Chapter 185
"Damn Uchiha Itachi!"
Jiraiya sighed, "I understand. Leave this matter to Naruto and me."
"Mm."
Hinata looked at Naruto, both reluctant to part and deeply worried.
"Naruto-kun... those Akatsuki Organization rogue Ninja are after you..."
"You... you must be careful..."
Naruto nodded, "I know, Hinata."
Only then did Hinata, carrying Sasuke, gradually walk away.
Jiraiya gazed at her retreating figure, filled with emotion.
"Naruto, you're a very lucky guy..."
"Lucky?!"
Naruto said angrily, "I grew up without parents, all alone. I have a monster inside me, and everyone in the entire Village looked down on me. Now I'm being targeted by such a terrifying organization..."
"Pervy Sage, you say I'm lucky?!"
Jiraiya burst out laughing, "It seems you, you idiot, don't understand at all..."
"Understand what?"
"A girl's heart."
Naruto scratched his head, "What do you mean?!"
Jiraiya shook his head, "Sure enough, no matter how talented you are, you're still an idiot in this regard..."
"Hey, hey, hey, Pervy Sage! Explain yourself!"
Jiraiya had already gradually walked away.
"You'll understand it yourself eventually. One day, you will get it..."
"The most urgent task right now is to find Tsunadeimmediately!"
Naruto's heart trembled. Thinking of Sasuke's tragic state, and Kakashi-sensei too... he immediately chased after him, "Okay! Let's find Grandma Tsunade right away!"
...At this moment.
The duo of Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki, who had left, were swiftly flying over a small river.
They lightly stepped on the river water, sending splashes everywhere.
"Mr. Itachi, why did we retreat?"
"Even if it's the legendary Sannin, with your strength, you might not be unable to fight him, right?"
Uchiha Itachi said in a deep voice, "Jiraiya is not that easy to deal with..."
"Moreover, my ocular power is overused. I must find a place to rest properly..."
"Not only Tsukuyomi, but Amaterasu was also used..."
Kisame Hoshigaki also nodded.
"Good."
"But then again, he is a legendary Sannin, indeed not easy to deal with. Mr. Itachi might still have a fighting chance, but I'm far too weak..."
"And..."
Kisame Hoshigaki's eyes showed Naruto's figure.
"That Nine-Tailed brat is also much more troublesome than I imagined..."
Uchiha Itachi nodded, "Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Hinata, and..."
"Sasuke..."
"They are indeed not easy to deal with. It seems we absolutely cannot let them grow smoothly, otherwise..."
Kisame Hoshigaki sneered, "You're right, Mr. Itachi."
"The more talented they are, the more they should be eliminated early!"
...On the road, Naruto was uncharacteristically silent.
Jiraiya noticed his unusual behavior.
"What's wrong, Naruto? Being so quiet isn't like you..."
Naruto said in a low voice, "Pervy Sage, is that Akatsuki Organization really after me?"
"Hmm, to be precise, they're after the monster inside you."
Naruto couldn't help but sigh deeply.
"It's that monster again!"
"I don't want it at all. Who put it inside my body?!"
Jiraiya did not hide it.
"It was the Fourth Hokage."
Naruto was both shocked and angry.
"He, why would he do that?!"
Jiraiya also sighed, and ruffled Naruto's hair.
"There are many reasons, but no matter what, he absolutely did not act out of malice, because..."
"Even if it wasn't malice, what he did has caused me so much pain all this time!"
Jiraiya understood Naruto's meaning.
He was silent for a long time, then shook his head.
"Naruto, believe me, when the Fourth Hokage did that, he was also in great pain."
"However..."
"A Ninja, sometimes, just has to do the right thing, even if it comes with sacrifice and pain."
"Just like the Fourth Hokage, who sacrificed his own life to protect the Village."
Naruto said, "Is there no way to extract that monster from my body?!"
Jiraiya shook his head.
"There is no way."
"Once a Jinchuriki is stripped of their Tailed Beast, there's only death!"
"This... this is too unfair!"
Jiraiya said, "This Ninja World was never fair to begin with."
"Do you know about Sasuke's experience?"
Naruto's heart trembled when he heard Sasuke's name, but he still shook his head.
"I can guess some, but I dare not ask him for the truth..."
Jiraiya said, "Sasuke's life was originally very happy: loving parents, a respected elder brother, kind relatives and clan members, and he himself was exceptionally talented. One could say he had a perfect childhood..."
"However, everything was destroyed on that night."
"Sasuke's elder brother, Uchiha Itachi, single-handedly massacred the entire Uchiha Clan, even including..."
"Their own parents!"
Naruto's face immediately turned pale!
"Wh-what?!"
Jiraiya sighed, "If you understand his experience, you'll understand how his personality was formed."
"You'll also understand that there's never been any fairness in this Ninja World."
"Your fate as the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki is certainly painful."
"But Sasuke had his parents slaughtered by his own older brother, his entire clan annihilated, falling from heaven to hell, from happiness to an endless abyss. Is such a fate fair to him?"
Naruto bowed his head deeply.
"So Sasuke has been enduring something so terrible all this time..."
"I treated him before..."
Jiraiya smiled, "There's nothing to say about your attitude towards him."
"Rather, both you and Sasuke are actually enjoying this dynamic between you."
Naruto frowned tightly, "Pervy Sage, what are you talking about?!"
Jiraiya laughed heartily, "It's normal that you can't understand it now."
"Ultimately, the so-called squabbles and competition between the two of you are essentially just a way to huddle together for warmth..."
"Huddle together for warmth?"
"Me and Sasuke?!"
"Exactly..."
"One day you will understand, and one day..."
"Sasuke will also understand."
Naruto couldn't fully understand after listening, but he finally comprehended Sasuke's experience, and his heart grew heavier... "I suffer misfortune because of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside me, Sasuke suffers hardship because of his brother, and even Hinata faces the oppression of her clan's system..."
"Why is this Ninja World full of suffering?"
Jiraiya's heart stirred, "Naruto, when you start thinking about these things, it means you've grown up..."
"When people are young, they only feel suffering and grievance, but they don't know how to deal with it, let alone how to solve it..."
"Only when you truly recognize these things and start to ponder their root causes does it signify your growth, although this is an incredibly painful process, and often, in the end, you still don't find the answers..."
"Pervy Sage, do you not have the answers either?"
"Me?"
Jiraiya burst out laughing, "Let alone a mere me, I'm afraid even the Great Toad Sage, or even the Six Paths Sage, wouldn't find the answer!"
Naruto couldn't help but despair, "Then, what should we do?!"
Jiraiya ruffled his hair again.
"Of course, it's to pass on the hope of solving the problem to the next generation."
"Although they may still be unable to solve it, or even never solve it, but..."
"At least there's still hope."
"What kind of will people live with is merely a personal choice."
"Everyone suffers. What's important is the attitude after suffering."
"It's not surprising to discover that the truth of this world is dark and painful. What kind of choice you make after discovering these truths will truly determine your life's path."
Figures flashed before Jiraiya's eyes.
"Some people choose to blacken and fall, and I don't blame them, because this world is inherently dark and painful."
"But for me, there's another path I endorse more..."
Naruto was extremely curious, "What is that?"
Jiraiya said, "It's simple: find a way to change this world."