Chapter 69: I refuse
Naruto sent a toad named "Kosuke" to deliver his message.
He didn't write a long letter, merely providing a brief account of what happened the previous night and reporting the outcome of the battle. Although he couldn't kill Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, he did manage to make them leave something behind—the shark-faced one's arm.
In Konoha.
Jiraiya, sitting by Sarutobi Asuma's window, received the reply, and his face darkened.
"Jiraiya-sama, what's wrong?" Kakashi, also waiting in the hospital, noticed the change in Jiraiya's expression. The mental blow Sasuke had suffered was far more severe than that of Asuma and the others; he still hadn't woken up. Seeing Jiraiya's expression change, Kakashi felt a sinking feeling.
Jiraiya's voice was heavy: "Naruto has already encountered them."
His emotions were tangled and chaotic, like a ball of twine knotted together.
He had just promised Naruto that he wouldn't be "late."
But, only a few days after saying those words, the information he sent had already been delayed.