I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

After Jiraiya landed on the island, he was prepared for his identity to be exposed.

After all, aside from being a bestselling author, Jiraiya was also an extremely outstanding intelligence ninja, having completed the most S-rank missions in Konoha. It was clearly unrealistic to expect to deceive Jiraiya.

After exchanging a glance, Naruto said in a low voice, "Since meeting with the Fire Gate isn't enough to make you leave, let's talk as we go, and I'll also let you see the Uchiha living under the Uzushio Village."

Without much hesitation, Jiraiya nodded; he also wanted to see how Uzushio Village was developing.

Soon, the two left the Uchiha Village office and arrived at the area where the Uchiha lived.

When the Uchiha elders and children who were staying at home saw Naruto's arrival, they greeted him excitedly. After Naruto nodded slightly, they went about their own business.

Upon seeing this, Jiraiya was about to say something, but Naruto stopped him.

After showing Jiraiya around for a while, Naruto led him into a small shop on the street. The shop owner was an old Uchiha woman. After Naruto ordered, she ran to the kitchen to get busy.

While waiting, before Jiraiya could speak, Naruto took the initiative and said, "Jiraiya, can you sense the difference between the Uchiha clan of Uzushiogakure and the Uchiha clan of Konoha?"

Jiraiya nodded solemnly.

Compared to the Uchiha clan he remembered, the Uchiha here were less arrogant and more peaceful, looking much like ordinary villagers. The Uchiha did not claim land as their clan territory, but lived together with the other villagers.

Are the Uchiha clans of Konoha and Uzushio Village not the same group of people?

Seemingly guessing Jiraiya's thoughts, Naruto said with a smile, "The Uchiha are still the same Uchiha, but this is not the lifeless Konoha, but the vibrant Uzushio Village."

"In this newly established ninja village, the Uchiha clan will not be treated differently. They will find their own value and naturally will not show their violent or arrogant side. They love this village far more than they did in Konoha..."

Jiraiya fell silent, wanting to refute but unable to find a reason.

It is an undeniable fact that Konoha under the leadership of the Third Hokage was as lifeless as stagnant water; otherwise, Tsunade would not have left, and she herself would not have been away on missions for so many years.

But as a Konoha ninja, he had to stand on Konoha's side.

Thinking of this, Jiraiya said, "This is not a reason to leave Konoha. If they return to Konoha, I will persuade the Third Hokage to rescind the Uchiha district plan and issue an order to allow the Uchiha and villagers to live in harmony."

Naruto didn't refute Jiraiya, but simply looked at him quietly: "Will the Hokage agree?"

Under the calm gaze, even Jiraiya himself felt that these words were somewhat pale and powerless.

He could try to persuade the old man, but the old man and those higher-ups would never agree to these conditions; otherwise, the Uchiha wouldn't have been banished to a corner of the village and subjected to 24-hour surveillance by the Anbu.

Like a shattered mirror, the relationship between the Uchiha clan and Konoha is difficult to mend.

After a moment of silence, Naruto chuckled and said, "It's not that there's no way. If you become Hokage, you might be able to get this decaying windmill turning again. But whether the Uchiha clan returns or not depends on their own wishes."

"Me, the Hokage?"

Jiraiya shook his head slightly. Someone as impulsive as him was not suitable to become Hokage. The position of Hokage would also deprive him of his precious freedom, and he could not possibly participate in the Hokage election.

After finishing the discussion about the current situation of the Uchiha clan, Jiraiya looked at Naruto with a solemn expression and slowly said, "It is indeed better for the Uchiha to stay here than in Konoha, but what makes you think you can take in ninjas who have left Konoha?"

Just then, the old woman from the Uchiha clan walked over carrying two bowls of ramen.

Looking at the steaming ramen, Naruto smiled and said, "I'm hungry. Let's eat first and then talk. Nothing is more important than eating."

Jiraiya stared at Naruto, showing no intention of touching his chopsticks.

Naruto picked up a noodle, slurped it down, and said, "Why are you worried I'll poison you? I don't use poison, and I wouldn't let Uchiha ninjas wipe out their own clans. Uzushio Village isn't that bad."

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya's face darkened, but he still picked up his chopsticks.

After a few bites, Jiraiya's face was filled with surprise. This tasted almost exactly the same as Ichiraku Ramen in the village. Could it be that his family members had also been kidnapped to the Land of Whirlpools?

Naruto had finished his ramen and chuckled, "Doesn't it taste familiar? This is a one-to-one replica of Ichiraku Ramen, and the Naruto scroll on top is exactly the same."

