With steam in the air and the sound of bubbling water in the background, Naruto stood straight and shouted, "Can't we ever catch a break?!"
"Hold on for a second, Naruto," Jiraiya said with a hand.
He calmly regarded the five cloaked ninjas standing before him. "I don't remember making enemies like you before," he stated with an amused tone. Then his eyes landed on what looked to be the only female in the group. "How about we talk things over a drink?"
Tayuya scowled beneath her hood at his offer. Jiraiya merely grinned, knowing that his attempts at diplomacy would likely fall flat.
"We don't know who you are!" Naruto shouted after stepping forward. "But you're messing with the wrong shinobi!"
Without another word, the standoff quickly escalated.
Naruto lunged first and charged toward the opposition. In response, Jirōbō slammed his hand against the ground.
"Earth style: terra shield!"
A giant slab of rock erupted from the earth in front of the group to create a solid barrier that halted Naruto in his tracks. Unfazed, Naruto leaped to the top of the shield. Jirōbō met him at the apex.
Kidōmaru then bit his thumb to draw blood before smacking his palm against the floor.
"Summoning jutsu!"
A giant spider then loomed threateningly.
William's eyes widened upon recognizing the creature.
'That spider,' he thought. 'Wasn't that Kidōmaru's?!'
Before he could voice his suspicions, he made a quick decision. He also performed the Summoning technique.
"Summoning jutsu!"
The ground shook as a massive toad emerged, Gamahiro, towering above the battlefield.
The toad had an aquamarine skin tone, yellow eyes accented with grey markings, and two massive katanas strapped to its back secured with an orange sash.
Kidōmaru, standing atop his creature, had the spider race forward.
"Go get 'em, Gamahiro!" William cried.
The toad swung his weapons, but the giant spider dodged by leaping up. Midflight, it unleashed a horde of smaller spiders that quickly ensnared Gamahiro in a sticky web.
"Let's hope you don't start laying eggs, too," Jiraiya remarked at William. It was clear he was still confident. With one breath he unleashed his technique. "Fire style: flame bombs!"
Bullets of large flames were projected toward the remaining enemies. Kimimaro, Tayuya, and Sakon quickly scattered to avoid the scorching flames.
Where William was, Kidōmaru summoned his silver bow and said, "This is more entertaining than I thought." He then quickly crafted a silver arrow from within his mouth while securing it with his teeth. "Spider bow: fierce rip!"
The arrow was released. Instinctively, William entered Sage Mode to move against the web.
"Sage art: massive Rasengan!"
The technique clashed against the arrow and created an explosion.
Amidst the smoke, William had too many questions. That was definitely Kidōmaru's technique from the Ultimate Ninja 3 video game.
How was Kidōmaru here when he had been reported dead? And if he were here, could the other members of the Sound Five be present as well?
This was more troubling than he thought.
Meanwhile, Naruto and Jirōbō were engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
"Impressive taijutsu for a kid," Jirōbō acknowledged after blocking and countering Naruto's attacks.
Naruto smirked, "You haven't seen anything yet!"
As the fight continued, Jiraiya found himself circled by Kimimaro, Tayuya, and Sakon, who moved in sync for their attack.
"The drink's still on the table," he tried once more.
Tayuya lunged first and attempted to land a punch. He evaded by moving aside. In quick succession, Kimimaro slashed at him with a bone sword, but Jiraiya hopped backward and avoided it. Then Sakon dropped down from above to knee Jiraiya, but the Sannin rolled to the side.
As all three ninjas tried to assault him together, Jiraiya grew more cautious.
"Earth style: dark swamp!"
The ground beneath them quickly morphed into a sticky mud that erupted into a small swamp. It ensnared Kimimaro while Tayuya and Sakon managed to escape just in time.
Seeing he was stuck, Kimimaro pulled his bones up for defense but found it difficult to fight back in the muck.
This prompted Tayuya to pull out her flute and begin playing notes.
"Genjutsu: chains of fantasia!"
