Chap.106 Avoiding a war

The return trip passed without haste and when they were only half an hour away from reaching the village, Tony used the summoning technique to summon a pair of chocobos and ride them at full speed, giving the impression that he had rushed.

Why didn't he return with the reverse summoning?

Because he needed time to think about how to break the news of Jiraiya's death, so he accompanied Konan along the way to "calm his emotions" and readjust his mentality.

He had the chocobos slow down as they crossed the gates, and he undid the summoning to jump onto the rooftops and head for Tsunade's office.

-Seems like Naruto and the others have already returned -he thought when in one of the streets he saw Sakura's back -She looks discouraged, what happened? -He made a mental note to look for information about it later, maybe she was just sad because she didn't convince Sasuke to return or maybe something important happened.

Tony and Konan landed at the Hokage's building and entered.

Knock! Knock!

-Go ahead," Tsunade's voice came from inside and they entered the office.

-Tony-kun? -Shizune looked at Tony in surprise because they didn't expect him to come back so fast, accompanied by such a pretty woman but with such a serious expression.

Tsunade looked up from the documents she was signing and glanced at Tony for a moment before looking at Konan and frowning.

-What's going on, Tony? -He secretly prepared to fight and Shizune picked up on the strange atmosphere, putting herself on guard as well.

The last information she received was that Konan was one of the core members of Akatsuki and was now in front of her, accompanied by someone she trusted. Tsunade naturally recognized Konan as one of the children they saw in Amegakure, so she was puzzled by the sudden situation.

-I bring three important pieces of news, Tsunade -Tony knew she needed to act serious and even a little affected, so it was time to give it all -Before I report anything, I must clarify an important point. The information I provided from Akatsuki was not found as I said in the past, but the vast majority was sent to me by my spy in the organization -I tilted my head to point to Konan, who nodded to confirm that statement.

-Why wasn't she informed about it? -Tsunade assessed his reactions and came to the conclusion that Tony was not into genjutsu, so she lowered her guard a bit but didn't dare to relax yet.

Tony went on to explain how he met Konan during the years he expanded his business outside the village, how he managed to convince her to be his spy, etc.

-...and the reason I didn't say anything, not even to you, Tsunade, was because I didn't know if there were prying ears nearby and I didn't want to risk her," he finished explaining, implying that he was very alert with Zetsu's presence, "Although due to recent events, she has lost her cover and can't stay there anymore, so I hope she can be admitted to Konoha. I will provide her with a job myself.

Tsunade listened carefully to the whole story and found no loopholes, so she decided to trust Tony for the time being and would later send some ANBU to check some facts if necessary.

-Okay, so what's the news? -he turned his scrutinizing gaze away from Konan and focused on Tony.

-Remember the planned attack against Konoha that Akatsuki wanted to carry out?

-Yes, we made a lot of preparations -Tsunade wouldn't forget it, let alone remembering the considerable donation Tony made at the time, which greatly accelerated things and solved a problem left behind by Sarutobi and Danzo.

-Well I don't think it will happen anymore, Nagato died and the Rinnegan he possessed was destroyed.

-What?! -Tsunade stood up in disbelief and seeing Konan's sad expression, confirmed that Tony wasn't joking at all- What?

-Jiraiya-sensei did it at the cost of his life," Konan said as he looked at the ground.

The statement was like a bombshell in Tsunade's mind.

-What... did you... say? -The Hokage's voice trembled as she looked at Tony, expecting him to complain about Konan for expressing himself badly.

-The thing went like this... -Tony sighed and told the story he prepared beforehand.

How he infiltrated Amegakure to meet Konan and get more information, how Nagato discovered them by accident at the last minute and they started fighting, he how Jiraiya suddenly intervened in the fight, how Nagato used his Rinnegan to create a kind of seal to block Jiraiya's toad summoning, how they fought all over Amegakure, how Nagato and Jiraiya killed each other without the possibility of Tony or Konan being able to intervene in time because of the Pains, the way Tony destroyed the Rinnegan to prevent another user from emerging with a transplant and then how much time he spent searching for Jiraiya's body that fell into the strong water currents of Amegakure without success.

Tsunade slumped into the Hokage's seat and covered her face with both hands. She took several deep breaths and asked Tony to continue. Shizune at his side could barely hold back tears when she heard the whole story.

-The Moon-Eye plan can no longer happen - Tony said after a silent pause -With Konan's help, I found the demonic statue they used to extract the bijus and seal them. Don't ask me how, but after a great effort I managed to destroy it permanently, eliminating at the same time the supply of white Zetsus and recovering the seven bijus.

Tsunade abruptly raised her head and opened her eyes wide when she heard that Tony managed to recover all the bijus stolen by Akatsuki and at the same time increased her belief about the story that Konan was her spy.

-"With your permission, Tsunade, I would like to keep them sealed and not make their recovery known until we have taken care of all the remaining problems, at the very least," said Tony and seeing the puzzled expression of the two women, he explained, "If I'm not mistaken, when the remnants of Akatsuki investigate what happened in Amegakure, they will discover Jiraiya's fight with Nagato that resulted in the loss of the Rinnegan. I was very careful and I don't think anyone saw me. They won't think about Konan's defection and maybe they now believe that he died defending Nagato. But when they see that the statue and the bijus disappeared, they will freak out. Then...

-If they find out that Konoha recovered all the bijus, they might spread the news to the other villages and manipulate them to exert pressure or even stimulate them to attack us -Tsunade caught Tony's line of thought.

-That's right, if this scenario comes to pass, then the preparations you made for Pain's attack could very well be considered preparations for war.

-Fuck," Tsunade couldn't contain herself from cursing, "What's the remaining news? Tell me it's something positive, I don't think I can take another piece of bad news right now.

-Actually, if it's a good thing," Tony nodded, "I've thought of a way to take care of Black Zetsu permanently, but for that I need the help of Kakashi, Karin and the village to succeed.

-What is the way? -Tsunade was aware of how problematic Black Zetsu was if the information she got was correct and sealing it would only delay things for a while.

-When I destroyed the Gedo Mazo, I left behind a letter with a date and place to lure Obito and surely, black Zetsu. The date is scheduled for a month from now and is set at a specific location beyond the Land of Iron.

-Are you not worried that they will get information from the letter? The origin of the paper, the style of writing and things like that," Tsunade asked.

-Don't worry, I used a letter they use in Iwagakure and the handwriting is not mine or Konan's, so they won't get anything useful no matter how much they examine it -Tony assured that there was nothing that Obito and black Zetsu could find out.

-It's good that you've been careful. So, what do you need us to do?

-Here's the plan...

...Several minutes later...

-So that's your goal," Tsunade reflected and nodded, "Indeed, it's risky, but if it goes well then we could stop worrying about them. You may go.

-All right. By the way, Tsunade, Shizune -Tony turned around before leaving the office and looked at her eyes, which were red- If you need to let off some steam, stop by my place later, I'll prepare you something nice to go with the drinks.

-I guess I'll have to bother you later then....

Shizune nodded implying that she would go too. Konan and Tony left the Hokage's building and went to Tony's house, where they were greeted by Tayuya and Karin.

-Who is she? -Tayuya felt a little uncomfortable to see a woman as beautiful as Konan arriving with Tony to his house.

-Is Karin home? Call her and I'll fill you all in once we're all together. By the way, this afternoon you'll have to be patient with Tsunade and Shizune.