plot of the 'Fire Daimyo' and saved his life, developing closeness with the Royal Family and great favours from the 'Fire Capital' for the village. I ain't gonna go through that again.
Once caught red-handed, that dog of a woman, shattered both of my arms, broke six of the ribs and heavily ruptured several of my internal organs. Only through the combined efforts of Medical Ninja Biwako Sarutobi and Mito Uzumaki did my life was snatched back from the mouth of death. Biwako Sarutobi is the wife of the current Hokage 'Hiruzen Sarutobi', the leader of their village Konohagakure as well as the teacher of Jiraiya and Tsunade.
HokageOffice,
Hokage Tower,
Konohagakure...
Ever since the incident with his student Jiraiya, Hiruzen Sarutobi has been going through sleepless nights, he was feeling both guilty and ashamed because in the past, instead of stopping the peeping tendencies of Jiraiya, he had encouraged it by accompanying him to spy on the bathing women at hot springs. Thus he was feeling partly accountable as he had played a part in what happened. He had mobilised his ANBU to find all kinds of medicines required for the treatment and even spent his fortune for his speedy recovery. Even begged to Mito-sensei until she agreed to treat Jiraiya.
Mito Uzumaki had never liked the lecherous brat until she started teaching him Fūinjutsu. Surprisingly that brat's Fūinjutsu talent was way higher than that of her son and granddaughter. He can be considered a prodigy back in Uzushiogakure. Sometimes fate plays cruel tricks on you. Hashirama was gone. A victim to the madness of that Mad Dog Madara. The Senju Clan is in decline. There is no one in the clan capable enough to inherit her legacy. Suddenly the gods sent a child capable enough and even proclaim to marry her Granddaughter but is the very definition of perverseness, always the servants and hitting on the women of the household. She had even caught him ogling at random women passing through the market place. She couldn't pass on her legacy to such a pest. Gods! Why did you gave him the talent? Why didn't you gave that talent to Orochimaru? He was well-behaved, well-mannered and such a sweet child. His parents are also great members of the ANBU and part of Hokage Protection Squad. They had sacrificed their lives for the village. She would have instantly approved if it was Orochimaru but that adorable kid had the talents for Juinjutsu and cursed seals not Fūinjutsus. She had asked Hiruzen to remove Jiraiya from his squad as he was a bad influence on Orochimaru and Tsunade, replace him with their previous squadmate Hiruko. She only approved of teaching Jiraiya and let him be part of Team Hiruzen after Hiruzen showed me his records. Remarkably he had saved her Granddaughter several times from fatal injuries and even has talent for developing Jutsus. An A-rank invisibility Jutsu as an academy student without any guidance. Gods are so unfair while distributing talents! He was from a clan of Farmers. A first generation civilian shinobi who graduated from the shinobi academy on their first attempt. A rare achievement these days! Though passed only because of developing and later donating the invisibility Jutsu to the village. One can say he bribed the village to pass the academy alongside the prodigies of prestigious Shinobi Clans. She wasn't being petty at all just because such a perverted pest wants to marry her granddaughter. Nonetheless! She agreed to Hiruzen's request and did her best to save his life despite opposition from her consciousness as a women and her granddaughter's tantrum. To repay Jiraiya for saving her Granddaughter's life several times in all those years. Tsunade is the only hope of the declining Senju Clan. Their Lifeline! Jiraiya will be punished! Severely! Once he recovers! She will see to that.
Though Mito-sensei has taken charge of Jiraiya's recovery, it didn't lessened his worry. Hiruzen was still feeling anxious, fearing that his perverted tendencies might get exposed in front of her wife Biwako Sarutobi and sensei Mito Uzumaki. Both women are known for their explosive temper and it might ruin his marriage life forever. He becomes a complete disappointment in the eyes of his colleagues and elders. Not to mention Mito Uzumaki is the wife of his deceased teacher thus she was like a foster parent.
Hiruzen was pondering all these things when he received the news that Jiraiya has woken up from his comma.
Special Care Ward,
Konoha Hospital,
Konohagakure...
