Ignoring the ramen that had just been served, Jiraiya grabbed Kosuke the Toad and ran outside.
"Lord Jiraiya!" Iruka held the ramen bowl, looking over in panic.
"Sorry, but you'll have to pay, Iruka!" But Jiraiya left only those words behind before hurriedly vanishing into the night.
"Honestly—" Iruka had no idea what had happened, but that toad just now seemed to have mentioned Mount Myoboku and a human invasion. It had to be something important.
On Konoha's streets, Jiraiya held Kosuke the Toad in one hand, leaping swiftly across the rooftops and glancing back from time to time.
In the darkness, three Root ninja were following Jiraiya from a distance.
"Forget it, there's no time." Jiraiya had meant to shake off the Root ninja watching him, but the anxiety in his heart was growing stronger, and that sense of unease was becoming heavier and heavier.
So he landed directly in an open area of a park inside the village, set Kosuke the Toad down, quickly formed hand seals, and performed the Reverse Summoning Technique.
Bang!
A burst of smoke exploded outward. Jiraiya, together with Kosuke the Toad, was swallowed by the smoke and disappeared from the spot.
Barely a dozen seconds later, the three Root ninja landed in the park, but there was no sign of Jiraiya.
"Where is he?!" one of the Root ninja asked anxiously, looking left and right.
"Hurry and report to Danzo—Lord Hokage!" another said.
The three immediately vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya had already arrived at Mount Myoboku.
The moment he landed, Jiraiya was submerged by water. Caught off guard, he swallowed several mouthfuls of seawater before gradually adjusting and swimming upward.
Soon, Jiraiya realized that the sunlight shining down from the surface above his head had been blocked by a