The dramatic entrance of the "Legendary Fool" ended with a flamboyant pose and a heavy, ringing silence. All eyes turned toward the Sage. Naruto's face radiated pure relief, while Shorai looked on with a mask of dry skepticism. Kisame wore a look of predatory mirth, and Itachi remained a statue of cold indifference. At the end of the hall, Sasuke lay broken, his pained breathing the only sound in the corridor.
"..."
"You fell for that woman's act completely!" Naruto's voice finally exploded in an emotional outburst. "You're the last person who should be acting cool right now! You aren't gallant at all, you Pervy Sage!"
"Erhm... I told you... don't call me that in front of people!" Jiraiya blustered, his face flushing with sudden embarrassment.
"Who cares what he's called," Shorai interjected, wiping sweat from his forehead. He was still rhythmically pulsing his chakra to purge the oily residue of Itachi's Genjutsu. "We have a much bigger problem on our hands."
"Exactly! Focus, Pervy Sage! These guys aren't normal!" Naruto pointed a trembling finger at the cloaked duo.
"You certainly took your sweet time getting here," Shorai added, a half-smile playing on his lips as he fueled the fire.
"Hear that? Even Shorai thinks you're slow, Pervy Sage!" Naruto barked.
"How many times do I have to tell you! Do not call me that!" Jiraiya snapped at Naruto before glaring at Shorai, momentarily ignoring the two S-rank criminals standing ten feet away.
"Heh-heh-heh," Kisame chuckled, the sound like sandpaper on stone. "The 'Legendary Fool,' is it? That sounds about right." He paused, his gaze sharpening. "But he is still Jiraiya, one of the Sannin. We only hoped the bait would delay a known womanizer long enough for us to finish our business."
"No way... you actually know who he is?" Naruto gaped at Kisame.
"Well, you see... I have a reputation to uphold..." Jiraiya tried to regain his footing.
"You really don't know much about your own master, do you, Naruto?" Shorai glanced at the blonde boy, his tone carrying a hint of pity.
Itachi remained silent, his three-tomoe Sharingan tracking every micro-movement in the hall.
"It appears you released the Genjutsu on that woman," Kisame noted with mock disappointment.
Jiraiya carefully leaned the unconscious woman against the wall. "You made a slave of her just to get to a child? Don't ever call yourself a man again."
"They clearly fear you, Jiraiya-san," Shorai noted, his eyes never leaving Kisame. "Separating you from the target was their only logical move. They don't consider me a threat worth a distraction."
"So, your target is Naruto..." Jiraiya stood tall, his playful aura evaporating into the cold gravity of a Sannin.
"W-whaa? Why me?" Naruto staggered back, eyes wide, as Sasuke shifted his head in the background, staring at the blonde through a haze of agony.
"I see," Itachi's calm voice cut through the air. "That is why Kakashi knew. You are the source of his information." He surveyed the room, his gaze final. "By order of the Akatsuki, the abduction of Naruto Uzumaki is our top priority."
"That's a pipe dream," Shorai stated flatly. He was calculating his remaining reserves, preparing for one final, desperate burst if needed. "It's not happening today."
"I'm not handing him over," Jiraiya added, his chakra beginning to flare.
"Is that so..." Itachi's voice was a dark foreboding.
Puff!
The armored toad that had blocked Kisame's blade vanished in a cloud of white smoke, leaving the Shark of the Mist free to strike.
"Oh, you're persistent... perfect!" Jiraiya's eyes turned icy. "I'll finish you both right here and—"
"H-he is... m-mine! Back off!"
Sasuke's voice, trembling with a mix of hatred and physical trauma, pulled everyone's attention. He dragged himself to his feet, clutching his shattered wrist.
"I won't let you!" he huffed, blood dripping from his chin. "The only one who is going to kill him is ME!"
Shorai watched the boy's suicidal determination and couldn't stay silent. "Your goal is to avenge a clan that was taken out by a single man. That requires cold preparation. It requires trump cards. A suicide charge is not a plan, Sasuke. You're being a fool!"
"Shut up, Shorai!" Sasuke barked. "You don't know how I feel! I have lived for this day!"
Itachi glanced at Shorai for a fraction of a second before turning his blood-red gaze back to his brother. "The way you are now... I have no interest in you."
"Screw you!" Sasuke screamed, throwing himself forward in a blind rage.
Thud!
Itachi didn't even use a jutsu. A perfectly timed kick to the chest sent Sasuke flying back through the corridor like a ragdoll.
'He didn't hold back,' Shorai observed, his analytical mind noting the slight shimmer of chakra in Itachi's leg. 'He's breaking him physically to break him mentally.'
Sasuke slammed into the far wall and slumped to the floor, his consciousness flickering. Naruto started to move, but Shorai's hand clamped onto his shoulder like a vice.
"Don't move! You want to get caught too? Use your brain, Naruto!"
"I... am not... done..." Sasuke's voice was a rasping crawl. "I can still fight!"
Itachi walked toward him with the slow, rhythmic pace of an executioner. "You can't even form hand signs," he said coldly.
"Sasuke, stop!" Naruto yelled.
"Do not interfere!" Sasuke roared back, his two-tomoe Sharingan spinning wildly. "Naruto! Shorai! Stay back! I told you... I lived for this moment!"
