"He's awake! Tsuchikage-sama is awake!"
As soon as Onoki opened his eyes, his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi's voice sounded in his ears.
His memories quickly returned, and he recalled what had happened earlier.
So, the old man immediately bounced up with a carp kip-up from the bed, ready to enter a combat stance.
Crack-
"Ah... my back."
Onoki was left frozen on the sickbed, stuck in a strange position.
No helping it, now that he gets old, his joints tend to have problems.
It was an old issue of his.
At that moment, a hand glowing with green light reached over and pressed against Onoki's lower back.
The pain from the herniated disc quickly subsided, and Onoki couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
"Phew… Finally better, thank you so much... you...?"
The old man turned his head to see which doctor had such miraculous hands, only to meet a smiling face.
"Yo!"
The person raised a hand in greeting.
"Uzumaki Naruto!"
...
After a period of chaos and confusion, Onoki finally understood the whole story from his granddaughter Kurotsuchi's explanation and calmed down from his earlier furious state.
After knocking out those Iwagakure's Ninjas, Jiraiya, aware that things couldn't be allowed to escalate further, decisively took charge from Naruto and handled the situation.
He used several ink carriages to transport the unconscious Ninjas back to Iwagakure, and then, before Naruto could say anything else shocking, along with other Ninjas, explained their purpose clearly.
To be honest-
When they saw the Tsuchikage, who they thought was almost omnipotent, tossed onto a carriage like everyone else, the worldview of the Iwagakure's Chunin and Genin was shaken.
Some of the village's elders in charge also understood that if a group like Naruto's, possessing such power, said they meant no harm, then they truly meant no harm.
It really was just as Naruto had said.
Fight first, then talk cooperation… the process would be much smoother.
"Is this your Konoha's way of paying a visit!? This is too…! Too…!"
Obviously, the person involved, Onoki, didn't see it that way.
He was still very angry, trying to find a word to describe the other party, but couldn't.
"Ah... don't worry about such small details~"
Naruto paid no attention to the frantic Onoki, sitting back down on the chair after healing the old man's back injury.
Next to him, Jiraiya and several Iwagakure's elders were also seated.
"Speaking of which, you guys did pretty well, huh? Not wasting my effort to notify you in advance to protect the Jinchuriki."
Naruto said with a grin.
"Even after I searched high and low all over your village, I couldn't find a trace of the Jinchuriki."
Hearing this, Onoki and the other Iwagakure's elders immediately showed expressions as if constipated.
"But it's fine now, I'm here. Call them out, I'll protect them from now on."
Saying so, Naruto leisurely waited for Onoki's reply.
"Not necessary. Iwagakure's Jinchuriki will be protected by Iwagakure itself. We don't need outsiders interfering!"
Onoki's attitude was very firm.
Even after being defeated once, this point hadn't changed in the slightest.
Because he represented not only himself… as the leader of a village, his every action symbolized the entire village.
No matter from which perspective, he had to remain firm.
"That won't do, old man."
"Given the level of combat power your village has currently displayed, it's highly likely you can't protect the Jinchuriki. That Uchiha Madara..."
"Who?!"
Onoki was initially unconvinced when Naruto said his village wasn't up to the task, but his attention was immediately diverted upon hearing Uchiha Madara's name.
"Uchiha Madara. Didn't I tell you?"
Naruto said as if it were obvious.
"The mastermind behind the Akatsuki organization is Uchiha Madara."
"Impossible!"
Oniki shouted out, somewhat incredulous. It was clear that Madara had indeed left quite a psychological shadow on this old man.
"That man should have died long ago!"
"I'm not sure about that. After all, that guy does have a Mangekyo Sharingan and calls himself Uchiha Madara..."
Naruto didn't quite understand Onoki's current emotions.
'Anxiety, regret…'
'Shouldn't it be fear?'
It wasn't strange to fear a Ninja who had displayed immense power in history.
What he didn't know was that Onoki was currently filled with immense regret over allowing his disciple, Deidara to leave the village and join the Akatsuki.
Because he had hired Akatsuki multiple times to do jobs for him, in Onoki's mind, that organization was just an ordinary mercenary group.
Aren't they just some Missing-nin?
Their village had them too.
Onoki knew his disciple Deidara's personality well, so when the rebellious kid chose to escape Iwagakure and join Akatsuki, he was aware but didn't stop it.
Perhaps in his view, letting Deidara stay in such an organization wasn't a big problem.
At least he was still under his watchful eye.
But now, upon learning that Akatsuki's backer was that 'Uchiha Madara', Onoki immediately panicked.
He knew that with Deidara's strength, if it really was that man, Deidara wouldn't last a single move against him.
And according to the information previously sent by Konoha, this Akatsuki was currently on the path to becoming the 'enemy of the entire Ninja World'.
If their strength was lacking, that would be one thing; each village could just take their own Missing-nin back for disposal.
But with a powerhouse like Madara backing them…
The threat level of Akatsuki was completely different.
They truly had the potential to destroy the Five Great Nations.
In that case, the other villages wouldn't hold back either, and they're bound to confront them seriously.
In that scenario, Deidara would most likely not survive.
"Never mind that. Whoever he is, I'll deal with him sooner or later."
Onoki didn't comment on Naruto's words.
He just assumed Naruto didn't know Madara's true strength.
"So, where are the Jinchuriki in your village?"
The topic returned to this.
Hearing this, Onoki and the elders instinctively showed a hint of embarrassment.
"The Jinchuriki..."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Iwagakure's Jinchuriki... have been missing for several years."
"Huh?"
Seeing that Naruto had the feat of defeating the Iwagakure's Ninjas, even he, the Tsuchikage, had been defeated, the stubbornness in Onoki's heart to maintain Iwagakure's dignity couldn't hold out any longer.
He also believed that someone with Naruto's strength didn't need to deceive him with words anymore.
So, the old man somewhat hesitantly explained the matter regarding Iwagakure's Jinchuriki.
Iwagakure had two Jinchuriki.
The Four-Tails' Jinchuriki, Roshi and the Five-Tails' Jinchuriki, Han.
Among them, Roshi was an old man like Onoki. Due to his stubborn personality and refusal to become a 'human weapon', he clashed ideologically with Onoki, eventually voluntarily leaving Iwagakure and becoming a wandering monk.
His current specific whereabouts were unknown even to Onoki.
The Ninja named Han was the opposite. He strongly agreed with Onoki's will and had always served as a capable asset, achieving numerous merits for Iwagakure, even earning the moniker [Steam Ninja].
Such a useful and reliable Jinchuriki had disappeared a few years ago, vanished right under the noses of everyone in Iwagakure.
Hearing this, Naruto couldn't help but suspect if that masked man had secretly infiltrated Iwagakure to capture people years ago.
The disappearance of the Jinchuriki wasn't just about Iwagakure and the Land of Earth's dignity, but also about their own safety.
If other great Ninja Villages found out their Jinchuriki were gone, they might get some bad ideas.
"Ah... no need to worry about that."
Naruto waved his hand upon hearing Onoki's explanation, then said.
"I'll take the Tailed Beasts' Jinchuriki from other villages too."
Hearing this, Onoki was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke.
"Actually, I also know there's a small village called Takigakure that hosts the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki."
Takigakure was not an ally of Iwagakure.
To some extent, the Kage of each village all shared certain similar traits.