Mitokado Homura glanced at Jiraiya and Naraku, then hesitated. "That's true, but if he trains in the village, with a Wood Release ninja and Naraku here, the Nine-Tails shouldn't cause any serious trouble, should he?"
Naraku stated bluntly, "I don't have that much time to watch Naruto Uzumaki!"
Tsunade added from beside him, "Naraku is the village's senior advisor. He has plenty to deal with every day. Having him do nothing but look after Naruto would be a waste of his reputation as the strongest in the Shinobi World."
As she spoke, Tsunade raised her eyebrows at Naraku, her teasing intent unmistakable.
With Tsunade, Shihōin Naraku, and Jiraiya on the same side, there was nothing Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura could do, even if they didn't want Naruto Uzumaki to leave.
And so the matter was settled.
But Naraku added a reminder. "Master Jiraiya, we all want Naruto to master the Nine-Tails chakra as soon as possible, but don't forget that his fundamentals are ridiculously poor. Remember to help him fix that while you're away."
"Leave it to me."
With that settled, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura left, and Tsunade let the smile fade from her face.
Shihōin Naraku and Jiraiya, who remained in the office, were the people she trusted most, so Tsunade held nothing back as she told them the intelligence Uchiha Itachi had passed to her.
"This..."
"..."
Although Naraku had long known all this, he feigned utter shock, as though he were hearing these secrets for the first time.
"Uchiha Itachi was actually a spy..."
"The Akatsuki!"
Having spent years traveling, Jiraiya had heard that name before. In particular, while investigating Orochimaru's whereabouts, he had stumbled upon the discovery that Orochimaru had joined the organization.
But despite repeated investigations, Jiraiya had failed to learn the specifics