Peaceful Konoha Village—today was another peaceful day.
Jiraiya returned to Konoha from Mount Myōboku with Naruto and a group of toads.
What appeared before them was completely different from the Konoha they'd imagined.
Vast stretches of muddy wasteland, piles of house debris all around, and the dusty Hokage Rock...
Is this still the Konoha Village I know?
With this puzzled feeling, Naruto looked toward the center of the battlefield.
There, Granny Tsunade was energetically grabbing a tattered puppet and beating the hell out of it.
Behind the puppet, the Deva Path Yahiko wore an expressionless face while frantically complaining in his heart.
This world seems seriously messed up!
Getting bullied by Jiraiya and Rinjin working together was one thing.
Getting ambushed by the Hatake father-son duo with weird ninja tools during the Konoha invasion was another.
But why was Tsunade, who had just exhausted herself saving Konoha's villagers, now pumped up like she'd been injected with steroids and back to full health?
Can this world get any worse?
Thinking this, Nagato increasingly felt that as a god, he needed to save this world.
Ignoring Tsunade who was grabbing the Asura Path and beating it senseless, the Deva Path's gaze turned to the distance.
There, the Mount Myōboku Violence Office's gang bosses were watching with predatory eyes.
Then he saw his target for this mission—the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto!
When fellow disciples meet, they're especially hostile. Without much talk, both sides started fighting directly.
Akatsuki vs Mount Myōboku.
Two of the ninja world's most notorious violent organizations going at each other.
As for Tsunade, she was called aside by Rinjin, who had appeared at some point.
"Little Tsuna, let Naruto handle this. The kid needs the training!"
Katsuyu's clear, cute voice also chimed in.
"Lady Tsunade, I think Lord Rinjin is right. We should... should give Naruto some opportunities to train himself."
As she spoke, Katsuyu's voice suddenly grew quieter.
"I... I'm not scared just because there are too many toads..."
On the battlefield, with Jiraiya's help, Naruto finally wasn't fighting alone like in the original.
Jiraiya, familiar with Pain's intelligence, had reversed the information gap between both sides. Naruto's various techniques left Nagato dazzled.
Seeing this, Rinjin stopped paying attention to the battlefield situation and pulled Tsunade into the rescue work.
The battle was exceptionally intense, and both sides quickly moved from inside Konoha village to outside.
In the ruins, Sakumo used the opportunity of clearing debris to quietly sidle up to Rinjin.
"Rinjin, heading back to the village? I only took a week off this time—if I don't go back soon, they'll dock my pay!"
Hearing this, Rinjin casually glanced at Tsunade, who was directing the debris clearing not far away, and deliberately lowered his voice:
"Not going back for now. After this battle ends, I still need to make a trip to Takigakure."
"Why?" Sakumo asked.
"Konan..." Rinjin whispered in Sakumo's ear:
"The battle isn't balanced—there's too big an information gap between Nagato's side and Jiraiya's side. I'm guessing Nagato can't beat Naruto. But what about Konan? Will Jiraiya and Naruto really attack Konan?"
Putting himself in their shoes for a moment, Sakumo shook his head.
"No way. I know that guy Jiraiya—he can't bring himself to do it!"
"Exactly!" Rinjin nodded slightly, then revealed his plan.
"Konan is a very talented writer. I'm planning to represent Shueisha and sign an exclusive contract with her."
Hearing this, Sakumo's eyes immediately lit up. He threw his arm around Rinjin's neck excitedly:
"You mean... bring Konan to our village to focus on writing?!"
"Right." Rinjin nodded.
Hearing this, Sakumo, a VIP member of the Nan Family Three Sisters Fan Club, was thrilled. His mind completely forgot about the leave request as he eagerly said:
"Rinjin, we've known each other for almost fifty years, right?!"
Hearing this, Rinjin counted on his fingers, then nodded with an innocent expression.
Seeing his brother nod, Sakumo's old face immediately bloomed like a chrysanthemum.
"Brother, take me with you. I want to go too."
"You only took a week off—is that okay?"
"No problem! Worst case they dock my performance pay! If you're not scared, what am I scared of!" Sakumo thumped his chest loudly.
"Your eye isn't twitching anymore?"
"Not anymore."
"Alright then~" Rinjin nodded.
...
The war ended with results exactly as Rinjin had predicted.
Nagato was ultimately found by Naruto and Jiraiya.
After a round of Talk-no-Jutsu, Nagato used the Rinne Rebirth Technique, reviving the villagers and ninja who had died in this battle.
If the Sage of Six Paths hadn't interfered, Rinjin's teacher Mizuguma should be standing beside him right now.
However, there was no "however" to this situation.
Watching the surprise of the dead ninja after their revival, Rinjin brought Sakumo to find Tsunade.
"Little Tsuna, something came up in the Hidden Rain Village. Sakumo and I are going back for a bit. Oh, and if you need anything, just find my shadow clone."
Hearing this, Tsunade, who was busy beyond belief, nodded.
What she didn't know was that as long as Rinjin stayed in Konoha, it was the greatest help to Konoha.
The previous battle, where the Nine-Tails inside Naruto didn't go berserk, was the best proof.
Compared to Uchiha Madara, the Nine-Tails was more afraid of Rinjin.
The tailed beasts' inner worlds were connected—he could sense the Two-Tails Matatabi's attachment to Rinjin.
Because of this, he could never hate Rinjin the way he hated Uchiha Madara, but the fear was real.
After all, the nickname "Tailed Beast Juicer" wasn't earned for nothing.
After saying goodbye to Tsunade, Rinjin and Sakumo embarked on their long journey to recruit new members.
Time passed, and a week after they left Konoha, a squad from the Hidden Cloud Village arrived at Konoha.
The jinchūriki from various villages had been killed, the Fourth Raikage's brother Killer Bee was missing, and now Konoha's Nine-Tails jinchūriki had also been attacked.
The Kage from all villages sensed the severity of the situation.
A Five Kage Summit was inevitable.
Faced with the unanimous opinion of the other four great hidden villages, Tsunade, who was busy beyond measure every day, had no choice but to delegate work to various high-ranking officials and set out with her two disciples, Shizune and Rin.
The location for this meeting was set in the Land of Iron, which had always been neutral and where the way of the samurai flourished.
However, what they didn't know was that the Valley of the End lay in the boundless wilderness north of the Land of Iron.
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