Jiraiya instantly sensed chakra in the melody—it was a sound that induced genjutsu. This made him connect the dots; these were definitely Sound ninjas, likely sent by Orochimaru.
As Kidōmaru and William clashed once more, William suddenly became aware of the enchanting tune.
"Wait," he said after feeling dazed. "But I'm in Sage—"
Before he knew it, he was immobilized and caught in the effects of the genjutsu. Kidōmaru capitalized on this moment of vulnerability by delivering a powerful blow to William that sent him crashing back and rolling against the ground.
The sight of seeing his cousin overpowered like that made Naruto rage.
"You'll pay for that!" he shouted. After creating some distance from Jirōbō, he used his next technique. "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!"
The clones burst forth with an army of Narutos flooding the battlefield.
Jirōbō laughed, "Adding more of yourself ain't gonna increase your odds of winning!"
All the clones rushed forward as he braced himself. When one closed the distance and he swung to counterattack, Naruto executed a technique no one thought possible.
"Shadow clone jutsu: super explosion!"
A blinding light engulfed the battlefield as all the clones simultaneously detonated to create a thunderous shockwave.
Jiraiya whistled over Tayuya's tunes and smirked at her, "Your spider friend made one big mistake."
Once the dust settled, Jirōbō lay unconscious. He was out for the count.
Sakon looked nervously at the wave of Narutos surging his way. He decided to retreat, but it was too late.
"Shadow clone jutsu: super explosion!"
The clones charged forward and unleashed the same explosive move, causing another round of detonations that sent Sakon reeling.
Kimimaro, still sinking slowly in the swamp, recognized the dire situation they were in. He perceived that Naruto could spam the explosive technique repeatedly, meaning it was only a matter of time before they all faced the same fate.
"Fall back…" he ordered after using his bones to propel himself upward and break free.
With Jiraiya not being affected by her genjutsu, Tayuya stopped playing and immediately retreated. Naruto shouted defiantly, "You're not getting away!"
The clones attempted to chase after Kidōmaru first. But the shinobi managed to use his giant spider as cover amidst the incoming clones. This allowed him to pick up both Sakon's and Jirōbō's bodies before they were caught in another wave of explosions.
"Get back here!" Naruto yelled, but Jiraiya intervened by placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"They can't be sensed anymore," he stated with a confident smile.
Naruto turned and said, "But I can track them with Kurama's negative emotion sensing or Sage Mode!"
Jiraiya allowed him to try, so Naruto entered his Nine-Tails' Chakra Mode. However, as he attempted to search for the chakra signatures of their foes, he found himself unable to.
That shocked Jiraiya more than anything.
After things subsided, Jiraiya and Naruto rushed to William's side to dispel the genjutsu.
William slowly opened his eyes before darting upward to ask, "What happened?!"
"The women in their group used a flute that put you under a genjutsu," Jiraiya answered.
It didn't take long for the Sannin to explain what happened after. William felt embarrassed. That was his moment to shine, but he wasted it.
"How come Naruto wasn't affected?" he asked.
"I was for a second," Naruto admitted, "but Kurama helped me break out of it."
At least that was one good sign: the Nine-Tails was getting more attached to the boy.
Yet that didn't stop William from voicing his opinion on how familiar those ambushers were.
"Cuz," he suddenly stated, "do you remember when Alice and you tried to rescue Sasuke?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I think those were the same ninjas from before. They're known as the Sound Ninja Four, and they're pretty dangerous."
"And the fifth member?" Jiraiya wondered.
"Kimimaro," William explained. "I wasn't sure at first, but you mentioned one of them using bones. That narrows it down since Kimimaro's famous for that."
Jiraiya lightly chuckled, "So they're from the Sound Village? That's not so concerning then."
"What makes you say that, Pervy Sage?"
"For one instance, Jada would have come by now if she hadn't known we could handle them."
"I wouldn't be so sure, Jiraiya-sensei."
"Care to explain?" Jiraiya wondered.
