"Is it really you? Konan?"
Jiraiya's voice was something they could never forget, no matter how many years had passed.
Turning around, the Jiraiya-sensei they saw was no longer the young appearance from back then. And Konan and the others had changed even more.
So much that Jiraiya almost didn't dare recognize them.
Although he'd been mentally prepared, when Jiraiya actually saw his former purple-haired student transformed into the current "rock musician," his heart inevitably felt mixed emotions.
She even had a nail piercing on her face.
This aesthetic sense... without a teacher by her side, she really developed in a strange direction.
The only thing that hadn't changed was the paper flower Konan wore in her hair.
But honestly, after witnessing the fact that Konan was still alive, Jiraiya was still happy in his heart.
"Jiraiya-sensei."
The last word seemed somewhat stiff when spoken, and though Konan's face showed no expression, her heart was already stirring with waves.
She naturally understood that their actions would attract Konoha ninjas sooner or later, and meeting Jiraiya was inevitably unavoidable.
She just hadn't expected it to happen this early, with Jiraiya appearing so suddenly.
"It really is you... so, is Nagato the leader of the 'Akatsuki organization'?"
"What about Yahiko? Is he here too?"
Unlike the original timeline, this time Jiraiya had learned in advance from Naruto that the Akatsuki organization was founded by the owner of the "Rinnegan."
Therefore, seeing Konan, he wasn't that surprised.
Hearing the names Nagato and Yahiko from Jiraiya's mouth seemed to awaken Konan from her wavering at seeing an old acquaintance.
She became that "God's messenger" again, and her words became cold and impersonal.
"I'm sorry, Jiraiya-sensei. Now we are enemies."
To realize her comrade's dream, Konan had to do this.
As she spoke, countless paper sheets flew toward Jiraiya.
The paper sheets were infused with chakra, hard as iron—if they hit directly, they'd be no different from shuriken.
Seeing this, Sasuke and Karin prepared to act, but were stopped by Jiraiya's raised hand.
"Let me, as the teacher, give the student another lesson."
After speaking, with a casual wave, ink filled the sky, transforming into identical shuriken that collided with those paper sheets.
Almost every pure white paper sheet was stained with ink marks.
"How convenient... meeting you again just after your teacher acquired this ability."
Without seeing Jiraiya do anything special, those ink-stained paper sheets automatically flew up and, following Jiraiya's will, flew back toward Konan.
No matter what "Paper Release" jutsu Konan used, they were all suppressed by equivalent ink.
Even the explosive tags mixed among the papers lost control after contacting the ink.
Ink could freely color white paper—Jiraiya's ability seemed naturally designed to counter Konan.
And this was with Jiraiya holding back, not using other ninjutsu.
Otherwise, he just needed to summon a toad and have it spit toad oil in Konan's direction.
Seeing that Konan didn't need their help, Karin and Sasuke headed toward Naruto's battlefield.
On this side, the Asura Path Pain had long recognized Naruto's identity and severed his arm without hesitation to create distance, then covered Naruto and Shinnō with missiles.
Shinnō still wanted to break free from Naruto's one-handed grip, but found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape that large hand.
"Impossible!"
You know, he'd already activated Eight Gates and Physical Activation!
"Hehe, don't be so afraid."
Naruto showed a kind smile, then turned his face toward the Asura Path and opened his mouth.
Those missiles from another dimension were directly swallowed by the abyssal maw in one gulp.
This level of attack didn't even tickle Naruto. Besides adding new items to his collection, it had no other effect.
The Rinnegan narrowed, and the Asura Path "opened his mind" again, firing a laser at them.
In the spirit of reciprocity, Naruto also opened his mouth.
A black breath carrying a destructive aura also shot from his mouth.
"Haki Flash"—a terrifying impact fusing Conqueror's Haki and Yang Release chakra—wasn't something a simple laser could handle.
That terrifying breath almost effortlessly "pierced through" everything blocking its path.
Including the Asura Path's body.
Half of this guy's body was destroyed, revealing various weapons beneath.
"As expected, not a living person."
When observing from outside with Observation Haki, Naruto had already noticed that unnatural aura.
Somewhat similar to the clone bodies Orochimaru created.
Simply put, "dead but slightly alive."
Seeing Naruto's attention diverted, Shinnō's eyes turned sinister as his other hand silently attacked Naruto with a punch.
"Oh... almost forgot about you."
Before coming here, they'd found the unconscious Amaru at the bottom of the fortress and learned the general situation from her after treating and awakening her.
Although the little girl was confused herself, the scenes she saw and heard before falling into despair were deeply imprinted in her mind.
Naruto's palm became a blade, casually severing most of Shinnō's shoulder with one swipe.
"Ah!"
Shinnō wouldn't die easily, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel pain.
The severed arm wound began rapidly healing and recovering in just a few seconds. With Dark Chakra supply, a new arm quickly regrew.
"You can even do that?"
Shinnō felt pain but also understood the gap between himself and his opponent from that brief exchange, immediately making a decision.
He first showed a fearful expression, touching a mechanism behind him. A compartment containing a scroll opened.
"You're also here for this secret jutsu, right? I'll give it to you! I'll give it to you!"
Saying this, Shinnō directly threw the scroll to Naruto, then the floor beneath his feet cracked open, and he fell through the opening below.
Naruto casually caught the scroll, showing no intention of pursuing.
"Karin, Sasuke, he's all yours."
After his words fell, Sasuke and Karin, who'd been ready, unhesitatingly charged down through that hole.
The two followed a metal pipe all the way down, reaching a hall with unknown devices at the end.
This was the Angkor Fortress's power room, and also where the "Zero-Tails'" main body was stored.
More importantly...
"Hahahaha! Did they send you two brats to die!?"
"Give up! Here, you can't use ninjutsu!"
Just as Shinnō said, any ninjutsu released here would be absorbed by the surrounding devices and Zero-Tails.
Except for Shinnō with the Zero-Tails enhancement, the other ninjas were just ordinary people here.
Sasuke and Karin exchanged glances, both seeing the strangeness in each other's eyes.
This really was... all within Naruto's expectations?
Amid Shinnō's maniacal laughter, Sasuke and Karin's forms slowly began to change.