The Toad's Trap

Konoha, Hokage's Office.

"I never expected that I, the legendary sage toad of Mount Myoboku, would fall into a trap like this in my life!"

"Lord Jiraiya, the next documents from the intelligence department have arrived," a charming mature lady with red glasses entered and deposited a mountain of papers on the desk, reaching her own height.

"What?!" Jiraiya looked at the papers and, adding the other piles of documents, felt like crying. "Where the hell is Shikaku?" he asked with the resentful tone of a child who has been deceived.

"He's currently attending an important joint meeting organized by the Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka clans," the woman informed him as she adjusted her glasses. "He won't be able to assist you for at least a week; he sends his apologies."

"A week..." Jiraiya's eyelid trembled incessantly, and he felt like they were openly questioning his intelligence.

What kind of meeting takes seven days and nights?!

"Fuyu-chan, how about we take a little break and go to the hot springs?" Jiraiya proposed, his eyes roaming over the woman's figure.

"No, thanks," the woman refused without hesitation. "I have a date with my boyfriend after work, so I would appreciate it if you made an effort to finish everything as soon as possible."

Fuyu turned around and left the Hokage's office with firm steps, closing the door behind her.

"Heavens, she really lives up to her name, as cold as winter," Jiraiya complained with bad humor as he took another paper. "How the hell did Sensei endure this life for several decades? I've been here just a few days, and I already miss gathering inspiration for my books!"

The worst part is that whoever looted the village during the Sunagakure attack even stole Sarutobi's crystal sphere, so he couldn't "inspect" the village secretly as the Third Hokage did back then.

"But I really didn't expect everything to crash like this."

Although Shikaku masterfully deceived him into taking care of the documents just an hour after his arrival, with the absence of those elders and Danzo's disappearance, no one could block some investigations, and he managed to access documents that darkened his view of the village a lot.

The worst part was that he found Tsunade's box, with her headband on which a cut ran through the Konoha symbol. The mere sight left him stunned and immobile for minutes, more affected than when he heard of his sensei's death.

"What happened for you to go to such extremes, Tsunade..." he thought bitterly and with loss.

As Tsunade's teammate and someone whose shared trust was a matter of life or death on the battlefield, he knew some of the seals in the Senju complex, and despite being somewhat reluctant, he decided to enter and take a look.

An hour later, he came out with a darkened face.

If some of the old mules were still alive, then it wouldn't have been a problem to sneak away and leave them all the paperwork to go look for answers from Tsunade, but with all the high-ranking officials dead, on principle, he couldn't leave Konoha in this time of need.

He also knew, thanks to his master's guide, that allowing a clan to monopolize critical positions in the village was unacceptable. So even though he wanted Shikaku to help him as an assistant, he couldn't let him take command, even if the Nara clan was known for not desiring power.

"This is why I always avoided returning to the village," he complained mentally, cursing especially when he found an accounting document reflecting that the money he sent to Naruto from outside the village was actually intercepted by Sarutobi under the premise of investing it in the village.

He was well aware that as a master of intelligence and espionage, he needed to move constantly around the world to capture critical information (and his search for Orochimaru may have had something to do with it), so even though he couldn't be there for Minato and Kushina's son, he made sure he had enough money to be well-fed, covered, and could afford the necessary ninja tools or books for his training or education.

To think that the boy grew up on instant ramen and expired milk...

No wonder he seems to lack the cunning and intelligence (or talent) of his parents; he simply didn't have enough nutrition for his brain.

Two weeks later, he managed to leave everything prepared to leave and urgently find a suitable candidate for the position of Hokage, but that was when the Daimyo's envoy arrived, and he had to meet with him due to his temporary position.

After two hours of pomposity and enduring the other party's haughty attitude, he managed to dismiss him while holding the Daimyo's verdict firmly in his fist.

Setting aside flowery words and speeches, the summary and conclusion were that Naruto was forbidden from continuing to use the Uzumaki surname after the denunciation by the last survivors of the clan and proclaiming himself as such. From this moment on, he could only use his father's surname.

If he decided to ignore this decree, he would offend both the Daimyo and the true Uzumaki clan, as well as the village that supported them, Seimeigakure.

Jiraiya didn't know how to feel because this made him happy and angry at the same time.

On the one hand, he could finally reveal that he was the son of the Fourth Hokage and would no longer be treated cruelly by people. But at the same time, it meant that the childhood he had to go through didn't make much sense in the first place.

In fact, he knew that what Danzo and his sensei did is no different from training a dog with questionable methods, to ensure the jinchuriki's loyalty to the village.

Furthermore, when he told Naruto the news and could speak openly about his family's identity, his reaction was... let's say it was very smart on his part to summon him to a very secluded training ground alone.

He didn't like at all knowing that he had to change his name for real; he still thought that what Karin said back then was just nonsense to deceive him, and to know that he was really repudiated by the Uzumaki, who were his last remote family connection...

Jiraiya had to suppress a Naruto with a nine-tailed chakra cloak, and while he was in the hospital healing the bone in his arm after the confrontation, he reflected on Seimeigakure and the information that Shikaku provided before going to his meeting.

Which, according to the information he received, still hasn't ended...

Why did he say that the person who accidentally died at the hands of Inoichi looked exactly like Mikoto Uchiha?

Also, how is it possible that the Daimyo approved a decree in this way and so quickly?

It made no sense, but something in his gut screamed that he was missing something important, and he couldn't place it.

Damn it, this village of Seimeigakure does nothing but cause problems.

Maybe he could trick Kakashi into becoming Hokage...