Chapter 131: Sentenced to Death on the Spot!

Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:

patreon.com/ZeroMoney

I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated. 

******

Jiraiya felt the eyes of the crowd upon him and was momentarily unaccustomed to the attention. After all, he was usually the one observing others; it was rare for him to be the one under such scrutiny.

It gave him an odd sense of being under observation for study.

"Hehehe..."

Jiraiya let out a strange chuckle as he walked toward the central seat. This ninja conference was primarily led by Konoha Village, and as the soon-to-be Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya was the nominal star of the event.

However, the real star was someone who had yet to arrive—Senju Hashirama.

As Jiraiya made his way to the seat, his gaze swept over the various delegations, nodding to them as he passed.

Suddenly...

Jiraiya's eyes locked onto two figures.

His pupils shrank.

A look of shocked jealousy flashed in his eyes.

"You two..."

Jiraiya pressed his lips together and swallowed nervously. His breath quickened, and he became visibly tense.

In his line of sight...

There were two people.

A man and a woman.

Both were wearing cloaks adorned with red clouds.

The man had orange hair, eyes with concentric rings that radiated an eerie light, and his face was pierced with rods of various lengths. His forehead protector from Amegakure had a deep slash across it, made by a kunai.

The woman had short purple hair with a violet flower in it, and a lip piercing. She exuded a cold and distant aura.

This is...

Yahiko!

Konan!

Jiraiya instantly recognized them. These were his former students, though one of them was missing.

"Jiraiya-sensei, it's been a long time."

The man, using Yahiko's body and now known as the Deva Path of Pain, was the first to speak. His face was expressionless, as if he were a lifeless corpse.

"Jiraiya-sensei!"

Konan's gaze softened slightly as she looked at Jiraiya. Her voice lacked its former warmth but wasn't as cold as before.

"Are you here representing the Land of Rain or Amegakure?"

Jiraiya's lips barely moved as he spoke. He wanted to ask about Nagato, but now wasn't the time—there were too many people around.

Countless eyes were on him.

This was clearly not the moment for a reunion.

Even though he had countless questions, he'd have to wait until after the conference to properly talk to his former students.

No matter what...

Nagato...

That boy was the one Jiraiya believed to be the Child of Prophecy.

The chosen one, destined to be the hero of his story.

"We represent both the Land of Rain and Amegakure."

The Deva Path of Pain replied calmly.

Amegakure was no longer the village it once was.

Despite the slash on their forehead protectors, that mark had now become the symbol of the entire village. It was as if Amegakure itself had been rebranded.

"Alright."

Jiraiya nodded, resisting the urge to reminisce. He made his way to the central seat and sat down, facing the delegations from the other major powers.

"Ahem..."

Jiraiya cleared his throat, still slightly uncomfortable with the situation.

"Well..."

"The reason for this ninja conference, I'm sure you're all well aware of."

"I won't go into unnecessary detail."

"Later, the official conference will take place in the venue outside, open to the public."

"So for now..."

"Let's have a quick preliminary meeting here."

Jiraiya grinned, scratching the back of his head. This little meeting had been arranged by the First Hokage, and it was one he couldn't avoid.

There was no way out of it.

According to the First Hokage, this was meant to help him practice his diplomatic skills.

"What the heck?!"

"A preliminary meeting?"

"You're just wasting our time!"

"The invitation clearly mentioned Senju Hashirama."

"Hey, are you trying to fool us? Where's Hashirama?"

"You didn't use a dead man as an excuse to trick us, did you?"

"....."

As soon as Jiraiya finished speaking, protests erupted from the various delegations.

The voices of dissent grew louder and more intense, as if they were collectively condemning the Land of Fire.

Jiraiya didn't respond to their questions. Frankly, there were too many of them to answer.

Instead, he quietly observed the crowd.

The Iwagakure delegation stayed silent.

The Kirigakure delegation also remained quiet.

Even the Amegakure delegation refrained from speaking.

However, the remaining delegations were full of complaints.

Ignorance truly is fearless, Jiraiya thought to himself as he began assessing the different factions.

The First Hokage had once told him:

"Konoha will be the first ninja village established under the Senju Clan, but it will by no means be the only one."

Even within the same country, competition between ninja villages was inevitable.

"Wait a minute."

Jiraiya suddenly became aware of something unusual. His eyes scanned the room again, and his brow furrowed.

"Something's not right."

"Isn't there a faction missing?"

"I need to check."

When he had first entered the room, he'd been so nervous that, seeing it packed to capacity with some people even standing, he assumed everyone had already arrived.

But now that he had calmed down...

Looking more closely...

He realized there was a problem.

Several factions had sent more than one delegate, almost like they were part of a Konoha sightseeing group.

As a result...

It became clear that some factions were absent.

"If Konoha's going to run conferences like this, we won't bother attending in the future!"

"Exactly! This is false information!"

"Where is Senju Hashirama? Bring him out already!"

"I'd also love to know how you plan to bring a dead man here!"

"Stop wasting time!"

The grumbling among the crowd didn't let up. They collectively fired their frustrations at Jiraiya, continuing to berate him.

"The Sunagakure delegation didn't show up?!"

Jiraiya scanned the room and could tell that at least three factions were missing. The rest were smaller forces that would require closer comparison, but the most glaring absence was one of the Four Great Ninja Villages—Sunagakure.

This made things difficult for Jiraiya.

Events were already deviating from their original course.

And at this point...

He wasn't sure if he could manage the situation on his own.

Creak!

Suddenly...

The wooden door of the meeting room creaked open. Accompanied by this sound, a man wearing orange-red armor walked in, instantly capturing everyone's attention.

In an instant...

The murmurs in the room fell silent.

Every eye was fixed on the man, filled with astonishment. They had all done their research beforehand and knew what the First Hokage looked like.

The man before them was identical.

"Thank you all for waiting," Hashirama said slowly. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an overwhelming presence, silencing any further disturbances.

"Since everyone's here, let's get straight to the point," Hashirama continued.

"Lord First, not everyone has arrived. Several factions are still missing," Jiraiya quickly reported.

"No matter. The ninja conference is for the living; whether the dead attend is irrelevant," Hashirama said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

As soon as he said that, the expressions on the faces of the crowd changed dramatically.

Was this...

An on-the-spot death sentence for those factions?

(End of Chapter)