Chapter 146 - Into the Enemy's Hideout

Naruto, then turns his attention to Onoki and asks "Old man are you all right!?" after coughing some blood, he replies "I'll live. that bastard seems to ignore human biology... She didn't know where the heart is located... This time luck was on my side".

Then Gaara lands near them and after checking on the Tsuchikage, he turns to Naruto and asks "What are you doing at this battle?! Why did you come here?! Surely you've got some kind of explanation you can give me, right?!" but right at that moment, Onoki stands says "Let us hear the story... but don't think the battle is over yet, we've still got to go to the next battle..." but Mecha-Naruto interrupts and reports "In the other Battlefield, the two Adjuchas have already been suppressed by me and Tajiro, right now they are recovering and taking care of the casualties while waiting for further orders".

And so they decide to join back with the rest of the division, and Mecha-Naruto under the stunned gaze of the others transform into his Vehicle Mode, and transports the wounded Tsuchikage, while Gaara and Naruto follow behind, and soon they reach the unit.

Once there Gaara quickly takes command and starts giving orders "Contact the HQ to tell them about our situation" and Temari then adds "Leave the injured to the medical team! The ones that can still move shall wait for new orders from the HQ!" and sitting on the ground Onoki says "We will probably be sent to support some other team!".

Gaara then turns to Onoki and says "Tsuchikage you should go with the medical team as well" but he simply replies "... I'm fine now... Oihyo!" and Taro says "Old man don't overdo it! We still need your strength so get patched up!".

While Onoki is led to the medic team, Gaara turns to Naruto and asks "Naruto, you're a clone right? Then... where is the original one?" and Naruto replies "My clone are moving toward the other battlefields, while the original and the other Uncle-Jinchuriki are moving toward Madara!".

Meanwhile, Jiraiya, Konan, and Yahiko finally reached Obito's Hideout in the Mountains' Graveyard, on their way here, they meet with many Hollow that forced them to slow down and kill them, among those there were also 5 Gillians.

Once near the presumed entrance of the hideout, Jiraiya stops and says "We're finally here... but I have to admit that the defense here is pretty lax... but it is better to not lower our guard, we do not know what we will find inside... So keep your eyes open, and remember our primary objective is to recover Nagato's body, then any important information we can find and retreat, are we clear?" both Yahiko and Konan reply to his question with "Yes Sensei!".

And so they carefully walk inside the cave, always checking for traps or hidden enemies, soon they reach the stairs that led to the lower floors, and find themselves in front of many tunnels going in different directions, seeing this, Yahiko put his hand on Konan should and says "Konan, it is your turn now...".

Konan nods and walks in front of them, then she opens her hands and from them, many small paper planes start flying each one going in a different direction, then she closes her eyes to focus on scouting, while this was happening Jiraiya moves close to Yahiko and with his goofy grin whisper "That was smooth... So tell your sensei how far did you go?... Should I expect some grand-disciple soon?".

And Yahiko with a cheeky grin counters "What about you sensei? You aren't young anymore... When will you finally settle down?" but Jiraiya didn't have the time to answer because Konan finish her scouting and says "From what I have seen there is a sprawling network of mines and tunnels, spreading to other countries and touching on what seems ancient ruins".

Then pointing at one of the tunnels she continues "In that direction there seem to be a central chamber, with a bed, some kind of strange tree with two people sprouting from it, and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, while..." then pointing at another tunnel "...In this direction, there is what it seems to be a laboratory, with the Uchiha clan crest on one wall, which contains a large number of Sharingan-bearing eyes preserved in jars, the lab also has an operating table and surgical tools".

Jiraiya then put his hand on his chin in a thinking pose and says "Yahiko, you and Konan go to the lab, I think it's there that you will find Nagato's body, while I will go and check the chamber..." then he turns to Konan and says " Konan, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is where Akatsuki sealed the Bijuu right? Is there a way to free them from it?" but Konan shakes her head and replies "Not that I know, the only way I know to control the Demonic Statue is through the Rinnegan".

Jiraiya hearing that let out a sight then he says "Got it! Now, Let's move! We will meet at the point of rendezvous we agreed before!" and so they go on their way, Konan and Yahiko toward the laboratory, and Jiraiya toward the central chamber.

After a few minutes of moving through the winding tunnels undisturbed, Jiraiya finally reaches his objective, the central chamber, everything is almost like Konan described, the only difference is that there is a set of stairs leading to a huge flooded chamber, with another set of tunnels, and that the people sprouting from the strange tree are some kind of clone of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and the still alive and often forgotten Yamato.

Seeing him Jiraiya quickly moves to check on him, but in the next instant his instincts warn him of some danger and so he quickly jumps back, just in time to evade begin impaled by Suigetsu's katana, as he fell from the roof, but the attack doesn't end here, as the next moment, a volley of small green fireballs was quickly approaching from behind, but Jiraiya notices the attack and quickly reacts using the Doton: Doryūheki (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall) to create an earth wall to protect himself.

But the assault on him doesn't end here, as Seiryu, the Meno that is a strange mix between a dragon and a seahorse, that is still in the flooded cave below them, surrounded himself in water and rose up drilling into the ground to attack Jiraiya from below.

Jiraiya who once again notice the slight tremor under his feet, react and quickly throw himself to the side just in time to evade being shredded by Seiryu's attack, then he quickly steads himself and looks at his three opponent, Suigetsu, Seiryu, and a strange bird with skeletal wing, Suzaku.

Meanwhile, Suigetsu who notices that their surprise attack failed says "Man! You sure are something... You were able to defend against our attacks... That's not normal you now!?".