The Uchiha Sasuke defection incident had finally erupted across the village like wildfire!
Even though the timing differed slightly from what many expected, and the ninja who convinced Sasuke to abandon Konoha wasn't the one originally anticipated, the final outcome remained devastatingly the same. If anything, the situation had grown more complicated than before.
The number of shinobi assigned to pursue Sasuke hadn't decreased as some might have hoped—instead, it had actually increased. The stakes were simply too high to allow the last Uchiha to slip away without a fight.
However, this time around, the person who intercepted Uchiha Sasuke wasn't Kaguya Kimimaro as many had feared. Instead, it was Orochimaru himself, accompanied by his loyal subordinate Yakushi Kabuto. The presence of these two formidable opponents changed everything about the pursuit mission.
Under the combined might of these two dangerous criminals, the Konoha pursuit team found themselves completely outmatched and ultimately failed in their critical mission. This failure occurred despite receiving valuable support from the three Sunagakure siblings, who had thrown their considerable abilities behind the rescue effort.
In normal circumstances, Yakushi Kabuto's impressive skills and experience would have been more than sufficient to defeat the pursuing shinobi without breaking a sweat. His medical ninjutsu combined with his combat prowess made him a nearly unstoppable force.
However, Gaara had grown significantly more powerful during this period, and his cooperation with the Konoha shinobi created unexpected complications for Yakushi Kabuto. The sand manipulation techniques, combined with the teamwork of multiple skilled ninja, put Kabuto in several embarrassing and dangerous situations throughout the battle.
Under normal circumstances, even these challenges wouldn't have posed a serious threat to someone of Kabuto's caliber. But at the most critical moment of the confrontation, when victory seemed within Orochimaru's grasp, Tsunade finished handling her urgent village matters and arrived on the battlefield with a fresh team of reinforcements.
Tsunade, who had finally overcome her debilitating hemophobia through intense psychological training, had completely restored her legendary strength after dedicating herself to rigorous practice for an extended period. Her recovery was made even more effective thanks to the detailed information that Naraku had previously shared with her about Yakushi Kabuto's specific fighting style, preferred techniques, and exploitable weaknesses.
As a result of this preparation, the moment Tsunade appeared on the battlefield, she immediately launched a devastating attack. With her superhuman strength fully unleashed, she delivered a bone-crushing punch that sent Yakushi Kabuto flying through the air, causing him to vomit blood and sustain serious internal injuries. For Tsunade, this moment represented long-awaited revenge for past grievances.
However, despite having Kabuto at her mercy, Tsunade's concern for Uzumaki Naruto, who was still pursuing Sasuke deeper into enemy territory, prevented her from delivering the final, killing blow. Instead, she quickly handed the seriously wounded Yakushi Kabuto over to her subordinates and immediately led her remaining forces in a desperate search for Naruto.
According to the detailed analysis conducted afterward by Konoha's intelligence division, although Yakushi Kabuto had sustained severe injuries from Tsunade's initial attack and was subsequently stabbed multiple times by both Konoha shinobi and Gaara in a coordinated assault, and was finally buried several hundred meters underground by Gaara's sand techniques, he somehow managed to survive. Despite Gaara's thorough search of the underground area using his sand sensory abilities, Kabuto's body was never recovered.
The conclusion was both frustrating and alarming: the dangerous medical ninja had somehow escaped, likely to fight another day.
Meanwhile, Tsunade's search for Naruto led her directly into a confrontation with Orochimaru, who had surrounded himself with numerous strange and unnatural subordinates—the results of his twisted experiments. The two legendary Sannin immediately engaged in a fierce, life-or-death battle that shook the very ground beneath their feet.
Tsunade thoroughly dominated Orochimaru, whose right hand remained unusable due to the effects of the Third Hokage's final jutsu, while the accompanying Konoha shinobi systematically eliminated the grotesque monsters that bore little resemblance to anything human due to Orochimaru's cruel and inhumane experiments.
Despite Tsunade's overwhelming victory in the battle itself, Orochimaru's primary objective had already been achieved. Sasuke had voluntarily chosen to leave with the Snake Sannin, abandoning his village and former teammates without looking back.
