The mountain path was rugged, and the rain fell in a chaotic, wind-swept torrent. Jiraiya walked through the ruins of Konoha, carrying the severely traumatized Orochimaru on his back.
The Crimson Sun destruction brought about by Uchiha Kaede had only recently passed. Though Konoha was currently in the midst of reconstruction, the surrounding environment still exuded a desolate, bleak atmosphere.
Perched upon Jiraiya's back, Orochimaru gazed at the Konoha Village before him, a trace of bewilderment surfacing within his eyes.
"This place... is not Konoha..."
"Orochimaru... this is Konoha. You've simply been gone for too long; your memory is getting a bit fuzzy."
"You idiot... my memory has always been better than yours."
Listening to Orochimaru's muttered self-talk, Jiraiya offered a few smiling words of comfort. Seeing that Orochimaru looked exceptionally exhausted after their brief exchange, Jiraiya fell silent and continued trekking through the ruined streets of the village.
"Jiraiya!"
Tsunade's voice caused Jiraiya to come to an abrupt halt. Occupying the structural position of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade's very first glance fell upon the blood-stained Orochimaru resting on Jiraiya's back. She opened her mouth to speak, but found herself completely at a loss for words.
"Tsunade, I'll be back shortly after taking Orochimaru for a walk."
When Jiraiya had re-entered Konoha, Danzo and the Anbu Foundation had made absolutely no move to obstruct him. This deliberate posture of granting them passage allowed Jiraiya to see through Danzo's underlying calculations with absolute clarity.
He harbored no fear toward any of it. Even if Danzo were to weaponize charges like "colluding with the rogue ninja Orochimaru" in the future to undermine Tsunade, Jiraiya would not exhibit a single shred of dread or hesitation.
As a renowned hero of the shinobi world, he naturally possessed the capacity to judge and navigate the macro-dynamics of the era. Right now, the single most important matter for Jiraiya was simply to accompany Orochimaru through the final stretch of his journey.
"Jiraiya... I understand."
The man before her was habitually loose and unbridled on ordinary days, yet in factual reality, he was the core spiritual pillar among the Sannin. A single look or posture from him was sufficient to command absolute, unshakeable trust from both her and Orochimaru.
The path was short, yet the trek was exceptionally agonizing.
Jiraiya could perceive with absolute clarity that Orochimaru's life force was draining away at a terrifying velocity, rendering him progressively weaker by the second.
"Jiraiya... truth be told, that particular document would have yielded far greater practical value had it been handed over to Danzo. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, my mind went completely addled at the time, and I could only think of entrusting it to you."
Exerting the absolute sum of his remaining physical strength, Orochimaru disgorged a scroll from within his body, which tumbled straight into Jiraiya's hand.
At this exact moment, Orochimaru's mental state appeared exceptionally lucid, exhibiting no outward signs of a man whose life force had reached its absolute end.
"Orochimaru..."
Jiraiya wished to urge him to stop talking, but Orochimaru cut him off with a fiercely harsh reprimand: "Do not interrupt me. Do you genuinely believe I have much time left to reminisce with you?"
Seeing that Jiraiya had fallen silent, Orochimaru slowly clamped his fangs straight into Jiraiya's neck. Compared to a conventional cursed seal, this was predominantly an infusion of pure Sage transformation energy, instantly triggering a minor riot within Jiraiya's internal chakra pool.
The pristine Sage transformation cursed seal originating from Ryuchi Cave scored itself onto Jiraiya's neck, forming a specialized mark.
Contrasting the existing Sage Mode pigmentation patterns of Mount Myoboku, the Ryuchi Cave patterns perfectly overlapped with them. The Sage powers of the two great sacred regions were beautifully integrated together.
Having previously devoured the White Snake Sage, Orochimaru's comprehension regarding Sage transformation techniques far surpassed Jiraiya's.
Consequently, he had completely optimized his own Sage chakra and cursed seal mechanisms to forge a personalized Sage transformation cursed seal exclusively for Jiraiya.
"Under the coordination of this cursed seal, the Sage techniques of Ryuchi Cave and Mount Myoboku will harmonize and absorb one another, forging a Sage power that belongs uniquely to you, Jiraiya.
This way, you will no longer need to endure the grueling maintenance of Mount Myoboku's Sage Mode; it will functionally convert your physical frame into a Sage-body level of combat capability."
The primary function of the cursed seal implanted within Jiraiya was to harmonize the ambient natural energy from both Ryuchi Cave and Mount Myoboku, ensuring Jiraiya would not suffer a lethal backlash from the conflicting Sage energies while simultaneously elevating his physical capability to a state highly reminiscent of a Sage body.
