"He's finally back in Konoha."
After hearing the news brought by Son Gokū, Naruto leaned back against the stone wall. He closed his eyes, and his consciousness immediately slipped into the Mirror World.
A short while later, Sasuke suddenly formed hand seals and sent a Shadow Clone out of the cave.
Sakura's eyes lit up. "Sasuke-kun, did you send a Shadow Clone out to stand watch?"
"Yeah," Sasuke replied flatly.
"Then I'll help too," Sakura said with a smile.
"No need for now," Sasuke said, a flicker passing through his eyes. Seeing the confusion on Sakura's face as she was about to form seals, he continued, "When my Shadow Clone comes back in the middle of the night, you can send yours out to replace it. That way we'll all have time to rest and keep our strength up."
"Oh."
Sakura nodded thoughtfully, then hesitated. "But is that really necessary? Naruto already went out earlier—he probably left Shadow Clones around to keep watch too."
"Do you really not know how he is?" Sasuke said, glancing at Naruto, who looked sound asleep. There was a hint of jealousy in his voice. "This guy could make hundreds of Shadow Clones back when he hadn't even graduated yet. Do you think we can compare to that?"
"Uh…"
Sakura stiffened and sat back down. Thinking about how Naruto casually used dozens of Shadow Clones on missions, and how dangerous the Chūnin Exams were, she decided it really was better to conserve her chakra as much as possible.
Outside the cave, Sasuke's Shadow Clone found one of Naruto's Shadow Clones. Without exchanging a word, the two vanished.
When they reappeared, they were standing inside a brightly lit laboratory in the Land of Snow.
"After the procedure, go down to the second basement level—the cultivation room. Someone there will take you back," Naruto said.
With a poof, he dispersed into smoke.
Sasuke formed hand seals and created two more Shadow Clones. Then, curling the fingers of his left hand, he produced a small glass container out of thin air. Inside floated a pair of two-tomoe Sharingan.
He glanced at the jar, then walked toward the operating table.
Ten minutes later, Sasuke arrived on Basement Level Two. After winding through several corridors, he stopped in front of an enormous iron gate.
"If the cultivation room can use cloning technology…"
Rumble—!
Before he could finish the thought, the gate slowly slid open. A familiar figure stepped out.
"Keijirō?"
The man was Keijirō. He bowed respectfully to Sasuke, then walked off without a word.
"…Huh?"
Sasuke watched his retreating back. In the past, Keijirō had always used a Transformation Technique when meeting others—but from his demeanor just now, it was clear he had known Sasuke for a long time.
That's definitely Naruto's doing.
With that conclusion, Sasuke stepped through the cultivation room's entrance. Inside, his attention was immediately seized by a towering stone dais at the far end.
"You're a bit slow."
Naruto walked out from behind the dais.
"A Byakugan… can actually be used like this?"
Sasuke stood below the dais, staring up at a massive glass sphere nearly five meters in diameter floating above it. The sphere was packed densely with Byakugan.
Every so often, the sphere pulsed with light. When it did, all the Byakugan inside merged into one, projecting scenes of mountains, rivers, cities, and people—like a living map of the world.
Naruto shook his head slightly. "An accidental failure."
"A failure?"
Sasuke clearly disagreed. He handed Naruto another glass container—this one holding the three-tomoe Sharingan he had just removed.
At that moment, the sphere glowed again. This time, Sasuke saw not only the capital of the Land of Snow, but also the icy plains where he usually trained.
Naruto accepted the container and said, "Right now, in the entire Forest of Death, aside from Yakushi Kabuto, only Team 7 is still outside the central tower."
"Kabuto is hunting me," Sasuke said darkly, killing intent leaking from his eyes.
"Sorry. He can't die yet," Naruto replied calmly. "I still have some use for him."
"…You're planning to use him for something?" Sasuke frowned.
Whoosh.
Another Naruto suddenly appeared between them.
"Kabuto is very close now."
The Naruto beside Sasuke handed the glass container to the newly arrived Naruto. Then he grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and activated Flying Thunder God, returning them to the cave outside the Forest of Death.
"You let me kill everyone Orochimaru sent after me," Sasuke said as they landed. "So why keep Kabuto alive?"
"You're that curious?" Naruto smiled faintly. "If I said I'm keeping him around just to settle some personal grudges, would you believe me?"
"Personal grudges…?"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, recalling how Naruto had deliberately taken a beating earlier that day.
Is he planning to use Kabuto to get back at Orochimaru?
Mirror World
"So Jiraiya already knows Pain's identity?"
Naruto was surprised as he watched Jiraiya confront the Third Hokage about his three former students. On-screen, the Hokage fell silent for a long time before ordering Hayate Gekkō to retrieve the Rain Country files related to Hanzō.
Jiraiya was clearly dissatisfied. He took the files and left without saying another word.
"Heh. The old man doesn't dare tell his disciple the truth," Kurama sneered. "Those files were all compiled and submitted by Danzō. What Danzō actually discussed with the Third Hokage never made it into the records."
"There's nothing in there about Danzō conspiring with Hanzō to seize the Rinnegan."
"Jiraiya isn't stupid," Kurama continued. "If Konoha has detailed files on his students in the Rain Country, then the village was definitely involved. The Third's behavior is obvious guilt."
Son Gokū raised his head and added, "What confuses me is this—before we saw Danzō's data puppet, we only knew that Pain had the Rinnegan. After seeing his memories, we learned that the Rinnegan belonged to Nagato, one of Jiraiya's three students."
"And we also learned that Pain's name was Yahiko—another of Jiraiya's students."
"But Yahiko supposedly died in Danzō and Hanzō's conspiracy. Yet now he's alive, wielding the Rinnegan, while Nagato has vanished. How does that make sense?"
