All of a sudden, energy began gathering in the distance.
A purple-black Tailed Beast Ball shot out of the darkness, aimed straight at Konan!
"Tailed Beast Ball! Take cover!"
Jiraiya roared, and the nearby Anbu and Bounty Hunters alike—
All had their hair standing on end as they scattered in every direction!
BOOM!
The Tailed Beast Ball exploded directly in midair!
Under the sweeping shockwave, countless people were hurled away!
Even Konan had not expected a Jinchuriki to be nearby!
Though she swiftly rose into the air, this strike had clearly been planned in advance.
It had been timed for just after Konan used a substitution, with her evasive trajectory calculated beforehand.
Konan was blown into a grievously injured state and sent flying!
"Where did that Tailed Beast Ball come from!?"
"Could the Nine-Tails have gone out of control!?"
The Third Hokage and Jiraiya were both aghast. Their first thought was that Naruto had lost control.
But they soon failed to spot the Nine-Tails. If it had gone berserk, its massive body would have blotted out the sky.
"A Jinchuriki snuck into the village!?"
The Third Hokage and Jiraiya exchanged a glance, both arriving at that possibility.
After the Tailed Beast Ball exploded, all of Konoha descended into chaos.
Many people were dumbfounded. Why was there another Tailed Beast Ball? Had a Jinchuriki invaded Konoha?
The spies from the other ninja villages were in even greater uproar.
Holy shit!
They had only intended to probe Konoha's strength, yet another village had already sent in a Jinchuriki!
But no one knew who had fired that Tailed Beast Ball.
Because after firing it, the culprit had vanished outright.
The others also took advantage of the chaos to do whatever they wanted.
"Jiraiya, go protect Naruto immediately!"
The Third Hokage gave the order