'What kind of monster was this guy?'
But shock aside, Naruto had no time to think.
He started to run out without another word.
"I'm going!"
"Stop!"
Jiraiya grabbed the back of Naruto's collar for the third time.
"You think you two Genin can stop Sasuke, who now has the Mangekyo Sharingan, and an Akatsuki's member?"
Naruto turned back, as if it were obvious, and said, "Then you come with us, Pervy Sage!"
Jiraiya's mouth twitched.
To be honest, he didn't really want to go.
The abilities of the Akatsuki's members were very mysterious.
Without being fully prepared, even he could easily find himself at a disadvantage.
But seeing Naruto's determined expression, 'If you don't go, I'll go myself', he reluctantly agreed.
"Alright, alright, I'll go."
Jiraiya sighed, then turned to Makoto and cupped his hands slightly.
"Um... Makoto-sama, could you possibly dispatch a support unit to accompany us?"
The 'support unit' he meant was Makoto's women.
Saeko, Alice, Hiyori, Hancock...
Any one of them could match an entire team of Jonin.
"No."
However, Makoto's answer was crisp and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.
Naruto's eyes were filled with disbelief.
"Why?!"
In his mind, although Makoto wasn't particularly warm-hearted, he was at least reasonable.
Besides, his relationship with Makoto... was pretty good, right?
So why now...
Makoto glanced indifferently at Naruto and said calmly, "This is Sasuke's own choice."
"The allure of the Infinite Tsukuyomi is very strong for him, and reality is indeed too cruel for him. Don't you think we should let him have his wish?"
Naruto's body trembled violently.
He stood there, his lips quivering. He wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words to refute.
"That's not right!"
Naruto finally shouted.
He had spoken to Makoto in such a loud voice for the first time.
"That kind of world is fake!"
"Sasuke should be with us! In the real world! Working hard together!"
His voice echoed through the large courtyard.
Yu frowned slightly.
He was very displeased with Naruto's attitude.
'How dare he speak to Senpai like that?'
He moved a finger, as if to do something.
But Makoto raised his hand to stop him.
"Go if you want to go."
Makoto's tone remained calm. He wasn't angered by Naruto's shouting, nor was he swayed by his plea.
"My people will not go."
Naruto gritted his teeth. Looking at Makoto's expressionless face, he knew nothing more could be said.
Without another word, he turned and rushed out.
Sakura followed closely.
Jiraiya sighed, glanced at Makoto, then at Naruto's receding back, shook his head, and followed.
"Naruto? What's the rush? What's going on?"
On the way, Naruto ran into several of his former classmates.
Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino...
Naruto quickly told them what had happened and expressed his hope that they would come with him.
The Konoha rookies were indeed loyal enough.
"That guy Sasuke... what a drag."
Shikamaru said it was a drag, but his feet didn't stop.
Choji, chewing on potato chips, said indistinctly, "Our relationship with Sasuke isn't great, but we're all classmates from Konoha."
Most of them agreed to come.
However—
"Stop."
Jiraiya's voice came from behind, carrying an undeniable authority.
Everyone stopped and looked back.
Jiraiya stood with his arms crossed, his face more serious than ever.
"We're dealing with members of the Akatsuki. A bunch of Genin will be useless."
Jiraiya's gaze quickly swept over everyone present.
"If you go, you'll only get yourselves killed."
In the end, Jiraiya made a decision:
"Naruto, wait for me at the gates of Konoha. I'll go find Tsunade and request that a team of Jonin be assembled."
Naruto was frantic.
"There's no time for that! Sasuke already has a head start!"
"Shut up!"
Jiraiya's sharp reprimand silenced everyone.
"The enemy is [Akatsuki]! A dangerous organization made up entirely of S-rank Missing-Nin. If you rush off recklessly, you might die before you even see Sasuke!"
Naruto was taken aback by Jiraiya's attitude.
Beside him, Shikamaru grabbed Naruto's shoulder and said quietly, "Jiraiya-sama is right. He's one of the Sannin, he's much more experienced than us."
Finally, Naruto and Sakura could only nod.
Seeing that the two had calmed down slightly, Jiraiya turned and headed towards the Hokage Building.
…
Hokage's Office.
When Jiraiya pushed the door open, he froze.
Tsunade sat behind her desk, a pile of documents in front of her, her face flushed as she held a pen and was reviewing them.
