"Is it really you? Konan?"
Jiraiya's voice was something they could never forget, no matter how many years had passed.
Turning around, they saw that their teacher, Jiraiya. The other party was no longer the young man he once was.
And the changes in Konan and the others were even greater.
It was so great that Jiraiya almost didn't dare to recognize them.
Although he had mentally prepared himself, when Jiraiya actually saw the former purple-haired little girl turned into the present-day 'emo-girl', his feelings were inevitably mixed.
She even had a piercing on her face.
Her sense of aesthetics had indeed developed in a strange direction without her teacher around.
The only thing unchanged was the paper flower Konan wore in her hair.
But to be honest, after witnessing that Konan was still alive with his own eyes, Jiraiya was happy deep down.
"Jiraiya… sensei."
The last word sounded somewhat stiff when uttered. Konan's face showed no expression, but her heart was already stirred.
She was well aware that their actions would attract Konoha's Ninjas sooner or later, and meeting Jiraiya was inevitable.
She just hadn't expected it to happen so soon, and for Jiraiya to appear so suddenly.
"So it really is you… so, the leader of the Akatsuki is Nagato?"
"What about Yahiko? Is he here too?"
Different from the original work, this time Jiraiya had learned from Naruto beforehand that the Akatsuki was founded by the possessor of the [Rinnegan].
Therefore, upon seeing Konan, he wasn't as surprised.
Hearing Nagato and Yahiko's names from Jiraiya seemed to snap Konan out of her emotional turmoil from seeing an old acquaintance.
She returned to being the [Angel of God], her words cold and detached.
"Sorry, Jiraiya-sensei, but now we are enemies."
To realize her comrades' dream, Konan had to do this.
As she spoke, countless paper sheets shot toward Jiraiya.
The paper was infused with Chakra, becoming as hard as iron… a direct hit would be no different from a shuriken.
Seeing this, Sasuke and Karin on the side prepared to intervene, but they were stopped by Jiraiya's outstretched hand.
"Let this teacher give his student a lesson again."
With that, he waved his hand casually, and a sky full of ink transformed into identical shuriken, clashing with the paper sheets.
Almost every pure white paper sheet was stained with ink.
"What a coincidence, meeting you again right after I obtained this ability."
Without any visible action from Jiraiya, the ink-stained paper sheets automatically flew up, and then, following his will, shot back toward Konan.
No matter what [Paper Release Ninjutsu] Konan used, it was suppressed by an equal amount of ink.
Even the explosive tags mixed within the paper lost control upon contact with the ink.
Ink could freely dye white paper, so Jiraiya's ability seemed tailored to completely counter Konan.
And this was still Jiraiya holding back, as he didn't use other Ninjutsu.
Otherwise, he could just summon a toad and have it spit toad oil in Konan's direction to finish things.
It seemed Jiraiya didn't need their help on this side, so Karin and Sasuke headed toward the battlefield where Naruto was.
On this side.
Asura Path had long recognized Naruto's identity. Without hesitation, it severed its arm to create distance, then launched a barrage of missiles covering Naruto and Shinno.
Shinno struggled desperately to break free from Naruto's one-handed grip, but no matter how much strength he exerted, he couldn't loosen that large hand's hold.
"How is this possible!"
He had, after all, already activated the Eight Inner Gates and his Body Revival Technique!
"Hehe, don't be so scared."
Naruto showed a kind smile, then turned his face towards Asura Path and opened his mouth.
The missiles from another dimension were directly swallowed whole by the abyssal maw.
An attack of this level was nothing to Naruto, it didn't even sting. The only effect was adding new curios to his collection.
The Rinnegan narrowed, and Asura Path once again 'opened its mind', firing a laser towards them.
Adhering to the principle of courtesy in kind, Naruto also opened his mouth.
A breath of black, destructive energy shot out from his mouth.
[Conqueror's Flash]… a terrifying impact created from the combination of Conqueror's Haki and Yang Attribute Chakra, was not something a simple laser could handle.
That dreadful breath almost effortlessly 'pierced' through everything in its path.
This also includes Asura Path's body.
Half of its body was destroyed, revealing the various weapons underneath.
"As expected, it's not a living person."
When Naruto had observed with his Observation Haki earlier, he had sensed that unnatural aura.
It was somewhat similar to the clone bodies created by Orochimaru.
Simply put, it was 'a dead thing faintly alive'.
Seeing Naruto's attention diverted, Shinno's eyes turned sinister. His other hand formed a fist, silently sneaking an attack towards Naruto.
"Oh… I almost forgot about you."
Before coming here, they had found the unconscious Amaru below the fortress. After rescuing and treating her, they learned the general situation from her.
Although the young girl herself was somewhat confused about the circumstances, the scenes and words she saw and heard before falling into despair were deeply etched in her mind.
Naruto's hand moved like a blade, and with a casual swing, he severed most of Shinno's shoulder.
"Aaahhh!"
Shinno wouldn't die easily, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel pain.
The wound from his severed arm began to heal rapidly within mere seconds. With the supply of Dark Chakra, a new arm quickly regenerated.
"He can even do something like this?"
Shinno felt the pain, but he also understood the gap between himself and his opponent from the brief exchange. He immediately made a decision.
He first put on a fearful expression, his hand touching a mechanism behind him. A compartment containing a scroll opened.
"You came for this secret technique too, right? I'll give it to you, I'll give it to you!"
As he spoke, Shinno threw the scroll to Naruto. Then, the floor beneath his feet cracked open, and he fell through the opening downwards.
As for Naruto, he casually caught the scroll and showed no intention of pursuing.
"Karin, Sasuke, I'll leave him to you two."
As soon as the words fell, Sasuke and Karin, who had been ready for a long time, charged down through the large opening.
The two followed a metal pipe down, the end of which was a large hall erected with unknown devices.
This was the power room of the Ancor Vantian and also the place where the [Zero-Tails'] main body was stored.
More importantly…
"Hahahaha! Did he send you two brats to your deaths?!"
"Give up! Here, you can't use Ninjutsu!"
Just as Shinno said, any Ninjutsu released here would be absorbed by the surrounding devices and the Zero-Tails.
Except for Shinno, who was empowered by the Zero-Tails, other Ninja here were just ordinary people.
Sasuke and Karin glanced at each other, both seeing the strangeness in each other's eyes.
'This really was… all within Naruto(-san)'s predictions, wasn't it?'
Amidst Shinno's wild laughter, Sasuke and Karin's figures began to slowly change.