Konoha's Greatest Scandal

Jiraiya couldn't help feeling furious.

The son of the Hokage, of all people.

And the most important Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, no less.

If they'd taken good care of him from childhood and treated him as a hero's son, how could things ever have come to this? When he defected, he'd left with only two or three people. In less than three years, he'd established his own shinobi force overseas, one powerful enough to defeat Kirigakure head-on—a village that possessed the Three-Tails and Six-Tails and could field an army of over three thousand, perhaps even four thousand. It also had an Aerial Combat Unit more terrifying than the Land of the Sky's had been decades ago. Tsunade didn't need detailed intelligence to imagine just how powerful the Snow Ninja Village was now.

Even if Konoha still had the edge in overall strength,

if they faced each other head-on,

with the Three-Tails, Six-Tails, and Nine-Tails involved—

could Konoha withstand them?

Perhaps.

Perhaps not.

There was no telling how a war would turn out.

But there was no doubt that the Snow Ninja Village had stepped onto the grand stage of the Shinobi World, earning the right to stand as an equal to the Five Great Shinobi Villages—and even to surpass them in certain areas. The news that Naruto had easily defeated Mei Terumi head-on hadn't arrived yet. Otherwise, the entire Shinobi World would have rated the Snow Ninja Village's strength even higher.

After all, shinobi on the level of the Five Kage were rarely defeated in one-on-one fights!

Well, except for the successive Kazekage, who were notoriously unlucky.

The earlier ones were unclear, but in the original story, the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Kazekage were all killed in duels—and in spectacular fashion.

Naruto had first fought Mei Terumi using only standard techniques to