Konoha's "ANBU" is the most elite and excellent special tracking, reconnaissance, and assassination unit among the many hidden villages. However, when faced with one of the Sannin, Cold Lord Orochimaru, who has maxed out his escape, concealment, and assassination skills, they seem quite insufficient.
Many of them were even personally trained by Orochimaru, and their skills all originated from his hands—
This pursuit of Orochimaru after his defection from Konoha was more like "showing off one's slight skill before a master"; the two sides were not even in the same league!
Thus, a hundred ANBU members chased after him, led by the nose by Orochimaru in a large S-shaped curve through the Land of Fire. After repeatedly performing a series of Brownian motions in places like the border, Forest of the Leaf, Fire Temple, Capital of Fire, Flower Language City, and Tanzaku Quarters... the ANBU completely lost track of Orochimaru.
The assassination unit cannot remain outside for long—as a force in the Hokage's hands, being away for an extended period would leave the Hokage's strength depleted.
Furthermore, even if they continued to investigate, they likely wouldn't find anything. Hiruzen Sarutobi understood Orochimaru:
When this disciple was intent on hiding, few in the entire Ninja World could find him—not even if he, the ninja hero, took action personally.
But "few people" didn't mean "no one"... So, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of his other disciple—Jiraiya.
If anyone could find Orochimaru without any clues, that person must be Jiraiya!
This was something irrational, which no logic, science, or Ninjutsu could explain. It could probably only be explained by "God's will" or a "bond that transcends the ordinary"—Jiraiya could literally walk blindly and randomly and still end up in the snake's den, having an intimate encounter with Orochimaru. If he searched intentionally, he was even more likely to have a "chance meeting."
Hiruzen Sarutobi chose to recall Jiraiya.
However, as soon as this troublesome disciple returned, he was caught for peeping at the women's bathhouse... "Someone!" Hiruzen Sarutobi called out. An ANBU member entered the office instantly using the Body Flicker Technique, but Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I'll go personally for this matter."
Hiruzen Sarutobi put on his Hokage hat and went to the Public Security Division in person. After submitting the bail documents and completing the relevant procedures, he finally brought Jiraiya out of the holding cell. As the two walked down the street, they began to talk.
"I called you back this time because of Orochimaru's matter... I assume you are already clear on what happened..."
Jiraiya was tall, nearly three heads taller than Hiruzen Sarutobi. Standing at nearly 1.9 meters, he was a burly man, and walking with Hiruzen Sarutobi created a strange height difference. Jiraiya remained silent, and after listening, he said, "He ultimately chose the wrong path... Don't worry, I will definitely bring that guy back!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "I can only leave this matter to you. In the current Konoha, no one else can find his trail!"
"Hmm..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't mention Jiraiya's arrest—there was no point in saying anything. This disciple was an adult; lecturing him hadn't worked since he was a child, so why bother now?
Well... mainly because he wasn't clean himself; he also engaged in "peeping"... of course, he was primarily monitoring the movements of the Jinchuriki.
Yeah... truer than pure gold.
Occasionally seeing beautiful women or bathhouses was just incidental... The master and disciple returned to the Hokage Building. Jiraiya sat uncomfortably with the old man for a while, acting as if he had thorns on his butt, wanting to leave.
"Don't want to be here? You are currently under restricted activity, and your behavior is under my monitoring—I brought you out on the grounds that you have an important mission. So you can't wander around Konoha... It's 500,000 ryo; transfer the money from your savings account to me later. In a bit, have a meal with this old man..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke without even looking up, as if he had eyes on his forehead, effectively pinning Jiraiya to his chair.
"Honestly, there weren't so many issues before..." Jiraiya complained.
"Before? Before, you were beaten into the hospital by Tsunade, so of course you didn't have to go to the Public Security Division!" Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but retort—that was truly a "narrow escape from death," with compound fractures all over his body. Tsunade had knelt on the ground begging him not to die and meticulously cared for him in the hospital for over three months before he could stand steadily again—the Public Security Division was quite sympathetic to him, so they let it go. At the Public Security Division, at most, you'd sit in a cell for a few days, but Tsunade was truly life-threatening!
Jiraiya:...Meanwhile, the Public Security Division also posted a notice regarding Jiraiya's punishment on the external police bulletin board!
The results were made public, essentially stating that Jiraiya was handled according to the rules, and then the Hokage posted bail and took him away.
However, although he was taken away, only the punishments of detention and community service were waived. Since detention was waived, the fine naturally couldn't be skipped—the 500,000 ryo fine was paid out of Hokage-sama's own pocket. Additionally, the Hokage was responsible for supervising Jiraiya to prevent similar mistakes, or he would be held accountable.
Furthermore—
Apologizing to the women who suffered mental distress was a must. A Letter of Repentance could not be skipped either.
At the thought of the "Letter of Repentance," the staff of the Public Security Division, large and small, felt it was incredibly wicked:
Reading that thing out in public and even publishing it in the Konoha Daily was simply trying to shame someone to death.
But then again, this thing... from another perspective, seemed to be a great deterrent for those who made mistakes—if you're afraid of social death, don't make mistakes. Since you've made a mistake, it shows you're shameless, so go ahead and lose face in public. After being seen once, you'll be traumatized and will think twice before making a mistake next time.
Yeah.
Jiraiya was lucky; this time, he wasn't the only one who had to write a Letter of Repentance, read it in a crowded public place, and have it published in the newspaper.
The people who had fanned the flames and spread rumors after Jiraiya's arrest would also stand in line with him and read their letters of repentance together.
A crowd quickly gathered in front of the Public Security Division's bulletin board, discussing the results of Jiraiya's punishment.
A few minutes later, the punishment results for some rumor-mongers were also posted, with a special announcement for the next morning's activity: Lord Jiraiya, who was caught peeping at the women's bathhouse, would join those rumor-mongers in reading letters of repentance at the Konoha Plaza, acknowledging their mistakes before all the villagers.
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