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"You've come."
The long-waiting Gensou raised his cracked face to greet the three arrivals.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Jiraiya, running at high speed, was the first to stop, followed closely by Shizune, whose face changed dramatically.
Naruto, reacting a beat slower, kept moving forward.
If not for Jiraiya grabbing him by the collar and lifting him, Naruto would have rushed straight to Gensou.
Feeling like he was hanging on a clothesline, Naruto flailed his arms and legs, complaining, "Hey! Pervy Sage, what are you doing?"
With a darkened face, Jiraiya put Naruto down, "This is not the time to sully the name of Mount Myoboku's Toad Sage."
He glanced at Gensou and added silently to himself, "Especially in front of such a renowned predecessor."
"What? You are a pervy sage." Naruto emphasized again, confused.
Jiraiya ignored the clueless Naruto.
He turned seriously to Gensou and asked, "What brings you here, Gensou-senpai?"
With time running out, Jiraiya got straight to the point.
Gensou's gaze shifted from the excitable Naruto to Jiraiya and Shizune, "It's simple. Hand over the Spirit Transformation Technique, and my conditions remain the same. Otherwise, I will take it myself, and things won't be so civil then."
Hearing this, Jiraiya and Shizune's expressions darkened.
Although Naruto didn't understand what the strange-looking man was talking about, his sharp instincts told him the stranger was up to no good.
"Another bad guy like Orochimaru? No matter what you plan to do, I will stop you!"
Naruto declared, brimming with determination.
Jiraiya held him back again, first glancing at Shizune, then solemnly addressing Gensou, "The Spirit Transformation Technique is an S-rank secret of Konoha, requiring the Hokage's authorization to teach. If you truly need it, you might have to wait a while."
Like Tsunade before him, Jiraiya believed that someone of Gensou's stature wouldn't come all this way for a secret technique without a significant purpose.
Although he didn't know Gensou's intentions,
it didn't stop him from being extremely wary of this historical figure who defied the boundaries of life and death.
"It seems we can't come to an agreement."
Jiraiya's attempt to stall was transparent to Gensou.
He shook his head and said to the three, "Tsunade is meeting with Orochimaru right now. They will likely start fighting soon."
"Fighting? Tsunade-sama..." Shizune's eyes brightened with surprise.
Before she could speak,
Gensou continued, "However, Tsunade doesn't know that Orochimaru is well aware of her hemophobia. How long do you think she can last?"
As if to emphasize his words, a loud explosion echoed from the distance, and a plume of dust rose into the air.
"Why this answer? Tsunade, you actually tried to kill me!"
In the distant alley, Orochimaru, who had been confident, was retreating after Kabuto's kunai flew towards him.
Orochimaru quickly stepped back, not questioning Kabuto, but looking at Tsunade in disbelief, puzzled by her betrayal.
Tsunade's eyes were red.
Despite wanting to see her brother and lover again, she knew what they had died for and understood her choice.
"All tangible things will die one day, Orochimaru, you said that. But the dream of becoming Hokage will never vanish!"
Tsunade's eyes sharpened, her fists clenched as she glared at Orochimaru, "Come on, Orochimaru! I will kill you here and now!"
Boom!
A violent explosion sounded.
Orochimaru, retreating rapidly, coldly declared, "Negotiations are over. It's come to this, we can only resolve it with our fists, Tsunade."
"Already fighting?"
"In that case, we must deal with Gensou quickly."
Jiraiya refocused on Gensou. If Gensou was right, they needed to reach Tsunade as soon as possible for her safety.
"Shizune!"
"Yes!"
Jiraiya clapped his hands together, preparing to team up with Shizune to quickly defeat Gensou.
Unexpectedly, Naruto, ever the wildcard, jumped in excitedly,
"Haha! Watch me!"
Naruto formed a hand seal and shouted,
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Bang, bang, bang~~~ In an instant, a thick cloud of white smoke appeared, and hundreds of Naruto clones emerged.
With a wave of his hand, the excited Naruto shouted, "Everyone, charge!"
The army of clones charged at Gensou.
"Naruto, stop! This opponent is different from the others!" Jiraiya tried to stop him but was too late, only able to shout anxiously.
Clearly, Naruto didn't listen.
Any ordinary ninja would have been intimidated by the sheer number of clones.
But Gensou was no ordinary ninja.
Facing the clone army, he remained calm, shaking his head in disappointment.
It was like seeing the best ingredients ruined by a terrible chef.
"What a waste of chakra."
He said, and before the clones could reach him, Gensou stomped the ground hard. As the ground cracked like a spider web, he shot forward like a cannonball.
Bang, bang, bang, bang... The sound of clones disappearing echoed in the clone army.
In the dense white smoke, Gensou used a single hand chop to disperse the shouting clones before sweeping his right leg to kick away the ones attacking from behind.
The clones kept charging with great enthusiasm.
But the faster they came, the faster they disappeared.
Under Gensou's swift and precise attacks, the clones seemed like mere children.
Hidden among them, Naruto watched with gritted teeth, preparing to use the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu again.
Suddenly, Gensou's gaze shifted.
"Found you!"
Swoosh! In an instant, Gensou appeared in front of the real Naruto.
"He's so fast!"
Naruto exclaimed in surprise, unable to react before being kicked away.
Bang, bang, bang... This time, a synchronized explosion of white smoke occurred.
The once-mighty clone army vanished in seconds.
(End of Chapter)