During the procedure, Jiraiya's heart has stopped once but it started beating again a minute later miraculously. That is what everybody thought but in reality a new soul has entered his body transmigrated from earth. Within the body, the transmigrated personality was conscious, he had sensed everything happening around him as the memories of Jiraiya and transmigrant were integrating together, creating a new personality. He was unconsciousness while the whole thing was going on. The darkness wasn't empty. It was a crowded memories of consciousness, packed with two different lives that were currently trying to occupy the every inch of the spiritual Plane. First, there was the Earth-soul. He remembered his office, the smell of overpriced online food, finding breaks, solving customer grievances and the crushing boredom of a nine-to-five that had eventually claimed his life via a accident. He was the anchor, the observer, the one currently screaming in a metaphorical void because he realized he might lose himself after absorbing all these new overwhelming memories. Then there was the original thirteen-year-old Jiraiya. This soul was a chaotic slurry of hormone-driven impulses, an obsession with "research," and a genuine, heart breaking desire to be liked by his teacher and his teammates. Finally, there was the ghost of the future. The memories of the legendary Sannin, the Toad Sage. These memories were heavy, saturated with the agonizing weight of failures, layered on top of them, like a strange, synthetic lacquer, were the memories of the spy-the secret life, the infiltrator, the man who had perfected the art of the lie. The integration felt like being sitting through a hall of ringing Panchdhatu(Five Elements) bells and still keeping your sacred Vedic chanting and oral recitation intact without any mistakes, going until completion without losing his attentiveness. I am currently experiencing a level of physical agony that suggests I have been crushed under mountain. Slowly the consciousness returned. I felt my body. A body with Chakra. A body that has experienced Senjutsu. My five senses awakened. The first was the smell of antiseptic, typical of hospitals. Then i heard a distant sound of a sliding door. And then, a voice. A voice that sounded like a man trying to maintain his dignity while his soul was slowly leaking out of his body. "He's still not breathing right, Orochimaru. Look at the chest. It's too shallow. Do you think she hit him too hard?"
A second voice replied, cold and smooth, like a blade sliding over silk. "Hit him? Sensei, Tsunade didn't hit him. She dismantled him. I believe the term 'pulverized' is more clinically accurate. When i had heard the commotion that day, i rushed to stop her and had received a punch in my ribs. I can still remember the echoes of my ribs snapping from across the courtyard. While Jiraiya received several at once like a punching bag." Orochimaru replied while touching his ribs.
Jiraiya tried to move. A spark of lightning shot through his nervous system, and the world exploded into a blinding, white-hot agony. He tried to scream, but his throat felt like it had been scrubbed with sandpaper and gravel. "He moved!" the first voice gasped. "Did you see that? His finger twitched! Oh, thank the Sage. If he died, Biwako would have had my head. She already looks at me with such... disappointment."
"Your disappointment is a direct result of your lax teaching and leniency towards his perverted tendencies, Sensei," Orochimaru remarked. "Who encourages a thirteen-year-old to engage in spying on bathing women and allow him to get away from it without any punishment just because he called it covert reconnaissance of a hot spring? Besides who asked him to forget about Tsunade's Explosive Temperament. He was asking for it. You always pardoned him and indulged him in his pathetic excuses while laughing, 'It was for... research! Academic curiosity! Expanding our horizons! He was a peeing tom, Sensei and you should have acknowledged that he were peeping on women, Sensei, instead of accepting his horrible excuses" Orochimaru sighed.
"Let us be honest. You were peeping with a student in tow. It is a wonder Mito-sama didn't kill you both on principle." Hiruzen hurriedly closed Orochimaru mouth with his hands and frantically looked around, fearing somebody might have overheard.
Jiraiya opened his eyes. The ceiling was a blur of pale white plaster. Everything felt heavy. His arms and legs were still encased in thick, restrictive casts that felt like they were made of lead. His chest felt as though a giant were standing on it, breathing rhythmically. He blinked, the memories of the "incident" once again flooded back. It was as if his body reminded him of everything and blamed him for its broken state. It was like he had done it not the real Jiraiya. The steam of the hot springs. The thrill of the forbidden view. And then, the sudden, terrifying realization that Tsunade had spotted him. He remembered the look in her eyes. A mixture of primal rage and a desire to erase him from the world. Her turning into a she-beast. He remembered the first punch. Then the second. Then the feeling of his bones becoming like dry twigs in a storm. "Bhagwan," he thought, the satirical edge of his Earth-soul cutting through the pain. "I almost got murdered by a teenage girl. My legacy is starting on a very high note. I need to salvage the situation."
"Jiraiya!" Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned into his field of vision. The Third Hokage looked exhausted. There were bags under his eyes that could make people mistake him for a racoon, and his clothes was slightly rumpled. "Can you hear me? Speak to me, boy! Say something! Anything!" Jiraiya tried to speak. His voice came out as a wet, rattling croak. "I... am... still... alive!"
Hiruzen let out a sound that was half-sob, half-laugh. He collapsed into a chair beside the bed relieved, burying his face in his hands. "Never do anything so reckless again," Hiruzen whispered.
"I... feel... like... minced meat." Jiraiya wheezed.
