"Lord Naraku ordered us to come protect Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Oh? Naraku came too?"
Jiraiya wasn't surprised by the order, but he was curious. He hadn't seen Naraku anywhere.
"Where is he?"
"Lord Naraku left ahead of us. He should already be nearby, but we don't know his exact location!"
He arrived ahead of us?
Jiraiya raised his eyes slightly and scanned the area. Aside from the people fighting, he saw no sign of Naraku.
If he could spot him so easily, there would have been no point in Naraku hiding.
"In that case, keep Naruto safe."
Though Jiraiya hadn't found Naraku, he wasn't discouraged. He simply gestured for the Tracking Squad to carry out their mission.
They had arrived at just the right time.
Just now, Jiraiya had been worrying about what would happen if he and Naruto were caught up in the battle. He himself would be fine, but if anything happened to Naruto, it would be a serious problem.
Both the Akatsuki members and Orochimaru knew that Jiraiya and Naruto Uzumaki were nearby. It was just that the two sides were fighting so fiercely that neither had time to deal with them yet.
That was why Jiraiya and Naruto could hide here without worry.
What worried Jiraiya was that they weren't facing just one or two enemies this time, and all of them were powerful ninja. He couldn't guarantee that he would be able to deal with them quickly enough.
The arrival of the Konoha ninja put his mind at ease. At least he no longer had to worry too much about Naruto's safety. With the Tracking Squad's strength, even if they were no match for the enemy, they could still hold them off for a short while.
As long as he had time to react, Jiraiya wasn't