Upon hearing this,
Tsunade was suddenly speechless and understood.
This point,
She had almost overlooked...
On second thought, it was true.
If their strength wasn't formidable, how could they have successively defeated Suna's Gaara and that Chiyo, then calmly leave...
Such strength, placed in any random village, would solidly be at the Kage-level.
And in the Akatsuki,
There were definitely more than three or four members with this level of strength, maybe even eight or nine...
With Sunagakure's weak strength combined with Konoha's current gap between generations, it was hard to fight them...
Just as Tsunade was pondering,
Shizune beside her also realized this,
She suddenly thought of something, looked at Jiraiya, and said cautiously:
"If the strength of two villages isn't enough..."
"What if we further ally with the other three great villages to form a coalition...?"
"If Akatsuki's goal of collecting Tailed Beasts also includes them, then, by allying with them, we would absolutely be able to defeat Akatsuki, right...?"
Shizune analyzed seriously.
Although she usually didn't say much,
Having been with Tsunade for so long, she naturally had some basic strategic thinking.
The Five Great Nations Alliance was her sudden idea.
However,
As soon as she said this,
Before Jiraiya opposite could speak,
Tsunade here shook her head seriously, then slowly said:
"This method... also not feasible."
"Let's set aside the fact that we don't know if their Tailed Beasts have been captured like Suna's..."
"Just the conflicts between us and the Land of Lightning, Earth, and Water over the years would make it hard to easily form an alliance."
Tsunade said somewhat helplessly.
As someone who had personally participated in the Second Shinobi World War, she deeply knew just how deep the hatred between the great villages was.
And the reason she was helpless was precisely because of this.
As the newly appointed Fifth Hokage of Konoha, she also wanted to repair relations with other villages and make peace.
But for now, it still seemed impossible.
Hearing this,
Shizune was momentarily stunned,
And at this moment, Jiraiya opposite also nodded, saying:
"That's right."
"At this time..."
"Unless they can already recognize the threat of Akatsuki,"
"Otherwise, an alliance is impossible."
As the words fell,
The room fell into a long silence.
Each was lost in their own thoughts.
Their expressions were naturally different.
Until a moment later,
Jiraiya
Suddenly seemed to think of something, his gaze instantly flickered, and then he said seriously:
"Wait..."
"Perhaps, I've thought of a breakthrough."
"--!?"
"What?"
Tsunade immediately looked over and quickly asked.
And Jiraiya suddenly turned around and pulled out a small brown notebook from behind him.
On it were written a few words, the handwriting very scribbled, but vaguely legible as something like a "travelogue".
Just as Shizune and Tsunade were puzzled,
Jiraiya quickly flipped through it very seriously, and then a moment later, his eyes lit up, and he stopped.
The next moment, he turned the notebook around and said firmly:
"This was my casual notes while traveling the Shinobi World."
"Once in a tavern in the Land of Earth, I happened to encounter a few Shinobi who claimed to be from Amegakure."
"And from their drunken chatter, they seemed to mention a major incident."
As he spoke,
Jiraiya paused slightly before continuing:
"In Amegakure some years ago, there was a major incident unknown to the outside world."
"It is said that the original leader there, Hanzo the Salamander, was killed by some rebellious Shinobi, and his subordinates either surrendered or were completely annihilated...
"Since then, the ruler of Amegakure was completely replaced."
"?"
Hearing Jiraiya's words,
Shizune and Tsunade were momentarily puzzled.
Huh?
Why did he suddenly mention a change in Amegakure?
Wasn't the topic about the Akatsuki...
Just as the two were puzzled,
Jiraiya slightly raised his gaze, lowered his voice, and said:
"Do you remember...?"
"During the Chunin Exams, there was a very mysterious Amegakure Shinobi who claimed to be a swordsmanship teacher and led three students to Konoha."
"His name was... Kyo."
Kyo?
Tsunade and Shizune were simultaneously puzzled.
This name was relatively unfamiliar to them.
