Chapter 161: Conversations on the Road.
The Akatsuki Organization moved quickly. After determining Deidara's specific location, Uchiha Itachi, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Sasori left Amegakure, preparing to recruit the final member of the Akatsuki Organization.
Conversely, in Konoha, after a series of upheavals subsided, Jiraiya bid farewell to everyone, took Naruto, and set out on the journey to find Tsunade.
In truth, Naruto did not want to go. Over the past few days, his premonition of evolving into a Sage Body had become increasingly strong. However, unable to resist Jiraiya's nagging and enticements, Naruto finally sighed helplessly, packed his luggage, and followed Jiraiya onto the road.
"Perverted Old Man, what kind of person is Granny Tsunade?"
To relieve the boredom on the road, Narutobrushed aside the old topics he had already heard until his ears were calloused, steering their discussion toward Tsunade.
Upon hearing Naruto mention Tsunade, a look of reminiscence appeared in Jiraiya's eyes, but in Naruto's view, this reminiscence was always tinged with a hint of color.
"Tsunade, huh..." Jiraiya's memories were fully stirred. "She is a very outstanding Ninja, and even more so, a very outstanding woman."
"Tch, looking at Perverted Old Man's expression, I can tell your head is full of colorful thoughts." Naruto's words were merciless. "Is she very beautiful?"
"Not just beautiful; her figure is one in ten thousand. I really want to make her the heroine in my book." Jiraiya smacked his lips. Although his feelings were subtle, Naruto still sensed them.
Now, with the precedent of Hyuga Hinata, Narutowas no longer clueless about matters between men and women. Moreover, as a bystander, he saw clearly. Even though Jiraiya thought he was hiding it well, Naruto had still seen right through his feelings for Tsunade.
"Are you her suitor?"
"What... what kind of joke is that? How could the Great Jiraiya possibly fancy that violent, stinky gambler!" Jiraiya jumped up. "Don't talk nonsense! This kind of thing is not something you should be discussing at your age!"
"Oh..." Naruto revealed a trace of disappointment. "I miss Hinata and Sasuke."
"Sigh!" Jiraiya also sighed. Although he didn't have much affection for Hyuga Hinata, who had been missing for a long time, Jiraiya still knew that Naruto and Hyuga Hinata were childhood sweethearts.
As for Uchiha Sasuke, Jiraiya's feelings were also very complex, which reminded him of Orochimaru, who had also defected from Konoha for various reasons.
Based on these two points, Jiraiya and Naruto's superficial situations were somewhat similar, which naturally caused Jiraiya to open up and start talking.
"Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuga Hinata seem to both be in Orochimaru's hands." Jiraiya's expression was grim. "And that unknown Uchiha Ninja, 'Tian', still has absolutely no substantial source of intelligence to this day."
"I will find him sooner or later!" Naruto, feigning gnashing teeth at his own Clone, felt strange. "We cannot let Hinata and Sasuke continue to stay outside the village!"
"I have already figured out the specific location of the Sound Village, but the recent turmoil in Konoha left me with no time to look elsewhere. Once we find Tsunade and have her take office as the Fifth Hokage, I will take you there to check it out."
Jiraiya had long since recognized Naruto's strength and Heart-Nature. When treating Naruto, he no longer viewed him as a child, but rather as a little adult, with whom he could discuss anything.
This was a disguise change that Naruto himself had carried out; after all, Naruto, whose mental age was greater than Jiraiya's, had long grown tired of the game of pretending to be a child.
"Tian's strength is very strong. If it's just the two of us... I estimate..."
"Heh, the proud, cocky Naruto actually has a time when he's afraid?" Jiraiya's face was full of teasing. "Your strength should be very strong now, right?!"
"It's not a question of whether the strength is strong or not, but rather that they have hostages in their hands that make us wary. If we cannot achieve a one-hit kill or crush them with raw power, we might very likely only bring back two corpses!"