Isobu rumbled, "Maybe Yahiko never died, and later forcibly took Nagato's Rinnegan."
"I don't think so," Chōmei said, hovering in the air. "We saw how powerful Nagato was when he awakened the Rinnegan. Even Danzō and Hanzō together with elite jōnin had to flee. No way Yahiko could steal his eyes by force."
"This has little to do with raw strength," Kurama said gravely. "Think about Uchiha Shisui. He was poisoned, lost most of his strength, and would've had both eyes stolen by Danzō if he hadn't burned his life force to manifest Susanoo."
Son Gokū lowered his head. "Naruto—what are you thinking about?"
"How to get Jiraiya to hand over the seal key," Naruto replied.
He closed the screen and turned to the beasts. "The Third Hokage originally wanted Jiraiya to remove the Five Elements Seal on me, then train me so we'd form a teacher–student bond."
"But you all saw what happened. Jiraiya immediately brought up his students from the Rain Country. The Hokage never even got the chance to bring me up."
"If Jiraiya goes back to the Rain Country to investigate, my chances of getting the key drop to almost zero. And if Jiraiya hadn't shown himself, no one in Konoha would even know he'd returned."
"It's just like how I use Shadow Clones as decoys while my real body moves freely by altering my chakra signature. And from the looks of it, Jiraiya's in a terrible mood—he won't fall into any trap I prepared."
When Naruto finished, Isobu, Son Gokū, and Chōmei all turned silently to Kurama.
Kurama flattened his ears and glared at them. Then he said firmly, "I suspect the toads of Mount Myōboku told him something. Otherwise, why would Jiraiya immediately question the Hokage the moment he returned?"
"And one more thing—I don't think Jiraiya will leave right away. We still have a chance."
"Oh?" Naruto looked up. "What makes you so sure?"
"You'll see soon enough," Kurama said, opening another window. "Didn't the Third Hokage say it himself? Orochimaru is back too."
"As one of the Three Sannin, once Jiraiya knows his old friend has returned, no matter how urgent his own concerns are, he'll help Konoha track Orochimaru before leaving."
Naruto's expression shifted. "You're right. In Orochimaru's memories, Jiraiya's been hunting him for years."
He looked at Orochimaru's icon thoughtfully. "But Jiraiya's sudden return is a variable in our plan. We need to get the Third Hokage to send him to me as soon as possible."
Kurama bared his teeth in a grin. He exchanged looks with the other tailed beasts, and all four vanished into streaks of light.
The Next Day
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura left the cave. After each swallowed a soldier pill recommended by Kakashi, they resumed their journey toward the central tower along the treetops.
Not long after, Sakura—leaping through the air—asked in confusion, "Sasuke-kun, we already have both scrolls. Why aren't we speeding up?"
Sasuke stopped briefly and glanced at Naruto, who was also looking at him curiously. Sasuke replied calmly, "The exam gives us five days to reach the tower. Since we already have the scrolls, we just need to arrive within the time limit. The closer we get to the tower, the more dangerous it becomes."
"I get it!" Sakura exclaimed. "There must be people lying in ambush near the tower to steal scrolls!"
Sasuke nodded slightly. But when he looked back at Naruto and saw the same realization on his face, his heart tightened.
Kabuto is definitely nearby.
With that thought, Sasuke kicked off the tree trunk and surged forward. Naruto and Sakura followed close behind.
Moments later, a figure emerged from the ground beneath the tree Sasuke had just left. After watching the direction Team 7 ran, he pulled out a stack of cards, selected one, and began writing on it with a pen.
Konoha
The Third Hokage arrived alone at the base of a five-story building. He took a puff from his pipe and entered. Minutes later, he stood on the rooftop—where a tall, broad-shouldered figure was already waiting.
"Where are their children?" the man asked.
It was Jiraiya.
This building had once been the Fourth Hokage's home. It had remained empty—until the explosion on the night of the Uchiha massacre, after which it was rebuilt into its current form.
"A lot has happened in the village over the years," the Third Hokage said as he walked to Jiraiya's side. "Because of his special status, I concealed Naruto's identity and arranged for him to live elsewhere. He's currently participating in the Chūnin Exams."
"He's taking the Chūnin Exams?" Jiraiya stared at him. "If I remember right, your letter last year said he would graduate this year."
"That's correct," the Third Hokage said calmly. "All newly graduated genin are participating. His jōnin-sensei is Kakashi, and one of his teammates is the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre—Uchiha Sasuke."
Hearing Kakashi's name, Jiraiya relaxed slightly. But the moment he heard "Uchiha Sasuke," his expression changed sharply.
"You're trying to control the Nine-Tails."
"I won't deny that," the Third Hokage sighed. "But my primary goal is to prevent another Nine-Tails incident."
"Unfortunately, that hope may already be slipping away—because Orochimaru has appeared."
"Orochimaru?" Jiraiya's face hardened.
"Yes," the Third Hokage said gravely. "According to Anko, Orochimaru admitted he placed the same curse mark on Sasuke that she bears—and said Sasuke would make a perfect vessel."
"I can't help you with that," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. "I couldn't stop him back then, even after you wounded him. I won't be able to catch him now."
The Third Hokage fell silent. After a moment, he said, "I'll handle Orochimaru myself. I came to you because I want you to handle Naruto's training."
"Naruto's training?" Jiraiya frowned. "What kind of problem could even you not solve?"
"Long ago," the Third Hokage sighed deeply, "Naruto was tempted by the Nine-Tails…"
Central Tower
"I can't believe we made it without running into an ambush!"
Sakura was brimming with excitement as she handed the two scrolls to an examiner. After verifying them, the examiner led the three of them to a temporary waiting room for those who passed.
They hadn't even sat down when the door opened.
Kakashi walked in.
"Sasuke—come with me."
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