And on the sofa beside the desk, Makoto sat with his legs crossed.
Jiraiya was dumbfounded.
'What was Makoto doing here?'
'His territory was primarily the Ninja World Government, and Tsunade was his subordinate.'
'Only subordinates go to their superior's office. Why was it the opposite now?'
"What are you doing here?"
Jiraiya's tone held a hint of wariness.
Makoto looked up at him. "Came to discuss something important with Tsunade-senpai."
Jiraiya looked suspicious. He walked to Tsunade's desk, his eyes darting between Makoto and Tsunade. "About what?"
Makoto said, "I want Senpai to take Mai as an apprentice."
Well, the Bunny Girl Senpai had been with them in the Naruto World for about six months now.
Her talent was quite good. She could already use the Transformation Technique at a basic level.
Makoto wanted to recommend her to his Senpai as an apprentice, replicating Sakura's growth path.
Anyway, they both had 'Sakura' in their names.
Hearing this, Jiraiya was slightly relieved, but still muttered quietly, "Did you have to come to Tsunade's office?"
His eyes kept darting between Makoto and Tsunade, carrying an inexplicable suspicion.
This little junior disciple of his had too many women.
Jiraiya was genuinely afraid this kid might prey on an older woman and do something inappropriate.
Tsunade immediately saw the filthy thoughts running through Jiraiya's head. A vein bulged on her forehead, and she asked irritably, "And what are you here for?"
Jiraiya had no choice but to explain why he had come… Sasuke had been taken by Zetsu, and they needed Jonin support.
Tsunade frowned after hearing this.
"There aren't many Jonin available for deployment right now. Kakashi has formed a team to search for Uchiha Obito and has been out in the field."
She picked up a pen, wrote a few lines on a piece of paper, and handed it to Jiraiya.
"This is all the personnel I can dispatch for now. You can go on."
Jiraiya took the paper, looked at it, and nodded.
Makoto glanced up at the paper's contents, his expression growing increasingly strange.
'Sarutobi Asuma, Kamizuki Izumo, Hagane Kotetsu...'
'Why did this lineup look so familiar?'
Jiraiya reached the door, then stopped. He looked back at Tsunade.
Hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke:
"Tsunade... please be mindful of appearances."
"After all, a relationship with too big an age gap... will never work out."
Having said that, he turned and left, not giving Tsunade a chance to retort.
Tsunade was stunned for a moment.
Then—
"GET OUT—!!!"
A roar erupted from the Hokage's office, shaking the entire building.
Tsunade fumed angrily:
"That old pervert! Does he really think everyone is like him, thinking about that kind of thing all day!"
Makoto spread his hands, looking innocent.
"Senpai, that's not fair. Sex between a man and a woman is perfectly natural."
"You get out too!"
Tsunade cursed, her face dark.
One old pervert, one young pervert, plus a hermaphrodite freak.
What kind of people were her fellow disciples?
But Makoto wasn't about to indulge Tsunade like Jiraiya did.
He stood up from the sofa and slowly walked over to Tsunade.
Tsunade looked up, about to ask what he was doing—
Suddenly, Makoto reached out and slapped his hand on her desk with a 'smack', leaning forward, trapping her between himself and her office chair.
Tsunade jumped back in surprise.
She looked at Makoto's face, so close that the tips of their noses nearly touched. That young, handsome face held a faint, roguish smile.
Tsunade instinctively shrank back, her hands gripping the arms of her chair.
Her heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
Tsunade's voice was weak, she didn't even realize it herself.
Makoto looked at Tsunade's slightly flushed cheeks and reached out his other hand, pinching her fair chin.
He lifted Tsunade's face slightly, forcing her to look into his eyes.
"Senpai."
Makoto's voice was unyielding.
"My surname isn't Lu. Don't speak to me like that again."
With that, Makoto let go, turned, and walked towards the door.
Only after the office door clicked shut did Tsunade slump back into her chair as if drained of all strength.
She held her chest, gasping for air.
"Damn... that disrespectful brat..."
After a while, Tsunade's heartbeat finally calmed, though a trace of lingering palpitation remained.
She frowned, suddenly remembering something.
'What did he mean by 'My surname isn't Lu'?' (T/N: I can't find anything about this matter. Sorry…)