Chapter 275: Reflection
[February 6th TST/September 29th DBT]
"Man...it feels like a lifetime since I was last here..." remarked Jiraiya, his eyes tinged with nostalgia, regret, and many other emotions as he stood beside Minato, gazing thoughtfully at the near-perpetually overcast sky of the Land of Rain. In the distance was a sight that could only be seen in a handful of especially prosperous or industrial nations—a dreary skyline of towering, densely packed, pipe-laden spires designed to collect rainwater and feed it into the complex steam works that had turned Amegakure, the Village Hidden in the Rain, into a reclusive industrial superpower.
"How many years has it been since Jiraiya-sensei was last here...?" asked Minato, intrigued. He had heard about the trio of Ame orphans that Jiraiya had spent nearly three years raising and training at the end of the Second Shinobi War, but he wasn't aware of the specifics.
"Not too long, all things considered," conceded Jiraiya, crossing his arms and cupping his chin with his right hand as he inferred, "It's currently July 13th, and it was September 19th when I left...so if my math is correct, it's been eight years, ten months, twenty-four days, six hours, and seventeen minutes—give or take."
"Did you never think to return earlier...?" asked Minato, his smile gaining a hint of wryness as Jiraiya's to-the-minute recollection insinuated Ame and the orphans he had left behind weighed heavily on his heart.
"Oh, plenty of times," admitted Jiraiya, exhaling from his nose and shaking his head as he revealed, "I even kept contact with the trio I left here until the commencement of the last war. Unfortunately, their vision for Ame's future conflicted with its leader, Hanzo of the Salamander's. Last I heard, he had utterly wiped out the organization they had established—seeing it as a threat to his grip on the nation. I haven't been able to make contact since."
"I'm sorry to hear that..." expressed Minato, his expression apologetic as he closed his eyes and offered a solemn nod before turning his attention to Ame's skyline and adding, "Our actions today may not be able to affect or rewrite the tragedies of our world until now, but as long as we continue pressing forward, I'm certain we'll be able to witness the dawn of a world without senseless war and bloodshed..."
"It won't be easy, that's for certain," said Jiraiya, adopting a broad smile as he playfully appended, "But if anyone can do it, it's you...Akatsuki-no-Seikei(Sovereign of the Dawn)-sama..."
"Such a grandiloquent title doesn't suit me..." sighed Minato, closing his eyes and visibly deflating with an exhale. However, as Venelana and the Dragon's Pavilion insisted that he take on a title emblematic of his status as his world's representative, it was between that and Taiyo(Sun)-sama. The latter flowed more smoothly, but calling himself the Sun felt beyond audacious...
"It will," asserted Jiraiya, clapping and clasping Minato's shoulder with a supportive smile that was belied by the seriousness in his gaze as he retracted his hand and asked, "So, what's the plan? I get why Ame was chosen as the location geographically, but surely the Pavilion isn't going to drop the Tower directly on top of the village, right? Heralding the dawn of a peaceful world with a genocide feels...contradictory."
"If Vahn and Dragon's Pavilion were the type to make such demands, I wouldn't trust them," asserted Minato, raising his gaze skyward as if he could sense where he was being watched from. Then, turning his gaze to Jiraiya, he revealed, "I will call Hanzo-sama and the Kage here to attempt to explain the situation and reason with them. The Tower will be dropped on Amegakure for dramatic effect, but I've been told everything from the buildings to the bacteria will be transplanted to a safe place. It's bound to create a stir, but after today, Ame no Kuni(Land of Rain) will cease to exist in its current form and location. In its place...how about the Land Where People Gather to be Free from War and Exceed their Limits(Hito ga Tsudoi Sensō kara Jiyū ni Genkai o Koeru Kuni)?"