The seismic defeat of the Akatsuki was undeniable, yet Naruto's true objective remained Konoha. The village, desperate and terrified, dispatched their strongest. The mission to stop the destructive force known as the Jinchūriki of Vengeance fell to Tsunade Senju, the Hokage, and Jiraiya, the legendary Sannin, haunted by a deep, unforgivable guilt.
Jiraiya led the pursuit, his proficiency in tracking now fueled by a desperate desire to atone. He was not pursuing a student, but the child of his best friend, a boy he was meant to protect and guide—a duty he had prioritized his own erratic research over.
Naruto, using his Chakra Kekkai no Me, sensed their inevitable approach. He guided them deep into the craggy, forested borderlands of the Land of Fire, a desolate region suited for a final, decisive confrontation. He then began weaving his layered Sensory Disruption Seals to blind Jiraiya's tracking abilities.
Jiraiya located the disruption field first. He dismissed his toad summonings and landed alone in a large, ruined clearing, his face a mask of profound sorrow and determination.
"Naruto!" Jiraiya's voice echoed, powerful but tinged with regret. "Stop this! You are the son of the Fourth Hokage! This is not the path Minato wanted for you!"
Naruto materialized silently on a high cliff face, cloaked in black. His silver eyes met Jiraiya's gaze without recognition, only cold intent.
"Minato Uzumaki's son ran away at ten," Naruto stated flatly. "He ran because the village Minato saved used him as a scapegoat. Where were you then, Sannin? When I starved for acknowledgment, when the mobs threw stones, when I was alone? You were hunting ghosts for your book. You failed your promise to your student."
Jiraiya flinched as if struck. The words were razor sharp, slicing through his carefully constructed duty. "I know I failed you, kit. That failure is a hole in my gut. But don't let their hate control you! Vengeance is a shallow reward!"
"Vengeance is the only thing left that is pure," Naruto countered. "I will not forgive them for Rin and Hana. I will not forgive them for the isolation. You protect a place built on lies. I am here to tear them down."
Jiraiya's guilt hardened into resolution. He entered Sage Mode, the red markings appearing rapidly, stabilizing his immense chakra and sharpening his senses beyond ordinary limits.
"I won't let you destroy them, Naruto. Not if it means saving the memory of your parents!"
Jiraiya initiated the attack with a massive Katon Dai Endan (Fire Release: Great Flame Bomb), using Sage Chakra to boost its destructive power.
Naruto reacted with practiced ease, activating the Sōzō no Fūin (Creation's Seal). The colossal fire attack was instantly absorbed and neutralized, vanishing with a silent shimmer inches from his face.
Jiraiya followed with a relentless assault, using Hair Needle Senbon laced with oil to increase friction and penetration. The Sage Chakra reinforcement was meant to overwhelm the absorption seal.
"His Sage Chakra increases kinetic energy exponentially. You must force him to break Sage Mode prematurely," the Collective instructed.
Naruto maintained the Genshi Fūin (Primal Seal) defensively, allowing the needles to strike and deflect off his body, but the physical impact still forced him to retreat. He aimed for Jiraiya's legs, using precise applications of Ryū-jin no Tsume to detonate the chakra flowing to his lower body.
Jiraiya grimaced in pain, his focus wavering. He recognized the technique as chakra-point demolition. He quickly changed tack, summoning the two Great Toads (Fukasaku and Shima) to aid him in a combined Sage Art: Goemon technique (an oil and fire combination).
Naruto knew he couldn't negate two synchronized elemental attacks with his current seals. He needed separation.
He deployed several Kage Bunshin: En'i clones. They didn't engage the Toads; instead, they dashed towards the surrounding forest, applying temporary but potent Elemental Dispersion Seals to the air itself.
As the Toads unleashed the massive oil and fire attack, the Dispersion Seals ruptured the jutsu's formation. The oil separated from the fire, disrupting the synchronization and weakening the attack dramatically.
Jiraiya, furious at the disruption, launched a powerful Chō Odama Rasengan (Super Giant Spiraling Sphere), aiming for an absolute, neutralizing hit.
Naruto knew this was the peak of Jiraiya's power. He countered with the prepared Tensei Bakuhatsu (Reincarnation Explosion)—the controlled release of the Collective's stored life-force energy.
The impact was cataclysmic. A blinding silver-blue light met the spinning chakra sphere. The resulting energy wave flattened the earth for hundreds of meters.
Jiraiya, shielded by the Great Toads (who were instantly forced to dispel themselves due to the injury), was thrown violently backward. The sheer force ripped the Sage Chakra from his body, leaving him stunned and critically injured. He lay in the crater, gasping, his mind reeling from the devastation.
Naruto, weary but operational, stood over his defeated guardian.
"You chose your path, Jiraiya. Now you will live with the consequences of my choices."
He applied a rapid, focused Paralysis Seal to Jiraiya's core, ensuring he couldn't move or call for help, but was entirely stable. He had left Jiraiya alive purely to witness the impending failure of Konoha.
A massive, bone-jarring impact echoed through the valley. Tsunade Senju had arrived.
She landed near the incapacitated Jiraiya, her chakra flaring to catastrophic levels. Seeing Jiraiya bleeding and paralyzed, the red diamond seal on her forehead pulsing with terrifying power, her grief and fury became a physical presence.
"Naruto!" Tsunade roared, her voice a shriek of pure, unfiltered rage. "You have hunted your own! You have disgraced your clan! I will give you no mercy!"
This was the final, enraged, pure strength of Konoha's protection.