Path Of War-Chapter 342: Smart

As the damp floor beneath Jiraiya's sandals mushed, he kept his senses up. It had only been one night, and he had already made it to the first potential hideout.

Suddenly, a faint, almost imperceptible chakra signature registered in his senses. It was quite familiar, so his stride quickened.

The roar of a waterfall grew louder as he approached. And there, at the edge of the cliff face, stood a solitary figure: Sasuke Uchiha.

"I thought I sensed Orochimaru's chakra," Jiraiya admitted with a confident smile as he reached the cliff edge.

Sasuke slowly turned. His face showed frustration, yet Jiraiya couldn't quite read it. There was a tightness around the boy's eyes and a tension in his jaw.

"Mind if I ask what Orochimaru has you doing here?" Jiraiya asked.

Sasuke ignored the question and asked, "You're that other Sannin, right? How about you go back to the Leaf Village to deliver a message to Naruto for me?"

To think the Uchiha was attempting to make demands before a Legendary Sannin. Jiraiya, of course, was not at all deterred; he knew he could demolish Sasuke in the blink of an eye.

Before Jiraiya could even formulate a response, an orange blur shot past him.

"You can tell me right here!" Naruto declared after landing between the two.

Both Jiraiya and Sasuke were caught completely off guard. Naruto's sudden appearance was the last thing either of them expected.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?!" Jiraiya yelled in surprise.

Not once had the Sannin sensed him.

"Like I said," Naruto replied while his gaze locked on Sasuke's, "I never give up on my friends. Sasuke! I've come to take you back!"

Sasuke's initial surprise vanished and was replaced by a cold dread. An unsettling feeling began to stir within him as the curse mark on his neck swirled a black, inky pattern across half his body.

"You never seem to learn, Naruto..." the Uchiha growled.

Jiraiya, sensing the shift in Sasuke's chakra, clapped his hands together and prepared to unleash a defensive jutsu. But before the technique could unleash, a flash of white blurred past him, a hand briefly touching his shoulder.

'Flying raijin...'

In an instant, he was gone, teleported away from the scene.

Naruto and Sasuke were left staring at the empty space where Jiraiya had just been. The shock of his sudden disappearance was clear. But with him gone, the fragile barrier between these two boys had been removed.

They looked around to see what the cause was. But based on both of their shocks, they understood that neither of them was involved. The inevitable confrontation was now upon them.

"Sasuke," Naruto growled, "don't do this. Just listen for once and come home! Screw Orochimaru!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed with a dangerous glint as he smirked, "I'm interested to know something, Naruto... What do you know about your Nine-Tails?"

"What about Kurama?" Naruto retorted with a defensive tone.

"That's its name, huh? Figured you'd tame it by now... That Tailed Beast of yours belonged to your clan, which was wiped out because the Leaf Village failed to protect them."

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief, and he swiped his arms in a dismissive gesture. "You're wrong! My village was destroyed because of a guy named Obito Uchiha."

There was a brief, tense silence, the only sound the thunder of the waterfall. Then Sasuke spoke, "I don't even know who that is..."

"Of course you don't," Naruto said. "He's working with the Akatsuki and being manipulated by Madara Uchiha."

Sasuke scoffed, still trying to process the information. "I suppose your new friends told you that?"

"No," Naruto replied. "I also read it in my mom's book."

Now Sasuke was truly intrigued. Just how much had Naruto learned while Sasuke had been consumed by his quest for power?

"Naruto... I don't know what you've learned while I've been gone, but I'd like to make you an offer."

"Huh?"

Naruto was genuinely confused by the sudden shift in conversation. What could Sasuke possibly want from him now?

"Abandon the Leaf Village and come join Orochimaru."

Naruto was stunned into silence. The offer was so unexpected, so utterly contrary to everything he believed in, that he could only stare while his mind reeled.

"Why would I do something like that?" he sincerely asked with a sense of disbelief.

"One of Orochimaru's servants named Karin Uzumaki told me all about your clan..."

"Karin Uzumaki?" the boy repeated. "If you know so much about my clan, then..." his mind raced as he tried to connect the dots and understand the implications of this new information. "I... I don't understand. What does this have to do with you taking revenge on Itachi?"

The two stood frozen due to the unspoken past separating them. Neither truly understood the other's journey and the hidden truths they had uncovered. Such as how Naruto's parents had returned and the complex revival of the Uchiha clan, which Sasuke has yet to learn about.

Because Sasuke was quiet, Naruto declared, "No! Whether this involves Itachi or not, Orochimaru's tricked you, and he's trying to take over your body. You can't trust him!"

Now it was Sasuke's turn for anger; he felt as if Naruto was the delusional one. How could his former teammate not understand his own enslavement?

The curse mark on Sasuke's skin pulsed and spread. As his body twisted and contorted, taking on the grotesque features of his Version Two form, he glared at Naruto with a chilling intensity.

"Then... if you're not with me, you're against me!"

Naruto's own anger ignited, fueled by Sasuke's words and the horrifying sight of his friend lost in the darkness. A surge of vibrant yellowish chakra erupted from his body as the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode enveloped him in a fiery aura.

