Their standoff was discovered by ANBU Ninja from Konoha Village, and the news was quickly reported to Jiraiya, who was dozing in his office.
Thinking of the Third Hokage's dying instructions to him, he wished he could bang his head against the wall.
He had originally thought there was no rush, but he didn't expect Uchiha Itachi to arrive so quickly.
After the Uchiha Clan massacre, the Third Hokage wrote a personal letter detailing the events, which he secretly left in the old residence of the Sarutobi Clan.
He hoped that his successor could use his personal letter to clear Uchiha Itachi's name. Uchiha Itachi was not a Rogue Ninja; he had sacrificed much for the Village and should not suffer more criticism and torment. The Third Hokage believed he should clarify the matter, and the merits and demerits of the event could be judged by later generations.
Jiraiya knew about the letter's existence, but with a myriad of tasks at hand and being accustomed to laziness, he didn't prioritize it.
Now that the aggrieved party had come knocking, he was in a mess.
He first found Shikaku and asked him, who hadn't fully relinquished his Jonin squad leader position, to lead people to support Kakashi, catch up to Uchiha Itachi, and keep him there, whether by force or words.
Shikaku did not participate in the Uchiha Clan massacre; he wasn't a strategist then and only had suspicions about the matter. He was not clear about the specific process or the personnel involved.
The Third Hokage and the other three had decided all major and minor affairs of Konoha Village internally. As a strategist, he was often just a spokesperson for the Ninja clans. His power was not small, but it wasn't large either.
Jiraiya whispered a few words, and Shikaku's expression became solemn. This kind of cleanup job was the hardest to handle.
"I'll go find that letter. No matter what that Uchiha thinks, the Village must clarify this matter. You go ahead; I'll be right there!"
Jiraiya rushed into the Sarutobi Clan's old residence, encountering Konohamaru on the way.
Konohamaru was looking down, holding a cardboard box containing some of the Third Hokage's belongings.
Jiraiya immediately saw the crystal ball in the cardboard box. Even with the current urgency, he still felt this item... well, it was very valuable!
He grabbed the crystal ball and tucked it into his clothes.
"Hokage-sama?" Konohamaru had emerged from the shadow of his grandfather's death. He stammered a bit but still greeted Jiraiya. He was quite puzzled, wondering what this person was doing at his house?
Jiraiya scratched his head: "Hmm, I remember the Third Hokage saying there were some letters for me in his data room. Do you know where his data room is?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama, please follow me."
Two minutes later, Jiraiya found the Third Hokage's data room, opened it, and was instantly dumbfounded.
Various dense files filled more than fifty large cabinets. Finding a letter among so many files was truly difficult.
Jiraiya was incredibly frustrated and subconsciously wanted to call Naruto to help with Shadow Clones, but the words caught in his throat. Thinking that this matter involved the Village's reputation and could not be entrusted to others, he could only create thirty Shadow Clones himself, grumbling as he searched through the mountain of files for that crucial personal letter.
Meanwhile, Shikaku found his old comrade Choza. The opponents were the S-rank Rogue Ninja Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki. The former's Sharingan and the latter's Water Release Ninjutsu were incredibly powerful. His chosen method was still the Ino–Shika–Choji combination, but unfortunately, Inoichi was out of the Village on a mission, and Fu Yamanaka was from Root. He could only call Ino, who had just returned to the Yamanaka Flower Shop, to form the core of this "Uchiha Itachi Retrieval" mission with the three of them.
Shikaku was not as optimistic as Jiraiya; he believed there was a high chance of complications in this matter.
The pursuit would definitely involve the Inuzuka Clan, so he called Inuzuka Tsume, Kiba's mother.
To confront a strong Uchiha Clan member, the Byakugan was indispensable, so he also called Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga Clan.
The five of them followed the trail.
Meanwhile, Kakashi, relying on his Sharingan, wanted to spar with Itachi. He told the others to close their eyes and not look at the Sharingan, but he himself couldn't last even a second before Itachi easily knocked him down.
At the critical moment, his good friend Might Guy arrived to save the day.
Itachi and Kisame knew when to stop, redirecting their objective for the day towards the Nine-Tailed, then gracefully departed.
The "Uchiha Itachi Retrieval" squad met them on the road.
Might Guy wanted to go with them, but Shikaku refused. Might Guy was a bigmouth; once he got fired up, he might accidentally blurt out the whole story. What Konoha did regarding the Uchiha Clan was truly hard to describe. The fewer people who knew, the better. Clan heads had extensive experience and had seen more dark matters. Ino was an Ino–Shika–Choji member, so even if she knew the full story, she wouldn't spread it. Might Guy's personality was too straightforward, so he couldn't be allowed to know the details of this matter.
Kakashi and Yuhi were both severely injured by Uchiha Itachi's genjutsu, and Asuma was also injured in his fight with Kisame. Shikaku ordered Might Guy to escort them back first, while their five-person squad continued to pursue Uchiha Itachi.
Inuzuka Tsume, the somewhat fierce-looking aunt, seemed a bit superfluous because Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki didn't run at all after defeating Kakashi. They were leisurely strolling on the main road, and in less than ten minutes, they were intercepted by the five-person team.
"Mr. Itachi, your Village's people are really persistent, but it seems they're all old-timers." Kisame Hoshigaki bared his shark-like teeth and looked menacingly at Ino: "However, there's still a young fish mixed in. Is it the person from the bookstore before? What? Judging by your expression, do you want to spar with your Uncle Kisame?"
Kisame's strength lay in his taijutsu, monstrous strength, Samehada, and Chakra. In terms of Water Release Ninjutsu alone, Ino was not afraid of him.
"Uchiha Itachi, I want to talk to you," Shikaku said.
Before he finished speaking, Uchiha Itachi made a slight head tilt. Hyuga Hiashi quickly reminded the others: "Close your eyes! His Chakra is flowing; he's about to cast genjutsu."
Except for him, the Byakugan user, everyone, including Ino, closed their eyes.
Uchiha Itachi didn't quite understand their intentions: "Mr. Shikaku, Hyuga Clan Head, I don't think there's anything for me to discuss with you."
"Not us; the Fifth Hokage is on her way. She wants to talk to you."
Uchiha Itachi said dismissively: "Not interested."
Shikaku used Ino's sensory transmission to give Choza a "move" command. He wanted to first eliminate Kisame, the Rogue Ninja who served as a monitor.
Choza's right hand quickly expanded. With his eyes closed, his giant palm slammed down fiercely in Kisame's direction.
This strike was powerful and heavy, as if it possessed immense force. Even Kisame chose not to take it head-on.
He pushed off the ground with his feet, leaping back over ten meters, just barely escaping the range of Choza's attack.
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