After all,
When the two of them returned to Konoha with Jiraiya back then, the Chunin Exams incident had long been completely suppressed.
Even after succeeding as Hokage, not many people mentioned it.
And as for the name "Kyo", they had only happened to hear Jiraiya mention it, seemingly a mysterious existence very familiar with Konoha's history.
Just as the two were confused, Jiraiya continued to explain methodically:
"Some things, perhaps no one has told you."
"This Kyo,"
"In fact, from any perspective, he was the most mysterious existence in that exam."
"Once, before the Chunin Exams venue, he used a strange, seal-less Ninjutsu to easily suppress Kakashi's Team 7, with very formidable strength."
"Although he claimed to be a swordsmanship teacher, from beginning to end, he never drew the sword hung at his waist."
"And, as an outsider, he could recount Konoha's past history in detail."
"As if he had witnessed it firsthand."
...!
As Jiraiya narrated,
Tsunade and Shizune's expressions grew grim.
And Jiraiya paused, took the teacup on the table and took a light sip before continuing:
"Such a mysterious person naturally attracted the attention of the teachers and others back then."
"Thus, after discussing with Nara Shikaku, Sarutobi-sensei dispatched Konoha's Anbu Shinobi to monitor him."
"At the same time,"
"He also sent out a Konoha team to go to Amegakure for further verification."
"However, a strange thing happened—"
Jiraiya's gaze flickered slightly, he leaned forward, and said in a low voice:
"That morning, the Anbu Shinobi responsible for monitoring Kyo set out."
"However, that very night, the large-scale Konoha Crush operation began directly, with almost no warning..."
"And then, an unknown huge summoned beast appeared, destroyed the Hokage Rock, and caused immense chaos."
"The Anbu team responsible for monitoring the Amegakure Shinobi was also found dead the next day, suspected to have died at the hands of Orochimaru."
"Even more strangely,"
"By the time our personnel finally arrived at Amegakure and verified that Kyo's identity, and mentioned wanting to see the leader of Amegakure, the other party's Shinobi suddenly changed expression and refused in an exceptionally strong manner."
Jiraiya said seriously.
"?!"
Hearing this, Tsunade and Shizune couldn't help but hold their breath.
Their feelings, of course, also began to feel strange.
That's right, strange.
This entire incident that Jiraiya recounted was filled with a strange atmosphere.
As if hinting at something...
And just at this moment,
Jiraiya suddenly looked up, his gaze sharp, and said firmly:
"That's right."
"Just as you think,"
"Since three years ago, Shikaku and I have suspected..."
"This Amegakure Shinobi named Kyo might have secretly participated in the Konoha Crush operation."
"And, his appearance also extremely likely... represents some mysterious force within Amegakure."
In the end, Jiraiya almost spoke word by word.
"!?"
However,
Upon hearing this,
Tsunade and Shizune were simultaneously greatly shocked.
This speculation was too bold, wasn't it...
What kind of thought process is this...
How could he connect all these clues together...
Jiraiya truly lived up to his name.
Although he seemed pervy, lazy, and unconcerned, his thinking was still as meticulous as ever...
After being stunned for a long moment, Tsunade spoke with a complicated look:
"..."
"You mean, he could be a member of Akatsuki...?"
"And the base of the Akatsuki is also very likely to be inside Amegakure...?!"
Tsunade asked incredulously.
And hearing this,
Jiraiya suddenly closed his eyes again, pretending to be a master, and slowly shook his head, saying:
"Can't be certain."
"But indeed, as far as I know…"
"The time when the Akatsuki first began to appear in the Shinobi World seems to coincide with the time of that great change in Amegakure ..."
"And Amegakure seemingly had no need to drive away all our envoy Shinobi just because of an ordinary teacher like him."
"This can only mean that there must be some problem within Amegakure."
"And if that's actually the case,"
"Then all the doubts are cleared up.
Jiraiya spoke slowly.
Then,
He subtly exhaled a breath, as if finally saying everything.