In the end, Tsunade returned to the village carrying only the unconscious form of Uzumaki Naruto. When Naruto finally regained consciousness in the hospital, he immediately began screaming and demanding to know where Sasuke had gone, insisting that he needed to bring his teammate back home. His emotional outburst was only silenced when Tsunade's iron fist connected with his skull, temporarily knocking sense back into the distraught young ninja.
After remaining silent for what felt like hours, processing the reality of what had happened, Uzumaki Naruto threw himself into training with an intensity that bordered on self-destruction. This was the scene that Naraku and three other important figures were now witnessing with growing concern.
The four of them stood at the edge of the training forest, watching in worried silence as Uzumaki Naruto pushed his body far beyond reasonable limits in his desperate training regimen.
Both Kakashi and Jiraiya had initially planned to step forward and attempt to dissuade the young ninja from his destructive path, but neither could find the right words to convince Naruto to slow down or take a more measured approach to his grief.
Kakashi, in particular, was struggling with his own emotional turmoil as he couldn't help but associate the painful memory of Uchiha Obito's apparent death with Sasuke's voluntary defection. The parallels were too obvious and too painful to ignore.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, understood Naruto's feelings on a deeply personal level because his former teammate and closest friend, Orochimaru, had made a similar choice years ago, abandoning everything they had built together in pursuit of forbidden power and knowledge.
Given their own emotional struggles, neither man felt equipped to offer meaningful consolation or advice at this critical moment.
Eventually, Kakashi departed alone, likely heading to the memorial stone to mourn his fallen friend, as was his longtime habit during moments of personal crisis.
This left Tsunade, Shihouin Naraku, and Jiraiya to make their way together to the Hokage's office, where important decisions about the village's future would need to be made.
After settling into the meeting room and reviewing some preliminary documents, two other high-ranking Konoha advisors—Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura—arrived punctually for the scheduled meeting.
The formal discussion began immediately.
"What did you just say? You want to take the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki away from the village?" Utatane Koharu's voice rose in disbelief.
"That's absolutely impossible! We cannot allow such a thing!" Mitokado Homura added with equal fervor.
"The Nine-Tails represents our village's ultimate weapon and last resort in case of a catastrophic emergency. Under no circumstances can Uzumaki Naruto be permitted to leave Konoha's protective boundaries," Koharu continued, her face flushed with indignation.
As soon as the meeting had officially begun, Jiraiya had presented his proposal to take Uzumaki Naruto on an extended training journey outside the village. This suggestion was immediately met with fierce and vocal opposition from both elder advisors.
Even when Jiraiya pointed out that Iwagakure's two Jinchūriki had been away from their home village for extended periods without incident, his argument failed to convince either advisor to reconsider their position.
"Uzumaki Naruto is still just a child," Koharu pressed on relentlessly. "If something unexpected and dangerous were to happen during this proposed journey, who would take responsibility for the consequences?"
"I will take full responsibility!" Tsunade declared firmly.
"As will I!" Jiraiya added with equal conviction.
Shihouin Naraku remained thoughtfully silent throughout this exchange because he genuinely questioned whether there was any real need for Uzumaki Naruto to accompany Jiraiya on this training journey.
Based on his knowledge of future events, Naruto's two-and-a-half-year training trip abroad—what some called "one Kun year"—would not result in significant improvement to his combat abilities upon his return to the village.
This lack of progress became especially apparent when compared to Uchiha Sasuke's remarkable development during the same period. Sasuke had not only dramatically improved in all fundamental ninja qualities but had also begun developing an impressive series of jutsu specifically suited to his unique fighting style and capabilities. His signature Chidori technique had evolved considerably, and he had even created devastating finishing moves like the lightning-based Kirin technique.
While Sasuke might still lack the experience and refined techniques of truly elite ninja, his visible growth and development over those crucial years was undeniable and impressive.
In stark contrast, despite training under Jiraiya's direct guidance for such an extended period, Naruto would return to the village still completely ignorant about the fundamental nature of chakra manipulation. Kakashi and Yamato would be forced to start his education from scratch, spending valuable time teaching him basic Nature Transformation techniques related to Wind Style that he should have already mastered.
This raised serious questions about Jiraiya's teaching methods and priorities. If the legendary Sannin hadn't taught Naruto these essential basics, and if he hadn't introduced him to Sage Mode techniques during their time together, what exactly had they accomplished during those years away from the village?
