Chương 145: Welcome to Akatsuki
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Jiraiya was stunned into silence. He could only stare at them, his face paling considerably, his eyes wide and full of disbelief. Finally, he managed to ask, his voice barely more than a whisper, "Who the hell are you?"
Without uttering a word, the trio dropped their disguises. The one with hair as black as the Amegakure night revealed eyes that glowed with the power of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. The orange-haired man, his face now bearing a striking resemblance to Yahiko, revealed eyes adorned with the Rinnegan and a face studded with piercings. The blue-haired woman didn't change much physically, but her eyes held a new intensity, a steeliness that was not there before.
"Hello, Jiraiya-Sensei," the woman greeted, her voice as calm as the surface of a still pond, her face adorned with a faint smile.
Jiraiya could only stare, shock and disbelief warring in his eyes. He looked at each of them, his mind struggling to comprehend the revelation. This was not what he had expected, not by a long shot. The implications of their true identities were too profound to fully grasp at the moment.
"Konan, are you... Konan?" Jiraiya's voice wavered, the familiarity of the woman's face causing his heart to pound uncomfortably in his chest.
For a moment, there was silence. Then Konan simply nodded, her steel-blue gaze never leaving his.
A cold chill swept through Jiraiya. His gaze shifted to the orange-haired man whose face bore the striking resemblance of Yahiko, yet his eyes were not Yahiko's. They were the eyes of the boy he had trained, the boy who was supposed to be the prophesied savior, the eyes of Nagato. "Those eyes... how can you have them?" His voice wavered, his mind struggling to reconcile the face of his dead student with the eyes of the Child of Prophecy.
Jiraiya turned his gaze to the dark-haired man, his mind churning with questions. He looked at the face that was as familiar as it was unnerving. The Uchiha insignia on his collar was unmistakable. Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy of the Uchiha Clan who had massacred his own family and joined Akatsuki.
"Caught a big fish, haven't I?" Jiraiya attempted to inject some levity into the tension-soaked atmosphere, his hands balling into fists at his sides.
The dark-haired man didn't seem affected by the attempt at humor. His deep-set eyes, glowing with the power of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, bore into Jiraiya with an intensity that made him flinch. It was as if those eyes were peering straight into his soul, making him feel strangely exposed. His omnious eyes were jarring him.
"Wrong, Jiraiya," he said softly. "We caught you."
His words hung in the air, a damning verdict echoing ominously within the confines of the giant frog's stomach. As his pupils began to rotate, he added, "From now on, you are the enemy of Konoha. Welcome to Akatsuki."
Jiraiya froze, his heart pounding in his chest. The finality in the man's voice was chilling. His pupils danced with an unnerving hypnotic rhythm, and Jiraiya could feel his resolve beginning to crumble. The reality of his situation slowly sank in; he was now a prisoner.
For a moment, time seemed to slow down. The roaring in his ears drowned out everything else. His knees buckled under the weight of his defeat, and he fell to the ground. His gaze was locked onto the man's eyes, consumed by the swirling pattern of his Sharingan.
Tears welled in his eyes as he felt the last remnants of his resolve crumble away. Everything he had believed in, everything he had fought for, seemed to be slipping through his fingers. He felt like he was falling into an endless abyss, with nothing to anchor him to reality. His heart ached with an indescribable pain as he realized the full extent of his failure.
"Caught a big fish, haven't I?" Jiraiya attempted to inject some levity into the tension-soaked atmosphere, his hands balling into fists at his sides.
The dark-haired man didn't seem affected by the attempt at humor. His deep-set eyes, glowing with the power of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, bore into Jiraiya with an intensity that made him flinch. It was as if those eyes were peering straight into his soul, making him feel strangely exposed. His omnious eyes were jarring him.
"Wrong, Jiraiya," he said softly. "We caught you."
His words hung in the air, a damning verdict echoing ominously within the confines of the giant frog's stomach. As his pupils began to rotate, he added, "From now on, you are the enemy of Konoha. Welcome to Akatsuki."
Jiraiya froze, his heart pounding in his chest. The finality in the man's voice was chilling. His pupils danced with an unnerving hypnotic rhythm, and Jiraiya could feel his resolve beginning to crumble. The reality of his situation slowly sank in; he was now a prisoner.
For a moment, time seemed to slow down. The roaring in his ears drowned out everything else. His knees buckled under the weight of his defeat, and he fell to the ground. His gaze was locked onto the man's eyes, consumed by the swirling pattern of his Sharingan.
Tears welled in his eyes as he felt the last remnants of his resolve crumble away. Everything he had believed in, everything he had fought for, seemed to be slipping through his fingers. He felt like he was falling into an endless abyss, with nothing to anchor him to reality. His heart ached with an indescribable pain as he realized the full extent of his failure.
With Itachi's power, in an instant, Jiraiya's world shifted. The red-hued gaze of the Mangekyou Sharingan melted into his mind, consuming his thoughts, bending and warping them until they no longer resembled his own.
It wasn't just mind-control. It wasn't an illusion or a simple trick of the light. It was as if his very essence was being rewritten, his loyalties redefined, and his beliefs realigned. He felt his heart twist, contracting with a raw, acute pain before a soothing warmth rushed to fill the void.
A new sense of loyalty, unyielding and unwavering, began to grow inside him, rooted deep within his heart. It was a loyalty that transcended any he'd felt before, anchoring itself into the depths of his soul, infallible and indomitable.
All of it pointed in one direction, towards one person – Itachi.
The echoing words resounded again, "Welcome to Akatsuki."
Akatsuki… the word rolled around in his mind, taking on a new, profound meaning. It was no longer a threat to the peace he had fought so desperately to maintain, but a beacon of hope, a new cause worth fighting for.
A strange calmness took over Jiraiya, washing away the tension in his muscles. He slowly got to his feet, his gaze never leaving Itachi's. He felt a strong sense of purpose, an indomitable resolve that couldn't be shaken by any force. He had found a new path, and he would follow it to the end, irrespective of where it led him.
"You're right," Jiraiya found himself saying. His voice was surprisingly steady, stripped of its previous tremors of fear and desperation. "I've been caught, and I... I surrender."
The words felt right, the surrender not a defeat, but an acceptance of a path that, in this inexplicable twist, seemed like the one he had been searching for all along. A path led by Itachi.
There was a silence. The air between them charged with anticipation, as if waiting for a verdict. Then Itachi spoke, his voice steady, echoing the calmness Jiraiya now felt, "Then rise, Jiraiya of the Akatsuki."
The words resonated with Jiraiya, filling him with a sense of purpose, of belonging. He stood up straight, his back no longer stooped, his shoulders squared. His eyes, once filled with despair and shock, now held a firm resolve. He looked at Itachi, his leader, his gaze steady.
"Lead the way, Itachi-sama," Jiraiya said, and there was no trace of his old self in that voice. No trace of the man who fought for the Leaf, who defended the Hokage, who raised Naruto. He was Jiraiya of the Akatsuki now, a new identity born from the ashes of the old.
The echo of his words faded, absorbed into the fleshy walls of the giant frog's stomach. There was a sense of finality to it all, the chapter of his past life closed, and a new one beginning.
Just like that, under the watchful gaze of Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan, Jiraiya turned, fully embracing his new role, his new allegiance. The Leaf's loss was Akatsuki's gain, and Konoha's once gallant Toad Sage, was now one of them.
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