With a guttural scream that echoed the roar of the waterfall, the two rushed at each other.

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

Elsewhere in a barren land.

Jiraiya's eyes flicked across the empty horizon. How did he get here?

The land stretched out endlessly before him like a bleak canvas of earth and dust. The sky above was also dull compared to the blue scenery from before.

"Teleportation ninjutsu," he deduced.

Wherever he was now, his focus rested on the only other person here: a man wearing an all-white cloak.

Without hesitation, Jiraiya reached up and tore away his cloak, revealing a distinctive symbol emblazoned on his clothing.

"Smart..." Arthur softly muttered.

Jiraiya kept his voice steady, recognizing the technique. "That was the flying raijin," he said, eyes narrowing as he took in the man's attire. "That cloak's also familiar. I wonder who you might be."

What Jiraiya failed to understand was that Arthur had been watching from the shadows and orchestrating everything from behind the scenes. He had seen Naruto slip away from the village in secret, a move that he'd anticipated and used to his advantage.

Using the Flying raijin, he had manipulated the course of events, knowing that Sasuke would be sent on a mission that would intersect with Jiraiya's path. And his goal was clear: Naruto needed to face Sasuke again, but not just to fight, to fight under Arthur's influence.

He needed to ensure the outcome favoured him.

Arthur's eyes gleamed for a moment upon feeling fully content with how things turned out. He stretched his neck, then announced, "I was trying to seal your skin, but..." Crack! "There are other ways to kill you."

Jiraiya's instincts kicked in instantly. He knew that this was no ordinary enemy—no typical henchman of Orochimaru would possess such an advanced technique like the Flying raijin. This was someone dangerous, someone capable of threatening everything he stood for.

Without warning, Arthur surged forward with his fist clenched. Jiraiya raised his arms to intercept, causing a deafening shockwave to ripple across the barren plain.

The sheer force behind that punch made Jiraiya's arms tremble and his bones rattle.

With a twist of Arthur's body, he aimed a swift, powerful kick at Jiraiya's temple. Jiraiya barely managed to block it with both forearms, and the force nearly staggered him back.

Arthur pressed his attack, following up with quick, precise strikes. The fight quickly devolved into a brutal exchange of taijutsu—blow after blow, kick after punch. Arthur's strikes were to destabilize Jiraiya and force him into a mistake.

Despite his experience, Jiraiya found himself on the back foot as each of Arthur's attacks swatted away his attempts to strike back.

The opponent's strength was overwhelming, to say the least.

By the time Arthur stopped, Jiraiya was allowed to breathe for the moment. Arthur himself was merely forming calculations in his mind as if testing how far he'd come.

He thought of all those who had given him a tough fight, such as Lars and Itachi. But Jiraiya was more powerful than both of those two!

"You're strong... I'll give you that," Arthur calmly said. "But you're still only the second toughest opponent I've faced."

Jiraiya's brow furrowed in curiosity as he asked, "Who's the first?"

"Me..."

After that echoing declaration, Arthur launched himself at Jiraiya again. The two clashed—a brutal, persistent duel in the middle of the wasteland. The ground beneath them shook with each strike as dust rose into the air.

Despite Arthur's advantage in strength and speed, Jiraiya refused to give in.

"Fire style: flame bombs!"

Jiraiya unleashed a torrent of flames that roared toward Arthur. Arthur responded swiftly, slamming his hand into the ground.

'Summoning jutsu...'

The terrain rippled as a new opponent appeared from the smoke, clad in white with a blindfold on. In an instant, the man removed the blindfold, revealing eyes that seemed to glow with unnatural intensity.

A concentrated beam of energy was then shot from the man's eyes, clearing the flames with ease. Jiraiya was forced to dive elsewhere to avoid being incinerated.

By the time he recovered, the man had disappeared. Arthur could tell from the Sannin's face that he had seen that shinobi before, yet the old Sannin simply couldn't remember from where.

"Those were Sharingan," Jiraiya muttered in alarm. "But how...?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Arthur sharply interrupted while running forward.

His speed was impressive, forcing Jiraiya to react quickly once again. As the seconds passed, Jiraiya found himself unable to read Arthur's actions—each attack, each dodge, had now become unpredictable.

Jiraiya's muscles tensed as he understood that he needed to think fast. He had to find some way to turn the tide, some strategy to catch his opponent off guard.

"Art of the raging lion's mane!"

His hair erupted in a wild, fiery mass, rapidly growing and twisting into thick tendrils. They sought to constrict and trap Arthur, so the latter narrowed his eyes as he drew Blade of Chaos. Then he sliced through Jiraiya's mane and cleanly cleaved the tendrils.

Jiraiya's eyes widened again. His technique had been cut down so easily—an indication that his opponent was not only strong but also skilled at countering his techniques.

"Something's wrong here," Jiraiya declared. And Arthur knew what he was thinking: that it was as if Arthur knew his every move. "I see I have no choice..." Taking one bite of his thumb, Jiraiya slammed his palm down on the ground. "Summoning jutsu!"

The air thickened with chakra and dust that swirled into a dense cloud of smoke. When the cloud dispersed, towering above the battlefield was the massive toad, Gamabunta.