Inside a teahouse.
In a private room.
Jiraiya was holding a pen, writing something with a smile on his face. It seemed to be the content of his latest novel series.
But just then,
Tsunade and Shizune walked in from outside.
Without any greeting, the moment they entered, Tsunade said bluntly:
"Jiraiya, put down your pen."
"That 'Akatsuki' you're interested in... has new developments."
"...??!!"
Jiraiya, who was halfway through writing, froze, and the pen in his hand directly broke.
The next moment, he looked up at Tsunade with a bewildered expression.
"What did you say...? Akatsuki?"
"That's right."
Tsunade walked over while explaining with a serious expression:
"Not long ago,"
"Sunagakure dispatched envoy Shinobi to seek help,"
"Their acting Kazekage and One-Tail Jinchuriki, Gaara, was abducted by a young Shinobi calling himself Akatsuki."
"Currently, his whereabouts are unknown."
"!?"
At this point, Jiraiya's pupils constricted instantly.
Huh?!
The One-Tail Jinchuriki?!
Taken by Akatsuki!?
Jiraiya's breath involuntarily caught.
He suddenly remembered,
Three years ago, when he fought Itachi, the information revealed in Itachi's words —
The Akatsuki... is collecting Tailed Beasts!!
Jiraiya immediately narrowed his eyes.
Unexpectedly...
After a full three years,
Akatsuki had shifted their Tailed Beast capture target to Suna's One-Tail Shukaku as well...
Jiraiya's heart sank slightly.
He naturally knew what this represented.
That mysterious Missing-nin organization,
Akatsuki…
Might be officially making a move on the Five Great Shinobi Villages!
In fact, during those three years,
Jiraiya hadn't been idle besides leading Naruto in his training.
He had been secretly investigating information about Akatsuki.
And,
He was also paying attention to the movements of various countries.
But unfortunately,
Ever since Itachi and Kisame failed to invade Konoha back then,
Akatsuki seemed to have gone into hiding.
They never made a move against the Jinchuriki of other villages again.
On the contrary,
They seemed to continuously carry out bounty missions like war mercenaries...
Constantly amassing wealth.
This kind of behavior once puzzled Jiraiya greatly.
Could it be...?
Had the Akatsuki abandoned the Tailed Beast capture plan that Itachi mentioned?
Or, was Itachi's information back then false?
Regarding these two points,
Jiraiya naturally had no way to verify them.
After all,
As a traitor who slaughtered his own clan, Itachi's words were indeed too mixed in nature to be completely trusted.
However, that being said,
Jiraiya never gave up his investigation.
After all, although he was optimistic by nature, he couldn't view such major events in the Shinobi World from an optimistic perspective.
And until today—
Upon hearing the news brought by Tsunade,
He could finally confirm it.
Akatsuki,
Had not abandoned the Tailed Beast Capture Plan at all!
They had only delayed the start of the plan.
No, that's not right.
Rather than saying that, it's better to say...
They were precisely making meticulous preparations for the plan!
That's why this time, they were able to so quickly, accurately, and ruthlessly directly abduct the One-Tail Jinchuriki from Sunagakure!
What a... terrifying organization...
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, and his expression instantly turned serious.
Seeing this,
Shizune beside him couldn't help but be surprised.
To be honest,
This was the first time she had seen this pervy sage toad show such a serious and gloomy expression, as if he had changed into a different person.
And Tsunade, of course, also noticed this.
She walked over and sat down opposite Jiraiya, saying firmly:
"What's wrong...? Do you have any leads?"
As the words fell,
Jiraiya first subconsciously shook his head, then slowly exhaled a breath and said slowly:
"..."
"Actually, I have also been tracking Akatsuki's traces."
"But, I never found a suitable breakthrough. Unexpectedly, this time they've caused such a big stir again...
As he spoke, Jiraiya showed a somewhat troubled expression, scratched his head, looked at Tsunade, and said:
"This time, after three years..."
"They unashamedly, in the name of Akatsuki, forcibly seized the Tailed Beast Jinchuriki."
"It seems they are preparing to take all the Tailed Beasts in one go."
Jiraiya said firmly.
"--!?"
And as these words fell,
Tsunade and Shizune opposite simultaneously constricted their pupils, completely frozen.
"Wh...what?!"
"Take all... the Tailed Beasts in one go?!!"
Tsunade repeated in disbelief.
To be honest,
Before hearing Jiraiya's words, she hadn't imagined it would be this severe...
It even seemed a bit like a joke...
However,
Jiraiya's serious expression at this moment had no trace of joking.
He just nodded, then rubbed his fingers and analyzed seriously:
"Back then, the First Hokage-sama distributed the nine Tailed Beasts to balance the various great villages."
"Sunagakure got the One-Tail, Konoha got the Nine-Tails."
"And now, Sunagakure's One-Tail has been successfully seized by them. Coupled with their attempt to seize Naruto's Nine-Tails three years ago..."
"It's not hard to see,"
"Their goal might be all nine Tailed Beasts from one to nine!
"Furthermore, analyzing further—"
"Their Akatsuki,"
"Might want to use the power of the Tailed Beasts to directly break the existing pattern of the Shinobi World!
"Clang!
In the end, Jiraiya lightly tapped the table with his hand.
But it almost struck the hearts of Tsunade and Shizune.
"!!"
The two instantly froze!
Before coming here, they did think the matter might be serious,
But, they never imagined,
It would be this serious!
Using the Tailed Beasts,
To break the existing pattern of the Shinobi World?!!
Are they crazy?!
A terrifying organization composed of a bunch of Missing-nin, do they want to replace the Five Great Villages...?
Tsunade and Shizune's expressions turned grim.
If that's the case,
Then,
Not only Suna's One-Tail,
Perhaps before long, even Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto, would be attacked as well...
It seemed we really couldn't sit idly by.
Tsunade's expression became exceptionally serious. She leaned forward, looked at Jiraiya, and said:
"In your past records,"
"Have you found the location of the Akatsuki's base...?"
"I want to take this opportunity,"
"Join forces with Suna and directly launch a siege on them... disrupt their plan!
Tsunade said decisively.
Facing such a severe situation, she was always decisive.
After all, this time, Sunagakure had already come begging for help right to their doorstep. Logically and emotionally, they had to quickly dispatch personnel to assist.
Otherwise, every second delayed, the life of that acting Kazekage, Gaara, would be in more danger.
Although they had only abducted Gaara at the time,
If their goal was to extract the Tailed Beast, there was no doubt that Gaara, as the Jinchuriki, would die instantly.
If that were the case, the situation would be too urgent.
However at this moment,
Hearing Tsunade's words,
Jiraiya was first slightly taken aback, then showed a helpless wry smile, shook his head, and said:
"I haven't found it,"
"But... the siege plan you mentioned is a bit rash."
"Huh?"
Tsunade was momentarily stunned.
She didn't expect to be called rash by Jiraiya...
And just as she was puzzled,
Jiraiya put away his smile and said seriously:
"As far as I know,"
"The Akatsuki is not an ordinary Missing-nin organization."
"The members inside are without exception S-Rank Missing-nin from various great villages, with formidable strength."
"Let's set aside Uchiha Itachi for now; you probably know his strength."
"And in my past investigations, it seems that even that guy Orochimaru was once a member of the Akatsuki..."
"So, to completely eradicate them,"
"Relying on the combined strength of our two villages alone, it's probably... very difficult to achieve."
Jiraiya spread his hands helplessly.