Hiruzen was just about to nod and leave when suddenly he saw the crystal ball in his hand; the scene inside changed. In Naruto's room, a black shadow was secretly creeping out of the darkness and approaching Naruto.
"This is bad, Naruto is in danger!"
Both Hokages' faces changed drastically, and their figures vanished from their positions simultaneously.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
At this moment, in Naruto's room.
The black shadow approached Naruto's bed. Seeing Naruto sleeping soundly, the figure showed a cunning smile.
"Kyuubi Jinchuriki... truly difficult to capture!"
The black shadow directly reached for Naruto on the bed, but just as its hand stretched out, a fierce wind appeared behind it, and a fist struck hard at its body.
*THUD!*
The black shadow was thrown hard to the floor, and when it hit the ground, there was a strange metallic scraping sound.
Jiraiya stepped out of the darkness, furrowing his brow at the already crushed and distorted corpse on the floor: "A puppet?"
Suddenly, from outside the building came the sound of flapping wings of a flying bird. A giant white bird could be seen swooping down, and on it sat a young man wearing a cloud-patterned robe.
"Clay bomb!"
Flames blazed high; Naruto's house instantly exploded violently. In the midst of thick smoke, Jiraiya jumped out and stared toward the sky.
"Just as I thought, the defense is very tight..."
From the darkness, another shadow emerged. He swung his hand and threw Naruto—who had been tucked under his armpit—toward the high sky, where he was caught by the giant bird that flashed past.
Seeing Naruto being carried away, Jiraiya's expression actually appeared calm, as if he didn't care at all. Deidara on the bird immediately changed his expression as he looked back at Naruto in his hands.
*PUFF!*
A puff of white smoke exploded. The real Naruto disappeared and was replaced by a dry log.
Substitution Technique (Kawarimi no Jutsu)!
"We already knew bastards like you wouldn't sit still—how could we not prepare!" Jiraiya laughed mockingly, staring at both of them with radiating killing intent: "Daring to make trouble in Konoha, today this place will become your grave!"
Jiraiya immediately formed hand seals. Two small figures appeared on his shoulders; they were two Frog Elders.
Facing two Akatsuki members listed on the Strongest List, Jiraiya didn't dare underestimate and intended to use Sage Mode to fight.
However, since the opponents dared to come attack knowing the village was guarded by the First and Second Hokage, how could they not have trump cards?
*WHOOSH!* *WHOOSH!* *WHOOSH!*
Several other figures appeared beside Sasori, staring at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya's expression immediately changed; he instantly recognized each person's identity.
All wore the characteristic red cloud robes of Akatsuki, with different appearances:
Former Amegakure Village member, ranked 63rd on the Gold List: Konan.
Former Takigakure Village member, ranked 36th on the Gold List: Kakuzu.
Former Yugakure Village member, ranked 33rd on the Gold List: Hidan.
Former Sunagakure Village member, ranked 45th on the Gold List: Sasori.
Former Iwagakure Village member, ranked 56th on the Gold List: Deidara.
Then there were six other people whose names were unknown. Each of them had pupils with a ripple pattern (Rinnegan); they stood with very dominating postures among these Gold List expert fighters. It seemed they were even stronger than the other members.
Added to Deidara circling in the sky, there were a total of eleven strong fighters invading Konoha village. Each of them was a fighter on the Strongest List. Facing Jiraiya, they weren't intimidated at all; instead, subtle excitement could be seen on each face.
These Akatsuki people were indeed all crazy!
On Jiraiya's side, several figures also appeared simultaneously. Facing these Akatsuki members, their faces also looked very serious: Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, the Third Hokage's son Sarutobi Asuma, the Ino-Shika-Cho team, elite Jōnin Aburame Shibi, Hyuga clan head Hiashi, Special Jōnin Mitarashi Anko, and Yuhi Kurenai.
Adding Jiraiya, the number of people on their side was also exactly eleven.
"They're Akatsuki members?" Guy looked excited while cracking his knuckles.
Previously, he followed the Second Hokage and Jiraiya to J City in the One Punch Man world and saw many strong fighters from other worlds. He initially hoped to have a great battle but ended up returning disappointed because he didn't get to act. He'd long heard that Akatsuki contained experts, and today he could finally see them.
"Where did the Hokages go?" Jiraiya furrowed his brow.
In a situation like this, the three Hokages should have arrived at the location immediately. With the strength of the First and Second Hokage, these people shouldn't be a big problem and could be dealt with easily.
Everyone shook their heads, not knowing.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
At the same time.
After Hashirama and Hiruzen sensed there was a problem at Naruto's place, they immediately called Tobirama who was not far away to rush to the location.
For the village, Naruto currently had far more important meaning than usual. Compared to before, the existence of the Kyuubi in his body actually felt less significant than Naruto's own potential.
However, as a Jinchuriki, if he lost the Kyuubi, Naruto wouldn't survive. Though Naruto was currently in a protection period, opponents could still kidnap him and wait for the protection period to end to extract the Bijuu.
"Damn it!" Hiruzen's face looked ugly. While dashing quickly, he cursed angrily: "Those bastards are really crazy. Even with you two here, they still dare make trouble in Konoha village. Really seeking death!"
Hashirama said calmly: "Naruto is very important to them now. Based on the information we got, they want to collect all the Bijuu to resurrect the Juubi, which should be related to Madara's resurrection. Naruto is now ranked fourth on the Hidden Expert List; with Madara's character, he'll use any means to achieve his goal!"
Regarding Madara, no one knew him better than Hashirama.
Suddenly, all three stopped abruptly simultaneously. The space in front of them distorted, and three figures stepped out of it.
"First Place of the Gold List!"
Seeing the black-robed figure emerging from the distorted space, Hashirama and the other two's faces changed drastically. Especially Tobirama; he had just returned from J City in the One Punch Man world and saw with his own eyes how this person left calmly from before the Third Place of the Gold List. Moreover, this person seemed unwilling to fight with Third Place. Such great prestige made him very alert.
Why did he appear here? The same thought arose in all three minds.
Beside the black-robed figure stood Enel shouldering Mjolnir's hammer and Gin.
"Is this the Naruto world? Master, what did we come here for... Konoha's Hokage!" Enel saw Hashirama and the other two, and his face also changed.
Hashirama and Tobirama were top 20 fighters on the Strongest List, and Hashirama was even in the top 10. Why did Master bring them both to this place?