Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

The fleeting opportunity created by Sakura and Ino was seized by Jiraiya, who had devised the entire plan!

As Ino used Sakura's body to perform the Mind Confusion Technique, Sakura's shadow suddenly changed from pitch black to an undeniable white.

That's the color of Jiraiya's hair!

Jiraiya had already hidden in Sakura's shadow using the "Toad Shadow Manipulation Technique," waiting for his chance to strike!

"Naruto, you really did use the Flying Thunder God Technique to chase after me!"

Feeling fortunate that his plan had gone smoothly, Jiraiya formed the Ninja Hand Seal.

His gaze was fixed on Naruto, completely breaking away from Sakura's shadow, and he grabbed Naruto's body.

Immediately afterward, the ninjutsu was activated, and a gourd-shaped toad with a wooden stopper containing the character for "sake" appeared out of thin air. The red-skinned gourd-shaped toad spat out the stopper and sucked Jiraiya and Naruto into its stomach.

When the cork returned to the gourd toad's mouth, the gourd toad, which simultaneously sealed Jiraiya and Naruto inside its belly, instantly vanished from the location of Konoha in a wisp of white smoke.

Jiraiya thus completed his barrier ninjutsu targeting Naruto.

Sakura, who witnessed everything, collapsed to the ground, a sign that the Mind Transfer Jutsu was coming to an end.

Having regained control of her body, Sakura stood up from the ground and looked at Ino, who had emerged from her hiding place.

Sakura wanted to say something, but she keenly noticed that Ino's expression was quite unpredictable.

An uneasy feeling suddenly welled up in Sakura's heart.

"The Mind Distraction Technique didn't work on Naruto..."

"Everything happened in an instant; I didn't have time to warn Jiraiya-sama."

Before Sakura could even ask, Ino took the initiative to explain the reason, confirming Sakura's unease.

"But Naruto was just..."

Sakura's tone was filled with disbelief.

If Naruto resisted the Mind Confusion Technique, then why would he willingly walk into a trap when he knew he was in one?

However, Sakura didn't have time to think about Naruto's thoughts.

The crisis is not over.

"Sakura!!!"

Ino's panicked cries and the howling wind simultaneously entered Sakura's ears, interrupting her thoughts.

Sakura suddenly sensed Naruto's presence, which should have disappeared from Konoha.

His chakra was so close to him.

It was so close, right behind Sakura.

Sakura turned her head, and a rapidly spinning ball of chakra came into her view—the Rasengan!

The whistling sound that Sakura heard was the vibration caused by the Rasengan's rotation interfering with the airflow and air friction.

Naruto—Me—

There was no time to react to Naruto's attack; Sakura simply glanced at Naruto's face as she passed the Rasengan.

Naruto's face was surprisingly calm.

There was no ferocity whatsoever; no anger or hatred could be seen.

His target wasn't even Sakura; it was only because Sakura happened to be blocking Tsunade's way that Naruto included Sakura in the Rasengan's attack range.

"I……"

Sakura opened her mouth, wanting to say something to Naruto one last time.

But given Naruto's attack speed, there's absolutely no way Sakura could confide her thoughts to him.

Everything seemed to be coming to an end, and Sakura's wishes—to bring Naruto and Sasuke back to Konoha and to try to understand their pain—seemed to remain unfulfilled until the very end. Sakura was about to die with such regrets.

However, purple lightning suddenly appeared in front of Sakura, blocking Naruto's Rasengan attack.

Kakashi Hatake, the Jonin leader of Team 7 in Konoha, shielded Sakura behind him at the critical moment.

"Kakashi-sensei..."

Sakura watched Kakashi's retreating figure. The next moment, a tall earthen wall carved with a dog's head separated Sakura, Ino, and Tsunade from the battle between Kakashi and Naruto.

"Hey! Stop spacing out and get out of here!"

Kakashi's ninja dog Pakkun spoke to Sakura from behind the earthen wall.

Not only that, but Blue, the largest of Kakashi's eight ninja dogs, also helped the dazed Tsunade to Sakura and Ino's side.

"You can't participate in the upcoming battle, so don't interfere with Kakashi and Guy here."

Puck gestured, indicating that Kakashi hadn't rescued them so they could just stand there doing nothing.

"Teacher Kai is here too?!"

Pakkun stopped responding and simply had Blue take Tsunade, Sakura, and Ino away from behind the earthen wall to avoid getting involved in the battle.

Meanwhile, the confrontation between Kakashi and Naruto also took a turn for the better.

"Naruto, you attacked Sakura without hesitation."

Kakashi stared at Naruto's left eye, feeling angry and saddened by Naruto's earlier attack.