This was Orochimaru's absolute final bequest to Jiraiya. The future landscape of the shinobi world was bound to be tempestuous and treacherous; Jiraiya required a greater reservoir of power to confront what was to come.
"Apart from Sunagakure, the Akatsuki organization—which seeks to resurrect Uchiha Madara—as well as the Otsutsuki clan are all lurking watchfully in the shadows. Countless powerful adversaries will surface in the future. Jiraiya... will you genuinely be capable of protecting yourself?"
Blood dripped down continuously onto Jiraiya's shoulder as Orochimaru suddenly inquired with absolute seriousness.
"Orochimaru, the value of a shinobi's life is not determined by how they live, but rather by what they manage to achieve prior to their death. Before my own story reaches its final conclusion, the only thing I can do is guard everything before my eyes with absolute devotion."
For Jiraiya, a shinobi's destiny lay not within the parameters of survival, but within the manner of their death—how they chose to make their final exit.
Jiraiya's response caused Orochimaru to let out a chuckle, as if he had just heard the ultimate joke: "Heh... you will forever remain a fool..."
That feather-light, mocking insult accompanied the absolute integration of the cursed seal's power into Jiraiya's physical frame.
In that exact fraction of a second, the light within Orochimaru's eyes turned dim, inch by inch, until his consciousness thoroughly dissipated into nothingness.
The moment Orochimaru's life forces ceased, the final remnants of his chakra subtly integrated into the cursed seal upon Jiraiya's neck, shaping an explicit snake totem around the outer perimeter of the mark. It was glaringly obvious that following his physical demise,
Orochimaru's remaining conscious soul had entirely transformed into this specific brand, embedding itself within Jiraiya's cursed seal.
Jiraiya... I shall allow myself to trust you just this once. You bastard better not go and die on me...
Deep within the cursed seal lay a final destiny-triggering formula—a mechanism Orochimaru desperately hoped would never be activated. Because the moment it triggered, it would signify that this fellow Jiraiya had...
Jiraiya naturally comprehended the underlying weight behind this final totem.
He let out a hearty, boisterous laugh: "Orochimaru, when the day comes that the story of the heroic Jiraiya reaches its absolute destination, this cursed seal will undoubtedly serve as the most blindingly brilliant post-credits easter egg of the finale."
The laughter abruptly ceased as a solitary tear silently traced its way down Jiraiya's cheek: "Farewell... my eternal rival."
The exact split-second Orochimaru perished, Shirhobi-hime inside Ryuchi Cave suddenly perceived a comprehensive elevation within her own spiritual form.
The fragmented soul of the original White Snake Sage was entirely devoured, transforming into absolute nourishment for Shirhobi-hime.
"To think that you would actually choose this specific path for yourself, Orochimaru..."
With Orochimaru's death, the lingering remnants of the White Snake Sage's soul had attempted to flee back to Ryuchi Cave to lie in wait for an opportunity at resurrection, only to be ambushed and thoroughly consumed by Shirhobi-hime, who had been waiting for this exact variable.
It was glaringly obvious that even if Orochimaru's soul had managed to retreat to Ryuchi Cave, Shirhobi-hime would have nonetheless served as another absolute death-trap for him.
Occupying the position of the Kazekage, Shiraishi had calculated Orochimaru's every single step with absolute precision.
The soul-shattering capacity delivered by his Azure Flames was specifically engineered to ensure Orochimaru could not utilize his Living Corpse Reincarnation or any split-body escape techniques within a short window of time.
This was the absolute most overbearing damage the Azure Flames could inflict upon spiritual entities.
Coupling this with the corresponding countermeasures Shiraishi had pre-deployed across both the Ryuchi Cave and Konoha sectors, it was fundamentally impossible for Orochimaru to break free from this absolute checkmate.
Although it was now definitively confirmed that Orochimaru was dead, Shiraishi was acutely aware that this fellow was historically the most difficult entity to permanently eradicate within the shinobi world.
While he was functionally dead on the surface, the sheer volume of cursed seals he had left scattered across the lands bound him to possess some hidden contingencies.
At this thought, Shiraishi concentrated a specialized radiance onto his fingertips, driving it inch by inch into his own neck—precisely where Orochimaru had implanted a cursed seal upon him long ago.
Under the illumination of the sacred, silver radiance, the cursed seal was systematically dismantled and erased by Shiraishi. Reminiscing over the various interactions he had shared with Orochimaru over the years, a trace of melancholy subtly surfaced within Shiraishi's heart.
That an exceptional genius like Orochimaru could ultimately never be utilized for the benefit of Sunagakure would forever remain Shiraishi's absolute deepest regret.
"Farewell... Senior Orochimaru."
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