Chapter 270: Forming an Alliance

Although he had listened to Hiruzen say so much.

The two Hokage still decided to go to Konoha themselves first, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the true situation, and also to see their little granddaughter Tsunade while they were at it.

Hearing their intention, Hiruzen was shocked and quickly tried to dissuade them:

"My lords, Konoha is currently the Uchiha clan's main base, like a tiger's den. It's best not to go without thorough preparation..."

However, before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the Second.

"Are you saying Konoha is too dangerous, and worried that we may go and not return? Monkey, you underestimate me and my brother too much."

Tobirama Senju said lightly. As soon as his voice fell, he made a hand seal.

"Release Impure World Reincarnation."

The First followed suit and undid the Impure World Reincarnation on himself as well. Then he said to Hiruzen:

"Monkey, it's not that we don't trust you. It's just more convenient for us two to act freely after releasing this technique, and exert our strength to the maximum extent."

The dead revived through the Impure World Reincarnation would be under the caster's control.

But as the creator of this technique, the Second was a meticulous man. He had deliberately left a backdoor when designing the Impure World Reincarnation.

It was to prevent this technique from falling into the hands of Konoha's enemies.

"Of course."

Hiruzen nodded repeatedly.

In fact, during the process of improving the Impure World Reincarnation, he had also discovered the loophole left by the Second. With his ability to "teach all kinds of ninjutsu", he was fully capable of cracking it.

But even if given a hundred times more courage, Hiruzen still wouldn't dare to oppose the two Hokage directly and control them with the technique.

"That's how it is, Tobirama. Let's go."

The First was excited, like an eager big child.

After all, after spending decades in the Pure Land, boredom was certain. Now that such great changes had occurred in the shinobi world, the First was full of anticipation for this trip to Konoha.

The Second nodded, then looked at Hiruzen: "Monkey, I'll keep in touch with you, just use the old method."

After that.

Under the gaze of Hiruzen and the others, the two Hokage strode out of the desolate island and disappeared over the sea, heading towards Konoha.

After the First and Second left, Hiruzen finally let out a sigh, looking worried.

In his opinion, the two lords still underestimated Uchiha Dan. Going to Konoha so rashly like this, something might happen.

Unfortunately, he could do nothing about it.

Just then.

"Old man, I have a question."

Asuma put out his cigarette and walked over, asking puzzledly, "Wasn't there still the Fourth Hokage? Why didn't you resurrect him?"

Minato Namikaze, Konoha's Yellow Flash. His proficiency in the space-time ninjutsu Flying Thunder God Technique was even deeper than the Second Hokage's.

If he was resurrected as well to go to Konoha together with the First and Second, then even if a dangerous situation occurred, the three of them could still calmly withdraw using the Fourth's Flying Thunder God.

Moreover, the Fourth could also go to Akatsuki to help Jiraiya negotiate, which would greatly increase the success rate of forming an alliance. After all, Akatsuki's leader Naruto was the Fourth's son.

So Asuma felt very puzzled.

When Hiruzen heard this, he shook his head helplessly and explained:

"The prerequisite for the Impure World Reincarnation to revive the dead is that their souls must be in the Pure Land. Have you forgotten, back then Minato sacrificed himself to stop the Nine-Tails from destroying Konoha. He used the Reaper Death Seal, offering both his own soul and half of the Nine-Tails to the death god. In other words, Minato's soul has been in the death god's stomach ever since, so he can't be resurrected with the Impure World Reincarnation."

I see.

Asuma and Kurenai suddenly understood, and couldn't help feeling regretful.

But the two of them didn't know that Hiruzen hadn't told the whole truth.

In fact, the Reaper Death Seal could be undone.

This technique was an Uzumaki clan sealing jutsu. As long as one obtained the death god mask worshipped in the Uzumaki's Mask Storage Temple, one could guide the death god to possess their body.

Then, by cutting open the death god's stomach, the sealed souls could be released. Although doing so would make the user a sacrifice, Hiruzen, who had mastered over a thousand skills, was confident he could resolve it using advanced shadow doppelganger techniques.

His real reason for not wanting to resurrect the Fourth Hokage was that he didn't know...how to face Minato Namikaze.

Ever since the Uchiha clan had taken over Konoha, they had ruthlessly cleared Hiruzen's name as the Third Hokage. Many things he did during his reign were picked out and vilified by the Uchiha.

Among the most widely spread was that during the Nine-Tails' rampage, Hiruzen had deliberately prevented the Uchiha clan from going into battle in order to consolidate power, which led to the Fourth Hokage being isolated without reinforcements, and ultimately dying.

