Naruto, age seven, sat cross-legged in his apartment, waiting impatiently for two cups of instant ramen to brew.
For once, Naruto was actually in a great mood.
Because ever since a certain pervert sage had shown up recently,
Things had really started looking up for Naruto.
The man claimed to be the Fourth Hokage's mentor—one of the legendary Sannin from Konoha—and currently the acting Hokage...
He certainly sounded impressive.
Plus, he even willingly became Naruto's guardian,
And began teaching him ninjutsu.
This absolutely thrilled Naruto.
Without hesitation, Naruto stuck close to Jiraiya like glue.
Although after spending some time together,
Naruto also discovered this white-haired uncle had many flaws.
For instance—being a pervert. Extremely lecherous. To put it bluntly... still obsessed with women.
Yet undeniably,
Compared to everyone else, he treated Naruto exceptionally well.
He didn't just teach Naruto ninjutsu—he often took him out to eat and even brought him to public baths...
Of course, most importantly,
Through this pervy sage, he finally felt a kind of care and warmth that he'd never known before—something like family.
So over these past few weeks,
Naruto stopped deliberately spending money on paint and quit his prank of painting on the Hokage Rock.
Because he'd already gotten the attention he wanted...
As a result, his relief funds had become slightly more abundant too.
At least he no longer drank expired milk or ate expired instant noodles.
Occasionally when visiting Old Man Ichiraku's noodle shop,
He could actually pay for a bowl of ramen once in a while.
Even daring to indulge by eating two cups of instant noodles in one meal...
His life felt increasingly hopeful.
"Finally ready! Time to eat!"
Naruto rubbed his hands together and grabbed the cup of ramen, ready to dig in.
Just then,
Suddenly, the whole building trembled violently.
The massive shake-up overturned Naruto's noodles, spilling them across the floor.
"What the heck?!"
"Ahhh~~~"
"My ramen!"
Then, a colossal summoned centipede—conjured from another realm—tore through the building, instantly piercing its core.
"Woahhh~ such a huge centipede!"
Seeing the structure collapse, Naruto no longer cared about the spilled ramen.
Quickly acting, he skillfully climbed out the window and jumped onto the street outside.
Once he landed outside, Naruto suddenly understood—the whole village was under attack...
But strangely, the streets were empty. There was no sign of villagers fleeing in panic.
That's when he remembered:
An hour ago, there had been chaos on the streets as people rushed to evacuate...
Yet still, no one had come to tell him. He hadn't paid much attention.
After all, during dangerous times,
Would those villagers who saw him as nothing more than the Nine-Tails truly care whether he lived or died?
Still, he hadn't expected—
That the village would actually be attacked tonight!
"Where is Grandpa Third?"
"And where's the Pervy Sage?"
"Did they go somewhere?"
Naruto wore a puzzled expression.
Meanwhile, glancing behind him.
Suddenly, he realized that not far behind him stood a young woman in a long black robe.
"Who are you?..."
"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"
Konan asked coldly.
She hadn't sensed any tailed beast chakra from this brat.
Either the intel was wrong and this kid wasn't really the Nine-Tails' host,
or his seal was strong enough to completely mask the beast's presence.
"You're not a ninja from Konoha. Who exactly are you?"
Naruto wasn't stupid. He immediately figured out something was off about her.
After all, someone from the village wouldn't ask such a ridiculous question...
"Good, so it really is you."
Konan confirmed.
Then she slightly raised her right hand, causing countless sheets of paper to surge forth from behind her, quickly flying toward Naruto.
"Huh? What are you doing?"
Naruto panicked.
However, within moments, the inexperienced Naruto was wrapped tightly in white paper like a mummy by the overwhelming wave of pages.
Only his eyes were left exposed.
Even his mouth was packed tightly with white paper.
"Wwwaaahh~~~"
Naruto struggled while mumbling for help.
"Don't struggle. Be a good boy and maybe I'll make it quick..."
Konan waved again.
The swirling paper then carried Naruto toward her.
...
"Got him?"
Pain's Human Path suddenly appeared beside Konan.
