"Wait, Jiraiya. Aren't you coming out?"
A sinister smile spread across Orochimaru's face. With Deva Path Pain about to strike, he showed not the slightest panic. Instead, he turned to look a short distance away.
Jiraiya, Naruto Uzumaki, and the Konoha Tracking Squad were all hiding in that direction!
"That bastard Orochimaru!"
Jiraiya gritted his teeth. Though annoyed, he knew this was just how Orochimaru was, and he had already prepared for it.
It was just that...
Seeing Naruto Uzumaki so angry that he was about to leap out, Jiraiya quickly held him back. "Calm down. Orochimaru just wants us to jump out and take the hit for him!"
"But..."
Orochimaru was the enemy who had killed the Third Hokage. The fact that Naruto Uzumaki had held back this long without attacking was already a sign of growth.
"Take a closer look. Orochimaru isn't our only enemy this time. Those people clearly mean us no good either. Remember what I taught you?"
With Jiraiya talking him down, Naruto Uzumaki, who had been unable to hold back, finally calmed down and stopped thinking about recklessly jumping out.
"Jiraiya, your students are over there. Don't you want to come out and see them?"
Orochimaru's voice rang out again. His intention could not have been clearer: he wanted to drag Jiraiya out to resist the Akatsuki's attacks alongside him.
And the tactic really did work. Deva Path Pain, who had been about to act, stopped his attack outright. The meaning could not have been more obvious.
"Jiraiya, you've been separated from your students for years. You never imagined they'd come this far, did you? They're the leaders of the Akatsuki!"
Orochimaru continued to provoke Jiraiya, but he failed to notice how grim the expressions of Deva Path Pain and Konan, standing opposite him,