On the road to Konoha.
Naruto held the Pokemon ball in his hand and studied it carefully.
"Ero-sennin, I really can't feel the fox's presence in my inner world anymore."
"But for some reason, I can still feel its aura, as if it's right beside me..."
Jiraiya touched his chin with a hint of annoyance. "Is that so? I'm not sure either. You can ask Su Mu about how to use this ball."
Hearing their conversation.
Su Mu smiled at Naruto and said, "The Pokemon ball just moved Nine-Tails to a different place to reside. Your relationship remains the same as before."
"It's just that from now on, it won't be so fierce towards you."
"This ball will purify its thoughts, meaning you are its master from now on."
"So that's how it is!" Naruto looked at the Pokemon ball in his hand with surprise. "Then how do you use this thing?"
Su Mu stopped walking and took the Pokemon ball from Naruto's hand. "Just throw it out..."
With that, Su Mu suddenly threw the Pokemon ball towards an empty space in front of them.
A brilliant light immediately appeared.
Everyone's eyes widened in anticipation. As the light faded, a small fox slowly walked out.
"Huh! Is... is that Nine-Tails?!"
Might Guy pointed at the little fox with utter astonishment.
"Ahem... I suppose so, though it looks more like a husky..." Su Mu coughed a couple of times and couldn't help but laugh.
"You hateful human, I will definitely eat you with my own hands!"
Nine-Tails let out a childish squeak towards Su Mu, causing even Jiraiya to burst into laughter.
Su Mu explained to everyone, "It takes time for the Pokemon ball to purify its mind. However, it cannot disobey its master's orders right now."
"Naruto can command it to do anything he doesn't want to do at any time, and it can't resist."
Upon hearing this, a mischievous smile crept onto Naruto's lips.
Nine-Tails' heart skipped a beat, scared. "Let me tell you, I am a Tailed Beast!"
"I won't..."
"Catch that rabbit!" Before Nine-Tails could finish speaking, Naruto issued a command.
A small rabbit happened to hop past Nine-Tails' eyes. Then, Nine-Tails' body uncontrollably followed the rabbit's movements.
"Hahahaha!"
"The mighty Nine-Tailed Fox has fallen to such a fate."
"You know, this little guy looks really cute now!"
Tsunade and the others spent half the journey passing by amidst laughter.
Konoha was finally reached, but it was already evening.
The guards at the village entrance suddenly stopped them.
"Izumo Kamizuki, Kotetsu Hagane, thank you for your hard work lately."
Jiraiya greeted the two from afar.
"It's Jiraiya-sama! He's back!"
"And... Tsunade... Tsunade-sama!"
Upon seeing Tsunade, the two guards were so moved they almost broke down in tears.
Indeed, since the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha had completely entered a dark period.
Although the higher-ups, represented by Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, were temporarily managing affairs, these two couldn't suppress Danzo Shimura of Root at all.
As a result, Danzo had become increasingly rampant in Konoha village.
Jiraiya glanced at the ninjas scattered around and asked with confusion, "Why are so many people guarding here now? Did something happen?"
Izumo Kamizuki frowned and sighed deeply. "Lately, people have been going missing in the village at night. The higher-ups suspect that ninjas from other villages might be entering Konoha under the cover of darkness."
"So, they've assigned more personnel to guard here at night."
Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged glances, a similar thought appearing in their minds.
"The last time something like this happened was before Orochimaru defected from Konoha..."
"But that doesn't seem realistic, Orochimaru isn't in Konoha anymore."
"Could someone be imitating Orochimaru's human experiments behind the village's back?"
Su Mu yawned out of boredom. "How much longer are you going to chat here? It's almost dark, let's go."
"Who is this person?" Izumo Kamizuki blocked Su Mu directly.
Jiraiya quickly pulled Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane aside. "This is a distinguished guest! You two remember his face. From now on, whenever he comes to Konoha, you don't need to say anything, just let him through!"
Although Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane didn't understand why, seeing Jiraiya's respect for Su Mu, they nodded in silent agreement.
"You two are such idiots, he's the most popular storyteller in the ninja world recently, Su Mu, Master Su!"
Naruto, without any reservations, exposed Su Mu's identity in front of everyone.
Hearing the name, Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane's mouths flew open in shock.
"You mean the storyteller who told 'The Gambler God,' 'The Blood-Soaked Soul,' 'Immortal Longevity,' and 'Havoc in Heaven'?!"
Naruto nodded with a grin. "That's right, the genuine article!"
"Damn it, Kotetsu! I finally met him in person today!"
Izumo Kamizuki excitedly hugged Kotetsu Hagane and started crying.
Su Mu was suddenly embarrassed.
"Master Su, everyone in our village loves your stories!"
"The stories you tell are the best in the world! I even dream about them at night!"
"Can you give us brothers an autograph?!"
Without a word, Kotetsu pulled out a notebook and a pen from his chest.
Su Mu helplessly scratched his head. "I'm quite lazy, but since you two genuinely love stories, bring the notebook here..."
One minute later, Su Mu followed Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the others into Konoha village.
"Master Su is so handsome..."
"Right, I forgot to ask him what story he'll tell next!"
"Getting an autograph is enough, don't think about anything else!"
As soon as they entered Konoha, the higher-ups received the news.
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane sat in the Hokage's office with somber faces.
"This girl, why return now? How will we explain this to Danzo?"
Koharu Utatane said sarcastically, putting down her teacup.
"Let's keep things quiet for now. After all, we are doing this for the current situation in Konoha."
Homura Mitokado stood up and walked to the window to look outside.
He saw Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the others walking up from downstairs.
"Now, we can only hope that Danzo can quickly complete the Hashirama cell transplantation experiment."
A look of melancholy appeared on Koharu Utatane's face.
"Don't worry, he succeeded once before. That child has already mastered Wood Style... otherwise, we wouldn't have chosen to trust him."
A smile suddenly appeared on Homura Mitokado's lips.
On the other side.
After entering Konoha, Su Mu found an excuse to dismiss the others and went alone to find Chang'e.
"I wonder what identity the system has arranged for Chang'e this time."
"I hope it won't be like Kushina and have any sudden accidents..."