After that, Hiruzen had also abused the Fourth's orphan, deliberately inciting the entire village of Konoha to resent and ostracize Naruto, causing the latter to have a very difficult childhood.

Damn it.

He had clearly issued the gag order to protect Naruto, concealing his identity as the son of heroes and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, so that Naruto wouldn't be in danger.

But now, nothing he said mattered anymore.

If Minato Namikaze was resurrected and learned of Hiruzen's actions, then turned against him, things would be terrible.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Hiruzen still gave up the idea of resurrecting Minato in the end.

Moreover, he would not give anyone else, especially the Uchiha clan, a chance to resurrect the Fourth Hokage.

Because.

The ruins of the Uzumaki clan were blown away by Akatsuki's 30 million paper bombs eight years ago. The Mask Storage Temple was also destroyed.

Nowadays, there was only one death god mask left in the entire shinobi world, and it was in Hiruzen's hands.

No one other than him could resurrect the Fourth Hokage.

After thinking it over.

Hiruzen was still somewhat worried. So he instructed Asuma:

"You guys stay here and wait for Jiraiya's news. I'm also going to Konoha to meet up with the two Hokage lords."

After saying that, he too hurriedly set off to catch up with the First and Second.

Akatsuki base.

The traitor Kakuzu was dead.

The one-tail jinchuriki Gaara and seven-tail jinchuriki Fu had also gone to different hiding places separately, to guard against pursuit by the Uchiha clan.

Currently, the only core members left in the organization were three people.

Naruto, Konan, and Karen who had just returned.

"Konan-sensei, do we really have to...do this?"

In the room, Naruto looked troubled.

Konan glanced at Naruto and asked lightly:

"What's wrong, Naruto? Are you getting soft-hearted?"

"No...no." Naruto's tone was uncertain.

"If Karen is innocent, why are you worried about her? The fact that you're like this now means you're doubting her in your heart too, right?"

Konan's gaze was piercing, seeing through Naruto's thoughts.

"...Alright."

Naruto's expression was one of despair. Under Konan's verbal assault, he finally conceded defeat.

Konan-sensei suspected Karen had defected to Konoha's side.

Although Naruto believed Karen wouldn't do such a thing, just to be safe, he still decided to take Konan's suggestion and interrogate Karen.

The Rinnegan had many wondrous abilities.

One of them was that just by pressing one's hand on another's head, one could easily read the other's memories.

Whether Karen had betrayed the organization or not could be found out this way.

Subsequently.

Naruto called Karen into the room.

"Naruto, Konan-sensei, is there something?"

As soon as Karen entered, she felt the atmosphere in the room was somewhat heavy. Seeing their taciturn expressions, she immediately became nervous.

"Karen..."

Naruto revealed his Rinnegan, about to take action.

But at this moment, an uninvited guest came knocking on their door.

Boom!

A violent explosion came from outside the base, shocking the three people in the room.

Someone had triggered the perimeter traps outside the base.

Konan's eyes instantly flashed coldly. She said solemnly:

"It's Konoha's people who have followed us here. The Uchiha are really fast huh, right, Karen?"

After speaking, she glanced at Karen.

Karen's expression changed. She hurriedly explained in panic:

"Konan-sensei, I checked repeatedly, no one was tailing me..."

"Let's go out and see first."

Naruto interrupted Karen's words and strode out of the room.

When he got outside, he was surprised to discover that the intruder was not a shinobi from Konoha or the Uchiha clan, but a tall man with unruly long white hair.

Jiraiya.

The Jiraiya before his eyes looked dusty and disheveled. He had obviously accidentally triggered the traps, but was powerful enough that apart from looking a little miserable, he wasn't really injured.

"Cough cough."

Jiraiya coughed from the dust. After two coughs, he looked up to see Naruto and the three others. His expression immediately brightened as he spoke first:

"Naruto, I've finally found you. I'm Jiraiya. You should have heard my name from Konan right? Don't be nervous, I mean no harm. I've come to form an alliance with you."

Form an alliance?

When Naruto heard this, he exchanged a glance with Konan. Both were somewhat unclear about Jiraiya's intentions.

Naruto frowned. He decided to first find out what medicine was in this gourd, and responded:

"Let's hear it."

Jiraiya breathed a sigh of relief, then asked:

"Have you heard of the legend of the prophesied child?"

Then, he told Naruto about Mount Myoboku's Great Toad Sage's prophecy, as well as his own journey over the years.

