Itachi sighed softly in his heart again and glanced very calmly at the spot where Sasuke and Naruto had disappeared behind the writhing flesh wall.
The Tsukuyomi he was just about to use had been disturbed and interrupted before it could be fully utilized.
Sasuke... he should be fine now.
But for Jiraiya... it would be better if that important information reached him.
This might be the only way…
Jiraiya had now moved Naruto and Sasuke to a safer place within the toad's stomach.
He stood tall and faced Kisame and Itachi directly.
"So, your target was indeed Naruto, wasn't it?"
He had been observing from the side for quite some time and was now very sure of this.
Kisame opened his mouth full of sharp teeth and was about to say something mockingly, but Itachi spoke first, cutting him off.
"So that's how it is. Are you the true source of information? No wonder Hatake Kakashi also knew."
Kisame was forced to close his mouth again in annoyance.
Itachi looked straight at Naruto, who was peeking from behind the flesh wall in the distance, with a piercingly cold gaze.
"Taking Naruto Uzumaki away is the highest order given to us by our organization, Akatsuki."
"Akatsuki?" Jiraiya's face grew even grimmer, and he remembered very clearly what Hana, the Nine-Tails, had told him in Naruto's mind some time ago.
"In that case, tell me, who is the supreme leader of your Akatsuki organization?"
Kisame grinned again, looking very eager to speak and perhaps show off a little, but once again Itachi spoke first, cutting him off before he could even open his mouth.
"You don't need to know that."
Kisame closed his mouth again, very, very annoyed.
Damn you, Itachi!
Why do you always cut me off?!
Jiraiya clenched his fists tightly, his face now expressionless, yet his chakra aura felt increasingly oppressive.
"Is your leader a member of the Uzumaki clan who possesses the legendary Rinnegan eyes, and is always accompanied by a blue-haired girl with the power to control paper?"
Kisame opened his mouth for the third time, very ready to say something, whether it was a denial or a taunt, but Itachi once again spoke first, answering Jiraiya's question in a flat tone.
"How... how could you know all that?"
Kisame: "..."
Kisame closed his mouth... no, he couldn't close his mouth anymore from sheer shock and disbelief.
He looked at Itachi with an incredulous gaze.
Are you being too honest and naive, Itachi-san?! Or are you doing it on purpose?! Kisame thought, completely bewildered by his partner's attitude.
If Kisame didn't truly understand Itachi's quiet and mysterious character after being his partner for years, he would definitely think that Itachi was deliberately leaking all this important information to Jiraiya.
"Itachi-san," Kisame hissed softly, "I think you've said enough for today. Now it's time for us to get out of here before the situation becomes even more troublesome."
Itachi nodded with a slight expression of regret on his face.
After all, he couldn't go too far or leak too much information.
If any important clues were found by Konoha about Akatsuki's true purpose or about himself, even Sasuke would later be in great danger.
Following Itachi's nod, Kisame immediately shouldered his Samehada sword and they both turned around simultaneously, preparing to run and try to escape from this toad's stomach. Jiraiya took a deep breath to suppress the anger and worry churning in his heart. His gaze became very cold and determined.
"I told you earlier, I will leave you two here and will not let you escape. No one has ever managed to escape easily since I successfully developed and perfected this trick!"
BANG!!!
Suddenly, a very loud rumbling sound came from one side of the toad's esophagus flesh wall.
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed in surprise.
He immediately rushed to check, only to see a large gaping hole now appearing before him at a bend in the flesh wall, with terrifying pitch-black flames burning fiercely along the edges of the hole.
His pride, the impenetrable toad stomach ninjutsu... had now been successfully destroyed.
"What... what is this?!"
Jiraiya looked at the black flames still burning on the flesh wall carefully and with great caution. An inexplicable and very strong sense of crisis suddenly arose in his mind.
Whatever this black thing was, it must be very dangerous.
Jiraiya glanced briefly at the backs of Itachi and Kisame, who had now almost disappeared in the distance through the hole they had made. His face looked slightly grim and annoyed, but he didn't say much or try to pursue. He knew it would be futile.
He turned around and took out a large scroll filled with various runes and sealing incantations from his pouch, then carefully placed it on the ground in front of the black flames.
Jiraiya formed a series of hand seals quickly:
"Sealing Technique: Fuuka Houin (Fire Sealing Method)!"
Dense and luminous blue chakra emerged from the surface of the scroll and quickly enveloped all the still-burning black flames.
As the blue chakra slowly disappeared, the black flames also vanished, as if sucked in and completely sealed within the scroll. Only after the sealing process was perfectly completed could Jiraiya finally breathe a sigh of relief.
