" Kōki, I've thought about it carefully, and the method you proposed is indeed feasible. However, I still want to remind you not to become too obsessed with the pursuit of power; it's too much of a burden for a child your age."
The Katsuyu the Sage noticed that Kōki was too thirsty for power. Thirty minutes of the Special Sage Mode wasn't enough to boost his strength, and he insisted on continuing with the regular Sage Mode afterward, not letting go of any opportunity to increase his power. This worried Kōki, fearing that one day he would become obsessed with the pursuit of power and lose his true self.
Even without the Katsuyu the Sage's reminder, Kōki himself knew he shouldn't pursue power too much, but he couldn't stop now.
In the end, Kōki learned the complete Sage Mode in just three or four hours, breaking the record for learning Sage Mode, and left Shikkotsu Forest amidst the Katsuyu the Sage's admiring tone.
After bidding farewell to the Katsuyu the Sage, Kōki returned to his room in the Konoha camp.
To his surprise, several familiar faces were already standing in the room as soon as he entered.
" Lord Jiraiya, what are you doing in my room?" Kōki asked, looking at Jiraiya and several high-ranking battlefield officials standing in his room.
Unbeknownst to Kōki, while he was away at Shikkotsu Forest learning Senjutsu, the battle situation in Konoha underwent a dramatic change.
Initially, news of his defeat of the combined forces of the Tailed Beast and the capture of Roshi reached Konoha.
When Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was working in his office, heard the news, he was overjoyed and almost lost his composure as Hokage, cheering for Kōki.
Fortunately, he remained relatively calm. After confirming the authenticity of the information, he prepared to have Jiraiya keep a close watch on Roshi, intending to use Roshi's status as Jinchūriki to his advantage, so that Iwagakure's Ōnoki would have to pay a considerable price to redeem Roshi.
But before he could rejoice over this good news for long, terrible news came from the Cloud Kumogakure battlefield of Yu no Kagami.
The Kumogakure deployed two Tailed Beast, wreaking havoc on the battlefield and slaughtering many Konoha Ninja. Even a powerful figure like Orochimaru could not stop them. In the end, Konoha's forces were defeated by the Kumogakure due to the vast difference in strength, and they gave up their claim to the Land of Hot Water.
Thus, the Kumogakure forces advanced rapidly, reaching the border of the Land of Fire. It could be said that if the Land of Fire's border forces failed again, the Kumogakure would truly be on the verge of attacking Konoha.
This battle report also made Hiruzen Sarutobi realize that the problem of insufficient high-end combat power that he had been worried about had come to pass.
Because Konoha is fighting on multiple fronts, the number of top-tier combatants on each battlefield is limited.
Now, due to the lack of high-end combat power, problems have finally arisen on the battlefield of Kumogakure. Orochimaru was unable to stop the strongmen of Kumogakure, allowing Kumogakure to successfully spread the flames of war to the Land of Land of Fire.
Therefore, in order to protect the Land of Land of Fire's territory from invasion, he had to immediately send reinforcements to the Kumogakure battlefield.
Hiruzen Sarutobi should have been struggling with troop deployment, but the good news from the Iwagakure battlefield meant he wouldn't be in a predicament where he was short-handed in troop deployment.
This gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a chance to turn the tide, and he decided to send out a powerful figure capable of saving the day. This powerful figure was none other than Kōki.
Firstly, because Kōki defeated two Jinchūriki from Iwagakure, Iwagakure would not launch further attacks on Konoha, freeing up high-end combat power on the Iwagakure battlefield.
Therefore, whether it's Kōki, Jiraiya, or Minato Namikaze, they all have time to go to Kumogakure to provide support. However, considering the counter to the Tailed Beast, it's best to send Kōki to support the Kumogakure battlefield.
Moreover, Kōki alone was not enough. Due to the disastrous defeat on the Kumogakure battlefield, the Konoha forces suffered significant losses, so some ninjas needed to be transferred from the Iwagakure battlefield, where they held the advantage, to support the Kumogakure battlefield.
With these thoughts in mind, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately sent a message to Jiraiya, urging Jiraiya to take action.
Thus, the scene unfolded where Jiraiya appeared before Kōki with several high-ranking battlefield officials.
" Kōki, it's like this. Today, the Kumogakure launched Tailed Beast attack on the Konoha Village's defenses, and our defense forces suffered heavy losses. In order to prevent the Kumogakure from directly attacking the Land of Land of Fire's mainland, we need a powerful force to go and provide support."
"And today you defeated the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails, and even captured the Four-Tails 'Jinchūriki, Roshi, easing the burden Jonin the Iwagakure battlefield. This has led Teacher Sarutobi to believe that you are the one who can change the predicament on the Kumogakure battlefield. Therefore, we have come to inform you that you should lead some of our ninjas to the Kumogakure battlefield to provide support."
Jiraiya's expression was somewhat serious; he had received Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders not long after the war ended today.
He originally thought he could relax for a while after dealing with the Jinchūriki of Iwagakure, but he didn't expect to be even busier now.
He thought that problems on the Kumogakure battlefield might cause changes on the Iwagakure side, and Iwagakure might make a comeback.
Fortunately, Kōki's Jinchūriki greatly reduced his burden; otherwise, he probably would have had to ask for backup as well.
After hearing Jiraiya's words, Kōki was speechless. He really was a firefighter who never got a rest, rushing to wherever a fire broke out.
He had just finished a fierce battle, and now he's being asked to go to other battlefields to provide support? Aren't they afraid of exhausting him?
Seemingly fearing that Kōki might harbor resentment, Jiraiya quickly explained, " Kōki, Teacher Sarutobi had no choice but to do this. Konoha is simply too weak right now. We just finished the war against Sunagakure, and now we have to face attacks from Iwagakure and Kumogakure. We really don't have enough manpower."
Seeing that Jiraiya had explained it this way, Kōki didn't dare to have any objections. He could only turn around and agree, secretly vowing that once he arrived at the battlefield, he would definitely show off the terror of the Sage Mode he had just learned, and that the guys from Kumogakure would be afraid of him.
"Okay, I understand. So Lord Jiraiya, when should I set off with the support troops?"
Considering it was almost midnight, Jiraiya felt bad about Kōki. "Well, it's too late now. You can leave tomorrow."
After finishing speaking, she prepared to leave, but then remembered the scene of Kōki's sudden appearance and asked out of curiosity, "By the way, Kōki, when I saw you suddenly appear, was that Reverse Summoning Technique?"
"Oh, it's like this, Lord Jiraiya. The gift you gave me to Lady Tsunade before was Summoning Scroll from Shikkotsu Forest. I just came back from Shikkotsu Forest."
Kōki wasn't surprised that Jiraiya recognized the way he appeared. He knew that Jiraiya also frequently used Summoning Technique to travel to and from Mount Myōboku, so it was normal for him to recognize Reverse Summoning Technique.
"I see. It seems Tsunade thinks highly of you, as she even entrusted you with the Summoning Contract for Shikkotsu Forest."
Jiraiya hadn't expected Tsunade to value Kōki so much. The Summoning Contract from Shikkotsu Forest —that thing could directly boost a ninja's strength.