With a head full of questions, Jiraiya, along with his two disciples, Orochimaru, and the Nine-Tails, returned to the wooden house.
Seeing them arrive, and with Orochimaru, who should have been in Konoha, in tow, Nadeshiko Mao, who had been waiting inside, was overjoyed and rushed out with Konan.
"Jiraiya-kun, welcome home!"
"Orochimaru-sama!"
Jiraiya managed a forced smile, his worried expression making Nadeshiko Mao pause, and she looked at Orochimaru with a puzzled face.
Orochimaru gently shook his head and gave Nadeshiko Mao a gentle smile. He fumbled in his robes for a moment and produced a sealing scroll, handing it over.
"Mao, happy New Year!"
"I've brought some gifts from Konoha. Later, please help me deliver them to our comrades stationed in Amegakure, as a token of the village's goodwill."
Nadeshiko Mao quickly bowed and offered Orochimaru a sincere thank you before accepting the scroll with surprised delight.
"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama!"
"I've prepared some food and sake. I was originally planning to celebrate our first New Year together, Jiraiya-kun!"
"Orochimaru-sama is here, so please join us for a meal!"
Orochimaru smiled and nodded, stepping into the wooden house.
Konan cast a timid glance at Orochimaru and the Nine-Tails beside him, then hurriedly lowered her head and ran off to find her two playmates. Upon seeing the little one in Yahiko's arms, there was naturally another round of cheers.
Nagato did not join in the joy between the two playmates. His light purple eyes stared blankly at Orochimaru's retreating back, lost in thought.
The three entered the house, and Orochimaru sat down unceremoniously. He looked up at Mao, who was standing by, ready to pour wine for the two, and spoke softly, his voice brooking no argument.
"Mao, please go and call Nagato in."
"Yahiko and Konan, you look after them for a while. I have something to discuss with Jiraiya and Nagato privately!"
Nadeshiko Mao was quite astute. Her face showed no sign of confusion. After slowly pouring a cup of sake brought from Konoha for each of them, she nodded, then quietly withdrew.
"Kurama, expand your senses. If anyone approaches, alert me immediately!"
As Nadeshiko Mao closed the door and left, Orochimaru casually cast a sound-isolating barrier with Yin-Yang Release. He then instructed the Nine-Tails in a deep voice, after asking Nagato to sit by Jiraiya.
The Nine-Tails, squatting beside Orochimaru, was quite displeased with Orochimaru's commanding tone. However, wanting to learn about Uchiha Madara and the Rinnegan from him, it grumbled in acknowledgment, maximizing its perception of good and evil.
"Alright, you can speak now!"
"Orochimaru, first explain to this old man how you deceived him!"
The Nine-Tails grabbed some soba noodles from a plate and chewed them haphazardly. Finding them not as delicious as meat, it casually tossed them onto the table.
Orochimaru took a sip of his wine and nodded slightly. He glanced at the three people and the fox sitting there, then slowly began to speak.
"My main purpose for coming today, besides checking on the strength of that fool Jiraiya, is to resolve the doubts in your hearts."
"Ask whatever you want, and I will answer."
Putting down his wine cup, Orochimaru gave the Nine-Tails a look to calm down.
"Kurama, don't rush your questions. Once we resolve the issues Jiraiya and Nagato are currently facing, you will get the answers you desire."
The Nine-Tails glared at him for a moment, but ultimately trusted Orochimaru's words.
"Very well!"
"I hope you won't make this old man lose faith in you."
Orochimaru nodded gently and looked at Jiraiya, waiting for him to speak.
Jiraiya gritted his teeth and drank the wine in his cup in one gulp. After a long exhale, he looked at Orochimaru with a serious expression.
"Who is it?"
"The Nine-Tails!"
Jiraiya fell silent for a moment. While it was somewhat incomprehensible why the Nine-Tails, sealed within Kushina, had appeared, Orochimaru was Kushina's teacher, and he likely wouldn't do anything to harm that girl.
"Then what it said earlier about Uchiha Madara and Nagato's Rinnegan... is it true?"
Nagato instantly clenched his fists, his eyes fixed on Orochimaru.
"Yes!"
Orochimaru calmly picked up the wine pot and refilled their cups.
"As the Nine-Tails said, Nagato is a descendant of the Uzumaki clan and has absolutely no possibility of awakening the Sage Eyes."
"His eyes belong to Uchiha Madara!"
Nagato's body trembled. He stammered, his voice quivering, "Orochimaru-senpai, I don't know any Uchiha Madara at all."
"Why do you say my eyes are his?"
"And if my eyes were replaced, why do I have no memory of it?"
Orochimaru looked at him with a complex gaze and sighed softly.
"With Uchiha Madara's strength, modifying a person's memory using Yin Release is as difficult as drinking this cup of wine for me."
"Let alone a child like you who had never undergone training before, even some seasoned Kage, and even the strongest Tailed Beast, would not find it easy to break free from Uchiha Madara's control."
The Nine-Tails immediately bared its teeth unhappily.
"Orochimaru, speak as you wish, but why drag this old man into it!"
Nagato did not know how strong a Kage was, nor what the strongest Tailed Beast represented, but he knew that Jiraiya's expression had been very tense when Orochimaru, the rogue ninja, had attacked earlier.
From this perspective...
Jiraiya-sensei was weaker than a Kage, and a Kage was weaker than that Uchiha Madara.
Uchiha Madara was much, much stronger than Jiraiya-sensei...
Why would such a powerful being target him?
"Then..."
"How can I prove these eyes are not my own? I can sometimes use the power within these eyes."
Orochimaru looked at Nagato's trembling eyes and slowly shook his head.
"Your eyes weren't like this when you were a child, were they?"
Nagato shook his head.
"Jiraiya, enter Sage Mode."
Orochimaru turned to Jiraiya and instructed him.
"Nagato, see what changes occur in Jiraiya's eyes."
Jiraiya was taken aback and quickly began to refine his Sage Chakra.
After a moment of preparation, Jiraiya's body surged with Sage energy, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing the horizontal pupils in Jiraiya's eyes, Orochimaru nodded with satisfaction.
"Alright, deactivate Sage Mode!"
"Nagato, did you see the difference?"
Nagato stared blankly at Jiraiya's eyes and replied as Orochimaru prompted.
"When Jiraiya-sensei enters Sage... Sage Mode, his eyes turn into horizontal pupils like a frog's."
"After exiting, they return to their original appearance."
A cold smile curled Orochimaru's lips. He looked at Nagato with a stern expression.
"And you?"
"In front of Jiraiya and me, retract the ripples in your eyes. Can you do that?"
Nagato's body stiffened, and he slowly lowered his head.
"I... I can't control it!"
"Hmph!"
Orochimaru snorted coldly, slowly picked up his wine cup, and looked at the stunned Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, it's understandable that Nagato, having just begun his ninja training, doesn't know these things."
"What, have you forgotten all the basic knowledge of the ninja world that you learned?"
"When have you ever seen a Kekkei Genkai that its owner cannot control?"
"And this ridiculous phenomenon occurs in the owner of the Rinnegan, the strongest of the three great Dōjutsu in the ninja world!"
"Is your ninja way leading you to become such an idiot with no brain?"
Jiraiya's body trembled, and a chill ran from his feet to the top of his head.
"If Orochimaru hadn't insisted on interfering, you might have ended up cultivating a successor for Uchiha Madara!"
"No wonder Orochimaru always called you an idiot. You truly are pathetically stupid!"
The words the Nine-Tails had spoken outside echoed in Jiraiya's mind, lingering for a long time.