"That is likely because your internal organs were shifted several inches from their original place," Orochimaru said, stepping into view. The pale boy looked down at him with a clinical, unsettling curiosity.
"It was a fascinating display of raw violence. I've been wondering if the trauma to your body has caused any permanent neurological shifts. Do you feel any sudden urges to eat dirt or speak in tongues?" Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru. He saw the boy, but he also saw the snake-man he would become. He saw the betrayal, the obsession with immortality, and the eventual redemption through death.
"I feel... like I must... kill you," Jiraiya managed, his voice slightly stronger but still sounding like a dying crow. Orochimaru gave him a deadpan look, "Where is she?"
Hiruzen bolted upright, his eyes wide with panic. "Tsunade? She is not anywhere near you."
"Why did she tried to kill me? I need a lawyer! I had come to help her family and she did this to me. She won't get away from this. I need a lawyer." Jiraiya finished.
Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya and gaped like a fish. Meanwhile Hiruzen panicked, "Lawyer? What are you talking about? Who needs a lawyer? There is no legal action to be taken here! It was a training accident! A misunderstanding of boundaries!"
"You... help... me... Sensei," Jiraiya rasped, a small, mischievous glint appearing in his eyes despite the pain. "We... both... peeked." Hiruzen froze. He looked around the room frantically, as if the walls themselves had ears. "Keep your voice down! For the love of the Sage, keep your voice down! Biwako is in the hospital. If she finds out that I wasn't just 'supervising' your pervy behaviour but was actively encouraging it by participating in the reconnaissance, I will be sleeping in the stables for the rest of my life."
"Blackmail... already," Orochimaru noted, a thin smile curling his lips. "Your recovery is proceeding faster than expected, Jiraiya. The willpower to extort the Hokage is a powerful motivator. Turning the story around and making Tsunade the villain."
"I'm... dying... of thirst," Jiraiya ignored him and groaned, leaning back into the pillow.
As Hiruzen scrambled to find a cup of water, his hands shaking, the door slid open with a sharp, decisive 'clack'. The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The air became heavy, saturated with an overwhelming presence of chakra that felt like a tidal wave held back by a thin sheet of glass. Biwako Sarutobi and Mito Uzumaki entered. Biwako was the image of stern efficiency, her medical robes crisp, her eyes scanning the room with a precision that made Hiruzen visibly shrink. Beside her, Mito Uzumaki radiated a quiet, terrifying power. She was a woman of grace and elegance, but there was a sharpness to her gaze that suggested she could disassemble a person's state of mind with a single thought. "Step aside, Hiruzen," Biwako commanded. The Hokage practically leaped out of the way, nearly tripping over his own robes.
"How is he?" Mito asked, her voice stern but carrying the weight of an enraged grandmother. She stepped toward the bed, her eyes hardening as she looked at the broken boy.
"He's awake, Mito-sama," Hiruzen stammered. "Just now. He's... he's quite lucid. Mostly." Biwako began her examination, her hands glowing with a soft, green medical chakra. As the light touched Jiraiya's chest, he hissed, his body arching slightly. "Quiet," Biwako snapped, though her touch was surprisingly gentle. "You are lucky to be alive. Your heart stopped for a full minute during the surgery. If it weren't for Mito-sama's intervention and my own, by now, the grass on your grave would have been one foot tall."
Jiraiya looked up at Mito. He remembered her from the memories of the old Jiraiya. The cold matriarch, the seal-master, the woman who had anchored the village and her clan. "Thank... you," he whispered.
Mito remained cold-faced but the thin veil of anger had lessened in her eyes. "Don't thank me yet, brat. Although i saved your life but that doesn't mean i have forgiven you or you won't receive punishment. Once you recover you will face me."
"He wasn't spying on her, Mito-sama!" Hiruzen blurted out trying to save Jiraiya, then immediately looked horrified that he had said it aloud. "I mean... he was... exploring... the geography of the area!"
Biwako stopped her healing. She turned slowly to look at her husband. Her eyes narrowed into slits. "Geography, Hiruzen?"
The Hokage began to sweat. "Yes! You know, the hot springs are a vital geological feature of the Land of Fire. Jiraiya was merely... documenting the steam vents." "With a telescope?" Biwako asked. "A very... high-quality... lens for geological precision," Hiruzen squeaked.
Orochimaru let out a soft, dry chuckle. "The precision was indeed remarkable. He managed to capture the exact angle of the water's surface."
"Orochimaru, shut up!" Hiruzen hissed. Biwako turned back to Jiraiya, her expression stern. "You are a menace. A perverted, impulsive, loud-mouthed menace. Do you have any idea how much chakra I had to expend to knit your body back together?" Jiraiya blinked, "I... apologize," he said, and for the first time, the voice sounded less like a crow and more like a boy. "I'll... behave."
