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3 days later...

After spending the whole day cracking the code Jiraiya-sensei left us, Sasuke and I finally figured it out. Sasuke, after some rest and a lot of convincing from everyone, decided to accept the toad sage's offer. He's going to train with them, just like Jiraiya-sensei wanted.

The code Jiraiya-sensei left us said, "The real one is not among them."

Jiraiya-sensei had used symbols and characters that looked like page numbers and lines from his last book. The secret message read, "The real one is not among them."

What does that mean? Is there someone else pulling the strings behind the six of them?

Anyway, we've got more clues and info that Jiraiya-sensei and the toad sages left for us.

I got out of my apartment two days after the news of Jiraiya-sensei's death. My initial plan was to head to the Hidden Rain Village and take down Pain, but Granny Tsunade opposed it, as usual.

According to her and the old geezers of the village, it's too risky and might cost us greatly.

I strolled over to the Hokage's office, hoping to get some intel on the Akatsuki. Maybe they got something out of Kakuzu about the group.

I walked into the Hokage office building, took the stairs up, and knocked firmly on the door.

"Come in!" Tsunade called out as I opened the door and stepped inside.

She looked pretty pale, and I could tell she wasn't in a good mood. Losing someone close isn't something you just bounce back from. You might learn to cope with it over time, but the scars are always there. It stays with you, and you just learn to live with it.

I never really felt that kind of pain myself, but I've seen it plenty of times. My eyes catch things others might miss. Even though I haven't experienced it firsthand, I can see how broken and sad Tsunade is right now.

Time moves on, and eventually, you have to keep up with it. But right now, there's no time to grieve. There are still people out there who want to harm those we care about. We can't let Jiraiya-sensei's death be in vain.

"Got any more info from the stuff the toad sage left?" I asked. Tsunade listened and then glanced at Shizune.

"No, the info you have is all we got. But there's some bad news..." Shizune said, looking back at Tsunade.

"...the Akatsuki member, Kakuzu, died yesterday," she continued. "We don't know how. The medical team is looking into it."

"Did we get anything out of him?" I asked. Tsunade shook her head. "He was too stubborn. The team tried hard but couldn't get any info from him," she replied.

"Got it," I said. "What about Sasuke? Did the toad sage mention when he'll be back?"

She shook her head again. "He'll return after mastering sage mode. It could take a week, a month, or even longer," she said, and I nodded.

Suddenly, I sensed something as I walked toward the window. I wasn't sure what it was, but I felt something—or someone.

"What is it, Naruto?" Tsunade asked, sitting in her chair. "Yeah, what happened? You suddenly walked to the window. Is something wrong?" Shizune added.

"Nothing, I just thought I sensed someone... Maybe it's just me," I replied. "I'll check it out later," I said, heading for the door. But then, a huge explosion rocked the village. I quickly turned to see a massive blast in the middle of the village, visible from here.

Who can that be ?

[A. N: Thanks for reading, drop Powerstones that will help a lot and drop reviews if you like the story and add to your library]