Naruto and Jiraiya maintained a tacit understanding all the way until they left the izakaya, neither interfering with the other's intelligence gathering.
Minato Namikaze in the Sealing Space breathed a sigh of relief. He had no desire to see Naruto and Jiraiya fight; otherwise, this Chakra clone of his might collapse under the weight of his emotions.
Naruto also began to wonder if he had been overly suspicious. There was no reason for Jiraiya to go to the isolated Land of Whirlpools overseas.
After all, setting aside the unexpected factor that was himself, even if the Uchiha intended to flee, they would flee to Iwagakure or Cloud. Both villages possessed the strength to confront Konoha head-on.
After leaving the izakaya and returning to the ship bound for the Land of Whirlpools,
Haku, clutching a sealing scroll, asked in confusion, "Lord Menma, that uncle we saw at the izakaya is on the ship too. Could he be a ninja deliberately following us?"
Naruto shot Haku a surprised glance, then recalled Haku's talent regarding ninja matters and nodded.
Just as Stand users were drawn to one another, ninja aboard the ship naturally took notice of their peers. After boarding this vessel bound for the Land of Whirlpools, Jiraiya had also noticed Naruto and Haku.
Back at the izakaya, he had suspected that the two were Kirigakure ninja from the Land of Water, carrying out a mission within the Land of Fire.
In accordance with the principle of not provoking disputes between ninja villages, he had not paid them much attention, nor had he used genjutsu to extract information from them.
But the two of them had also boarded this ship headed for the Land of Whirlpools, making him begin to suspect the nature of the Kirigakure ninja's mission.
Uzushio Village had already