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The next morning, as dawn barely broke, the master and disciple continued their journey.
Shunfeng, lying motionless on the treasure brick, made no attempt to lead the way. Occasionally, it would stretch a paw to gesture, insisting that its dog eyes were still blind.
Naruto had checked it and found nothing wrong, yet it stubbornly maintained its blindness, which perplexed Naruto greatly. However, he decided not to delve deeper; understanding the mind of a husky was simply too difficult.
The saying, "God scattered wisdom upon the earth, and only the husky held up an umbrella," was not without reason.
Naruto was full of vigor, dragging the iron pole in front, while Jiraiya frequently yawned.
Because there had been fighting nearby, he had set up a simple alarm system around their camp last night and hadn't searched for Idou, so he hadn't slept well.
Among the trees, a light yellow weasel darted in and out of sight, startling nearby small animals.
Their usual routine was broken by a loud shout from Jiraiya.
"Who's there!"
Saying this, Jiraiya picked up a stone and threw it into the shadows of the forest.
"Swish, swish, swish..."
Four dark figures sprang out.
Little Lingtong jumped in surprise, directly leaping onto Naruto's shoulder. Then it bared its teeth and hissed, ready to attack; it was even more reckless than Naruto.
Shunfeng didn't move at all, because it couldn't see.
"As expected of the legendary Sannin, to discover us like this," said the leader of the opposing group.
He wore a hood, a loose, open robe, and a rope as thick as a baby's arm tied around his waist, its end extending from behind his tailbone like a tail.
He looked like a monkey... and Naruto recognized him.
"It's the Xuan Yuan Cult," Jiraiya frowned. "Listening to your words just now... does that mean..."
"One who has traveled the ninja world is truly different; you even know this," the leader praised.
The Xuan Yuan Cult was a group that hunted ninjas, relying on a meticulously cultivated type of microscopic insect. Not only were these insects invisible to the naked eye, but the Xuan Yuan Cult also used flashbang explosions to disperse them during each deployment, making them even harder to detect.
Once the insects infiltrated the human body through the nostrils, ninjas were fine as long as they didn't use chakra. However, once chakra was used, it would be absorbed by the insects. After absorbing a certain amount, they would explode.
They had once hunted the Fourth Raikage. If Tsunade hadn't been nearby, and the Raikage hadn't sought medical help for his subordinates and conveniently received treatment himself, he might have died.
Even against the combination of Tsunade and the Raikage, the Xuan Yuan Cult dared to lurk near their treatment location, preparing to strike. These insects gave them immense confidence.
They were incredibly stubborn.
They weren't killed because they discovered the Raikage had been cured, felt they couldn't win, and retreated after negotiations.
Jiraiya had heard of the Xuan Yuan Cult's insects, but he hadn't thought of them yesterday when he saw the flashbang. Not just him, Naruto hadn't thought of it either.
Smoke bombs and flashbangs were standard ninja equipment; every ninja had them, and seeing a flashbang was a common occurrence.
Jiraiya secretly circulated a small amount of chakra, and suddenly his chest jolted. "Ugh..."
After understanding the situation, Jiraiya chuckled, "It seems I've been infected too."
Even with the insects, Jiraiya wasn't worried at all. He was confident in his strength; even without chakra, relying solely on taijutsu, the opponents couldn't keep him. Moreover, he wasn't without a way to deal with it.
Seeing Jiraiya's action, Naruto worriedly asked, "Old man, are you alright? Should I go invite Ancestor Tsunade to take a look?"
Naruto knew the ability of these insects. He truly couldn't cure this kind of injury; he could only ask Ancestor Tsunade to come out of retirement.
He himself wasn't worried, because he had the Nine-Tails. The violent Nine-Tails Chakra was unbearable even for humans, so these insects definitely couldn't handle it; they weren't the Seven-Tails.
"No need." Jiraiya waved his hand. To call Tsunade for such a small matter, where would he put his old face?
He leaned in and whispered, "Naruto, these guys have a type of insect that lurks inside your body and absorbs your chakra. Try to tap into that power within you; it should be effective."
Jiraiya had previously seen the damage Nine-Tails Chakra did to Naruto. If Naruto himself couldn't stand it, let alone those insects.
The leader saw the two talking and interrupted, "Jiraiya, I have the antidote here. As long as you hand over our mission target to me, I can remove the insects from you afterward."
When facing these renowned ninja world powerhouses, they tried to avoid fighting as much as possible. They did the same thing with the Raikage last time. The plan was to exchange the antidote for the mission scroll. Unfortunately, the Raikage was cured later.
Jiraiya stood still and said, "Tell me your target."
He was gathering natural energy; Sage Mode chakra had a strong suppressive effect on chakra-absorbing abilities.
In the original story, the protagonist used this move to petrify Pain's Preta Path.
"Him." The leader pointed at Naruto.
Orochimaru's mission was one they accepted after careful consideration. The mission required a person, but if there was no person, chakra was acceptable. Their insects could absorb chakra, so even if they couldn't defeat the opponent, the recovered insects could complete the mission.
It was a win-win situation, so why not take it?
"Oh? You want me?" Seeing Jiraiya's immobility, Naruto also guessed his thoughts and slowly walked forward. "Then I'll go with you."
Calculating that the distance was roughly enough, Naruto asked, "Then may I know who sent you to capture me?"
"Don't know."
"Is that so?" Naruto closed his eyes and mumbled to himself.
"Big brother, I can't sense the insects in his body anymore!" shouted the squad's sensory ninja.
"Attack!" the leader commanded.
"Too late!" Naruto opened his red vertical pupils, staring at the four monkey-like figures leaping towards him.
He grabbed Little Lingtong with one hand, pulled out a scroll from his pocket with the other, and tossed it behind him, incidentally plucking a strand of hair from his head with the same hand.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Bang..."
After a large cloud of smoke dispersed, the forest was densely packed with clones.
One clone jumped up to catch Little Lingtong, one grabbed the scroll, and another walked into the portal behind a tree.
It was going to Mount MyĹboku to fetch toad oil in a bucket.
Jiraiya was too slow to enter Sage Mode, and the preparation time was too long, but toad oil could allow him to enter Sage Mode extremely quickly.
Although Jiraiya's transformation wasn't perfect, he could control natural energy and didn't have to worry about being petrified.
The remaining clones had already grabbed nearby clones, swung them around, and hurled them at the four monkey-like individuals. They were buying time.
The clones poured chakra into the scroll, and five iron pillars, as thick as soup bowls and over ten meters long, were summoned.
These were the lightning rods Naruto used when fighting Raiga. After realizing he lacked large-scale weapons when fighting Shukaku, he had Ten Ten seal them for him.
Watching the four figures slaughtering through the swarm of clones, Naruto dared not be careless. He hadn't fought a multiple-opponent battle before, and he knew the Xuan Yuan Cult consisted of five, not four, with one able to hide in shadows, which he had to guard against.
Little Lingtong had already been sent to Jiraiya's side. Naruto grabbed a nearby iron pillar, over ten meters long, and with the cooperation of his clones, threw it at the four figures who were neither entirely human nor entirely monkey.
Iron pillar = iron staff.
Today, let me, Uzumaki, teach you how to act like monkeys by parading Little Lingtong!
Meanwhile, the strand of hair Naruto had plucked earlier was still slowly falling.
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