After hearing their opening remarks,
Tsunade instantly froze.
"Wait, what did you say...?!"
"An organization named Akatsuki... is plundering the Tailed Beasts?!"
She blurted out,
Directly interrupting the other party.
Her surprise and confusion were completely written on her face.
And hearing this,
Temari here paused for a moment, then nodded seriously, looked at Tsunade, and said firmly:
"That's right, Hokage-sama."
"
"This point was heard by our Sunagakure Shinobi after witnessing the battle in the sky..."
"At that time, the intruder was a young man wearing a red-cloud black robe with a blond ponytail."
"He called himself Akatsuki and used a Ninjutsu similar to explosions, fighting by controlling explosive clay..."
"While fighting with our acting Kazekage... Gaara,"
"He seemed to inadvertently reveal that his goal was to seize Gaara himself — that is, the One-Tail Shukaku within him."
Temari spoke methodically, her tone very respectful.
Of course,
She had to be respectful.
After all, this time Suna was here to seek help from Konoha. Only by having a good and humble attitude could there be a possibility for further negotiation.
What's more, the person before her was not only the supreme ruler of Konoha, the Fifth Hokage, but also one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, who had already made a name for herself during the Second Shinobi World War.
In terms of seniority, she was older than her father, Rasa.
Although she looked young,
She was already an auntie in her fifties.
Of course, there could be no slightest disrespect.
And at this moment,
Hearing Temari's words,
Tsunade immediately frowned slightly.
Not because she had detected any clues...
But because,
She hadn't grasped anything at all.
That's right.
Although Temari's words had explained the on-site situation,
In reality, regarding that Akatsuki's member, there was almost no useful information...
Red-cloud black robe?
A young man with a blond ponytail?
Skilled in using explosion-type Ninjutsu and explosive clay to fight...?
Based on these few points alone,
It was really hard to pinpoint a target.
After all,
The red-cloud black robe was very distinctive.
That was the standard uniform of the Akatsuki.
When Itachi and Kisame invaded Konoha back then, the uniforms they wore were also like this.
Although Tsunade hadn't witnessed this personally, she had heard Jiraiya mention it a few times.
And the remaining explosion-type Ninjutsu...
Was he talking about some kind of Kekkei Genkai similar to "Explosion Release"?
If so,
This person might be from Iwagakure...
After all, in those years, Iwagakure had an Explosion Release Shinobi unit...
Just as Tsunade was pondering,
Suddenly,
A flash of light crossed her mind!
"!"
Wait!
Capturing Tailed Beast Jinchuriki...?!
Tsunade's breath caught for an instant, her pupils slightly constricted.
She suddenly thought of something.
Back then,
Shortly after she took over the position of Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya had left the village with Naruto.
Publicly, of course, it was said he was taking him to train properly and master his own power.
But in reality,
Jiraiya had already told Tsunade back then —
That terrifying organization "Akatsuki", to which Itachi belonged, seemed to be after Naruto and the Nine-Tails...
And their previous invasion had been precisely to forcibly abduct Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki...
Recalling the incident in Sunagakure this time,
It wasn't hard to see...
There was definitely some ulterior conspiracy in all this!
Tsunade's gaze slightly deepened, emitting a sharp light.
Over the years,
Although she had stayed in Konoha and hadn't gone out much,
She still knew,
This mysterious Akatsuki was a mercenary group that had always operated on the fringes of the Shinobi World, getting paid to fight.
But she never expected them to now... reach out to the Five Great Nations as well...
Quite ambitious, huh.
Thinking this,
Tsunade again looked at Temari and said firmly:
"And after that?"
"Did your Suna track down any trace of their escape?"
Tsunade asked seriously.
Now the most important goal was, of course, to rescue that Gaara from Suna.
After all,
Gaara was not only a Jinchuriki, he was also currently the supreme leader of Sunagakure, the acting Fifth Kazekage.
The Kazekage being abducted was no small matter.
Of course, they had to investigate his whereabouts.
However,
Hearing this,
Temari immediately showed a somewhat tangled expression, her gaze complicated.
Seeing this,
Kankuro beside him sighed lightly, then smiled very helplessly and bitterly:
"To be honest, Tsunade-sama..."
"The battle that time happened so quickly and fiercely..."
"Even our village's senior advisor, Chiyo-sama, didn't last many rounds before perishing at the enemy's hands."
"By the time our pursuit Shinobi tried to rush over to investigate..."
"The enemy"
"Had already disappeared..."
After Kankuro's words fell,
The Sunagakure Shinobi around them immediately showed somewhat dejected expressions, looking grim.
Embarrassing.
It's very, very embarrassing.
The Kazekage was lost, the advisor was dead.
Their entire large village hadn't even found a trace of the enemy's escape...
This matter,
Not only sounded embarrassing to Konoha,
Even thinking about it themselves, the Sunagakure Shinobi felt ashamed...
And at this moment,
Hearing this,
Tsunade was naturally also momentarily stunned.
She of course hadn't expected Suna to be defeated this thoroughly...
It could be called a complete rout...
However,
This wasn't really their fault,
If the enemy's strength was on a completely different level, it was truly hard to predict the situation...
Thinking this,
Tsunade couldn't help but show a wry smile.
A moment later,
She took a slight breath, looked at the Sunagakure Shinobi, and said firmly:
"I understand."
"You all may go down and rest for now."
"I will immediately think of a way and then arrange for Konoha Shinobi to assist you."
"Thank you very much, Tsunade-sama!"
"Thank you, Hokage-sama!"
A moment later,
The people from Sunagakure left the Hokage's Office.
And at this moment,
Tsunade sat in her office chair, crossed her hands, and deeply frowned.
Shizune stood nearby without moving, watching Tsunade worriedly, not daring to say a word.
But just then,
Suddenly, Tsunade abruptly stood up.
"?"
Seeing this, Shizune was naturally slightly stunned and subconsciously asked in confusion:
"Tsunade-sama?"
"Do you have any orders...?"
Hearing this,
Tsunade didn't turn her head,
Walking forward, she said firmly:
"Come on, Shizune."
"Let's go find Jiraiya."
"That guy has been back for so long, he should have been idle for a while too."
"Ah? Ah, okay!"
Shizune was momentarily stunned, then immediately reacted.
After all this...
Tsunade-sama was actually going to discuss this with Jiraiya-sama...