Chapter Two
"Damn you, Jiraiya!"
In a haze, Jiraiya seemed to hear a very familiar, childish voice. The next moment, a sharp pain in his chest made him abruptly open his eyes.
The first thing that entered his vision was the pitch-black night sky, with the moon partially obscured by clouds.
He looked a bit confused, but the searing pain in his chest was very real.
"Cough, cough…"
Jiraiya coughed a few times and, gritting his teeth, sat up despite the pain. On the ground before him, there was a very noticeable drag mark.
Then, an eerie pressure emanated faintly from directly ahead, making Jiraiya's hair stand on end. He looked up quickly—standing at the entrance of a bathhouse in Konoha was a young girl striding toward him with clenched fists and a furious expression.
The girl had long golden hair and was strikingly beautiful, with a round little face and eyes the color of brown gemstones—bright and full of life.
At the moment, her hair was still wet, and her clothes were disheveled, clearly thrown on hastily. Her sash was messily tied, with both ends uneven.
"Tsunade!?"
Even after all these years, Jiraiya instantly recognized the girl.
This was undoubtedly Tsunade in her childhood form.
What the hell is going on?
Jiraiya's last memory was of being in the Pure Land, his soul being summoned by the Reanimation Jutsu.
He vaguely remembered being caught by the Nine-Tails…
And then—
Before he could think any further, Tsunade had already reached him. She grabbed the front of his collar and immediately slammed a fist down toward him.
As one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya's combat instincts were razor-sharp. So even though he wasn't fully focused, the moment Tsunade's punch came toward his face, his body reacted instinctively—his arm shot up to block.
"Tchhh~"
But the moment he caught Tsunade's punch, he felt like his entire arm was being crushed. The searing pain distorted his expression, and his face twisted in agony.
He couldn't understand what exactly was happening yet, but given the situation, Jiraiya—being well-versed in such incidents—quickly put on a pleading face and said:
"Tsunade, listen to me—I can explain! The situation is—"
"Explain?"
"What's there to explain? You're just a pervert! A total creep!"
With a forceful tug, Tsunade lifted Jiraiya off the ground, suspending him midair. Then, raising her right leg, she turned and kicked him hard.
Though she was small, the kick was so powerful it caused the air to whistle around them.
For an ordinary person, there'd be no way to dodge this. But even midair, Jiraiya reacted instantly. He lightly tapped her leg to gain leverage and flipped backward, performing a beautiful aerial roll and landing safely a few meters away, beside a group of onlookers.
He glanced at his trembling arm, the one that had just taken Tsunade's punch. As the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and bearer of Senju blood, Tsunade had possessed monstrous strength even as a child.
What Jiraiya noticed, though, was that his hands and arms were noticeably smaller now—and so were his sleeves.
He recognized the clothes he was wearing—they were from when he was a kid. Coupled with the furious young Tsunade standing not far away…
A flood of memories came rushing back. It was the night he had just graduated from the Ninja Academy. To celebrate, he had gone to the Konoha hot springs.
Then, driven by curiosity about adult women, Jiraiya had quietly climbed up to peek through the women's bath window…
Unfortunately, Tsunade had been in the bath at the time and caught him in the act. What followed was a brutal beatdown.
"That move just now…"
Tsunade was slightly surprised. As classmates in the academy, she knew Jiraiya's skill level well.
The way he had just dodged her attack—that wasn't something the younger Jiraiya should have been capable of.
But she didn't dwell on it. After all, the priority right now was teaching this shameless pervert a lesson.
Jiraiya had already leapt away. Though his strength wasn't what it used to be, he still managed to land atop the roof of the Konoha bathhouse.
Looking toward a large tree behind the bathhouse, Jiraiya muttered to himself, "If I remember correctly…"
He pointed casually at a young woman standing at the entrance of the bathhouse—someone who had rushed out in a panic due to his peeping—and then shouted toward the tree:
"Hey, Sarutobi-sensei, what do you think? Isn't that big sister hot?"
Sure enough, just as Jiraiya finished speaking, a head peeked out from the branches of that tree. From his position in the foliage, he couldn't see what Jiraiya was pointing at.
That youthful-yet-somehow-aged face—none other than the young Hiruzen Sarutobi.
From between the leaves, Sarutobi looked curiously in the direction Jiraiya had indicated. But even with her clothes disheveled, the woman in question wasn't showing anything remotely exciting.
Uninteresting.
Then he realized—he'd been played by this brat!
As Tsunade landed on the roof, ready to strike again, Jiraiya quickly pointed in Sarutobi's direction and said, "It was Sarutobi-sensei who brought me here—look for yourself!"
Tsunade followed Jiraiya's finger and saw the man she'd just met that morning at the Ninja Academy—Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Sarutobi was the jōnin instructor for her, Jiraiya, and one other teammate. He was scheduled to conduct their final test tomorrow morning.
Startled, Tsunade momentarily hesitated in her attack. Jiraiya took the opportunity to flash a cheeky smile toward Sarutobi's location…
Then jumped down from the roof and bolted.
He knew Tsunade's personality too well—he had only used Sarutobi-sensei as a distraction. If he waited for Tsunade to calm down on her own, he'd be in for a world of hurt.
As Tsunade turned around, Jiraiya had already vanished without a trace.
"You two bastards… this isn't over," she growled through clenched teeth, fists tightening and eyebrows furrowed.
Jiraiya ran at full speed. After confirming he'd lost Tsunade, he followed a familiar path to a tall stone pillar in the village.
From this vantage point, he could overlook all of Konoha.
His eyes paused on the most iconic feature—the Hokage Rock. Two faces were carved into it: the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
Then he looked at the village spread before him. Though still somewhat simple compared to what it would one day become, the lights of countless homes illuminated a peaceful Konoha.
Even someone like Jiraiya, a seasoned ninja, couldn't help but feel deeply moved—his youthful face filled with awe.
"There's no mistake…"
"This is the sixteenth year since the founding of Konohagakure."
"I've… traveled back to the past?"
(End of Chapter)