Chapter 126: Hey, Old Woman
Sighing, Jiraiya snapped off half of each of the two butterfly-shaped ice pops in his hands and handed them to Hakken.
Though autumn wasn’t hot, savoring a bite of cool refreshment was still a pleasant comfort.
Jiraiya believed Hakken beside him understood exactly what he was thinking. Yet there were things he simply didn’t know how to put into words.
When a person’s long-held convictions are shattered, they inevitably fall into confusion. Hakken always told him to look with his eyes, yet his mind couldn’t stop churning.
As the mentor of the Child of the Prophecy, he feared that his own mistakes might lead the child astray. And when news of Akatsuki’s internal upheaval reached him, that fear twisted further into regret, pushing him to overthink even more.
Was he failing as a teacher?
He’d always lectured others to understand, to trust, to carry out their missions. Yet he himself had never changed anything. Looking back on the first half of his life, all he saw were failures.
“Alright then, I’ll ask you a question.”
After a long pause, Hakken finally spoke. If anyone else had hovered beside him, droning on endlessly about peace, Hakken might’ve smacked them and sent them to reflect in front of the Wall of Honor.
But not Jiraiya. Stubborn as he was, he hadn’t been gifted as a child, nor did he possess any special bloodline. Yet through sheer effort, he had risen to become one of the legendary Sannin.
He was also someone Hakken admired greatly.
The gallant Jiraiya.
He shouldn’t have died in the Land of Rain.
“You always say that when people understand one another, true peace will follow. So let me ask you.”
“Why entrust that belief to your disciples instead of using your own limited life to do something truly meaningful for peace?”
Hakken’s gaze was intensely serious.
“Have you ever considered becoming the one to change the world yourself? Instead of placing all your hopes on some vague ‘Child of Prophecy’?”
“And don’t say you lack the strength. The power you hold is far from small.”
Shoulder the responsibility of changing the world?
Him?
The confusion in Jiraiya’s eyes grew even heavier.
The Great Toad Sage had said his task was to guide the Child of the Prophecy, not change the world himself.
Another one brainwashed by Gamamaru.
Hakken rolled his eyes.
So whatever that toad says just becomes absolute?
A thousand years ago, Gamamaru talked Hamura Ōtsutsuki and Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki into sealing their own mother. A thousand years later, he convinced Jiraiya to run around looking for a Child of the Prophecy to change the world.
Hakken had plenty of suspicions about Gamamaru, but he couldn’t be bothered to dig into it. The so-called Three Great Sage Regions might have existed for millennia, but what did that have to do with him?
“As for how to change the Ninja World, I’ve already told you. Absolute unification.”
Hakken let out a sigh, repeating his ambition once more.
After watching the anime countless times—even forcing himself through Boruto despite the discomfort just to find that old passion Naruto and Sasuke once held—he knew things had fallen apart.
Naruto fulfilled his dream of becoming Hokage and upheld his vow to protect his comrades. During the Ōtsutsuki invasion at the new Chūnin Exams, he used his life to protect Konoha. But whether he was happy… only he knew.
Those exhausting days meant he spent far more time at his desk than he ever did with Hinata. Raising two children pushed Hinata from D-cup to A-cup, drained completely.
On the surface, the Five Great Nations looked harmonious. Each Kage had become Naruto’s friend, all falling under the pressure of his ultimate Talk-no-Jutsu.
Yet even in that world, dark currents still stirred. Problems still appeared.
And once Naruto died, would the Five Nations instantly descend into war again, just like after Hashirama Senju’s death?
That outcome was almost guaranteed.
Will inheritance was real, and so was the world’s instability.
And when Indra and Ashura reincarnated once more, a new conflict would begin.
So why not fix a world that was flawed at its core, achieve true unification, and then establish proper plans and systems?
Such a world might not remain stable forever, but centuries of prosperity were still possible.
As long as the ultimate force safeguarding peace stayed alive, stability would continue.
This was Hakken’s vision.
The first step, transforming Konoha, was already complete.
Next was consuming the resources taken from Kirigakure, slowly assimilating it, and merging the entire Land of Water into Konoha.
It would take time, but not much.
And while solidifying that process, he needed to make the other ninja villages fear Konoha—enough for them to never make a move again.
That was necessary.
You couldn’t expect Konoha to get hit and never retaliate, to endure invasion and attacks from allies who band together as if nothing happened.
It wasn’t fair to Konoha, nor to the villagers and shinobi who died defending their home.
So a counterattack was inevitable.
Especially when Iwagakure still felt no guilt, acting as if they had done nothing wrong—that only fueled Hakken’s killing intent.
At least Kumogakure had the decency not to get involved. They’d even delivered that letter to Konoha.
But the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind? They stayed silent, as if nothing had happened.
Why?
“Anyway, I’ve said all I can say. Changing the world isn’t really my thing, but making Konoha rule the world… that I’m willing to try.”
Standing up, he swallowed the ice pop whole and tossed the stick to Kurama with satisfaction.
“You took a beating without striking back?”
“Sorry, that’s not Konoha’s style anymore. I owe the dead an answer.”
“If you can’t change anything yourself, then follow behind me and watch. I guarantee you’ll see peace arrive before you die.”
What a thing to say.
Jiraiya rolled his eyes and stood up with Hakken.
But just as he was about to ask for details, the boy beside him vanished. When he looked up, two familiar figures appeared in the distance.
There was no way…
Jiraiya’s mouth twitched. This town did have a pretty large casino, so he’d brought Hakken to try his luck. But he didn’t expect her to actually be here.
And judging from the scene, she had lost every last coin and was getting ready to leave.
…
“Such rotten luck.”
At the town’s exit, a dusty blonde woman walked with Shizune, muttering nonstop. The girl beside her sighed helplessly.
When was the last time she had ever won?
Losing was practically the norm.
Just then, a voice sounded behind them.
The moment she heard it, Shizune, still holding the pig, bolted like lightning.
“Hey, old woman.”
Boom!
A terrifying aura exploded outward. Already in a foul mood, Tsunade swung a punch immediately.
She wanted to see which blind fool had the guts to call her an old woman.
Her mood was terrible already, and that phrase pushed her rage past the limit.
Do I look old?
But when she saw the figure in front of her—head barely reaching her headlights—she panicked.
A kid.
A kid calling her an old woman wasn’t technically wrong.
Damn it. Even if she pulled her punch now, he’d still be seriously injured.
Losing money was one thing, but now she’d have to treat him for free?
What kind of disaster was this?
Yet when her fist finally came down, a shocking scene unfolded.
Just centimeters away, that seemingly unimpressive hand grabbed the strange blade and held it horizontally to block her strike.
Boom!
A shockwave burst out.
The ground behind the boy cracked apart.
But the boy himself didn’t move an inch—not even affected.
Only the fox perched on Hakken’s shoulder went flying backward at 300 miles an hour.
Listen closely…
The fox seemed to still be shouting mid-flight.
“I’ll be back, old hag! You better wait for me!”
“Damn it! I’m the one who ate the popsicle stick! Why am I the one getting hurt when that brat gets punched?!”
“What kind of logic is that?!”