NOBILITY-Naruto nobility SI (Patreon)

Chapter 40

JIRAIYA-The Toad Sage

Given the situation in the village, Minato had opted to return quickly from the capital. The new daimyo had given their new kage his blessing, and now Konoha prepared to welcome its fourth Hokage.

Being a Hokage had been his dream once, taking the hat, leading the village and changing the world. Jiraiya had once thought that a Hokage was the ultimate existence, the one entity who could single-handedly change the world, change it for the better, and bring about peace.

Yet he had been naive then, a Hokage was just that, a kage. A leader of a village, a cog in the great war machine that encapsulated the world as they knew it. He was powerful, indeed yet a Hokage would not be bale to change the world, no the change would be brought by a revolutionary, a visionary, one who may become a kage.

Jiraiya may never be that revolutionary existence. He had been told that by the Toad sage all those years ago. No, Jiraiya would only ever be a helping hand to the man who would change the shinobi world, and he believed that this child of the prophecy sat right infront of him.

“So, what do you think of our new daimyo?” he questioned, wishing to know Minato’s opinion of the young man.

Tsunade was fond of him, an interesting point, for she was rarely ever fond of anyone. Even him, despite all his various qualities. The Impunity!

“He is ambitious,” Minato added, and Jiraiya was surprised by the choice of words and the quick answer he ahd received.

“Though, he is pragmatic enough to make concrete efforts to achieve his ambitions,” he added, and Jiraiya smiled as he saw his student reach nearly the same conclusion as him.

Akihito Shirahoshi was an enigma to those who only saw the present, his actions when looked at individually, though if one stepped back and saw his actions as a part of a collective, that was when his true nature and prowess began to show up.

His actions in Shinoi were a perfect indicator of that pragmatism. His family was recently ennobled, and so the connection between him and his people was weaker than that held by nobles who had ruled over their fiefs for generations. And so, he had first gained the loyalty of his people by giving them a better life when the whole continent was struggling. He established peace and order in his lands, nurturing in them a sense of belonging and privilege that gained him immense loyalty in a few years as the people felt safe and secure in his lands.

And then he prepared for the war, slowly gathering resources while remaining outside scrutinizing gazes by never touting himself or making bold declarations; he hid in silence, like a snake, until he realized that the appropriate moment had arrived and he struck surprisingly everyone with his prowess.

“And what of Danzo’s actions? What was his reaction?” he questioned.

“He was somewhat angry, though he assured us that he would not put blame on the village. But he wants full accountability of to what extent did Danzo’s treason went and what the village plans to do to remedy that,” Minato answered, and Jiraiya was impressed once more.

Danzo’s actions were dangerous and could have caused a major headache for the village. Of course, there were ways to counteract this. Had the new daimyo tried to make a huge deal out of it, Jiriaya was prepared to leverage all the information he had on the young noble to dampen his influence, though now they would not have to resort to such excessive means.

And that was good, for while he could handle shinobi and even regular nobles to some extent, Akihito Shirahoshi was a mysterious and powerful man who did not wish to make an enemy out unless it was absolutely necessary.

“That is reasonable of him,” he added, and Minato nodded as they both sat in their training yard as they would once when times had been simpler and their bodies younger, even though his student was still relatively young.

“Yes, he was angry over Orochimaru’s defection and his getaway, but Tsuande-sama assured him that Konoha would do everything to bring him to heel,” Minato added as he looked him in the eye, a sharp glint in them as he questioned.

“Do you have any information on him?” he questioned dangerously, and he smiled,

Minato was much like their new daimyo. They were dreamers, ambitious yet pragmatic and ruthless enough to slay a thousand men.

“Not yet,” he answered, and it was both frustrating and worrisome.

“I have scoured his labs and any other hideouts that he could use, but there is simply no trace of him,” he told Minato, and that was worrisome, for that meant one of two things.

Either Orochimaru had been planning this for quite some time, which highlighted their incompetence in that they had never caught a whiff of this treason, or he was working with someone who would open a whole other Pandora’s box.

“We have his apprentice in T&I, but she claims to know nothing about it all,” he told Minato, who shook his head.

“I do not think he was the kind to divulge anything, plus she is a chunin. She would not have been able to tell even if something was wrong,” he said, and he nodded.

He had reasoned the same, but their sensei was not listening to him over this and blaming the little chunin for his failures.

“There is also the seal he placed on her. We do not know what it is. They are trying to see it for what it is but have come up with nothing,” he said as he passed on a scroll with the seal schematics to Minato.

“I will take a look and ask Kushina to do the same,” he said, and that was a relief.

“I was also able to look into the whereabouts of your little student?” he added as he leaned forward as Minato perked up at those words.

“He was not lying. Nohara Rin is a guest of the Water daimyo currently residing in his castle. She has not been harmed and is being treated quite well.” Minato had asked him to look into the whereabouts of his precious student and to ascertain the truth behind the daimyo’s words, and it seemed as if the young man was not lying.

From all the reports he had gathered, she was fine and afforded all the luxuries a guest would have.

“That is good. I have sent a message to her through our daimyo as well. Let us see how she responds,” Minato added, and Jiraiya raised a brow.

“I have enough men that we could attempt a rescue,” and Minato shook his head.

“Not yet. As long as she is fine, I do not wish to override the intentions of our new daimyo,” he said, and that was pragmatic thinking.

“He has assured me of her safety and has been generous to Konoah despite our failures. I must also give him some trust and hold off on any action until we feel that her life is threatened. Otherwise, we shall wait until the messin Kiri resolves itself,” Minato said, and Jiraiya shrugged.

“So be it then,” he then narrowed his eyes as he asked another question that had been plaguing him.

“Why do you think the daimyo wished to see Kushina,” he questioned, and Minato shook his head.

“I do not know, but she should be reaching the capital soon.So we will know soon enough.”

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In a castle touching the skies in another part of the continent, a portly old man stood on a balcony looking down at his country as clouds lofted beneath him. He was dressed in a white kimono made of the finest silks, and he wore a ceremonial hat atop his head.

“My lord, word has come from the fire country. They have a new daimyo,” the voice of an attendant from behind came, informing the esteemed lord of the lightning country of the shift in the political environment.

“Is it the young lord from Shinoi?” he questioned.

“Yes, my lord, it is the very same one. He was enthroned yesterday, and there are rumors that he met with the Senju Princess and the Yellow Flash today, which gives credence to the rumors that the Sandaime Hokage may be retiring.”

“Hmmm, a new daimyo and a new Kage. Interesting,” spoke teh old man as a gust of wind blew, cool and rustled the calmer clouds.

‘An omen,’ he thought.

“I can feel it, Samui,” he began slowly as he looked into the distance.

“Change is coming, and we must prepare for it,” he said as he looked up into the sky.

“Establish a communication channel with the daimyo of Stone country, and have Ay come to meet me. We must prepare, or we shall all be swept away by this whirlwind of change.”

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