Sasuke lunged again. Again, Itachi countered with effortless cruelty—a block, a strike, and a throw that sent Sasuke skidding down the hall, leaving a thin trail of blood on the floorboards.
"Naruto, stay calm," Shorai hissed, his eyes never leaving Sasuke and the Akatsuki. The last thing he needed right now was the Mind Stone or the Kyubi taking Naruto over. "If you lose control now, we all die."
"But... Sasuke..."
Kisame let out a low chuckle. "Why waste your breath talking sense into him? Let him taste despair in his final moments. Hu-hu-hu."
His shark-like eyes flicked briefly toward Jiraiya's movement. "You heard them. Let's not interfere. It's their fight, after all."
The "fight" became a one-sided massacre. Itachi seized Sasuke by the throat and slammed him against the wall, his knee driving into the boy's ribs again and again. It wasn't a battle.
It was an execution.
"How harsh," Kisame said with a grin. "No mercy at all."
Shorai's hand drifted to his holster, gripping a specialized kunai. He watched Itachi's back, sensing a sudden, terrifying shift in the atmosphere. The air grew heavy, thick with a pressure that felt like it was warping the very fabric of the hallway.
'Mangekyō Sharingan,' Shorai realized, his skin crawling. 'He's using it.'
Sasuke's scream tore through the hotel.
"Heh, same as always," Kisame remarked. "Tsukuyomi. That'll take the fight out of him for good."
Sasuke went limp in Itachi's grasp. Naruto wrenched himself free from Shorai's grip, desperation overcoming his fear.
'Shit! I can't use a Blinding Flight with them all bunched up!' Shorai's mind raced. He pushed his remaining chakra to the absolute limit, ignoring the protests of his strained pathways.
His perception sharpened, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. The world slowed down. He felt the air friction on his skin. He felt the two elements—wind and lightning—begin to fuse into a violent, unstable harmony.
'Swift Release... Stage...'
Squish.
Before Shorai could trigger the dangerous technique, a wet, organic sound echoed through the hall. Meaty, pulsing walls of red flesh erupted from the ceiling and floor, swallowing the wood and stone.
Naruto tripped, his advance halted by the shifting terrain. Kisame tensed, looking around at the living walls.
"Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Bind!" Jiraiya's voice boomed. "You're inside the esophagus of the Great Toad of Mt. Myoboku. It's over."
Shorai exhaled, the agonizing build-up of chakra in his chest dissipating as he manually forced his system to stand down. He felt a wave of nausea from the sudden decompression, but he kept his feet.
"Don't move, you two," Jiraiya warned the boys. "The meat won't hurt you, but stay still."
The walls surged forward like a tidal wave, targeting the Akatsuki members.
"Kisame! Follow me!" Itachi commanded.
They vanished around the corner, Kisame cursing as he hacked his sword free from the sticky walls.
"You can never escape this!" Jiraiya yelled, giving chase.
"Never say never," Shorai whispered, his voice hoarse. "Not to a man like that."
SCREECH! BOOM!
A shockwave rattled the entire building. Shorai waited until his internal damage stabilized before following. He rounded the corner to see a jagged, massive hole in the hotel wall.
It wasn't just broken—the structure had been eaten away by wisps of black, unholy fire.
"They got away!" Naruto cried.
Jiraiya stood frozen, staring at the black flames. "This is... unthinkable. This organ is fire-resistant."
"How ironic," Shorai said, leaning against the wall for support. "The 'inescapable' jutsu. You might want to pick a different catchphrase next time, Jiraiya-san."
"This is an exception," Jiraiya muttered, already pulling out a scroll and conductive ink. He began a complex sealing ritual, his hands moving with frantic precision to contain the black fire.
"Fuinjutsu: Fire Seal!"
The flames fought back, nearly consuming the paper before the seal finally took hold, sucking the darkness into a hollow circle. Jiraiya tied the scroll shut with a grim expression.
"Get Sasuke," he ordered.
As Naruto rushed to the unconscious Uchiha, Shorai looked at his own trembling hands.
'I'm a catalyst, but I'm a weak one,' he thought, his jaw tightening. 'The Stone is right there, inviting me to be a god... but I have to do this on my own. I have to be stronger than that sword. Stronger than those eyes.'
He forced the intrusive thoughts of the Reality Stone back into the dark corners of his mind. Just as he regained his composure, his senses—still heightened from the fight—picked up a blur of movement.
He jerked his head to the side. A kunai whistled past his ear and thudded into the wall next to Jiraiya.
"DYNAMI-C ENTR-Y!"
A green blur streaked through the air. Shorai leaned back just in time as a heavy boot zoomed past his face.
BAM!
Might Guy's foot connected squarely with Jiraiya's face, sending the Sannin reeling back into the wall.
"G-Guy-sensei?" Shorai blinked.
"Shit!" Guy landed, realizing he had just drop-kicked one of the most powerful men in the world. "I am terribly sorry! I forgot my headband and was using it as a mirror to see around the corner... I couldn't tell who was who!"
"Is that supposed to be an apology?!" Jiraiya roared, clutching his bleeding nose.
Shorai stood to the side, a small twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"Pffft..."
"You find this funny, brat?!"
Shorai instantly wiped the expression from his face, looking dead serious. "No."
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.
"Pfft... ha-ha-ha!" Shorai couldn't hold it back anymore, his laughter echoing through the ruined hallway as Naruto stood frozen, Sasuke unconscious in his arms.