Everyone returned to Konoha exhausted and covered in dust. The squad disbanded on the spot. Kiyosuke and Kakashi sent the others home to rest, while the two of them went straight to the Hokage's office to report to Tsunade.
They reported on the Akatsuki situation and also mentioned Naruto's Nine-Tails rampage.
Jiraiya happened to be in the office. Hearing them bring it up, he said,
"About that… back then, in order to help Naruto learn to control the Nine-Tails' chakra more quickly, I loosened Minato's seal a little. Because of that, the Nine-Tails now influences him more easily."
It had been a necessary risk—Naruto needed to train, and he needed to seize control of that power as soon as possible.
As he spoke, Jiraiya began taking off his clothes. While undressing, he said,
"In my entire life, I've only ever taken two truly life-threatening injuries. Once, when I was young, sneaking a peek at Tsunade in the women's bath. She found me and nearly beat me to death right then and there."
Tsunade's face flushed red and she coughed into her hand.
Jiraiya stripped off his shirt, revealing a terrifying scar that had already healed but still looked ghastly.
"The other time," he continued, "was because of Naruto's Nine-Tails rampage. I nearly died that day too. If Kiyosuke hadn't dragged my broken body back, I'd have been stuck in a hospital bed a lot longer."
He pulled his clothes back on and said,
"The Nine-Tails' chakra is monstrous, no doubt about it. But if Naruto can master it, his strength will soar to another level entirely. And if he can become a perfect jinchūriki… even better."
Kiyosuke frowned and said,
"To become a perfect jinchūriki, you need mutual understanding—you need to be acknowledged by the beast as a true partner. As long as Naruto clings to his hatred and resentment, it's basically impossible."
After all, the one who killed Naruto's parents with its own claws… was the Nine-Tails itself.
The room fell silent.
Then Jiraiya chuckled.
"That kid will pull it off, no doubt about it."
"Maybe," Kiyosuke said, shaking his head. "But the problem is suppressing him in the meantime. The sealing talismans you gave me can only restrain him up to one or two tails. Beyond that, they're useless. And lately, his emotions leak Nine-Tails chakra more easily than ever. We need a way to hold it down."
"I don't have a method to suppress the beast," Jiraiya admitted. "Last time, I smacked him across the face and luckily he snapped back. But what about next time? Or the time after that? He's a young Uzumaki—his emotions boil over easily. I can't be by his side every second."
"That really is a problem," Tsunade muttered. Then she raised her voice.
"Tenzo!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
A masked figure flickered into the room—standard ANBU gear, regulation blade across his back, animal mask hiding his face.
"Remove your mask."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
He obediently removed it, revealing an earnest, reliable face.
"It's been a long time, Kakashi-senpai, Kiyosuke-senpai."
"Yo, Tenzo!" Kakashi greeted.
"Yeah, long time no see," Kiyosuke added.
Kiyosuke nodded thoughtfully. With Yamato's Wood Release resonating against the First Hokage's necklace Naruto carried, suppressing the rampaging Nine-Tails really was possible.
"Tenzo," Tsunade said, "you'll temporarily leave your ANBU squad. You're joining Kakashi's team. From now on, you'll go by the name 'Yamato.' Your job is to help Naruto suppress the Nine-Tails' chakra."
Tenzo—no, Yamato—nodded firmly.
"Yes. I understand."
This was precisely why the Third Hokage had brought him into ANBU in the first place. In Konoha, only Wood Release and the Sharingan could suppress the Nine-Tails.
And compared to the prideful Uchiha, a Hokage-loyal ANBU operative was far more trustworthy.
"Please take care of me, senpai," Yamato said with a bow.
"No problem, no problem."
"Yeah. Do your best. We're counting on you with Naruto."
Kakashi and Kiyosuke both laughed, visibly relieved. With Yamato around, Naruto's safety was much more assured.
Until Naruto himself gained control over the Nine-Tails' chakra, Yamato's presence was indispensable. Without him, a rampage could happen at any time.
"Alright," Tsunade concluded. "Rest up for a while. After that, Kakashi's team and Yamato will head out with me to track down Orochimaru."
"I'll go with you," Jiraiya said.
Kiyosuke frowned.
"Jiraiya-sama, I think it'd be best if you didn't."
"Oh? And why not?"
"Because I don't think you could stomach the worst outcome."
"…How bad are we talking?"
"I'm going with the resolve to kill my teacher."
Jiraiya: "…"
Tsunade: "…"
Even Kakashi and Yamato stared at Kiyosuke in disbelief.
Could he really mean that?
Most of Konoha's leadership knew the bond between Kiyosuke and Orochimaru. Even after Orochimaru defected, Kiyosuke had continued to respect him as a teacher. And now he was openly saying he intended to cut him down?
"Oi, seriously? I thought you admired that guy. And now you want to kill him?" Jiraiya asked.
Was this kid actually planning on pulling a 'kill your master to transcend' kind of move?
He patted his own chest in reassurance.
"Good thing my disciples would never do that to me…"
"If Orochimaru-sensei refuses to turn back, and he stands in my way, then I'll kill him with my own hands," Kiyosuke said flatly.
In this shinobi world, killing one's master to prove one's path was practically a tradition—and often frighteningly effective. Kiyosuke felt he had to follow that tradition.
Besides, Orochimaru couldn't truly die. Even if Kiyosuke destroyed his body, his consciousness would live on inside those cursed with the Cursed Seal of Heaven: Sasuke, Kimimaro, Anko… all chosen by Orochimaru himself.
Through the Cursed Seal of Heaven, Orochimaru's soul could cling to the host and, when their body weakened, seize control and resurrect himself.
He was the hardest man in the world to kill. With his immortality and soul-transfer technique, as long as he wasn't sealed away, he simply would not die.
So cutting down his "true body" meant little. Outwardly, though, Kiyosuke would have to act like it was an agonizing choice—a painful betrayal of his heart.
Make it look like grim determination.
Jiraiya and Tsunade fell silent.
Finally Tsunade said,
"Do as you see fit. But if possible… bring him back alive."
Kiyosuke shook his head.
"No. He's slipperier than anyone. I can kill him, but capturing him alive? That, I can't guarantee."
That bastard was too difficult to pin down. Killing him would already be an achievement.