When Naruto was mentioned, Jiraiya paused for a moment, but still finished all the ramen.

After finishing their ramen, Naruto didn't linger in the Uchiha area. Instead, he took Jiraiya and left the bustling streets, heading towards the Uzumaki Shrine, a more private place for their conversation.

Chapter 123 Deterrence

The last vortex shrine is located in a narrow cave.

However, after the reconstruction of Uzushio Village, the reconstruction of Uzushio Shrine was also put on the agenda, and a mountain forest far away from the city was selected as the site for the shrine.

As Jiraiya followed Naruto step by step into the forest, he sighed softly, his body tensing up.

He never showed much hostility towards Uzushio Village, but Chief Menma could not allow him to run rampant in Uzushio Village. After leaving the densely populated and bustling area, a battle was bound to take place eventually.

However, this was exactly what he wanted, as he didn't want to hurt too many innocent people.

He has mastered immortal arts and spirit communication techniques, but he also needs an open space to unleash his full power.

Upon arriving at the Uzumaki Shrine, Shisui and Himon had been waiting for a long time. Also present was an old man with white hair and beard, exuding an aura that was not to be trifled with.

Upon seeing Jiraiya, Ashina Uzumaki frowned: "Menma, this is the junior ninja sent by Konoha. His chakra seems quite strong. No wonder you brought him to the shrine."

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya felt a sudden alarm bell ring in his mind.

He was confident he could fight Shisui and Menma, and could retreat if necessary. But with the addition of a mysterious old Jonin, he had almost no chance of winning, and might even die here.

With that thought in mind, Jiraiya placed his finger near his teeth, ready to summon the Toad Sage at any moment.

At this moment, Naruto gently shook his head, walked to Ashina Uzumaki's side and said, "Dealing with one of the Sannin is not something you need to do. I just heard that you want to build an artificial lake behind the shrine, so I came here to help."

Uzumaki Ashina stroked his beard: "I do have that idea, but the artificial lake can be built slowly. Rebuilding Uzumaki Village is the important thing. I don't need to enjoy these things."

"That's why I came to help, and by the way, I wanted to let you know I'm back."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Naruto used his wind-style chakra to create a whirlwind, and rode it to a height of several dozen meters above the shrine. He then began to mobilize the Nine-Tails' chakra, condensing a spiral wheel in his palm.

Over time, the size of the spiral wheel grew from a ping-pong ball to the size of a millstone, radiating terrifying fluctuations.

Upon sensing this immense chakra, Jiraiya's expression shifted between light and dark. Shisui, Zabuza, and the others in the distance also widened their eyes, a tremor running through their very souls.

The next moment, as the spiral wheel was released, a white light enveloped the earth.

After the white light vanished in an instant, the entire earth began to shake, and a mushroom cloud appeared in the sky above the explosion zone. The immense shockwave even caused animals in the forest to be blown away and fall to the ground.

A few minutes later, as the smoke and dust dissipated, a semi-circular crater appeared not far from the shrine.

Naruto directly used his shadow clones to manipulate the underground river's flow, allowing it to slowly fill the pit and form a natural artificial lake.

After showing off his muscles, Naruto returned to Jiraiya's side and said with a smile:

"Regarding the question from half an hour ago, Mr. Jiraiya must already have the answer. Because I wanted to establish a village, I had the Uchiha come and join me. Apart from that, does Mr. Jiraiya have any other questions?"

Upon seeing this, Jiraiya lowered his finger from his mouth and gave up the idea of ​​summoning the Toad Sage.

The other party did not want to give up on the Uchiha clan, and at the same time expressed their desire not to antagonize Konoha, so they used this method to express their attitude, while also threatening him, one of the three legendary ninja.

Judging from the strength displayed by the opponent, even if Konoha were to defeat Uzushio Village, it would suffer heavy casualties.

More importantly, the opponent displayed a large-scale ninjutsu. Just based on this ninjutsu alone, all five great ninja villages would give face to the Land of Whirlpools. No one wanted their village center to be blown up.

Therefore, he was destined not to be able to take the Uchiha clan away from the Land of Whirlpools. Even if he wanted to escape unscathed, it would depend on the other party's wishes. This was a feeling that he, as one of the Legendary Sannin, could hardly comprehend.

Thinking of this, Jiraiya sighed softly: "There are no other problems for now."

Hearing this, Naruto smiled slightly, and the other Uzushio Village ninjas also breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from the current situation, Uzushio Village had already provoked Orochimaru. If Konoha were to join in, things would become even more difficult.

