Chapter 554

He believed it was the Child of Prophecy, held in his own hands,

This kind of thing was too vague and elusive,

And there were also many times when one could personally take action to change these things,

But Jiraiya had never truly taken action to change these things, and had instead been searching for the Child of Prophecy he spoke of,

This was the one point that Minato Namikaze could not understand!!!

"Jiraiya-sensei… you're going to stop me? …"

Seeing that Jiraiya kept silent,

Minato Namikaze once again spoke coldly to Jiraiya,

And with Minato Namikaze's words,

Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chōza also stood behind Minato Namikaze,

Although they said nothing, from the expressions on their faces and their demeanor,

Jiraiya could tell the attitude of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio,

They were absolutely determined to stand by Minato Namikaze's side!!!!

Jiraiya knew,

The Ino-Shika-Chō trio had always held Minato Namikaze in considerable respect!!

One could even say,

These three clans barely listened to the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, but they would definitely obey Minato Namikaze!!!

The Ino-Shika-Chō trio's status in Konoha was extraordinary,

If they followed Minato Namikaze and joined him in dealing with Sarutobi Hiruzen,

Then what an enormous uproar it would cause in Konoha,

Thinking of this,

Jiraiya felt a chill run down his spine!!!

The current situation was far more terrifying than the night the Nine-Tails had appeared!!!

If this matter was not handled well this time, Jiraiya even suspected Konoha's overall strength would decline by several decades or more,

And Konoha might even be severely weakened in this incident,

Directly removed from the ranks of the Five Great Shinobi Villages,

Reduced to a third-rate little village.

324, The Unsolvable Flying Thunder God Technique!!!

But although Jiraiya was extremely anxious inside,

Minato Namikaze's heart showed no great reaction,

Because for him, when he was the Fourth Hokage, he still had considerable feelings for this village!!!

But after he died,

All his feelings for this village vanished completely because of the actions of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzō,

He never imagined,

That this village he was willing to give his life to protect, that the people within it would actually treat his own child this way!!

This was what left Minato Namikaze most disappointed,

Thinking of this, he even felt that certain things in his heart that had puzzled him were all ~shattered,

He was even somewhat envious of Orochimaru,

Perhaps Orochimaru defecting from Konoha back then was the truly correct decision,

And his own choice to become the Fourth Hokage,

Apart from gaining some useless prestige, he had gained nothing,

He had even lost his own life, his wife's life along with it, and even his only child had met such a fate.

Minato Namikaze even believed that becoming Hokage back then was perhaps the most wrong decision he ever made,

If he had defected like Orochimaru,

Leaving Konoha might have been a fine outcome too!!

"Minato… promise me… don't do this…"

"Things haven't reached the final step yet, there's no need for you to come into too great a conflict with the old man."

"I know everything the old man has done these past years, I will go back and make him apologize to you properly."

"Minato!!! Don't forget!!! You are the Fourth Hokage!!!"

When he said this, a deep look of pleading appeared on Jiraiya's face!!!

He hoped Minato Namikaze would take his words to heart and be willing to spare the Third Hokage!!

Jiraiya knew,

The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's strength was long since no longer what it once was,

If it were the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen at his peak, he would not have feared Minato Namikaze at all,

But the current Sarutobi Hiruzen probably didn't even have half the strength of his peak,

If he and Minato Namikaze were to fight, Sarutobi Hiruzen had not the slightest chance of winning,

So in Jiraiya's eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no possibility other than defeat!!!

And after Minato Namikaze heard Jiraiya say this, the last trace of nostalgia and warmth in his eyes vanished completely,

He knew Jiraiya was absolutely determined to stand behind Sarutobi Hiruzen and speak up for him, rather than for his own disciple,

If that was the case, then Jiraiya was his enemy,

When dealing with his enemies,

Minato Namikaze could never show the slightest mercy,

In the eyes of many in Konoha, he was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, who always wore a gentle smile,

But Minato Namikaze himself had never forgotten how much enemy blood stained his hands!!!

The reason he had earned the title of Yellow Flash,

Was precisely by trampling over the corpses of countless enemy-village ninja!!

"Minato… don't force me to make a move!!!"

Seeing the increasingly obvious cold expression on Minato Namikaze's face from afar, Jiraiya clenched his teeth and roared at Minato Namikaze in a low voice!!!

"Teacher Jiraiya, those are exactly the words I want to say to you—don't force me to make a move!!"

"Everything I have done in the position of Hokage over these years, you've seen how I've treated Konoha, and how has Konoha treated me??"

"Our beloved Third Hokage, apart from keeping his own position as Hokage, has done nothing at all…"

"Could his contributions to Konoha over these years even amount to one-tenth of mine?"

"Teacher Jiraiya… are you fighting me for Konoha's sake, or for the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi's sake?"

"Whose side are you really on?"

Hearing Minato Namikaze's words, Jiraiya's face grew paler and paler,

Because he didn't know how to answer Minato Namikaze's question—this was exactly the thing he had been avoiding all along.

Jiraiya knew that his teacher, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, had held the position of Hokage for so many years,

When he first became Hokage, he did indeed make quite a few contributions to Konoha,

··········Please give me flowers··········

His time in the position of Hokage was, for Konoha, more beneficial than harmful,

But as the Third Hokage's time in that position grew longer and longer,

He brought about many negative effects on Konoha,

At first, the Third Hokage might have worked diligently for Konoha's sake, doing everything within his power,

But as he stayed in the position of Hokage longer and longer,

The Third Hokage had gradually begun to change—he had grown to enjoy controlling his own power,

In order to keep the power of Hokage firmly in his own hands,

Jiraiya knew how many unsightly things his teacher had done,

........... 0

And these unsightly things had made the distance between Jiraiya and the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi grow ever wider,