When Jiraiya first saw Nagato, and saw the Rinnegan in the latter's eyes, he thought Nagato was the prophesied child. So he took on Nagato, Konan and Yahiko as disciples.

He had sincerely hoped that one day in the future, Nagato could put an end to the turmoil in the shinobi world and bring peace.

But it turned out that Nagato wasn't the one.

However, this time, not only Jiraiya, but even the Great Toad Sage who made the prophecy clearly stated that Naruto Uzumaki was the real prophesied child.

"Naruto, only you can defeat Uchiha Dan and stop him from becoming the ten-tails jinchuriki. And I, am willing to do everything in my power to help you."

Jiraiya said sincerely from the bottom of his heart.

"I'm...the prophesied child?"

Naruto felt it was somewhat sudden, but the middle-aged man with white hair before him looked very sincere.

And he was also Konan-sensei's teacher, so he probably wouldn't lie.

In fact, not only was Konan Jiraiya's disciple.

According to Jiraiya, Naruto's father the Fourth Hokage was also his disciple. He had even gone to Mount Myoboku for sage training.

Looking at it this way, the ties between Jiraiya and Naruto ran deep.

Just as Naruto was slightly moved.

Konan frowned and reminded Naruto:

"Be careful, he's trying to get close to you. Don't let your guard down."

"I understand, Konan-sensei."

Naruto nodded, then casually asked Jiraiya:

"You said you want to help me, so exactly how will you help?"

If Jiraiya couldn't give a satisfactory answer that pleased Naruto, then no matter how much more he said would be useless.

Fortunately Jiraiya had come prepared.

"Do you know senjutsu? It's an extremely powerful force. During his lifetime, even the Sage of Six Paths had gone to Mount Myoboku to learn senjutsu from the Great Toad Sage. Eight years ago, through some unknown method, Uchiha Dan had also mastered senjutsu. It was precisely senjutsu that allowed him to kill tens of thousands of allied shinobi troops in that battle. Therefore, in order to give you the ability to contend with Uchiha Dan, I can bring you to Mount Myoboku and help you cultivate senjutsu."

He looked at Naruto sincerely and stated his plan.

Mount Myoboku, senjutsu.

Hearing these terms, although Naruto remained wary, he was also tempted.

Especially when he heard from Jiraiya that Uchiha Dan had also mastered senjutsu, he suddenly felt that he shouldn't fall behind others.

Otherwise, what could he use to contend with Uchiha Dan?

So Naruto looked to Konan for her opinion.

"Hold on, Naruto."

Konan patted Naruto on the shoulder, then looked at Jiraiya and suddenly asked:

"Jiraiya-sensei, can you tell me how you found this place?"

Jiraiya was startled, then glanced at Karen and truthfully replied:

"I followed that young lady here, but don't get the wrong idea. She was completely unaware of this."

However, Jiraiya's deliberate explanation was counterproductive. In Konan's eyes, it was nothing but a cover up.

Karen really was problematic.

Thinking of this, in Naruto's ear, she said in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Naruto, you must be very careful of Jiraiya. His stance is unclear. On the surface he is a Konoha rogue ninja, but in reality it's very likely he is a person from Konoha, pretending to be enemies with Konoha in order to infiltrate us. Don't forget, Tsunade, who has good relations with Jiraiya and is also one of the three Konoha Sannin, has long joined the Uchiha's camp. In my opinion, Jiraiya inviting you to Mount Myoboku must be a trap."

When Naruto heard this, his brows furrowed as he fell into thought.

A moment later.

He finally made up his mind. He spoke to Jiraiya again:

"Sorry, I refuse to ally with you. Go back to wherever you came from."

After saying that, he instructed Konan and Karen to pack up and prepare to leave this exposed base.

"Wait, Naruto."

Jiraiya became somewhat anxious. He reflexively tried to catch up to Naruto and hold him back.

The next second.

"Hmph."

Naruto let out a cold snort. He stretched out an arm and a missile shot out lightning fast from his palm, landing at Jiraiya's feet.

Boom.

A crater several meters wide appeared on the ground.

Jiraiya scrambled out of the way, nearly getting blown to death.

"Take another step closer, don't blame me for being impolite." Naruto said coldly.

"Naruto, you must calm down and listen carefully to what I have to say."

Jiraiya's expression became stern, his attitude becoming tough. He was determined to persuade Naruto.

"No need to say more."

Naruto shook his head. He stretched out his hand again and shouted coldly,

"Universal Pull!"

Jiraiya's pupils shrank.