Outside Konoha Village, on a high cliff.
Jiraiya put down his binoculars, watching the gradually subsiding war and smoke in the Village, and let out a long sigh of relief. Originally, he had just found an excellent viewing spot, intending to leisurely enjoy the final showdown of the Chunin Exams.
Given his status in Konoha, getting a VIP seat was just a matter of words, but he still chose a method more fitting to his style, staying alone in the distance. He just didn't expect that as he watched, his binoculars would accidentally "slide" towards a nearby women's bathhouse... By the time he turned his attention back to the arena, Naruto's match had just begun. He was watching with satisfaction when the attack erupted without warning.
"Good work, Gamaken," Jiraiya patted the huge, silent, purplish-red toad beneath his feet.
"It's alright, I'm clumsy anyway," Gamaken responded in a deep voice. Beneath its mountain-like body, a giant summoning snake, beaten to the brink of death, was being held down.
And in the surrounding forest, many Otogakure and Sunagakure Ninja lay sprawled, tightly bound by Toad Restriction Technique—this was the "battle result" Jiraiya achieved after quickly joining the battlefield when the chaos erupted.
However, the not-so-small explosions occasionally heard from a distance recently didn't seem to be caused by Konoha's regular Ninjutsu... Had the mysterious [Ember] Organization intervened? This point made Jiraiya quite concerned.
Just then, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a familiar figure—his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was darting into the dense forest outside the Village alone at an extremely fast speed!
The Old Man? Where is he going?
Jiraiya immediately formed a hand seal, dispelling Gamaken's summoning Jutsu. The giant toad disappeared in a puff of white smoke, leaving only the unconscious giant snake and the captives on the ground. He flashed, quickly giving chase.
"Hey! Old Man!" Jiraiya closed the distance in a few leaps and bounds, shouting at the figure in black battle clothes ahead, "Has the war ended? Although I'm not officially Hokage yet, your clean-up work as the soon-to-be-retired Hokage isn't over, is it?"
The Third Hokage heard him, his steps unbroken, only quickly glancing back. Seeing it was Jiraiya, he immediately turned his head back, his tone grave. "Jiraiya, you've come at a good time! This is not the time for small talk! Orochimaru escaped in the end. Your tracking skills shouldn't have dulled, have they? Come with me. This time, we must capture him, no matter what!"
Ultimately, that brief, probing conversation with "Menma" ended with the other party's clear denial. For experts of that caliber, most disdain lying about such identity issues. However, the Third Hokage's heart was still filled with irresolvable doubts and heavy emotions.
But the moment he confirmed Orochimaru's escape, he forcibly suppressed all his chaotic thoughts, and after ordering Anbu to fully clean up the battlefield and reassure the populace, he pursued alone.
Seeing this, Jiraiya immediately reined in the slightly frivolous expression on his face. He indeed had countless questions in his mind—about that organization, about that mysterious Menma... Especially, whether the Old Man's contact with "Ember" this time dispelled that conjecture, the conjecture that Menma might be Minato.
— — — — — —
What exactly is Orochimaru up to?!
Naruto, having arrived, after successfully ambushing with a Rasengan, immediately entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode again! A brilliant golden light instantly erupted, making him appear like the sun, dispelling the gloom in the forest.
"Bang!"
Just as Orochimaru was sent flying by the Rasengan, his body still airborne and hurtling backward, Naruto suddenly raised his right hand and swung it down fiercely. A condensed, incomparably golden Chakra giant fist appeared out of thin air, slamming down powerfully onto the body of the giant snake that was trying to bite him back!
"Boom!"
The giant snake's tough body was instantly pierced with a huge hole, blood mixed with shattered organs splattering everywhere! It let out a short, shrill hiss, its massive body twitched violently a few times, then completely went limp, losing all signs of life.
Naruto didn't even look at the dead summoned beast. With a flash of golden light, he instantly appeared next to the still-rolling snake head, carefully helping up Gaara, who was curled up inside the snake's mouth, his expression blank and dazed. He planned to first take Gaara to a safe area, then return to settle things with Orochimaru completely.
But... what exactly was wrong with this bastard Orochimaru?! Naruto was filled with confusion. Wasn't this guy always obsessed with the Sharingan and various Bloodline Limits? Why had he suddenly turned his attention to Tailed Beasts?
Recalling the three individuals Orochimaru summoned with Edo Tensei—Uzumaki Mito, Uzumaki Kushina, and the Fourth Kazekage Rasa—all were Ninja with extremely strong restraining abilities against Tailed Beasts.
From that moment on, Naruto vaguely suspected that Orochimaru's actions seemed to be targeting him.
And now, seeing Orochimaru abduct Gaara, he was completely certain. This guy's initial goal was probably to capture him! It was only because his plan was thwarted that he settled for second best, turning his target to Gaara.
This sense of "settling for second best" was very similar to the original story where Orochimaru was rebuffed by Uchiha Itachi and then turned his attention to Uchiha Sasuke.
Is it the butterfly effect? Have his appearance and actions caused Orochimaru's research direction to shift, making him interested in the power of Tailed Beasts?
As for how Naruto was able to find this place so precisely, it was thanks to Gold Experience's keen perception of life energy. After the battle stabilized slightly, he immediately began scanning the battlefield and quickly discovered two familiar life energies, but their states were extremely weak, like candles in the wind, clearly on the verge of death.
Fortunately, Naruto's storage scroll always contained a large amount of all-purpose detoxifying dishes made with the Pearl Jam ability.
After all, he could treat external injuries and deficiencies at any time, but detoxification and creating specific antibodies were not the strengths of those two Stands, nor was there time to develop vaccines on the spot. Thus, these two Sunagakure siblings who came to search for their brother were saved by Naruto, who had come to "capture people."
At the two's weak but anxious pleas, Naruto simply responded calmly. "Even if you didn't say anything, I would still go save him." This finally put the almost despairing duo slightly at ease.
"You... how did you find me...?"
Gaara, supported by Naruto, finally spoke, his voice terribly hoarse and dry, as if his vocal cords had been abraded by sandpaper.
Naruto was surprised to find Gaara's face as pale as paper, his eyes devoid of all light, leaving only an emptiness and numbness of being completely destroyed, and his body was also trembling slightly.
"The Flying Thunder God Mark won't disappear," Naruto offered a comforting smile. "I told you, I would protect you." He gently patted Gaara's shoulder, where a Flying Thunder God Jutsu formula unique to him shimmered with an almost imperceptible Chakra afterglow.
After gently placing Gaara behind a relatively safe large tree, Naruto slowly turned around. His gaze met that of Orochimaru, who had just shed from a damaged "shell" and stood up again not far away.
Their eyes met.
Naruto clearly saw that in Orochimaru's snake-like eyes, an undisguised jealousy and possessiveness burned, fixed intently on him.
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