Konoha: This Uchiha is extremely sneaky

Chapter 573 Jiraiya and Nagato

"Finally done!"

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What a terrifying aftershock!"

Looking at the once thick, flat, enlarged earthen wall in front of him, now dilapidated, Jiraiya relaxed considerably.

"Yes~"

Beside him, Naruto, who felt completely drained, nodded in deep agreement.

He doesn't have many ranged attack methods, and after using several off-hand versions of "Wind Release: Rasengan" swords, his chakra is almost depleted.

"Although we weathered this storm, a much bigger problem is on its way!"

As Jiraiya finished speaking, the ground, which had just been ravaged and riddled with holes, began to tremble slightly.

A series of rumbling footsteps sounded, and a huge monster, almost obscuring the entire field of vision, strode forward.

"...Nagato!"

Squinting, Jiraiya looked at the unusually small figure above the Ten-Tails' head, his expression somewhat dazed.

"Naruto, you stay here, I'll go check it out!"

After speaking, Jiraiya disappeared from Naruto's sight in the blink of an eye, without waiting for Naruto's reaction.

All that remained was the clattering sound of wooden clogs fading into the distance.

"Wait, you lecherous immortal!"

Watching Jiraiya walk further and further away, Naruto reached out his hand, only to grab at empty air.

"Mom, I'm going with you to take a look!"

Seeing the direction Jiraiya was heading, Naruto gritted his teeth, gave a briefing in Kushina's direction, and chased after the disappearing figure.

"Naruto, watch out!"

Her son is all grown up now; he's no longer the little boy she used to have to constantly remind her of everything. Aside from reminding him to be careful, she felt helpless.

"Nagato!"

With a few leaps, Jiraiya encountered no obstacles and smoothly arrived at the top of the Ten-Tails' head, looking at the somewhat familiar face in front of him.

Scenes from his memories echoed in his mind. His gaze towards the other person was unusually complex.

"Jiraiya... teacher!"

Not only Jiraiya, but Nagato also recalled the time he spent with Jiraiya.

There's the easygoing and kind-hearted Jiraiya-sensei who loves to laugh out loud, the carefree and chuunibyou-ish Yahiko, the always smiling Minami who likes to quietly fold origami, and himself who only wants to protect the two of them.

In the blink of an eye, everything has changed.

Former teachers and students have now become mortal enemies who are hostile to each other.

"You lecherous immortal, wait for me!"

A sudden, earth-shaking tremor brought the two people, lost in their memories, back to reality.

With one hand held up in front of him, Nagato calmed the somewhat agitated Ten-Tails and turned his gaze to Naruto's direction.

"The Nine-Tails... Jinchūriki!"

He never expected that, in order to avoid the Fifth Hokage's wrath, he hadn't captured the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and this guy would actually come right in front of him.

"Nagato, what are you doing?"

"He's your junior brother!"

Jiraiya, who had been paying close attention to Nagato's expression, knew what Nagato was planning the moment he saw Nagato's eyes.

He immediately stepped forward and stood in front of Naruto.

"This person... is also a disciple of the Perverted Immortal?"

Protected by Jiraiya, Naruto looked curiously at the young man in front of him who had the same hair color as his mother and asked with a puzzled expression.

"…yes!"

With a somewhat somber expression, Jiraiya responded with a single, dejected sound, and continued:

"Nagato, what have you been through all these years?"

"I received word that the three of you were dead, but now it seems that things are different from what I thought."

"Minami, and Yahiko, how are they doing?"

"The two of them are in a very safe place!"

No longer dwelling on the Nine-Tails, Nagato looked at Jiraiya, his expression gradually turning cold.

"Now that things have come to this, is Jiraiya-sensei insisting on coming to see me to persuade me to give up?"

"Nagato, I don't know what you've been through to turn someone who was once silent, kind, and only wanted to quietly protect the two of them into the person you are now!"

"However, I believe that an era of mutual understanding between people will eventually come."

"childish!"

Faced with Jiraiya's lecture, Nagato simply replied coldly.

"Without experiencing the same pain, without feeling the same way, people can never truly understand each other."

"I'm afraid even the teacher himself knows that his expectations are just fantasies born out of a desire to escape the harsh reality!"

Jiraiya-sensei is always so optimistic, but beneath that optimism lies a hint of helplessness.

"From now on, we are mortal enemies!"

With one hand outstretched, Nagato spread his fingers wide and slowly uttered a few words.

"The Guiding Force of All Things"

Now that the decision to implement the "Eye of the Moon" plan has been made and the master-disciple relationship has been established, there is no need for hesitation.

"Naruto, watch out!"

Jiraiya crouched down, trying his best to steady himself, while warning Naruto beside him.

"You go first, don't stay here!"

"No one is leaving!"

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, already delivered right to your doorstep, can't just walk away... It's not that easy.

"Be careful!"

As soon as Nagato finished speaking, Fukasaku and Shima on his shoulders immediately spoke up to remind him.

It turned out that, opposite Jiraiya, Nagato, who was using "Universal Pull" with one hand, had a black iron rod appear in his other hand, which transformed into a deadly javelin and pierced straight into Jiraiya's heart.

"Oh no, something's fishy about this black rod!"

Fukasaku and Shima, while reminding Jiraiya, both used their techniques to intercept the black rod.

However, to their surprise, the black rod bypassed their ninjutsu and continued its piercing towards Jiraiya's heart.

Jiraiya himself had already expended almost all his energy resisting the "Universal Pull" and preventing Nagato from being absorbed into it.

"ha!"

At this critical moment, two golden chakra hands bypassed Jiraiya's body and grabbed the black rod.

"Naruto, well done!"

Upon seeing that they had blocked Nagato's attack, Fukasaku and Shima breathed a sigh of relief and praised him repeatedly.

"Hmph! Futile resistance~"

Slightly surprised by Naruto's strength, but sensing the Ten-Tails' fluctuating emotions beneath him, and knowing it was due to the Nine-Tails' chakra, Nagato wasn't too surprised.

With one hand that was already performing Universal Pull, he continued to increase the chakra input, while with the other hand, he began to prepare a new ninjutsu.

"You bastard!"

However, before he could even activate his ninjutsu, a pair of golden fists clasped together slammed down towards Nagato's head.

Naruto is not someone who will just take a beating without fighting back. When he saw that this disciple of Jiraiya dared to be so rebellious as to try to kill his former teacher, he showed no mercy when he started fighting.

""

(End of this chapter)