"There are some factors we need to consider. Those guys that attacked us, one of them was reported sick, another escaped from Blood Prison, and three are supposed to be dead. If Orochimaru's truly behind this, then he would have had to have used the forbidden Reanimation technique."
Naruto just shook his head upon hearing the other Sannin's name. "Why does everyone want a piece of Kurama all of a sudden?"
"I think it might be more than just wanting the Nine-Tails," Jiraiya added. "Orochimaru possibly wants revenge on Will, too, after he helped stop the invasion back at the village."
For the first time, William found himself at a loss for answers. He honestly didn't know what to do about this situation.
Naruto, who had been contemplating, suddenly spoke up, "I say we get in touch with Jada for help. She might know something about this."
The group agreed this was a wise move.
"Umm…. How does this thing work again?" Naruto wondered, after looking at his belly, where the seal was.
"Just try calling her name," William answered, unsure if the Flying raijin truly worked.
It took roughly ten seconds before she finally appeared. Her eyes locked on the trio before immediately asking, "What happened?"
After hearing the story, her face paled slightly.
She was indeed impressed by Naruto's usage of the Shadow Clone Explosion technique, as this was what Itachi had also been capable of on a smaller scale.
But Naruto was not Itachi.
"This is bad," she finally said. "Naruto, you're being targeted by so many. It's unsafe for you to travel with Jiraiya."
Naruto frowned. "What? No way! I can handle myself."
"It may be for the best," Jiraiya agreed.
"Don't tell me you're taking her side, too, Pervy Sage!"
"I was honestly unsure of whether I should have brought you here in the first place," Jiraiya tried explaining.
"Then what about Will?!" Naruto asked as he looked between the two. "What's gonna happen to him?"
William shifted nervously. He knew that he wasn't really in any danger, so he was torn between his duty and his desire to stay by Naruto's side. He looked at Jiraiya and noticed the fondness in the Sannin's eyes.
It was like he was saying that he valued William's companionship and hoped the latter wouldn't abandon their journey. Still, he couldn't ignore the strong bond William shared with Naruto.
"I care a lot about you, cuz," William finally said. "I think it'd be better if I stayed with Jiraiya to finish what we started."
Naruto's eyes softened as he said, "But the Pervy Sage can handle himself. If I have to go back to the village after one attack, you should come back with me."
It was clear that the main character had developed what looked like an unhealthy relationship with William. Yet both Jada and Jiraiya perceived it as natural affection.
"No," William insisted. "Besides, I know where the Akatsuki's located."
Not just Jiraiya, but Jada was also shocked after hearing those words. If William could read minds like Alice, he would have heard Jada thinking, 'Will, you weren't supposed to tell them that!'
William simply met her gaze, and although he recognized the seriousness of what he was disclosing, he also understood that Naruto's safety was at stake.
Jada therefore chose not to press the issue further.
Whatever William was planning, he was on his own; she would have backed him up, but messing with the Akatsuki had already proven to be a ridiculous choice.
Just remembering what happened to Margaret was enough for Jada to chastise William.
As the conversation moved forward, Naruto eventually agreed to return to the village with Jada so long as William returned within the next month.
Jada herself was most certainly going to have a conversation with the other players about this.
"Just be careful," Naruto earnestly said as he locked eyes with William. "Promise you'll stay safe and keep the Pervy Sage from being too pervy."
Jiraiya gawked before William guaranteed Naruto with those two promises.
With that, the three shared a final hug.
"I'll see you soon, alright?" Naruto asked again for reassurance.
"Of course," William replied.
Jada watched the scene and felt too unsure of things. "We'll take care of things at the Leaf, so just finish what you need to do and come back safely."
With everyone agreeing on this, Naruto stepped toward Jada's side. Then the two vanished from the scene, leaving William and Jiraiya alone.
"So tell me what else you know about the Akatsuki," Jiraiya smirked.
William instantly rubbed the back of his head with an unsure smile as he stammered, "Right! Ugh.. About that!"