Not to mention the feeling of gloom Fu felt because her curiosity wasn't satisfied...
Menma, who had left, had a face full of joy. It wasn't purely because he had obtained the Seven-Tails' chakra, but because the moment the Seven-Tails' chakra entered his body, Menma actually felt as if the cellular factors within him became slightly more active.
Of course, this could also be an illusion.
But what if it was real and effective!?
That would prove that Menma's previous ideas were effective.
I hope I can have more opportunities for verification!
Menma gazed toward the even more distant south, a fiery look flowing in his pupils.
Whoosh
With a leap, he sped rapidly toward the agreed-upon target location.
And just as Menma set off from the Hidden Waterfall Village and headed all the way southeast...
At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers.
"Hah, Rasengan!"
Bang!
By a not-so-wide stream.
A golden figure, bare-chested, leaped up. An azure sphere appeared in his single palm.
With a deep shout, he pressed down abruptly.
Rumble!!
A terrifying deep pit was blasted directly into the ground.
But looking at this deep pit...
The blond boy's face clearly still showed a look of dissatisfaction.
"Your chakra control needs to be more stable so you can further increase the output of chakra, Naruto!"
On the other side, a white-haired man stepped closer. While tossing over the water bottle in his hand, he spoke softly with a gentle expression.
"Yes, Pervy Sage (Grandpa Jiraiya), I understand!"
The blond boy caught the water bottle, guzzling down nearly half of it with gulp, gulp sounds. After taking a deep breath, he looked up and replied loudly.
These two were none other than the duo of Jiraiya and Naruto, who had also left the Hidden Leaf Village several months ago to travel to other countries.
Since the battle at the Valley of the End, Naruto, who returned to the Leaf, had plunged directly into a state of near despair and breakdown.
Unlike in the original story where only Sasuke defected...
In this life, two brothers he valued immensely had defected, one of whom was his true biological brother—Menma Uzumaki. This double blow had already shaken Naruto's heart to the core. In the battle at the Valley of the End, the killing intent Menma displayed nakedly made Naruto's heart collapse even more.
No matter what, he couldn't believe Menma actually wanted to kill him.
When facing such a reality directly...
It would be strange if 12-year-old Naruto could accept it calmly.
Therefore, in the days after returning to the village, Naruto had been in a daze. It wasn't until Jiraiya, who had just returned from an external reconnaissance and security mission, had a heart-to-heart talk with Naruto face-to-face that Naruto pulled himself together again.
He was still that Naruto, after all.
Even though his surname was Namikaze in this life, his essence remained unchanged. This was also why Menma believed more strongly that Naruto was the one carrying Asura's chakra reincarnation, not himself.
Only a personality like Naruto's could match Asura's chakra.
Based on that heart-to-heart with Jiraiya...
The two still embarked on a journey of training to become stronger and collecting intelligence, just like in the original story. In Jiraiya's words, people could still understand each other. Jiraiya believed Naruto could definitely make Menma and Sasuke change their minds, as long as he continued to become stronger and possessed the power to bring them back.
Naruto firmly believed this too. Thus, around the same time Menma joined the Hidden Waterfall Village, Naruto followed Jiraiya and left the Hidden Leaf Village.
Now, it had been several months since they left the village. During this period, their traces were almost all over the Land of Fire. Currently, they were at the border, reinforcing Rasengan training while...
Planning which path to choose next.
"Heh, take a break first. Training isn't hard labor that can be done overnight. You need appropriate rest; otherwise, you'll get half the results with twice the effort."
Jiraiya pointed to the fish and shrimp almost roasted on the side, and the steamed rice, chuckling lightly.
"Yes, Pervy Sage!"
A wolfing-down style of eating.
In terms of gluttony attributes...
Naruto was solidly a top-three existence in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Beside him, Jiraiya sipped his drink while looking at Naruto with a benevolent expression. Unmarried and without descendants, Jiraiya truly treated Naruto like his own grandson. After all, this was Minato's son.
Of course, the same applied to Menma.
Thinking of the defected Menma...
A gleam of gloom flashed in Jiraiya's pupils.
Although it wasn't the first time...
Every time he recalled it, Jiraiya deeply regretted his decision back then. He shouldn't have left the ninja village; he shouldn't have trusted his teacher too much. He should have stayed in the village to take care of Menma and Naruto personally.
And he shouldn't have let the two brothers live separately. In that case, how could things have reached this point!?
Maybe now, it would be a scene of the two brothers working together for the revival of the Leaf.
How did it reach the point of fratricide!?
Although he didn't see it with his own eyes, learning from Kakashi and others that Menma actually attacked Naruto with lethal intent made Jiraiya's heart twitch uncontrollably.
They were biological brothers!
If one really killed the other...
How would he face Minato and Kushina then?
It's all my fault...
Jiraiya sighed low in his heart, thinking gloomily.
He had never regretted anything as much as he did during this period.
"Eh? Pervy Sage, why aren't you eating? Hurry up and finish; didn't you say you'd guide my taijutsu training later?"
After finishing eating, Naruto let out a satisfied burp. Looking at the food Jiraiya had barely touched, he asked with confusion.
"Haha, just having a couple of drinks first. No rush, no rush."
As Naruto's gaze turned over, Jiraiya quickly adjusted his mindset, laughing heartily.
"Oh, drink less too, Pervy Sage. Drinking hurts the body!"
"Haha, you brat, starting to manage your Pervy Sage now?"
"Isn't that just caring about you!"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Jiraiya shook his head amusingly.
Screech!
Just at this moment.
From the sky, a rather piercing eagle cry suddenly came. Jiraiya was stunned and looked up. A majestic falcon entered his view.