"You'll do what you have always done," Mito said, her eyes twinkling. "But you will be a version of yourself that knows how to avoid the wrath of an Uzumaki. That is the first lesson of survival in this village." She turned to Hiruzen, her voice dropping ice cold. "And you, Hiruzen. We will discuss your 'geological interests' later. In private." Hiruzen looked as if he were contemplating to run into the Forbidden Forest, "Of course, Mito-sama. I look forward to it. Truly."
Jiraiya could have retorted and his words could have shut Mito up but he choosed to remain silent because Mito had Negative Sensing power. A very troublesome power! It could have exposed his lies and even himself.
Once the women had finished their check-up and exited the room—leaving a lingering scent of jasmine and impending doom—the silence that followed was thick. Hiruzen sank back into his chair, exhaling a breath he seemed to have been holding for ten minutes. "I'm going to die!" he whispered. "I'm the leader of the strongest village in the world, and I'm going to be executed by my wife."
"The irony is delicious," Orochimaru remarked, leaning against the wall. "The God of Shinobi, brought low by a bathing habit." Jiraiya closed his eyes. The pain was still there, a dull roar in the background, but the mental fog was clearing. The memories were settling, merging into something new. He had the innocence of a child, the wisdom of a legend, and the cynicism of a modern man. He felt the power coiled deep within him—the dormant potential of the Sannin, the knowledge of the Toad Sages, and the life of a spy. He was a thirteen-year-old boy in world full of god-like powers, "This is absurd," he thought. "Absolutely ridiculous but true."
"Why are you smiling?" Orochimaru asked, his eyes narrowing. "You're in casts, your ribs are held together by medical tape, and you've just been threatened by the most powerful woman in the village. Why are you smiling? What happened to your, i had gone there to help the family of Tsunade?"
Jiraiya opened one eye and looked at his teammate. Jiraiya whispered, "What are you talking about? I didn't smiled. I will tell Sensei when the time was right and make Tsunade pay. I have always endured her abuse because I thought we had a thing and it was her way of showing affection but she tried to murder me despite I came to help her. This is not fair. I give up. I even wasted my years trying to impress her. All for nothing. She doesn't even have an ounce of feelings for me. If it was for the Uchiha Policeman, i would have been already dead on the spot forget about treatment, people would have been preparing for my furnel. If she even had a one percent of the feeling i had for her, she wouldn't have gone this far."
"You just realized that?" Orochimaru interrupted sarcastically and then immediately regretted seeing the teary faced and heartbroken Jiraiya. "You should rest. Tsunade must have been regretful too. She did it on an impulse."
"You are still defending her... after everything? Let me ask you Orochimaru! Did you ever considered me as your best friend or was it also one sided while for you, i was just a foolish teammate who was clingy?" Jiraiya asked while giving an intense stare to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru didn't knew how to response so he blinked, gave a blank look to Jiraiya and then decided to exit the room, "Recover quickly Jiraiya and rejoin the team." He didn't knew how to answer Jiraiya. He had already decided to severe all kinds of bonds he had with everybody the day his parents had died. He was the chosen one who will to end the fragility of the human beings. Isn't that why the white snake skin was seen by him.
With Orochimaru gone, he became busy again sorting his memories. It had already been more than a month. Based on the previous timeline, another two months in the hospital and he will fully recover.
For the next few days, the recovery process was a slow dance with agony. Every movement was a negotiation with the sea of pain. He spent hours staring at the ceiling, integrating the vast libraries of memories flooding his brain. He had already learnt the things he shouldn't know for decades. Being a spy master of Konohagakure had allowed him to have every bit of knowledge of the missions and incidents related to Konohagakure. Which event will harm Konoha and which will not. Which lands will become precious? Which lands has hidden minerals, golds, etc stuffed inside it? Which business will become success? Who will become politically successful at Royal Fire Court? Who assassinated whom? The abilities of enemies, Village secrets, mysterious weapons, Clan secrets and their future movements. He is going to use all of this knowledge and carve his own path! Timeline be damned! I am myself not the Jiraiya mentioned in the Manga. The first thing he is going to do is re-stablish his spy network, a carbon copy similar to how the future Jiraiya did it but way before and way faster than previously done. But I will need money. I should target the hidden treasures which were discovered within the Land of Fire in the future. There are seven such places. Finding just one of them will be more than enough to establish the spy network. But first I need to safeguard my rank and regain my dignity. I have already doing solo missions ever since attaining Chunin Rank. Tsunade's parents are soon going to be killed. Hmmmm!