Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 71, 9 Lamas, who hold grudges

They actually used Sage Mode and even summoned Fukasaku...

Naruto, underground, opened his eyes and briefly considered his next move. While he could conceal his chakra, the amount he possessed was limited, making complete concealment impossible, especially since Jiraiya was using Sage Mode, a form of perception far exceeding that of ordinary beings. Clones couldn't utilize the super-sensory abilities of the original body, which allowed for the perception of sights and sounds, and the group was still circling Konoha.

He just said he wouldn't chase them after they reached Konoha, right? Should we use the Flying Thunder God Technique?

No, if we use it, the plan will be difficult to execute.

"Naruto, let me control your body." Kurama straightened up in the cage, unable to bear watching the guy's clumsy movements caused by his soft heart.

"You can do it through the cage?" Naruto was a little surprised. But it was indeed a good way to multitask, he just didn't know if his brain could handle it.

"Our chakra has been connected for a long time, and Hashirama Senju was somewhat conscientious; he didn't seal it very tightly to begin with." Kurama couldn't help but roll his eyes when he mentioned that name that the Tailed Beasts hated.

Naruto relinquished control without a second's hesitation; any further hesitation would be disrespectful to Kurama. "Understood. Go ahead. Just run as fast as you can to Konoha."

The blue of the sky was replaced by blood red, and Naruto's round pupils quickly narrowed to slits. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer the same person. Kurama was all too familiar with the strength of this body, but unlike Naruto, he didn't have the Five Elements Techniques that Naruto could switch between at will. He burst directly out of the ground, making quite a commotion. Although Naruto's instructions were to run straight back to Konoha, the Tailed Beast, whose mind was neither too big nor too small, also had its own plans.

A master who immediately increases the strength of a Jinchūriki like this, shouldn't he be given a good talking-to?

Instead of fleeing immediately, Kurama used his chakra to condense a fox head as tall as two people. Red and blue chakra appeared and gathered in the fox head's open mouth, forming a high-density chakra sphere about the size of a baseball. The fox head aimed, swallowed the mini Tailed Beast Ball, and then suddenly expanded!

"boom!"

The Tailed Beast Ball should indeed be played by the Tailed Beasts. The direction of the shockwave was cleverly chosen, neither entirely towards the forest nor entirely towards the sky. With that single blast, a large number of obstacles in front were cleared away, revealing a terrified Jiraiya beneath the smoke. The angle was simply perfect; the shockwave passed right over his head!

After giving his opponent a real taste of his power, Kurama flew past Jiraiya's face, grinning menacingly as they met. If he hadn't been worried about Naruto's health, he wouldn't have wasted so much chakra creating the Demon Fox Cloak. This was the end of it; he couldn't afford to cause any more trouble and had to run away at full speed.

"...Was that Naruto just now?" Despite the brief encounter, the animal instinct to fear its natural enemy was still sharper. Fukasaku patted his chest to calm his suddenly pounding heart, attributing this instinct to the overwhelming amount of chakra the other party possessed.

Jiraiya was speechless. His intuition told him that something was wrong, but the other party didn't spray the Tailed Beast Ball in his face, so... maybe Naruto was still controlling him.

Is this retaliation for his threats? Is this kid really that vengeful?

"Kurama! What are you doing! Those people ran away from a distance!" Naruto complained in the mental world, but he didn't immediately regain control. Even if there was only a sliver of a chance, he wanted to listen to those people until the very end.

"Shut up! That was the weakest Tailed Beast Cannon!" Kurama smacked his tail in annoyance. The impact of that cannonball was mostly directed upwards; unless felt up close, from a distance it looked like nothing more than a relatively powerful Wind Release technique. Those people have such little guts to attack Konoha? They might as well just go to sleep.

Naruto made a big X with his arm and said, "No more attacks! I'm not planning to be captured by Konoha and used as labor right now!"

"You think you can escape?" Kurama crossed his arms and sneered. "Those guys are trying to mold you into the Sixth Hokage. Although they don't understand your human selection process, there will definitely be missions involved. Before Minato became Kage, he and Kushina were always separated. You have no idea how annoying it is to be that girl's confidante all the time!"

Although Naruto had a premonition that he would most likely be promoted to Chunin after this exam, he shouldn't say it out loud! The open merger of "East Wind" had already begun, and the seeds sown in various countries were sprouting. In the next three years, "Hui's" affairs would only grow explosively. As for Konoha, once he distinguished himself in the Chunin Exams, demonstrating strength and intelligence far beyond his peers, it wouldn't just be Kakashi who would be exploited after Tsunade took over. After all, Tsunade had been away from Konoha for too long, and the only people she could trust were the core members and legacy left from the Fourth Hokage's era.

Tsk... The adult world is indeed incredibly complicated. At twelve, I wouldn't have considered these things. I would have just foolishly followed my master's footsteps, going to one unknown place after another, unknowingly completing those secret missions that would ultimately bear my name. Looking back now, I realize I really caused my elders a lot of worry. Of course, I'm no less worried now.

The chase didn't last long before it came to an end.

While Sage Mode is undeniably powerful, offering a comprehensive boost to abilities, Nine-Tails Mode is equally impressive. Moreover, the one controlling Naruto is a Tailed Beast, who is even more adept at controlling its own chakra than Naruto himself. Despite "Naruto" constantly throwing chakra blasts backward to accelerate, Jiraiya still couldn't touch "Naruto's" clothes by the time they reached the village gates.

Once inside the gate, Naruto removed his fox spirit cloak, and Jiraiya deactivated Sage Mode. The two appeared as if they had simply gone on a trip, unchanged except for the toad pendants now adorning their shoulders. They greeted the Konoha gatekeepers with beaming smiles, then chatted and laughed as they turned into Ichiraku Ramen.

"You lost today, so you have to treat us," Naruto said with a smile.

Jiraiya coughed a few times, then put his arm around Naruto and whispered, "This is something only the two of us know. Don't tell anyone."

Naruto glanced at his grandfather Fukasaku, who was staring at him blankly, then patted his stomach and blinked.

"...They're not human, they don't count." Jiraiya instantly understood and resigned himself to his fate. As one of the Legendary Sannin, he couldn't catch up with a Genin who had only graduated six months ago—no one would believe him if he said that; it was too embarrassing. Even if that Genin was Naruto, it would still be incredibly shameful.

"Aren't you going to introduce him?" Naruto pointed to Fukasaku, who was still there.

"Oh, this is Lord Fukasaku, one of the two great immortal toads of Mount Myōboku."

"Hello, Naruto," Fukasaku greeted him warmly.