Seeing the two unconscious sages in Madara Uchiha's hands, Jiraiya dared not make any rash moves. He stood frozen, his voice strained as he asked:
"Madara Uchiha, what exactly do you want?"
Jiraiya could still have fled. With his abilities, he believed that even the legendary Madara Uchiha would have had a hard time stopping him.
But the two sages of Mount Myōboku were indispensable pillars, both to Jiraiya himself and to Mount Myōboku. He simply could not abandon them and escape alone.
In fact, the thought of escaping alone had never even crossed his mind.
Madara Uchiha slowly reined in the suffocating chakra radiating from his body. He raised his chin slightly and spoke in an amused tone:
"What do I want? Are you telling me you really don't know?"
Although Jiraiya had been wandering the shinobi world lately, he had remained in contact with Konoha. He also had his own sources of intelligence.
Since his resurrection, Madara Uchiha had caused quite a stir in the shinobi world. He had stormed both Iwagakure and Kumogakure, inflicted devastating losses, and captured every jinchūriki in their villages. Jiraiya knew at least some of this.
At that thought, Jiraiya naturally thought of Naruto, who was currently training on Mount Myōboku. His heart sank, and a muscle beneath his eye twitched sharply.
Madara Uchiha noticed Jiraiya's reaction. Casually bouncing Sage Fukasaku in his hand, he continued:
"So you're not entirely stupid. You know what I want, so I won't waste my breath. Hand over the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and I'll release these two. How does that sound?"
Madara Uchiha glanced at Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima in his hands, blood seeping from the corners of their mouths, then continued:
"These two just suffered a backlash from their own genjutsu, and I've sealed their chakra.