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"Naruto, can you please leave and let me finish my work? Once I have news about Sasuke Uchiha, I'll inform you immediately."
Jiraiya said to Naruto. He couldn't let Naruto stay here indefinitely; it was affecting his work efficiency.
"No! Pervy Sage, I don't think you're even looking seriously! If there's no news about Sasuke, I'm not leaving!" Naruto stared stubbornly at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya clutched his head.
If Naruto weren't Minato's son—and if he didn't have a soft spot for Naruto, Jiraiya would have definitely thrown this brat out.
"Lord Hokage, we have news about Sasuke Uchiha."
A ninja entered the room, wearing a mask—an Anbu operative.
"Great! Hurry up and tell me!" Naruto immediately stood up and grabbed the Anbu's hand.
The Anbu ninja glanced at Naruto, then addressed Jiraiya, "According to our investigation, Sasuke Uchiha was taken away by Orochimaru's subordinate, Kabuto Yakushi."
"What?! He was captured by Orochimaru?! What are we waiting for, Pervy Sage?! Let's go save Sasuke!" Hearing Orochimaru's subordinate had taken Sasuke, Naruto became frantic, urging Jiraiya to rescue Sasuke Uchiha.
"You may leave." Jiraiya solemnly dismissed the Anbu ninja.
Orochimaru's subordinate took Sasuke Uchiha? What is he planning?
Jiraiya felt uneasy.
As for Naruto clamoring for him to rescue Sasuke, Jiraiya honestly didn't want to.
Firstly, Jiraiya had no particular feelings for Sasuke Uchiha. He had met Sasuke, but Sasuke's attitude towards him had been poor, arrogant—even excessively so.
Precisely because of this arrogance, Jiraiya disliked him, especially since Sasuke harbored a twisted, vengeful hatred.
Keeping him in Konoha was like harboring an unstable element. Letting Orochimaru's subordinate take him away wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Another reason was Konoha's current situation. It wasn't advisable to antagonize Orochimaru.
"Naruto, go home for now. As for rescuing Sasuke Uchiha, we need to plan carefully. I'll make arrangements." Jiraiya intended to send Naruto away first.
"NO! If you don't do anything, Pervy Sage, then I'll go myself!" Naruto stood up angrily and started walking towards the door.
Jiraiya's face darkened. He flickered over and grabbed Naruto, tossing him aside.
"Do you even know where Orochimaru is? Can you bring Sasuke Uchiha back?"
"It's better than doing nothing! Now that I know Sasuke was captured by Orochimaru, I'll definitely save him!" Naruto's eyes shone with unwavering determination.
Looking at Naruto's determined expression, Jiraiya sighed.
"Alright. I promise I'll go rescue Sasuke Uchiha. But we need to find Orochimaru's location first. Only then can we act." Jiraiya nodded at Naruto. For now, he had to agree.
"Pervy Sage, you better not be tricking me!" Naruto looked at Jiraiya suspiciously, which made Jiraiya's liver ache with frustration.
Right now, Jiraiya had no intention of deceiving Naruto. He knew Naruto wouldn't rest until Sasuke Uchiha was rescued, so Jiraiya genuinely planned to save him.
However, there was a condition: Sasuke Uchiha had to be willing to return.
But based on Jiraiya's understanding of Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha, Sasuke might already be a missing-nin by then.
'If that truly happens, I hope Naruto won't be heartbroken.'
Jiraiya didn't care about Sasuke Uchiha's fate; he was worried about Naruto. He just hoped Naruto wouldn't react too drastically.
Though these were just Jiraiya's speculations, his guesses were usually accurate. He trusted his intuition.
Naruto was sent away by Jiraiya. Then, Jiraiya dispatched Anbu to investigate Orochimaru's base with all their resources.
As the strongest Hidden Village, Konoha was quite capable. Finding Orochimaru's base wasn't impossible.
After considerable effort, they finally located Orochimaru's base.
"Let's go, Naruto. I'll take you myself." Jiraiya decided to go personally. He also wanted to see Orochimaru again.
However, Jiraiya brought a bodyguard with him—Might Guy. If Kakashi were awake, he probably would have brought Kakashi too.
Konoha's affairs were temporarily left in the hands of Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
Jiraiya trusted they could handle things. He had also instructed them not to let Danzō interfere in Konoha's internal matters.
"Lord Hokage, I still think this is somewhat dangerous," Guy said cautiously to Jiraiya.
The Hokage absolutely shouldn't leave Konoha easily. If anything unexpected happened, Guy truly couldn't bear the responsibility.
"It's fine." Jiraiya shook his head. He had spent years traveling outside the village before, and nothing had happened—Facing Orochimaru, Jiraiya wasn't afraid.
Guy said nothing more—Even if it cost him his life, he would absolutely protect Lord Hokage.
——
Meanwhile, at Orochimaru's location, Shin Uzumaki was currently there. Hmm, Shin had come here because Orochimaru had specifically notified him.
Shin currently held a document in his hand—Orochimaru's research data on Shikotsumyaku.
"Shin-kun, I've spent so many years researching, and this is all I've managed. Continuing this research... I'm afraid I won't discover anything further," Orochimaru said to Shin.
"Ah, though these things are useless to me, you've worked hard, Orochimaru. Let me give you some compensation."
Shin hadn't expected Orochimaru to be so diligent. He himself had almost forgotten about this matter. It had been nearly ten years since Shin asked Orochimaru to research Shikotsumyaku.
Although the research data was largely useless to Shin, seeing Orochimaru's attitude, Shin felt he should offer some reward; otherwise, he'd feel a bit embarrassed.
"Oh? I wonder what kind of reward Shin-kun will give me?" Orochimaru looked at Shin expectantly, not saying anything about refusing.
Are you kidding? How could he refuse a reward from Shin Uzumaki?
A ball of chakra appeared in Shin's hand. He tossed it towards Orochimaru, and the chakra instantly merged into Orochimaru's body.
"This is...?" Orochimaru looked at Shin in shock, clearly sensing a change within himself, especially a change in his soul.
The damage from his body transfers was fading... it had actually healed—Orochimaru felt better than ever!
"Your reward. I helped heal your current injuries," Shin said to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru likely already felt it; his weakened body was no longer weak.
Orochimaru clenched his fists. Indeed, his current state was excellent, even better than his peak condition.
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