Birth of the Forest

Birth of the Forest 10.

"That Rinnegan wielder...he is a very serious threat, ero-sennin. You said a former student of yours had awakened those eyes, but my opponent did not look like him."

Jiraiya looked very interested. "If I didn't have to deal with Kisame, and then extract Sasuke and Sakura, I would have loved to have a look at your opponent. Can you Henge into him?"

"Mokuton: Henge!"

Standing before the toad sage was an Akatsuki cloaked man, with orange spiky hair. The legendary Rinnegan eyes blazed, giving off a sense of unfathomable power.

Jiraiya gasped. "Yahiko? You fought Yahiko?"

Naruto transformed back into his original body.

"No. I sensed that the one I fought was being controlled via chakra transmission. I know he was the embodiment of Tendou, the Divine path of the Rinnegan."

Jiraiya looked confused. "If you are right, then Yahiko is dead. No one else has the chakra to transplant those eyes on to themselves; it has to be a descendant of the Rikodou Sennin. So Nagato is the one behind all this, and is still alive. And what did you mean by paths?"

"Nagato. So that is his name. Ah, yes. The much is known about the Sage of the six paths, or about those eyes. I know that it has six paths: Deva, Asura, Preta, Naraka, Animal and Human. There is much more to those eyes, but this is all I know about it for sure. The rest of what I know is the usual legend about the Sage. I believe I faced the Deva path today, his jutsu was 'Shinra Tensei' after all. He was an extremely formidable opponent and I think if he comes at me with all six paths unified in his true body, I will have to fight quite seriously."

"Then we need more information. If someone using Nagato's eyes, or Nagato himself has resurfaced, it is indeed a serious threat. Akatsuki is becoming very strong, and I think they will continue to quietly gather strength before making a bid for the bijuu. Especially after you forced a stalemate with Pain", concluded Jiraiya with concern.

"I can match Pain, ero-sennin. But Sasuke has awakened the Mangekyo thanks to Itachi, and Itachi himself...is doing all he can to obtain more power. Konoha will be in safe hands even without me."

Jiraiya nodded, and the two sat quietly for a while.

"It's time to go, ero-sennin. Sasuke and Sakura are safe in Konoha, and we will do what needs to be done to get Tsunade back. I should never have brought Sasuke along...but I suppose it all worked out."

Naruto stopped his ponderings of yesterday's conversation and stared at the town they had just reached.

Tanzaku town, the place where Tsunade was sighted last.

They were here, finally. Naruto held up a half-ram seal, immersing himself in his sensory perception of chakra. His senses extended for a mile in every direction, searching, questing.

There. A large chakra, too familiar. It may or may not be Tsunade, but it certainly felt like the chakra of the Senju clan.

"Found her, ero-sennin. Or at least female members of the Senju clan. I have a lock on her location, and I can lead us there directly."

Jiraiya nodded, and the three of them followed Naruto through the town.

Naruto had healed Sasuke and Sakura, the two having sustained only minor damage.