Back at the village. Tsunade learned that Naruto had been taken and hurriedly notified the Anbu to rush toward the hot spring area.

Once they arrived, based on Kiba’s information, Hatake Satoru should have been there too.

But they didn’t see Hatake Satoru. Only Kakashi, wrapped in a towel with his upper body bare, lying in the ruins.

Tsunade checked Kakashi’s injuries. They weren’t serious; he was just suffering from chakra exhaustion and needed rest. But Hatake Satoru and Naruto, stuck inside that dimension, had no idea about any of this. They’d have to wait some days to find out.

The disturbance caused by Obito wasn’t known only to Tsunade. The Root operatives had already arrived at the scene before Tsunade got there.

After seeing Naruto being taken away, they had no intention of pursuing or helping Hatake Satoru and the others. Instead, they went straight to report to Danzo.

Danzo had long coveted the Hokage’s seat. This mistake of losing a tailed beast would definitely be pinned on Tsunade by him, so he could use this chance to rise to power. It just so happened the other two old guys in the village weren’t too pleased with Tsunade either.

Not long after Tsunade arrived, Danzo showed up with a group of Anbu.

"Lady Tsunade, it seems a major incident has occurred in the village."

This guy’s nose is really sharp. Tsunade’s entire being radiated disgust for Danzo.

"It seems Root’s information network is quite efficient."

"Losing a tailed beast is a grave taboo for the village. To not even have the ability to stop the Akatsuki from capturing a tailed beast right in the village’s hot springs..."

"I suppose it’s time for a change, isn’t it?"

Danzo wasn’t being subtle at all. The current situation was the closest he’d ever been to becoming Hokage. When the Third was alive, he always held him down. Now, if he couldn’t even deal with some young girl, it would be utterly disgraceful.

"Until the investigation is complete, I am still the Hokage. These matters are not for Root to handle right now."

"Hmph. I hope you’ll still be this bold the next time we meet, at your impeachment hearing."

Danzo gave a cold snort, left those words behind, and turned to leave with his Root members.

The current situation was very unfavorable for Tsunade. It looked like she could only wait for Kakashi to wake up and ask for the detailed account of what happened.

Jiraiya also happened to be away from the village. He still didn’t know about Naruto being captured. Right now, he was accompanying the two Great Toad Sages, having a bug feast.

Even after all these years, Jiraiya couldn’t help but gag at the sight of a full bug banquet.

"You haven’t improved a bit all these years, little Jiraiya~."

"I’ll never be able to accept this in my lifetime."

Jiraiya had traveled far and wide, eaten food from all the great nations. He’d seen delicious and not-so-delicious things, but Mount Myoboku’s full bug banquet was truly a pleasure he had no fortune to enjoy.

Well, it is food from a different species.

"Little Naruto will continue his sage mode training tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, he doesn’t have much time. After I bring him back tomorrow, he can’t leave again until he masters it."

Jiraiya had been training Naruto this whole time, but unfortunately, even during training, Naruto still had quite a few missions. After bringing him back tomorrow, he needed to go see Tsunade. He had to fight for more training time for his disciple.

...

Inside the Kamui dimension, two men, bare-chested and wrapped in towels, sat on the ground, lost in thought.

"Teacher Satoru, if we can’t get out, what are we gonna eat?"

Naruto really had no sense of crisis. They were essentially trapped here, and he was still thinking about food.

"Nothing to eat. My advice is to just starve to death."

Naruto had already been shot down by Hatake Satoru several times now.

Hatake Satoru was still drowning in guilt over letting Obito get away.

Have I gotten weaker? Or am I not as decisive as before? The enemy was right in front of me. Why didn’t I prioritize taking him out? I actually thought about capturing him alive.

Even if I had caught Obito, he probably wouldn’t have taken Naruto and me out of here easily.

Kakashi, you have to notice sooner rather than later.

Now, his only hope rested on his younger brother. Even someone as strong as himself couldn’t escape from this space created by the Sharingan.

The Sharingan really is a ridiculously overpowered ability.

In a Konoha hospital room, Kakashi regained consciousness. Opening his eyes to look at the ceiling, Kakashi sat up. He saw Tsunade sitting nearby.

"Lady Tsunade, how long was I out?"

Kakashi needed to confirm the time. He wanted to know how long his brother and Naruto had been inside the Kamui dimension.

"About half a day has passed. It’s now noon on the second day since Naruto was taken."

"Kakashi, what exactly happened last night?"

"Lady Tsunade, don’t worry. Naruto is definitely safe."

Kakashi gave Tsunade some reassurance, then told her everything: what Hatake Satoru had told him last night, and how he had sent Hatake Satoru into the Kamui dimension, and so on.

"I see. It seems your brother must know something. I hope they’re alright."

Tsunade didn’t know much about Obito’s situation. When Obito died, Tsunade had already withdrawn from the war due to the deaths of her loved ones and brother, drowning herself in gambling.

"This isn’t a short amount of time. Things must not be going smoothly. If the retrieval was successful, they’d be back by now."

Kakashi had hit the nail on the head. Of course things wouldn’t go that smoothly. The two bare-chested guys were still waiting inside the Kamui dimension for his rescue.

"Yeah, that mysterious man isn’t an easy opponent."

"Lady Tsunade, I can activate Kamui again to send someone in. They might need backup."

"That’s a feasible idea, but your current physical condition doesn’t allow it."

"You need rest. The earliest would be tonight."

Kakashi understood. Yesterday was the first time he had transported a whole person. The physical strain had knocked him out cold.

But to bring Hatake Satoru and Naruto back, he was willing to pass out as many times as it took.

"Then it’s decided, Lady Tsunade. I can only send one person over. The most suitable candidate right now is Lord Jiraiya."

"Jiraiya? He is indeed the most suitable, but he’s not in Konoha right now. He should be at Mount Myoboku, waiting..."

"Tsunade, what are you doing in a place like this? And isn’t this Kakashi? Injured again?"

"Lord Jiraiya!"

Kakashi felt like he was seeing a savior.

"You’re rarely this excited to see me. Where’s Naruto? I’ve been looking for him all morning and couldn’t find him."

"Naruto’s been taken."

Kakashi recounted the events of last night to Jiraiya.

"Is that so? It seems they still couldn’t escape the Akatsuki’s pursuit. So we can only wait until tonight?"

"Yeah, that’s the only way. His body is still too weak right now."

"Alright then, we’ll wait until tonight. Let Mount Myoboku’s Lord Jiraiya personally retrieve his beloved disciple!"