After carefully storing the scroll containing the black flames and canceling his toad stomach summoning technique, Jiraiya turned and quickly moved Sasuke and Naruto, who were still slightly in shock, back into their inn room. He then sat alone near the now-broken window, staring blankly at the dimming evening sky, and began to think hard.
The words of Hana, that Nine-Tails, kept replaying clearly in his mind, like a broken record. About Akatsuki, about Juubi, about Uchiha Madara, and what hit him hardest... about Nagato and Konan.
And…
"DIE, YOU DAMN VILLAIN!!!"
Jiraiya's thoughts had just completed the word 'and', and before he could even think of a third word or continue his reverie, he suddenly saw a large green shoe sole appear very quickly in front of his eyes, accompanied by a very familiar and spirited gust of chakra breath.
T he next second, Jiraiya was kicked so hard that he was thrown from the upper floor of the inn down to the street below. THUD!
Might Guy, who had just bravely kicked Jiraiya, immediately realized that the sensation in his foot felt slightly wrong and different.
He quickly retracted his strength. However, even after he tried to retract some of his strength, the tremendous pushing force still sent Jiraiya flying quite far. Guy stood transfixed in the now messy inn room, looking at the hole in the window where Jiraiya had just been thrown with a facial expression full of embarrassment and slight panic.
"Jiraiya-sama?! How could it be you?!"
Ten minutes later ~
Jiraiya sat with a very annoyed face in the slightly tidied inn room, with a gauze pad stuck to the slightly bruised left side of his face and two pieces of tissue paper plugging both his nostrils. Bright red blood was still seeping slightly from the tissue paper, making him look strange and inexplicable... No, this was truly a very pitiful sight.
"I'm sorry, Jiraiya-sama! I'm truly sorry!" Guy bowed deeply and apologized very solemnly and full of regret, his own face also looking slightly battered. "I was in a hurry to chase them and forgot to bring a mirror, so I could only use the reflection from my forehead protector to check the situation inside this room. As a result, the reflection from the forehead protector looked too blurry, and all I saw was Naruto and Sasuke looking helpless, and there was a suspicious shadow sitting thoughtfully near the window..."
Guy lifted his head, his face full of remorse. "Anyway, I'm truly sorry for my carelessness, Jiraiya-sama!"
"Haaah... you." Jiraiya could only remain silent, massaging his aching temples. But he also knew exactly what kind of person Might Guy was. Someone whose brain might be a little scrambled and who always acted based on instinct and youthful spirit, that's how he did things. There was no point in getting angrier.
Guy then recounted that he and his team (Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and also Tenzo who happened to be patrolling with them) had briefly encountered and fought fiercely against Itachi and Kisame on the outskirts of town moments after the two Akatsuki members managed to escape from Jiraiya's toad stomach.
(Due to Tenzo's interference and help with his wood element, in this timeline it was different from the original work and Hatake Kakashi managed to avoid Itachi's Tsukuyomi attack directly, although he was still quite severely injured from that fight. Of course, no one knew this small but important detail except Hana who observed everything from within Naruto's seal.)
Jiraiya then told Guy about his purpose of finding Tsunade, including asking for her medical help for Rock Lee.
"I noticed Rock Lee before during the Chunin exams."
Jiraiya smiled faintly.
"He is also a young ninja from Konoha full of spirit and potential. I will definitely try my best to convince Tsunade to save him and heal his wounds."
Guy's eyes immediately lit up with hope upon hearing Jiraiya's promise.
He bowed very solemnly again. "Thank you very much, Jiraiya-sama! I am truly grateful for your kindness!"
Guy didn't stay much longer after that. His initial purpose for coming here was to provide support and assistance to Jiraiya if needed. Now that those Akatsuki villains had managed to escape, he had to immediately return to headquarters to report and further organize the village's defense.
After Guy left, Sasuke remained silent for a long time in the corner of the room, his head bowed.
He then clenched his fists tightly, reaffirming his determination to become much stronger so he could avenge his clan and kill Itachi.
Naruto, seeing his friend, of course, immediately approached and offered his wholehearted support, patting his shoulder and promising to always be there to help him.
Hana, seeing how 'compatible' and mutually supportive Naruto and Sasuke were, couldn't help but have some strange and slightly 'deviant' thoughts flash through her mind.
She quickly shook her head vigorously to try and dispel those absurd thoughts.
But for some reason, the scene where Sasuke and Naruto were 'doing something intimate' seemed to be quite deeply imprinted in her mind, especially since she remembered they had both 'accidentally' kissed when they were still in the academy.
Fortunately, no one knew Hana's 'deviant' thoughts at that time.
Hana could only sigh softly and wish the best for the poor girls who might like this slightly too popular prince of hers, especially Karin whom she seemed to have personally supported to be with Naruto.
'The competition will be very fierce, Uzumaki girl,' Hana thought amusedly.