The space behind the door of the Gym did not resemble any place Jerry Reacher had ever seen before.
It was not a battlefield. Not a temple. Not a void. It was like a crossroads.
Stone stretched endlessly in every direction, etched with faint symbols that pulsed softly like a living heartbeat. Outside there was no limit to the sky, only a slow-moving veil of dim light that shifted between dusk and dawn. The air carried weight — not pressure, but memory.
Jerry stood at the center of the Gym his Father created, hands relaxed at his sides, posture calm in a way that only came after exhaustion had hollowed a person out and left something harder behind.
Across from him stood Jiraiya.
The Legendary Sannin was not smiling.
That alone made the moment heavy.
"I saw everything," Jiraiya said at last.
Jerry didn't ask what.
He already knew.
"Not just fragments," Jiraiya continued. "Not impressions. I walked through it. Your first memory. Your last night. Every year in between. And your old memories. Our lives as Anime."
Jiraiya laughed. The words settled slowly. He continued with the point he needs to convey.
"You worked until your body collapsed," Jiraiya said. "Not for ambition. Not for recognition. For a promise."
Jerry closed his eyes. He knows that he was the one who lived the life before his Collapse, as his memories merged with his old ones. He didn't understand why but he acknowledged that some high power is at play at him gaining his old memories and the powers.
He continued not wanting to think about something out of his reach.
"I promised them I wouldn't waste my life," he said quietly.
Jiraiya exhaled through his nose. "You nearly ended it instead."
Silence followed — not awkward, not tense. Just honest.
"You carried grief like a second spine," Jiraiya said. "You smiled when you were tired. You laughed when you were breaking. And when you finally collapsed, you apologized."
Jerry opened his eyes. "I didn't want to die," he said. "I just didn't know how to stop."
Jiraiya studied him, really studied him, and for the first time since they met, there was no teasing, no mockery, no playfulness in his gaze.
"That's why this matters," Jiraiya said. "Before I teach you anything… you need to decide what kind of hero you're becoming. I know that you already decided on being a Hero, right?"
Jerry nodded once.
"I've thought about it," he said. "A lot."
Jiraiya patiently said just like a Mentor would and said, "Then start talking. Let's see what type of hero you want to be."
Hope and Morality
"Heroes like Superman… All Might," Jerry began. "They're symbols. When they show up, people believe things will be okay."
Jiraiya listened. Jerry continued, "They stood tall. Smiled even when they were bleeding. When they appeared, people believed the future would be better just because they existed."
Jerry's fingers curled slightly. "They were hope itself."
Jiraiya nodded. "Symbols."
"Yes," Jerry said. "And that's their strength."
A pause.
"But it's also their weakness.", Jiraiya began explaining. "Hope is powerful. But it comes with expectations. You can't fall. You can't doubt. If you break… everyone breaks with you."
Jerry swallowed.
Jiraiya leaned back against a stone pillar, "And when you do fall… the damage spreads far beyond you.". He concluded, "You're afraid of being responsible for that."
Jerry nodded. "I already carry guilt. I don't want to become someone whose weakness destroys others."
"Hope lifts people," Jiraiya said. "But it also places them beneath you."
Jerry looked down. "I don't want people waiting for me to save them. I want them surviving even when I'm not there."
Honor and the Warrior's Code
"Wonder Woman. Levi," Jerry continued. "They live by discipline and honor. They fight because it's right, not because it's easy."
"A shinobi's way," Jiraiya remarked.
"They believed in discipline," Jerry nooded and said. "In honor. In doing what's right even when it costs them everything."
He straightened slightly.
"They don't compromise. They don't bend. They endure."
Jiraiya nodded. "Yes. It does resemble. The shinobi way can resemble that."
"Yes," Jerry agreed. "And I respect it deeply."
Jiraiya continued, "But honor can be rigid. It assumes the world plays fair."
Jerry's gaze sharpened.
"There are situations," Jiraiya said, "where sticking to the code costs innocent lives. Where mercy becomes a liability."
He met Jerry's eyes to convey his thoughts since many shinobi lost their way due to Honor and being a Warrior code.
Jerry took a deep breathe and said, "I don't want my principles to become a blindfold."
Jiraiya was silent for a long moment.
"Honor should guide," he said slowly. "Not chain."
"That's how I want it to be, but maybe this is not the way. My Ninja Way" Jerry replied.
Jiraiya smiled and could see his students (Minato, Naruto, Nagato, Konan and Yahiko) shadow in Jerry.
Cold Strategy
"Erwin Smith. Ozymandias.", Jerry's voice grew heavier.
"They win wars. They sacrifice few for many. They see the board, not the faces."
The light above dimmed slightly.
"There were leaders," Jerry said, his voice lower now. "Strategists."
Jiraiya didn't interrupt.
"They saw the battlefield as a whole. They made decisions no one else could stomach. They sacrificed few for many."
Jerry's jaw tightened.
"They won wars."
"And at what cost?" Jiraiya asked quietly.
"At their humanity," Jerry answered without hesitation.
He looked away.
"I understand them," he admitted. "And that scares me."
Jiraiya's posture stiffened.
