Just then, Naruto's footsteps paused. His Negative Emotions Sensing caught two presences filled with malice.
These two presences were maintaining a very steady tracking rhythm in the forest behind them.
Jiraiya had been walking in front, calculating the Senjutsu training plan in his mind. Noticing Naruto's slowing pace out of the corner of his eye, he immediately stopped and turned around to ask, "What's wrong?"
"We're being followed."
"Followed? Following one of Legendary Sannin plus a Genin? Who is so suicidal?"
Jiraiya's first reaction was to laugh, but seeing the serious expression on Naruto's face, he immediately wiped the smile off his face.
"Are you sure it's tracking? Not just regular passing patrol ninjas or villagers gathering herbs?"
"Two malicious people and they've kept the tracking rhythm for a while now. Not Anbu, and not remnants of Sunagakure. Didn't you sense them?" Naruto asked, turning to face Jiraiya.
Jiraiya closed his eyes and expanded his sensory range. A moment later, he frowned slightly.
Soon, he vaguely sensed two Chakra signatures, but they weren't as clear as Naruto had described.
Jiraiya was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Naruto to have better sensory abilities than him, but now was not the time to ask.
"Since we have friends following us, it wouldn't be right not to say hello. Pervy Sage, let's go meet them."
With that, Naruto walked toward the direction of the two malicious presences. He had already roughly guessed who these two people were.
Jiraiya watched Naruto's back and stood there for a moment. Then he loosened his wrists and followed Naruto into the forest.
...
"Kisame, we've been discovered."
On a tall tree.
Itachi slowly raised his head, his scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan looking through the layers of leaves toward the distance.
"Discovered us? As expected of one of the legendary Sannin, such sharp perception." Kisame, who was by his side, grinned.
However, he was only surprised, not afraid. Since defecting from Kirigakure, he had fought more Kage-level powerhouses than he could count on his fingers. A single Jiraiya wasn't enough to make him back down.
"But that's fine, it saves us the trouble of having to look for them. It's perfect to just capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki right here and take him back to complete the task assigned by the leader."
As he spoke, Kisame reached behind his back and grasped the bandage-wrapped Samehada.
Itachi's gaze locked onto the two figures rapidly approaching in the distance, his mind rapidly calculating his current physical condition and the impending battle.
Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, the successor of Mount Myōboku, and the teacher of the Fourth Hokage.
An opponent of this level could not be resolved with just a few casual moves, especially since his body was already beginning to be eroded by illness, and every time he used his Sharingan, he was overdrafting his remaining time.
Without the confidence to take down the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki unscathed, this battle must be decided quickly, or they would have to retreat.
Swish! Swish!
Just then, the figures of Naruto and Jiraiya landed one after the other on a tree opposite Itachi and Kisame. The distance between the two sides was less than twenty meters.
"Members of the Akatsuki?"
The moment Jiraiya saw the black cloaks with red clouds on Itachi and Kisame, he recognized their identity.
His pupils shrank slightly, and he instantly judged that the opponents were coming for Naruto, or rather, for the Nine-Tails inside him.
According to the intelligence he had gathered, the Akatsuki had been secretly collecting Tailed Beasts for the past few years, and Nine-Tails was one of their most important targets.
As Jiraiya's nerves tightened, he was also secretly shocked. He had only discovered these two people following them after being reminded by Naruto, yet Naruto had already sensed the opponent's position long before.
What level was this kid's sensory ability?
"Nice to meet you, Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and one of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya." Kisame spoke first, breaking the silence.
He let his gaze linger on Jiraiya for a moment before turning to Naruto. "Itachi-san, it seems our luck is good today. The target has delivered itself to our doorstep."
Jiraiya's gaze darkened. "You guys from the Akatsuki, your target is Naruto, right?"
Itachi said, "I see, it seems you already know something, Jiraiya."
He slightly raised his chin, his pair of scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan looking straight at Naruto.
"Naruto, don't look into his eyes!" Jiraiya immediately shouted.
He knew about the Sharingan. As long as one locked eyes with the Sharingan, even for just a fraction of a second, an average ninja would be dragged into a genjutsu space, becoming helpless.
Furthermore, the person in front of them was Uchiha Itachi, an S-Rank rogue ninja who had slaughtered his entire clan at the age of thirteen, and whose mastery of the Sharingan was among the best.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The moment Itachi and Naruto locked eyes, the three tomoe in his eyes spun in a circle.
He had taken down countless opponents with this genjutsu. He didn't need the Mangekyo, just the most basic Sharingan genjutsu was enough to make an average ninja lose the ability to fight.
The instant Itachi cast the genjutsu, the corners of his lips curled up slightly.
"Casting genjutsu on someone right off the bat isn't a very polite way to say hello."
Just as Itachi finished casting the genjutsu, Naruto's voice rang out, devoid of any sign of being disturbed by the genjutsu, with a hint of mockery in his tone.
The moment Itachi cast the genjutsu, he clearly felt a foreign Chakra invade his brain's sensory region through his optic nerves, interfering with his consciousness signals.
Under Absolute Control, this Chakra didn't even touch the edge of his consciousness before it was firmly pinned in place, and then crushed as if squashing a mosquito.