Chapter 349: Someone Who Knows Jiraiya Well
"Tsunade-sama seems… different today."
On the way to the Hokage's office, Sakura glanced at Tsunade walking ahead and muttered quietly to herself.
Her steps were light, almost as if she were floating. Though her outward appearance remained as imposing as ever, there was something subtly different about her that Sakura, still a young girl, couldn't quite identify.
But the three ANBU guards assigned to protect her from afar knew very well.
At a cost.
The three of them weren't strangers to pulling all-nighters—many missions demanded it—but last night, their bodies had been under… a different kind of stress. That constant tension, the mental strain of that, had left them completely exhausted.
Now, all three felt like they were about to collapse—but none dared ask Tsunade to assign replacements. If they did, their secret—eavesdropping on Tsunade's passionate night with a mysterious "shadow clone"—might be exposed.
And no one wanted to be on the receiving end of Tsunade's monster punch.
Still… her technique was worth studying.
Combining a solid shadow clone with transformation jutsu gave a more realistic experience. The three ANBU, all capable of using shadow clones, were already thinking about how to creatively develop this "combo ninjutsu" for… personal purposes.
"Yamato is missing?"
Inside the Hokage office, Tsunade frowned after hearing Naruto's report. She wasn't too familiar with the Ryūmyaku's power, but this was the first time she'd heard of someone vanishing like that.
"You two go home for now. I'll check with the Foundation about the Ryūmyaku," Tsunade said, rising from her seat.
"I'll go too," Naruto replied immediately.
Tsunade shook her head. "Calm down. This isn't something that can be solved right away."
"But I—"
Sakura gently placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.
"Naruto."
"…Alright."
Naruto lowered his head in frustration and left with Sakura.
Jiraiya-sensei is gone.
Now Captain Yamato's missing too.
Why?
Why am I always so powerless?
Naruto's heart ached. Jiraiya's death had already hit him hard, and Yamato's disappearance, caused partly by his own reckless actions, only made it worse.
He didn't want to lose either of them.
But he couldn't do anything.
That feeling was unbearable.
Sakura silently patted his shoulder and walked with him, saying nothing, quietly staying by his side.
"Hokage-sama, I—"
"You're part of Naruto's team now."
Back in the office, Sai hadn't left. With Danzō dead, the Tongue Curse Seal was gone. He was finally free—but unsure of what to do next.
Fortunately, Tsunade gave him exactly what he needed—purpose.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Sai nodded firmly, his voice filled with renewed clarity.
"Go rest as well."
Tsunade dismissed him with a nod. Then she headed to the Foundation archives to look for any intel on the Ryūmyaku.
There wasn't much.
Konoha's intel on the Ryūmyaku was minimal. All they knew was that it was a mysterious power once controlled by Loran. The only solid intelligence came from Minato's mission there twenty years ago.
The key detail: its ability to traverse time—past and future.
"Could Yamato really have traveled through time?"
Tsunade furrowed her brow. She didn't want to believe in time travel.
Yamato's disappearance seemed more like he had been incinerated by the Ryūmyaku's explosion.
As for Naruto's survival?
She guessed it was the Nine-Tails protecting him—explaining how he could come out of it with only unconsciousness, while both Mukade and Yamato vanished completely.
"Still… we'll call it a disappearance for now."
Tsunade sighed to herself. Jiraiya's death had already devastated Naruto. She had hoped that sending him after Mukade would help him heal.
Instead, it may have cost him Yamato's life.
And if she told him that Yamato was dead too…
She wasn't sure he could handle it.
"Sigh…"
She let out a long breath and returned to the Hokage Tower. Afterward, she and Shizune went to the ANBU base.
There, the interrogation squad had worked tirelessly, extracting most of Danzō's memories. They'd uncovered many dark secrets—but still no clue about his killer.
"Keep going," Tsunade instructed, then moved on to the intelligence division responsible for decrypting codes. She wanted an update on Jiraiya's final message.
"Apologies, Hokage-sama."
The division head reported, "We've reviewed every known cipher, but the one Jiraiya left doesn't match anything previously used in Konoha."
Jiraiya had died over two weeks ago. In that time, the intel division had gone through every code Konoha had used since its founding.
Nothing matched.
This could only mean one thing—Jiraiya had used a personalized code, meant to be understood by someone specific. No matter how hard others tried, they would never crack it—because they were looking in the wrong direction from the start.
"The only person who could decipher Jiraiya-sama's code," the intel chief concluded, "is someone who knew him extremely well."
"Someone who knew Jiraiya well?"
Tsunade frowned in thought.
By that logic, the most likely person would be her.
But even she had tried to decode the message—and failed.
Then… maybe it had to be someone familiar with the current Jiraiya?
Did she truly understand the man Jiraiya had become?
As she asked herself that, Tsunade shook her head.
The doubt alone was her answer.
The intel chief, watching her carefully, said, "I think Naruto might be the one to crack it."
Naruto was Jiraiya's student.
In recent years, he was the only one who had spent consistent time with him.
Undoubtedly, Naruto understood Jiraiya's most recent thinking best.
And if Jiraiya had gone to such lengths to send this intel, it was because he wanted someone to understand it—not to create an unsolvable code.
So Naruto was likely the one person who could crack it.
Tsunade understood that. But with Yamato still missing, and Naruto already emotionally shaken…
There was no other choice.
"Bring Naruto here," Tsunade ordered.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Shizune immediately went to arrange it.
The Akatsuki could strike at any moment. They desperately needed the intel Jiraiya had died to deliver.
The enemy had been strong enough to kill a Sage Mode user.
Without knowing more, Konoha would suffer terrible losses if a battle broke out.
That was something Tsunade could not allow.
So, for now, she would have to rely on Naruto.
(END CHAPTER)
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