The truth was that Jiraiya's primary focus during the training journey would be teaching Uzumaki Naruto how to properly control and harness the Nine-Tails' chakra rather than developing his fundamental ninja skills.
When the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had originally sealed the Nine-Tails within his infant son, he had deliberately incorporated a backdoor mechanism into the seal. This hidden feature was designed to allow Naruto to eventually access and control the beast's immense power when he reached sufficient maturity and training.
Jiraiya had recognized Namikaze Minato's long-term intentions and had structured his training program specifically to help Naruto master the Nine-Tails' chakra and learn to work in harmony with the powerful beast sealed within him.
There was certainly nothing wrong with this approach, as most Tailed Beast Jinchūriki relied heavily on their respective tailed beasts' power to reach their full potential in combat. If Naruto could truly learn to control the Nine-Tails' chakra effectively, his later combat performance suggested that techniques like Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and complete Nine-Tails Mode would grant him incredible, almost unstoppable power.
Unfortunately, mastering the power of the Nine-Tails would prove to be far more challenging and dangerous than anyone initially anticipated.
Even with Jiraiya risking his own life throughout the training process and dedicating more than two full years to the effort, he would only succeed in helping Uzumaki Naruto achieve a partial tailed beast transformation state. Even this limited success would come with the constant risk of Naruto losing his sanity and going on a destructive rampage.
In general terms, Uzumaki Naruto's raw combat strength would show only modest improvement after being away for two and a half years. However, he would mature significantly as a person and develop into a competent, well-rounded ninja under Jiraiya's careful guidance and mentorship.
The training would teach him essential skills like effective teamwork, tactical battle analysis, and strategic thinking. He would even learn to use his signature Multiple Shadow Clone Technique in more creative and versatile ways, expanding its applications far beyond simple overwhelming force.
Given these considerations, Naraku found himself genuinely uncertain about whether allowing Uzumaki Naruto to follow Jiraiya on this extended journey was truly the best course of action for everyone involved.
At the meeting table, Tsunade, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura continued their heated argument, each participant loudly expressing their strong opinions and refusing to yield ground to the others.
Ironically, Jiraiya—the person who had originally proposed taking Naruto away—had fallen completely silent and was simply watching the three-way argument unfold before him with a mixture of amusement and concern.
"Enough! That's quite enough from all of you," Naraku finally declared, slapping his hand firmly on the table to interrupt the escalating quarrel and give everyone a much-needed moment to collect themselves.
"Jiraiya-sensei's desire to take Naruto out for intensive training is fundamentally a positive development that we should support," he continued calmly.
Hearing this endorsement, Tsunade smiled with obvious satisfaction and triumph, while both Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura's faces darkened with displeasure and frustration.
After taking a moment to gauge everyone's reactions to his initial statement, Naraku continued with his carefully reasoned explanation. "According to Naruto's current age and development, he has reached the critical point where he must begin learning to properly access and control the Nine-Tails' power. The Hokage herself has confirmed that Naruto had already experienced an uncontrolled eruption of Nine-Tails chakra during his final battle with Sasuke at the Valley of the End."
"This incident should be considered a dangerous warning sign that cannot be ignored. However, if we allow Naruto to remain in the village while he learns to access the Nine-Tails' chakra, and something unexpected happens that triggers a complete tailed beast rampage, the consequences could be catastrophic. Even if we manage to reseal the Nine-Tails as quickly as possible using our most skilled sealing specialists, significant losses to both property and human life would be virtually unavoidable."
"On the other hand, if Jiraiya-sensei teaches Naruto how to safely access the Nine-Tails' chakra in a remote location far from populated areas, any potential accidents or mishaps won't result in major losses to our village or its people."
"Of course, this approach means that Jiraiya-sensei should seriously consider whether he's prepared to risk dying at the hands of a rampaging Nine-Tails if the training goes wrong."
Naraku's thoughtful and logical analysis gave everyone in the room something substantial to consider, and the heated argument gradually gave way to serious contemplation of the very real issues at stake.
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It's called "Douluo Dalu: My Strength Comes From Your Anguish." If you're looking for a fun, chaotic story with a trolling MC, please check it out on my profile. Thank you!
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