Ever since Naruto defected, Jiraiya had kept thinking about how the Toad Sage had told him three years ago to find Naruto and take him on as a student.
Back then, the Toad Sage had said that Naruto, as the Child of Prophecy, would either walk toward the light or fall into darkness.
He had never expected Naruto to fall into darkness. As Naruto's teacher and a dreamer who had spent his life searching for and nurturing the Child of Prophecy, Jiraiya was deeply pained.
But someone who felt even worse stood before Tsunade, enduring her fury.
"Kakashi Hatake! Why didn't you force them to come back?!"
Tsunade shouted at Kakashi.
She had every reason to be angry. Konoha had lost so many promising geniuses to defection, and the loss was enormous. It had all started with Sasuke and Naruto.
Between them, those two had taken Sakura, Hinata, and Neji away, directly or indirectly!
Oh, and there was Asuma, too—neither alive nor dead as far as anyone knew. No one knew where Naruto had taken him.
By now, Shikamaru's three-person squad and Kurenai Yuhi were nearly out of their minds!
And Naruto and Sasuke had both been members of Kakashi's Team 7. Could anyone say Kakashi bore no responsibility at all?
"I think Naruto and the others each had their own reasons, just like Sasuke." Kakashi sighed, then went on:
"And even if I could have beaten Naruto, bringing them back wouldn't have stopped them from defecting again."
Tsunade fell silent at that.
"But Naruto is still the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"
Just then, the door to the Hokage's Office swung open. Shikamaru walked in with a grim expression and continued:
"It's not just that the Nine-Tails belongs to Konoha. The Akatsuki is hunting Tailed Beasts everywhere. We don't know what they're