At a glance, he recognized it as a "Ninja Eagle" exclusive to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Jiraiya's gaze hardened, and he beckoned with his right hand.
Whoosh!
That falcon locked onto Jiraiya's position directly, diving down rapidly from high altitude.
It arrived directly at Jiraiya's side, landing very steadily on his shoulder.
Jiraiya familiarly took a small strip of paper from above the falcon's claw. Immediately after, with a light wave of his right hand...
The falcon soared into the sky again.
Jiraiya opened the paper strip, seeing the content marked with special symbols inside. After gradually translating it...
Jiraiya's expression tightened accordingly.
"Eh? What's wrong? Pervy Sage, did Grandma Tsunade send some important intelligence? Is it content related to Orochimaru!?"
Opposite him, Naruto noticed the change in Jiraiya's expression immediately. He stood up as well, walking directly in front of Jiraiya, asking with a look of great concern.
"Mhm, you could say that."
Jiraiya nodded slowly.
The message Tsunade sent via the Ninja Eagle did contain some news about Orochimaru, but more of it focused on another key issue—the traces of the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata.
There are no walls in this world that don't let wind through.
Utakata's defection.
For ordinary ninja and small ninja villages, this was top-secret information impossible to obtain. But for other large ninja villages, they could more or less glean a bit of relevant dynamic information. The matter of Orochimaru starting from the Hidden Mist Village to reverse-track the Six-Tails Jinchuriki's traces... for the Hidden Leaf Village, which also kept a close eye on Orochimaru's movements, some clues could also be detected.
Tsunade and the Leaf side naturally didn't know that Orochimaru did this out of Menma's request. In Tsunade's view, this was Orochimaru's own personal choice—a guy already dangerous enough now setting his sights on Tailed Beasts.
Plus Menma, who had long since joined Orochimaru...
Tsunade had to consider if this was Orochimaru's next plan.
Orochimaru was already dangerous enough.
Tsunade wouldn't allow such danger to expand further.
For this reason, not only did Tsunade urgently dispatch a most elite Anbu squad from the village, but she also sent a message to Jiraiya.
Hoping Jiraiya could make a trip along the way. Tsunade had no desire for the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, but she absolutely didn't want to see the Six-Tails fall into Orochimaru's hands.
"What is the news!?"
Hearing it was really related to Orochimaru, Naruto's eyes widened instantly. With a very urgent tone, he asked hurriedly.
Why focus on Orochimaru!?
Wasn't it because of Menma and Sasuke?
To this day, after experiencing the battle at the Valley of the End, although Naruto no longer naively thought everything was Orochimaru's fault like before, from his heart, he still felt that without Orochimaru, Menma and Sasuke would never have reached the point of defection.
Therefore, in Naruto's heart, if he had to list the person he loathed most and wanted to take out, Orochimaru would absolutely be at the top, and currently the only existence.
Now finally hearing news related to Orochimaru, Naruto was naturally extremely concerned.
"Orochimaru sent people to a small country in the south called 'Land of Spring' to search for someone very important."
Jiraiya temporarily hid part of the content, explaining concisely to Naruto.
"Land of Spring? Then let's go there immediately too, Pervy Sage!"
Naruto murmured the name first, then looked up abruptly at Jiraiya with a very determined look, speaking in a deep voice.
Although he had long decided to take Naruto to investigate...
Seeing Naruto so agitated...
A faint worry couldn't help but surface in Jiraiya's heart.
"Go we must, but Naruto, I have to say the ugly words first. You cannot act unauthorized. You must stay by my side at all times and obey my instructions throughout. Understood?"
Jiraiya lowered his head slightly, looking at Naruto with a very serious and solemn expression. The words spoken in a deep voice...
Clearly expressed Jiraiya's attitude.
"Yes, don't worry, Pervy Sage. I definitely won't mess around!"
Hearing Jiraiya's words, Naruto first revealed a look of great joy, then nodded frantically like a chick pecking at rice in response.
"That's good. Remember your own words, Naruto!"
Hearing Naruto's answer...
A faint smile finally appeared on Jiraiya's face.
"Yes!"
Immediately after.
The two simply packed up and leaped, speeding toward the southeast as well.
At the same time.
Land of Fire, the most prosperous central area, the region where the Hidden Leaf Village was located. In a certain gloomy underground secret room.
"Is the intelligence confirmed!?"
Danzo Shimura stood at the main seat with a face full of gloom, looking at a Root member who came to report information, asking coldly.
"Yes, Danzo-sama. The target location is in the Land of Spring!"
Below, a Root member whose whole body seemed wrapped in darkness replied in a deep voice.
"Mist ninja, Six-Tails... this is truly a good opportunity!"
The single eye Danzo exposed also revealed a trace of greed. As the Darkness of the Shinobi who had always aspired to become Hokage, among the powers he wanted most, the Sharingan and Wood Style went without saying.
The power of Tailed Beasts had also always been one of Danzo's goals.
In his view...
Only he in this world was qualified to dominate these powers, and only he could use and guide these powers correctly.
The defection of the Six-Tails Jinchuriki—wasn't this an opportunity bestowed upon him by heaven!?
Coincidentally, a while ago, due to the special movements of the Cloud ninja, coupled with the assistance of the two advisors Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, and given Danzo's status... Tsunade ultimately had to be forced to cancel the restriction order on Root.
Danzo could once again freely command his Root subordinates.
Although Tsunade obviously strengthened surveillance on Root compared to before, Danzo didn't care at all. There were only a few truly elite squads in the Hokage's direct Anbu. Danzo really didn't believe Tsunade would send all these people to supervise Root.
If she really did that...
Danzo would actually be happy.
Because he could openly impeach Tsunade!
And without doing that, how could the remaining people truly restrict Root!? At most, they would just know his Root was taking action.