Jiraiya's emotions cooled rapidly.
With psychological composure like his, no amount of shocking intelligence would make him lose his head. Panic and overreaction were not his style.
Even if soone told him that Orochimaru, who had grown up alongside him, was actually a woman… he'd probably still stay calm—
…Okay, no.
That one would absolutely make him lose his mind.
Still, news about Sasori and the Third Kazekage combined wasn't quite as earth-shattering as gender-bent Orochimaru.
Even though, later in life, Orochimaru really did switch bodies so many tis that "male" and "female" beca flexible concepts—and eventually even carried a child himself—
For now, at least, Orochimaru was still a bona fide man.
Jiraiya sat back down and spoke in a asured tone.
"Let's start with the first question. Pakura aside—how can you be certain that the person you encountered was Sasori of the Red Sand?"
"There may be photographs of Sasori in Konoha's intelligence archives, but those would be from years ago. Considering his age back then and how much he may have changed, even soone who had t him personally might not recognize him at a glance after all these years."
Jiraiya usually acted carefree, but when it ca to serious matters, he was anything but sloppy.
This wasn't peeping on won's baths—this was warti intelligence.
And his doubt was reasonable.
Sunagakure hadn't gone out of its way to conceal information about Pakura, a so-called "hero ninja," so Konoha possessed detailed records on her. Hagoromo recognizing her wasn't strange.
But Sasori?
Information on him—whether from Sunagakure or other villages—was deliberately vague.
And frankly speaking, no matter how strong Hagoromo was, his battlefield experience was still limited. He hadn't been fighting wars for decades.
Hagoromo answered calmly.
"It was simple. At first, it was just a shinobi's instinct—a puppeteer whose presence carried overwhelming pressure. My first thought was Sasori."
"Later, he revealed his true body. That appearance matched Sasori exactly."
"More importantly, I have a far more concrete piece of evidence."
Hagoromo continued,
"At the final stage of the battle, the puppeteer simultaneously controlled fifty-six puppets."
For a shinobi, appearances could be disguised. Identities could be faked.
But strength?
That couldn't be forged.
How many puppeteers could simultaneously control more than ten puppets?
Let alone fifty-six.
Besides Sasori, who else in the shinobi world could possibly do that?
Jiraiya might doubt whether Hagoromo had mistaken soone at first glance—but he didn't think Hagoromo was lying.
From a lineage standpoint, they were practically "family"—disciple of a disciple, all under the sa ideological roof. Subjectively, Jiraiya was inclined to trust him.
The problem lay not in sincerity, but in plausibility.
As for Hagoromo himself?
Even though he insisted this was crucial intelligence, he didn't actually care whether Jiraiya believed him in the end.
He truly didn't.
To Hagoromo, being a ninja was just a job.
People needed sothing to do to survive, after all. No matter how diligently he worked, no matter how many missions—even S-rank missions—he completed, his emotional attachnt to Konoha would never match Jiraiya's.
He wasn't a native.
He wasn't raised on the Will of Fire.
Konoha was simply a place where he lived.
If he died on the battlefield, it wouldn't be for noble sacrifice—it would simply be death in the line of duty.
So even if Jiraiya dismissed him as an inexperienced ninja who had misidentified the enemy… so be it.
Even if Jiraiya suspected he'd been caught in a genjutsu… that was fine too.
Hagoromo had done his part.
He provided the intelligence.
Jiraiya would make the judgnt.
That was all.
Still, Jiraiya wasn't that suspicious.
If soone truly could control dozens of puppets at once, then their identity was obvious—
Only Sasori of the Red Sand fit that description.
So Jiraiya neither confird nor denied the conclusion and instead asked his second question.
"Assuming the puppeteer you encountered really was Sasori—how did you know the puppet he brought out was the Third Kazekage?"
"Information about a Kazekage's appearance wouldn't be recorded in standard ninja manuals. Before this, you shouldn't have known what the Third Kazekage looked like."
"Sasori said it himself," Hagoromo replied without hesitation.
From beginning to end, Hagoromo had told the truth—but that didn't an he'd told the whole truth.
It sounded contradictory, but many of his conclusions were the result of his own synthesis—based not only on the recent battle, but on knowledge from a past life combined with his current experiences.
In truth, so of his "intelligence" was, frankly, improvised.
If another ninja had fought Sasori, there was no way they'd have extracted this much information.
Sasori had barely spoken at all—almost nothing useful.
The rest, Hagoromo filled in himself.
And since there was no way to verify it…
Well, what he said was true.
"The first point: Sasori personally identified that puppet."
"The second: the puppet used a technique with a defining characteristic—it could use Magnet Release."
Identifying the Third Kazekage was actually even simpler.
Because Hagoromo had proof.
Behind him, Iron Sand began to float gently as he continued speaking.
"I have direct evidence. The Iron Sand behind —still infused with a special chakra—is sothing I forcibly took from the Third Kazekage puppet."
Jiraiya stared fixedly at the floating Iron Sand.
Hagoromo's current appearance… wasn't entirely unprecedented in Konoha.
Many Abura clan ninja carried similar containers on their backs.
But they released insects.
Hagoromo released Iron Sand.
Jiraiya already knew—after reviewing Hagoromo's records—that he could manipulate sothing resembling Magnet Release. Still, this was the first ti he'd seen it in person.
And Jiraiya also knew—
What Hagoromo used wasn't true Magnet Release.
It was an advanced application of Lightning Release, built on his own unique theoretical frawork.
In fact, whenever Hagoromo manipulated Iron Sand, sparks constantly leaked from his body.
Hagoromo.
Master of core technology.
If that Iron Sand really ca from the Third Kazekage puppet…
Then the logic could be reversed.
Who besides Sasori could kill the Third Kazekage and turn him into such a puppet?
Jiraiya finally asked the most critical question.
"Then here's the most important issue."
"By your account, Sasori deployed fifty-six puppets against you. Facing an opponent like that—how did you escape?"
That was the real flaw.
Sasori was that powerful—so how did you survive?
Hagoromo rolled his eyes.
That was easy to explain.
Lightning surged more intensely around him as the Iron Sand began to whirl.
Instead of answering directly, Hagoromo asked:
"Uncle Jiraiya—if I were in this state, not even counting Sasori…"
"If I decided to run at full speed, could you catch ?"
As he spoke, Lightning Release pulsed around him in rhythmic surges, growing stronger with each beat.
Jiraiya fell silent.
Was that convincing?
No—
It was too convincing.
Unless he entered Sage Mode, Jiraiya couldn't confidently say he'd be able to catch a Hagoromo who turned around and bolted with full Lightning Release.
And that was Jiraiya.
Let alone a puppeteer like Sasori.
At this point, Jiraiya largely accepted Hagoromo's account.
And therefore—
"Alright, alright, put that away already."
"You're about to tear the tent apart."
"And you've drawn the guards over here."
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