"Someone attacked the Jinchuriki?"
Zabuza and Haku hadn't concealed the reason for Jiraiya's departure.
"Is it the Akatsuki… no, the threatening ones among them should have been dealt with already."
The group sat around the meeting room in Uzushiogakure's administrative building. Sara's daughter had even specially served them tea and snacks.
But upon hearing the news of the Jinchuriki being attacked, Naruto had lost his appetite.
"You don't need to worry too much, Naruto. Jiraiya-san told us that currently only the Four-Tails' Jinchuriki, Roshi, was attacked. However, with the help of Tsuchikage, Onoki, the attacker didn't succeed."
"Moreover, the Five Great Ninja Villages should have received the news by now. At least for the moment, there are no reports of other Jinchuriki being attacked."
Haku explained to Naruto.
"Is that so..."
Naruto rubbed his freshly regrown stubble.
Indeed, if he knew the Flying Thunder God Technique now, it would be great. He could rush to the side of important people anytime, anywhere.
Given Jiraiya's habits, he probably wouldn't make a big deal about this. If Naruto wanted to find him, he might have to go to Konoha to see the Third Hokage...
Glancing at Konohamaru, who still seemed trapped in his earlier trauma, Naruto didn't mind making a trip over there first.
Although the various events of the past had been clarified, they hadn't completely burned bridges.
Moreover, Konoha had maintained peaceful relations here during his absence.
Plus, he possessed spatial transfer techniques like Yomotsu Hirasaka. As long as he knew the exact location of a fixed point, he could get there anytime, anywhere.
'—Wait, it seemed I wasn't entirely without a way to contact Jiraiya-sensei.'
Suddenly, another space-related technique Naruto knew flashed through his mind.
"I have an idea. You guys wait here."
Saying this, he opened the office window and leaped down from the third floor.
Seeing this, Konohamaru, Zabuza, and Haku didn't hesitate and they all followed.
As for ordinary people like Sachinosuke and Sara with weaker physiques, they could only stay in the meeting room exchanging glances.
Arriving at the small square in front of the administrative building, Naruto ignored the eye-catching statue and signaled for the surrounding people to move aside.
After all, if he remembered correctly, those creatures' sizes weren't exactly small.
Thinking this, Naruto gently kneaded his fingertip, pulling a pitch-black 'needle' from the void… an elongated Truth-Seeking Ball.
There was no helping it. With Naruto's current body, even using Mushoukou was hard to draw blood. To use this technique, he had to resort to the Truth-Seeking Ball.
Under Naruto's control, the black needle struggled to prick a small wound on his fingertip. Crimson blood immediately flowed out… in this regard, the blood flowing from an Otsutsuki's body wasn't much different from the lower life forms in their eyes.
The three who had followed and witnessed this understood what technique Naruto was about to perform.
"Summoning Technique!"
Naruto's blood-stained finger pressed against the ground, and instantly, web-like markings rapidly spread outwards.
Poof!
The next moment, white smoke erupted, and a watery figure appeared beneath Naruto.
"Woah! It's Naruto-Aniki's summoned... creature?"
Konohamaru's cheers abruptly stopped upon seeing what had appeared.
It was a giant catfish over twenty meters long... and it looked somewhat dull, completely unlike the intelligent summoned creatures that powerful Ninjas usually called forth.
At the very least, Konohamaru knew that his grandfather's summoning beast, the Monkey King Enma, possessed human-like intelligence and could also speak human language.
But what Naruto had summoned... just didn't seem all that bright.
"Ah! It's Gyumaru-san..."
Haku, however, recognized the summoned creature before them. It was the 'rain deity' Naruto had summoned in the desert before.
Whether Gyumaru truly accepted its name or not was unclear, but upon hearing this word from Haku's mouth, it seemed to snap back to reality, belatedly realizing it was no longer in the sea.
Rumble!
The giant fish body immediately began to thrash, the tremors transmitting through the earth towards the surrounding buildings.
Thump!
Naruto punched the catfish, making it dizzy, finally stopping its commotion.
"Gulp..."
Gyumaru let out a somewhat aggrieved bubbly sound, but the pain from its head still made the massive creature behave.
"You really are something. It's only been a short while, and you've grown this big..."
Naruto muttered as he jumped off Gyumaru, then turned to the three watching him.
"Sorry, sorry. It's been too long, so I'm a bit rusty."
Before the weather could visibly turn gloomy, Naruto promptly dismissed Gyumaru, sending the giant catfish back to the sea.
'Who knew how big it would be next time it was summoned...'
Thinking this, Naruto performed the Summoning Technique again.
This time, he deliberately distinguished the summoning contract he was using, confirming it was Mount Myoboku's before pressing his palm to the ground.
Poof!
Another puff of smoke. The creature that appeared this time again surprised Naruto.
It wasn't Gamabunta or any other giant toad, but an old toad wearing a cloak with a tuft of white hair on its head.
"Fukasaku Sage?"
"Oh!? So it's you summoning me, Naruto?"
Fukasaku, summoned by the technique, was also quite surprised.
Because among the Ninjas who had contracts with Mount Myoboku, those capable of summoning him were few. In most cases, only Jiraiya would summon him and Shima together to assist in performing Sage Mode.
And considering the Chakra required to maintain them exceeded that of directly summoning three or four giant toads, they generally didn't stay out for long.
Being summoned by Naruto was a first.
"...Well, since it's you, Fukasaku Sage, this is actually more convenient."
Naruto looked at Fukasaku, who had hopped onto his shoulder.
Originally, he had planned to summon any toad and have it use Reverse Summoning to send a message to Jiraiya.
It seemed that wouldn't be necessary.
But before he could even mention that Jiraiya had left Uzushiogakure to investigate the attackers, Fukasaku spoke first.
"You've returned just in time, Naruto! Quickly go help Jiraiya!"
"Huh?"
Without beating around the bush, Fukasaku repeated the dangerous prophecy the Great Toad Sage had recently made, then said worriedly,
"Mother and I both advised Jiraiya, but he insisted on going to investigate on his own."
"I understand. That's perfect, Fukasaku Sage. Use Reverse Summoning to send a message to Jiraiya-sensei for me. Tell him to wait for me in Konoha Village… or better yet, tell me where he is now, and I'll go find him."
"Alright. We're counting on you, Naruto."
The old toad nodded, then voluntarily dismissed the summoning and returned to Mount Myoboku.
Not long after, Naruto sensed a faint tugging sensation.
He knew this was the Reverse Summoning Technique calling for him.
But Naruto waited for quite a while, yet remained unmoving.
'Could it be... they couldn't provide enough Chakra to summon me?'
Naruto quickly realized why the Reverse Summoning had persisted so long without pulling him over, and turned to Konohamaru and the others.
"Wait for me here. I'm going to Mount Myoboku and will be right back."
With that, he activated Yomotsu Hirasaka, tearing another pitch-black door in the air, and stepped inside.