Because Hinata had lost consciousness, Naruto had no choice but to leave the Hyuga clan compound first.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura made their way toward the Hokage Building.
Inside the Hokage Office,
Besides Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Hiruzen Sarutobi were also present. The four engaged in cheerful conversation.
Seeing the grown-up Naruto, Minato felt touched, "Only two and a half years have passed, yet you've changed quite a bit, Naruto. You seem much more composed now."
Scratching his head, Naruto grinned widely, "Huh? Really? I think so too!"
Standing beside Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura silently commented in their hearts, Composed? More like just as foolish as always!
After Naruto told Minato about what had happened during these past couple of years, he left the Hokage Building and went home to look for Kushina Uzumaki.
The moment Kushina Uzumaki saw Naruto, she gave him a big hug. She'd missed him desperately after being apart for over two years, and immediately started tugging on his arm, asking him all about how he'd been doing during these two and a half years.
Meanwhile back at the Hokage Office, Jiraiya brought the lighthearted conversation to an end and grew serious.
Jiraiya spoke solemnly, "During these past two years, Naruto lost control a total of four times. On three occasions, his tails grew to four in number—by that point, he was completely out of control—and once they reached five tails. That one time, I nearly died."
Everyone's faces fell instantly.
Jiraiya continued, "Although part of the blame lies with my carelessness. Naruto's strength increases exponentially with every additional tail. Fortunately, thanks to the helmet Orochimaru created on Shindai's orders—which suppresses Tailed Beast Chakra—and combined with sealing tags, we managed to cut off the Nine-Tails' chakra supply, restoring his self-control."
Frowning, Minato Namikaze said, "If there appeared five tails, that means the seal on Naruto's body has already been severely compromised. Then... should we reinforce the seal? Or perhaps ask Kushina for help? Using Uzumaki Clan sealing techniques to suppress the Nine-Tails' power could help Naruto forcibly control its chakra?"
Shaking his head, Jiraiya replied, "I don't think that's necessary just yet. From what I noticed, the Nine-Tails hasn't been intentionally causing Naruto to lose control—it's more that Naruto's body simply couldn't withstand such powerful chakra, leading to loss of control.
"Also, during the third incident when four tails emerged, Naruto briefly regained consciousness, indicating he's beginning to adapt to the Nine-Tails' chakra. Reinforcing the seal or forcibly suppressing the fox could backfire. I believe we should watch things unfold a bit more and let Naruto continue adapting.
"Besides, I've already started teaching Naruto to gather Sage Chakra from Mount Myoboku. Once he masters Sage Mode, his body should be able to handle larger amounts of Nine-Tails' chakra without losing control."
Minato nodded thoughtfully. If everything remained within controllable limits, letting Naruto try to adjust wasn't a bad idea.
Jiraiya then said grimly, "Then there's the matter of Akatsuki. After investigation, I found out their target is the Tailed Beasts—two Jinchuriki have already been captured by them."
Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in confusion, "If they're after the Tailed Beasts, they've invaded Konoha twice before, yet their targets didn't seem to be the Jinchuriki."
Jiraiya replied, "I'm puzzled too. Maybe they were still hiding back then. But one thing's for sure—Naruto and Kushina are definitely on their radar. However, their exact purpose for capturing Jinchuriki remains unknown."
Tsunade asked, "Jiraiya, you mentioned earlier that two members of Akatsuki were your former apprentices in Amegakure, right?"
Jiraiya nodded, "That's right—one was Yahiko, the other Konan. During the Chunin Exams, the ones who appeared were Kakuzu from Takigakure, a missing ninja; Deidara from Iwagakure, also a missing ninja; and Hidan from Tsukigakure, another missing ninja. As for the masked man, we don't know his identity, but he might be from the Uchiha clan."
"There's also Sasori from Sunagakure, another missing ninja, and Kisame Hoshigaki from Kirigakure, also a missing ninja. We don't know much about the others."
Minato Namikaze exclaimed, "Wow, all of them are missing ninjas from different villages!"
Jiraiya continued, "Also, Shindai seems to understand these guys pretty well. The puppets he used during the Chunin Exams looked like they were specifically designed to counter theirs."
Minato suggested, "Then let's call Shindai over and ask him directly."
Shindai showed up at the Hokage's office looking confused, "What's up with all this?"
Minato asked, "Shindai, you seem to know quite a bit about Akatsuki. Do you have any intel on them?"
Shindai didn't reply immediately. He paused and thought.
So it's really come to this already?
Well, considering Naruto has grown up, things are about to start.
Besides, judging by how things stand now, there's no need to fear Akatsuki much anymore.
The most troublesome ones are just three—Black Zetsu, Madara Uchiha, and Kaguya Otsutsuki.
But Madara Uchiha is already dead, Kaguya Otsutsuki has been sealed away, and Black Zetsu... well, he's smart, but not that strong.
Exactly! So what's there to fear?
Now that Minato and the others are here, why not just wipe out Akatsuki outright!
Back then, he focused on Black Zetsu. Though he couldn't kill him, sealing Black Zetsu and destroying the Rinnegan would ensure neither Madara nor Kaguya could appear!
Immediately, Shindai spilled everything he knew about Akatsuki like a full confession.
Everyone—including Minato—listened in stunned silence.
Especially Jiraiya. He had assumed Nagato was dead since only Yahiko and Konan had shown up before. Never did he expect that Yahiko was actually the one who died—that the real Yahiko was nothing more than a corpse—and that the true mastermind behind it all was Nagato.
After hearing everything, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked perplexedly, "Shindai, where exactly did you get all this intel from?"
Shindai's face froze. He'd gotten too carried away—he never left Konoha except for missions, so there was no way he could've obtained such detailed intelligence.
Shindai darted his eyes, already coming up with an excuse.
Shindai blurted out, "Didn't I mention before? That guy Sasori turned himself into a Human Puppet. His consciousness was stored as data inside the core. During my puppet's fight with him, it accidentally accessed that data—that's how I found out."
There were plenty of holes in Shindai's story, but no one present understood those concepts well enough to tell if he was lying. Besides, they were only asking offhand—what really mattered was the intelligence itself, not where it came from.
Minato Namikaze spoke gravely, "If we have this information, things just got a lot easier. We'll be able to target Akatsuki members the next time we encounter them!"
Shindai added, "Oh, and Akatsuki's headquarters is located in Amegakure!"
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