The steadiness in Naruto's words made Jiraiya nod inwardly. Moreover, Naruto's words were not without reason, which led Jiraiya to reveal a decision he had already made ahead of schedule.
"Once we find Tsunade, I will take you to Mount Myōboku to learn Sage Arts. That is a very powerful technique!" Jiraiya pointed at himself. "This is the foundation for how this Immortalstands in the Ninja World!"
"Isn't your foundation gathering material for writing books?" After taking a big detour to silently steer the topic to practicing Sage Arts, Naruto's mouth was still unforgiving.
"What an annoying brat. You are nothing like my previous students!" Jiraiya really couldn't out-argue Naruto. "For example, the Fourth Hokage, for example, Nagato and the others."
Although Jiraiya had secrets, Naruto had been constantly making his presence known to him during this period, which made Jiraiya trust Narutodeeply. He was able to gloss over and share some of the secrets buried in his heart.
"I know the Fourth Hokage, but who is Nagato?" Naruto looked curious on the surface, but inwardly, he felt a bit unhappy.
If Jiraiya had been in Konoha at the time of the Nine-Tails Attack, then his father...
"Those are all things of the past, let's not talk about them for now." Jiraiya clearly didn't want to say more. "Naruto, I feel that your body has undergone a big change over the last few days. Do you mind if I take a look?"
Naruto had long known that this day would come. A hero like Jiraiya, who was rough on the outside but fine on the inside, was not someone so easily fooled.
After the period of turmoil in Konoha subsided, Jiraiya repeatedly reviewed the events. He discovered that things were not that simple; there should still be a chess player hidden in Konoha.
Although he did not suspect Naruto, the fact that Naruto had been kidnapped twice by Danzo Shimura was definitely unusual. Moreover, Aburame Torune had also mentioned the abnormality in Naruto's body before he died.
How could the Nine-Tailed disappear into thin air?!
Naruto extended his hand very naturally, but his heart was stirred. In dealing with the Danzo Shimura matter, there were still many loopholes.
Fortunately, Naruto knew this day would come, so he had replaced himself with a Clone early on; otherwise, he might really have been exposed.
"This..." Jiraiya, who was gripping Naruto's wrist, revealed an expression of disbelief on his face. "How can your Chakra be so abundant!"
Jiraiya's Physique was very good; in the Ninja World, he could be ranked based on Physiquealone. Although his prime years were coming to an end, his Chakra volume was increasing with each passing day.
But now, the amount of Chakra in Naruto's body was estimated to be dozens of times that of Jiraiya's Chakra volume!
"Is it because of the Nine-Tailed?" Jiraiya muttered to himself, and then lifted the hem of Naruto's garment, revealing the Sealing Jutsu on his belly.
He placed his palm on it to feel carefully. The Sealing Jutsu was very sound and solid, and he couldn't feel any Tailed Beast Chakra leaking out from the Nine-Tailed at all.
Jiraiya suddenly remembered the "key" that Minatohad entrusted to him using a toad from Mount Myōboku before he died. He felt that Naruto's Physique should already be able to fully contain the power of the Nine-Tailed.
"Naruto, how much do you know about the Tailed Beast inside you?" Jiraiya couldn't help but ask.
"Are you talking about that big fox?"
"Yes, that's it!"
Naruto pondered for a moment, then frowned and recalled carefully. "Except for seeing it once when I almost died rescuing Hinata, I haven't seen it again until now..."
Jiraiya looked closely at the Seal on Naruto's abdomen again. The Sealing Jutsu reinforced by Hiruzen Sarutobi was clearly visible, and a look of realization appeared on his face.
"How about I tell you a story?" Jiraiya intended to explain some secrets of the Ninja World to Naruto; in his mind, Naruto was now qualified to know these things.
"It won't be one of those 'colorful' ones, will it?" Naruto's face wore an expression of disgust and suspicion.