In fact, moments ago, the Human Path had used his ability to read the memories of several Konoha ninjas,
which led them to find Naruto's location...
"Yeah. This is the one."
Konan nodded.
Truthfully, she hadn't expected this.
The operation to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki went surprisingly smoothly.
It almost seemed as if Konoha didn't value this jinchuriki at all?
They didn't even arrange anyone to guard him?
How careless!
"What about [Asura Path]?"
"He rushed over to assist [Deva Path]. A minor issue arose over there."
"So what now?"
"First, take the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki back. We must avoid bumping into that Uchiha Shimoku brat and cause an unexpected situation..."
Ordered the Human Path.
This was also Nagato's decision beforehand.
Capturing the Nine-Tails was more important than killing the Third Hokage.
"Fine!"
However, just as the two prepared to leave,
Konan suddenly froze.
"Someone's coming..."
"They move fast. Their chakra feels familiar..."
"Oh? Familiar chakra? Could it be...?"
Before the Human Path could finish speaking,
a furious shout rang out from afar:
"Let go of Naruto!"
Jiraiya returned just in time, rushing directly toward Naruto's residence.
He certainly didn't want anything unfortunate to happen to his student ever again...
"It really is you..."
Pain murmured, watching Jiraiya land on the ruins to their right, a wistful expression crossing his mind.
"You're…Konan?"
"And you…those eyes? Eyes belonging to Nagato…"
"What exactly are you two doing?"
Jiraiya was equally stunned when he got a clear look at Konan and Pain's Human Path.
As far as he knew, Konan and her companions had seemingly perished long ago.
Why were they here now?
And wearing the garments of Akatsuki...
Could it be that they'd joined Akatsuki?
Was she now invading Konoha alongside this Pain?
"What we're doing has nothing to do with you, our teacher?"
"Don't try to stop us. I really don't want to fight you..."
Konan coldly warned him.
With that, she prepared to take Naruto and leave.
"Are you kidding? There's no way I'd let you take Naruto away!"
"Konan, leave Naruto here!"
"He's not someone you can touch!"
"I don't want to fight you either!"
Jiraiya leapt in front of Konan, blocking her path with a serious expression.
No matter what, he couldn't allow someone from Akatsuki to take Naruto away.
Even if that person used to be his own disciple.
"No need for idle talk. Break through by force!"
Nagato issued orders through the Human Path.
"Understood!"
Konan acknowledged the command before launching her attack instantly.
She immediately split into countless sheets of paper that shot toward Jiraiya.
"Tch, looks like communication is impossible after all!"
"I'll just have to subdue you first."
[Fire Release: Flame Bullet]
The swirling papers and roaring flames clashed violently in midair.
Unfortunately, Jiraiya's hastily cast technique stood no chance against Konan's relentless storm of razor-sharp paper blades.
Jiraiya was soon overwhelmed by the sheer density of her paper barrage.
Seeing this, the experienced Jiraiya naturally didn't continue direct confrontation.
He immediately sidestepped and used the [Toad Oil Bullet Technique], spewing out a massive glob of sticky toad oil, engulfing Konan in it.
He aimed to drench her completely in the slick substance—hoping it would disrupt her Dance of the Shikigami entirely.
This kind of ninjutsu was meant to counter Konan's Dance of the Shikigami directly.
It would definitely leave her entire body slick and immobilize the movement of her paper.
Unfortunately, Jiraiya miscalculated.
That wave of toad oil did indeed hit and envelop Konan.
But soon, all the oil slid off her body without sticking.
It looked like she was coated in some kind of oil-repellent layer.
After carefully observing, Jiraiya finally noticed.
The outermost layer covering Konan's form was actually made of an extremely thin sheet of aluminum foil.
It was this very layer of foil that blocked the toad oil from contaminating her!
"Tch! So you're using oil-proof foil now, you little brat!"
"You've become so cautious—did you suffer something similar before?"
Jiraiya muttered bitterly, filled with regret.
If not for that foil, Konan would've already been taken down by now!
He wondered bitterly which bastard had gotten to her first, leaving her scarred by past experiences enough to be this prepared...
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