"Once you accept that some lives are expendable," Jiraiya continued, "it becomes easier to justify it again. And again. Until everyone is a calculation."
Jerry shook his head. "I don't want to win by becoming something empty."
Jiraiya said nothing — and that silence was agreement enough. He has seen Nagato's similar way. He didn't want Jerry to follow the same path and breathe a sign of relief when he didn't want to become something empty.
Anti-System Rebels
"V. Billy Butcher. They burn corrupt systems down." Jerry contemplated. "There were also those who rejected the world entirely," Jerry said. "They fought corruption by tearing the system apart."
"Rebels," Jiraiya said.
"Yes," Jerry replied. "Necessary ones."
He paused. "They expose rot. They force change. But they burn everything — including themselves."
Jiraiya grunted. "Hatred is a powerful fuel. And a destructive one," Jiraiya remarked and explained. "They start fighting injustice… and end up fighting everything."
Jerry's eyes hardened and said, "I don't want rage deciding who I become."
Strict Justice
"Judge Dredd. Rorschach. No compromise. No mercy. Then there were those who believed in absolute justice," Jerry continued. "No compromise. No mercy."
Jiraiya's expression darkened.
"They see the world in black and white," Jerry said. "Right and wrong. Law and crime."
"And you see the problem," Jiraiya said.
"Yes," Jerry replied. "People aren't laws. Circumstances matter."
He clenched his fist. Jiraiya looked at Jerry, smiled and said, "Justice without compassion becomes cruelty wearing a badge."
Jerry understood. It is what his parents also taught him.
Detached Realism
"Now Saitama. Dr. Manhattan.", Jerry exhaled. "There were beings who understood everything," he said. "The universe. Life. Death."
Jiraiya frowned.
"They saw how small it all was… and stopped caring."
Jerry's voice softened.
"I don't want to lose my ability to care. If I do… then saving anyone becomes meaningless."
The Final Path
Jiraiya said, "Maybe think about the Hero's who helped people without compromising your Honor, Moral and also be someone who understands the circumstances instead of giving absolute Justice to the people. Be a Warning to the wrong doers but give them the second chance. That is what you think is needed right?".
Silence returned.
The system's glow pulsed once, softly.
"There was one man," Jerry said at last. "No powers. No destiny. No divine favor."
Jiraiya waited.
"He didn't believe hope would save the world. He didn't trust systems to protect people."
Jerry's gaze sharpened.
"So he prepared."
Jiraiya smiled slowly.
"He trained his body beyond reason. His mind beyond comfort. He planned for every failure — including his own."
Jerry stood straighter.
"He didn't stand in the light. He worked in the dark so others wouldn't have to."
Jiraiya laughed quietly. "You want to be the shadow."
"I want to be ready," Jerry said. "When hope fails. When systems break. When justice hesitates."
He met Jiraiya's eyes. "I don't want to be a god. I want to be a man who refuses to stop."
Jiraiya stepped forward and placed a heavy hand on Jerry's shoulder.
"That path will break you," he said. "Over and over. Same as it did for Batman."
Jerry nodded. "Then I'll rebuild myself just like Batman."
(A/N: Should I use Batman suit or use a new one?)
Jiraiya smiled — proud, fierce, approving.
"Then I'll teach you," he said. "Not how to win." His grip tightened. "But how to endure."
The Gym then heared a few painful grunts from Jerry.
Reacher Manor — Night
Reacher Manor stood silent beneath the night sky, its stone walls bathed in moonlight. The city sprawled far below, unaware that something had shifted.
Jerry stood in the study, posture composed.
Alfred stood across from him, attentive as ever.
"You wished to speak, Master Jerry?"
"Yes," Jerry said. "Things need to change in the world. And I need to be ready. For that we need to make things and build few things that are necessary."
Alfred waited.
"I need the manor modified," Jerry said calmly. "Discreetly. No records."
Alfred inclined his head. "We can use the Cave under the Mansion. We just need to support few places to make it accommodable."
Jerry nooded and began listing them, methodical and precise.
"A subterranean training facility. Reinforced. Soundproof."
"Combat focus?" Alfred asked.
"Yes. And endurance."
"A medical bay," Jerry continued. "Full trauma care. Surgical equipment."
"Already feasible."
"A research and analysis lab. Forensics. Pattern mapping."
Alfred nodded.
"Secure servers. Encrypted. Isolated."
"Understood. Do you need to add the console you father created in the servers?"
Jerry nodded.
"An armory," Jerry continued. "Non-lethal first."
Alfred paused. "And later?"
"We'll adapt."
"Escape routes," Jerry added. "Multiple."
"There are multiple tunnels from the cave to many parts of the city."
"A command center," Jerry said. "Somewhere I can watch from the city when coming back to the cave is not feasible or waste of time."
"There is an unused observatory," Alfred replied. "It can be repurposed."
"One more thing," Jerry said.
Alfred waited.
"A suit," Jerry said. "Not armor. A symbol."
Alfred smiled faintly.
"I will ensure anonymity."
Jerry looked out over the city.
"I won't be a savior," he said. "I'll be prepared."
Alfred bowed.
"Then, Master Jerry… let us begin."
And somewhere beneath Reacher Manor, the first shadows began to take shape.