Jiraiya had no choice but to say, "What if I told you that Kakashi and I have discussed this, and he's already agreed to hand you over to me? What do you think about that?" Hearing this, Naruto frowned. "Impossible."
He didn't believe it. Jiraiya regained his composure and looked at Naruto seriously, "We met yesterday." Naruto fell silent.
Given what he knew about Kakashi, there was a good chance Jiraiya was telling the truth. He just didn't want to accept it; he preferred training with Kakashi. But he also knew Kakashi was capable of doing such a thing.
After a long silence, Naruto looked up, somewhat sullen, and asked, "Can you tell me why? I don't believe Kakashi-sensei would hand me over to you for no reason." Naruto's voice was already tinged with tears.
Even though he knew Kakashi must have his reasons, Naruto couldn't help but feel sad. After spending so much time together, Kakashi had become an important presence in his life, just like Sakura and Sasuke.
Sensing Naruto's emotions, Jiraiya explained, "Because of the Nine-Tails inside you." Naruto was stunned. "The Nine-Tails?"
"That's right. The Nine-Tails inside you is the target of a certain organization, so handing you over to me would be safer." Unlike in the original story, Jiraiya was now telling Naruto everything. Naruto clutched his stomach, his expression serious.
"They're after the Nine-Tails inside me? But will following you really be safe?" Naruto asked gravely.
Jiraiya found it strange; he hadn't expected Naruto to be so unfazed by the mention of the Nine-Tails. In his experience, most jinchuriki harbored resentment towards the tailed beasts within them. Jiraiya said, "Staying in the village is truly unsafe. The organization trying to capture you has many powerful ninjas, even stronger than Orochimaru, and there's more than one of them.
"Staying in the village not only poses a great threat to it, but it also makes it very convenient for the organization to capture you without even needing to locate you." Naruto was persuaded. Yet he still felt upset, "I originally wanted to master the power of the Nine-Tails and surpass them."
Though distressed, Naruto accepted Jiraiya's reasoning. After all, Naruto now deeply understood how important the tailed beasts were to Konoha. Naruto looked up at Jiraiya, "I want to master the power of the Nine-Tails. Can you really help me?"
Jiraiya hadn't expected Naruto to accept so quickly, nor had he anticipated that Naruto would understand the importance of the tailed beasts to the village. Regardless, the outcome was at least heading in the direction he had hoped for.
Smiling at Naruto, he said, "I'm the Toad Sage of the Legendary Sannin; you can definitely trust me." Naruto nodded and said, "I want to go tell Kakashi-sensei." Jiraiya didn't object, "Sure, I'll wait for you here tomorrow. I'll teach you a very powerful jutsu."
Naruto felt no joy whatsoever. On the contrary, he felt very upset. If possible, he still wanted to stay with Team 7.
With Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke. They could occasionally visit Yoruha, who would teach him many things, many jutsus. Naruto really liked that kind of life.
But he also understood how important the tailed beast inside him was to the village.
If Yoruha and Sasuke were here, they would also approve of his decision. After leaving Jiraiya, Naruto headed to Sakura's house. However, he didn't tell Sakura about this matter.
Meanwhile, at Konoha Hospital, Sasuke, who had already woken up, was sitting on the bed gathering chakra. Suddenly, he sensed something.
Sasuke opened his eyes and frowned, "Is it that guy?" He had detected a familiar chakra. Slowly standing up, Sasuke walked towards a certain hospital room.
At the door of the room, Sasuke encountered Naruto and Shikamaru, who were on their way to visit Rock Lee. Naruto was overjoyed to see Sasuke awake, "Sasuke, you're awake!" Sasuke didn't respond, his gaze fixed on the door.
Shikamaru also noticed Sasuke's focus. "Naruto, keep it down," Shikamaru sensed something was amiss in the room.
Inside the room, Gaara was manipulating sand, preparing to kill Rock Lee. Standing beside Sasuke, Shikamaru glanced at him, and Sasuke nodded. Shikamaru immediately understood Sasuke's intention.
He quickly formed hand seals. "Shadow Imitation Technique," Shikamaru's shadow slipped through the door crack into the room. Sasuke kicked the door open.
With a swift kick, he dispersed the sand binding Rock Lee. Gaara looked at the person who suddenly appeared before him and frowned, "It's you!"
Seeing that it was Sasuke, Gaara spoke coldly. Sasuke glanced at Rock Lee lying on the bed and frowned. He wasn't aware of the battle between Rock Lee and Gaara, as it had started after he fell unconscious.
"How did Rock Lee end up ?" Sasuke activated his Sharingan, and with the double tomoe Sharingan, he noticed the chakra flow in Rock Lee's body was disrupted. Gaara, upon seeing Sasuke's Sharingan, felt a pang of unease.
Or rather, it wasn't him, but the One-Tail inside him that felt uncomfortable. "Perfect, I'll kill both you and him today," Gaara didn't want to wait for the Chunin Exam finals and intended to kill Sasuke now.
Sasuke frowned, "This guy's mind isn't quite right." Gaara's crazed expression made Sasuke think Gaara was mentally unstable.
After all, he had interacted with Gaara before and knew Gaara was strong and had an abnormal personality. Shikamaru was struggling to control Gaara with the Shadow Imitation Technique. He felt it was very taxing.
"Damn it, what kind of monster is this guy? Why is he so calm even after being controlled by my Shadow Imitation Technique?" Meanwhile, Naruto also rushed in, holding a kunai and standing beside Sasuke.
"What are you trying to do to Rock Lee?" Naruto had witnessed Gaara's immense strength firsthand. He had seen the entire battle between Gaara and Rock Lee, unlike Sasuke, who had missed it. So Naruto felt immense pressure.
Shikamaru, seeing Naruto and Sasuke standing together, especially noticing Sasuke's double tomoe Sharingan, felt a sense of reassurance. "So this is the Sharingan? Just how strong is Sasuke?"
Shikamaru knew Sasuke had changed a lot compared to before. He wasn't as aloof as he used to be, and before the Chunin Exams, Team 7 and their team had even gathered once. So Shikamaru's relationship with Sasuke wasn't as distant as in the original story.
However, Shikamaru didn't know how strong Sasuke was, so he was worried Sasuke might get hurt by Gaara. After all, Sasuke hadn't seen the battle between Gaara and Rock Lee and didn't know how strong Gaara was. Fortunately, Naruto, while keeping a wary eye on Gaara, said to Sasuke, "Be careful, Sasuke. This guy is really strong. Bushy Brows ended up because of him." Sasuke glanced at Rock Lee.
He nodded, "Rock Lee is very strong. Anyone who can defeat him must be very strong." Sasuke had previously sparred with Rock Lee, and even though it was just a simple taijutsu exchange, Sasuke knew Rock Lee was strong.