After everyone else left, Jiraiya stood near the artificial lake with Naruto and said earnestly, "Menma, you certainly have the ability to establish a ninja village, but why did you choose to establish one instead of joining Konoha?"

"Don't even mention it's for the Uchiha clan. For decades, Uzumaki and the Uchiha clan have still been enemies. You can have a better future in Konoha, and you might even become Hokage. That's much simpler than building a village."

Naruto glanced at Jiraiya and said dismissively, "Then he was trained to be a Jinchuriki, died fighting for Konoha? In the end, he couldn't even protect his own village? What kind of good person is that?"

Naruto was referring to Mito Uzumaki, but Jiraiya was thinking of Kushina.

Kushina was originally an orphan of Uzushio Village. After spending more than ten years together, she finally accepted the Will of Fire, became Minato's wife, and also became a member of Konoha Village.

It can be said that the Will of Fire was the key to Konoha's acceptance by war orphans like him.

However, Uzushio Village did a better job than Konoha in this respect, and Konoha's Will of Fire seemed to have lost its purity and could no longer be a reason for Menma to join Konoha.

After pondering for a long time, Jiraiya slowly said, "I will explain the Uchiha matter to the Hokage and ask him not to pursue the responsibility for the Uchiha's defection. But there is one thing I need to clarify."

"You speak, and I am listening."

At this point, Jiraiya's tone grew increasingly serious: "Will Uzushio Village become a threat to Konoha in the future? Will it, like other ninja villages, covet the land of the Land of Fire?"

Naruto glanced at Jiraiya and sneered, "Konoha will not take the initiative to attack Uzushio Village. Uzushio Village will not be Konoha's enemy, but that's all. Uzushio Village will no longer be Konoha's ally, and will not die for Konoha."

Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief: "That's enough. I can guarantee that the Hokage's direct descendants will not attack Uzushio Village. If anyone attacks Uzushio Village, it's definitely not a Konoha ninja village. You can deal with it as you see fit..."

"So this is how Danzo is expelled from Konoha?" Naruto thought to himself.

Just then, Jiraiya suddenly said, "Also, if you have the chance, go back to Konoha and take a look. Actually, Konoha isn't as bad as you think. It's at least much better than other ninja villages."

"If I have the chance, I'll go to Konoha to take a look, but not now."

Chapter 124 Embarking on Different Directions

After politely declining Jiraiya's invitation, Naruto gazed intently at the departing figure of the man before him.

Having witnessed the power of the Spiral Wheel, Jiraiya seemed to lose interest in sightseeing and turned his back to himself, walking towards the center of Uzushio Village.

Naruto didn't catch up with Jiraiya immediately, because he didn't think Jiraiya would take the opportunity to stir up trouble in the vortex.

In his memory, Jiraiya was a kind-hearted man who pursued world peace, provided that this peace was achieved under the leadership of Konoha.

Paradoxically, Jiraiya always wanted to find the prophesied child who would bring peace, rather than become the prophesied child himself.

Placing one's hopes and dreams on a vague savior is an extremely unreliable act. It would be better to become the Hokage and, as the leader of the number one ninja village in the ninja world, take the initiative to create the future.

Compared to this most crucial issue, whether his identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has been exposed is secondary.

Jiraiya and the Third Hokage would never reveal his identity to the public, and Danzo was not even a threat. If Danzo dared to leave Konoha, there were many, many more people who wanted to deal with him.

After his reflections, Naruto leaped onto the roof of the Uzumaki Shrine, gazing at the distant streets of Uzumaki Village, and fell into deep thought.

Seeing that no conflict broke out between Naruto and Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze breathed a sigh of relief.

Naruto and Kurama formed a bond, and Naruto's strength reached the so-called Kage level. Jiraiya, who had mastered Sage Mode, was also a ninja at the level of the Five Kage. There was no question of holding back in their battle.

If anyone gets hurt, it will be a torment for him.

After all, one side is the biological child who inherits one's bloodline, and the other side is the mentor who imparts knowledge and skills.

Naruto suddenly arrived in the sealed space, glanced at Minato Namikaze a few times, and said with a light laugh, "Fourth Hokage, don't you plan to meet with Jiraiya and rekindle your master-disciple bond? If you coordinate from the inside and outside, I might be defeated!"

Faced with the quirky Naruto, Minato Namikaze shook his head: "What good would it do for me to see Jiraiya-sensei? Would it bring back those painful memories for him? It's best not to let the dead interfere too much in the ninja world."

"He was only in his twenties when he died, why did he speak so maturely?"