Intelligence Exchange

Seeing the Third Hokage confirm the authenticity of the invitation and extend an invitation himself, Jiraiya secretly let out a breath of relief.

If Asura had truly gone all out and started a battle in the heart of Konoha, even if they managed to repel or drive him away, Konoha would have paid an extremely heavy price!

It might even have surpassed the Nine-Tails Incident back then.

Being able to temporarily stabilize him through diplomatic means was undoubtedly the best option for the moment.

"Bunta, thanks for the hard work. You can head back," Jiraiya said to his old partner beneath his feet.

Gamabunta held his pipe in his mouth and blew two thick streams of smoke from his nostrils. His huge frog eyes glanced down at Asura again, and he said in a muffled voice, "Hmph, Jiraiya, next time you summon me, it'd better really be for a fight, not just to stand around and scare people."

With that, there was a bang, and amid a vast cloud of white smoke, Gamabunta's enormous body vanished, returning to Mount Myoboku.

The pressure at the scene lightened, but the atmosphere remained grave.

Jiraiya brought Boruto with him, supporting the badly injured and somewhat dazed young Sasuke as he leaped down from the air and landed beside the Third Hokage.

He glanced at the unconscious young Sasuke and the still-shaken Boruto, then said to Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Old man, leave these two unknown guys to me to watch and question."

Although he did not know why the usually lazy Jiraiya had suddenly taken an interest in outsiders, Hiruzen Sarutobi still nodded out of trust in him and said in a low voice, "Mm. Then I'll leave them to you, Jiraiya. Be sure to find out where they came from and what their purpose