"Having witnessed the current state of Konoha, why do you think I would show mercy?"

Naruto stared curiously at the lightning ninjutsu in Kakashi's hand, which resembled the Lightning Blade. The power and technique of the purple lightning made Naruto think that it was the Lightning Blade. However, the purple lightning that Kakashi was using no longer required the Sharingan's assistance.

However, Kakashi's Purple Lightning technique was clearly not fully developed. Faced with the pressure of Naruto's Rasengan, Kakashi was quickly overwhelmed.

However, the main force that fought against Naruto was not Kakashi, who had already lost his Sharingan.

His appearance, besides rescuing Sakura and the others from Naruto, served only as a feint attack.

Therefore, even though he was being suppressed by Naruto, Kakashi was not panicked.

"Naruto, I'm just as good at using shadow clones in battle as you!"

Kakashi suddenly stopped maintaining the Purple Lightning, letting Naruto's Rasengan pass through his chest.

There is only one possibility for this kind of "suicidal" behavior!

The Kakashi in front of you is not the real Kakashi, but a shadow clone!

When Naruto touched Kakashi's shadow clone, Kakashi's shadow clone instantly transformed into powerful lightning, striking Naruto's entire body!

Lightning Release: Lightning Clone!

This is Kakashi's Shadow Clone Technique, which he is extremely skilled at.

The lightning attribute was applied to the shadow clones, allowing them to transform into lightning for a final attack when they were destroyed!

And the real main attackers are already in place!

"Daytime Tiger!"

The taijutsu punch used by Might Guy after opening the seventh gate of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Shock, actually materialized into a giant white tiger.

It hit Naruto the instant he threw the punch!

Chapter 89 Transcribing the Seal - Part Two

The ruins before me were strange.

Most of them were submerged in the murky, corrosive "lake water," with only a small portion exposed.

Beyond these ruins, there is also a red, fleshy wall full of wrinkles.

Naruto stood on a broken pillar and looked around, immediately figuring out where Jiraiya had dragged him to.

This is undoubtedly the stomach of a certain toad from Mount Myōboku.

But no matter how special the toads of Mount Myoboku are, they will not eat these "structures".

This is clearly a barrier space attached to the stomach.

Naruto was not surprised by this, as Jiraiya was very skilled at using the organs of the toads as a medium to cast barrier spells.

In the original work, Jiraiya first demonstrated this talent by summoning the stomach wall of the giant toad from Mount Myōboku, using the "Toad Mouth Binding Technique" to restrict the movements of Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha who were invading Konoha.

However, the stomach wall of the toad that Jiraiya pulled Naruto into is clearly not the stomach of the Giant Toad Iwajuku.

Instead, it's another kind of spacetime barrier that can completely isolate the outside world, called "Barrier: Toad Ladle Prison"—

—In the original story, Jiraiya used this barrier to defeat the Animal Path of Pain and successfully brought the Animal Path's corpse back to Konoha.

Now that Nagato has been dealt with by Naruto ahead of time, this barrier formation has been used by Jiraiya on Naruto.

First, there was the psychic art of communicating with spirits;

Then there's the secret technique of the mountain tribe;

Finally, there's the barrier that isolates us from the outside world...

The method Jiraiya used to counter Naruto's Flying Thunder God Technique was exactly the same as the method Shimura Danzo used three years ago.

Was Jiraiya's teacher really the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi? Or was he actually a disciple of Danzo Shimura?

Naruto couldn't help but let this flimsy idea pop into his mind.

Although the process is similar to that of three years ago, Naruto today will never repeat the same mistakes that led to that outcome.

His gaze shifted from the barrier itself to Jiraiya, who was also within the barrier and confronting him not far away: "Your toad-like appearance is more pleasing to the eye than your human form. Do you croak like a toad now, Jiraiya-sensei?"

Jiraiya has entered the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku, as taught by the toads.

However, due to his imperfect mastery of Sage Chakra, Jiraiya's Sage Mode caused his appearance to begin to resemble that of a toad.

Jiraiya's eyes turned into the horizontal pupils of a toad, and his nose became huge and covered with fleshy bumps.

However, compared to Jiraiya in Sage Mode, Naruto's attention was more focused on the two skinny little toads, one purple and one green, standing on his left and right shoulders, helping Jiraiya maintain Sage Mode.

The two hermit toads of Mount Myōboku: the purple-haired Shima and the green-haired Fukasaku.

"If the three of you get together, will there be enough flies in the pond for you to share?"

"Naruto! You are really amazing. You have already analyzed the ninjutsu information in the 'Toad Gourd Prison' almost perfectly after only seeing it for the second time."