[Dungeon] Chapter 69 – No Big Things Allowed

As the Sunagakure team tried to find a way out of the forest, Jiraiya, Naruto, and Shikamaru entered Floor 2-2 and found themselves in the same place.

It was a large, dark forest, with tall trees and no visible path. The sky above them was obscured by the tree's leaves, making it impossible to see.

On the left side, through the gaps of trees, a tall wall was visible in the distance. They could see a giant gate behind the wall, and a large building beyond that. A castle, standing tall and proud amidst the light, contrasting the darkness of the forest.

"A castle?" Jiraiya asked.

"It is." Shikamaru nodded. "Maybe that's our destination. We have to find a way to reach it."

"That looks so close! Let's run there." Naruto shouted.

"No, we shouldn't." Shikamaru shook his head, "We should be careful. We don't know anything about this place. If we're not cautious, we might get lost. And we can't just rely on your clones to get us out of that situation."

"Shikamaru is right." Jiraiya agreed. "Let's explore this forest first and see if we can find anything useful. That castle appears so eerie. Maybe there is a strong monster there, so we should be cautious."

"Fine." Naruto grumbled.

They began to walk forward, looking around them carefully. There were many bats flying around the forest, but they didn't seem to be interested in attacking them yet. They just flew past them, ignoring their presence.

"This place is really creepy." Shikamaru muttered. "The atmosphere is heavy and the trees are too tall. Not to mention, they are brittle. If we step on the branch I think it will break."

"Indeed." Jiraiya nodded. "It's like we're in a different world. This is not a normal forest. Something is definitely wrong here."

Naruto, who was walking in front of them, suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Naruto? Did you find anything?" Shikamaru asked.

He didn't reply immediately, but when he spoke, his voice was low and serious.

"I can hear something in the distance, a fighting noise. I think that Gaara and the others are still here, fighting against something."

"What? They're still here?" Shikamaru asked. "Are they fighting against monsters?"

"Probably, it sounds like a battle." He answered. "Let's go help them!"

"No." Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's shoulder and pulled him back, stopping him from running ahead. "We don't know what's happening. We shouldn't rush in blindly. Let's follow the sound slowly, but keep our distance."

Naruto frowned, but he didn't argue. "Okay. Let's go then."

They followed the sound, and after a while they found themselves in front of a river. Sand rose up from the river, forming a tsunami and swept away a group of bats, killing them.

"That's Gaara's sand." Shikamaru muttered, "They are still fighting the bats."

"Let's go help them." Naruto said. "They need our assistance."

"Wait." Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's arm and stopped him from moving. "Something is wrong here."

He looked around the area, trying to find out what was bothering him. Then, he saw it. When one bat got defeated, new one popped out from a tree. It was like the monsters were respawning."

"The bats keep on coming. We can't defeat them all." Shikamaru noted, "They will just keep on appearing. No matter how many of them we kill, it won't make a difference."

"But we can't just stand here and do nothing!" Naruto argued. "We have to help them!"

Jiraiya didn't say anything. He was thinking of a plan to get out of this situation.

'First of all, I have to stop those three from wasting their energy. They can't keep on fighting forever. We need to fight to escape.'

Deciding to help the trio, Jiraiya created hand seals and used his fire jutsu.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."

A large ball of fire appeared in his mouth and he shot it towards the bats. The flames quickly engulfed the monsters, killing a lot of them. However, the remaining ones managed to dodge and flew away, only to get replaced by a new one from the tree.

Seeing the large fireball, the three inside the battlefield turned and looked at them.

"Konohagakure?!"

"We're here to help. Let's run." Naruto jumped to the ground, joining the trio. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Hey, you bastards! Come at me!"

He created dozens of clones, ordering them to attack the bats. The clones immediately obeyed and charged at the bats. Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou followed suit, retreating from the battlefield together with the blonde.

As they ran, Temari explained to the newly arrived Ninja about the forest.

"There is an illusion in this forest. We can't run away from this place because we keep returning to where we started." She told them, "It's like we're trapped inside a maze."

"An illusion huh?" Shikamaru mused as he ran, looking around, "This forest is too large to be an illusion. And I can't feel any chakra. Maybe it's a Genjutsu, or a seal. The forest itself can be a trap."

"If it's the forest itself, then that shouldn't be a problem." Jiraiya said, "I marked my position when we entered the forest. I can use that to guide us back to the entrance gate. Follow me."

"Great! We can go back and rest." Naruto grinned, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

"Hey, idiot. Don't waste your chakra like that!" Shikamaru shouted, "There are too many bats here and your bunshin got obliterated just by one bite! One of them is even a poison type. If you keep on wasting your chakra, you will be useless later." He paused, "Troublesome."

"B-But, we need to hold them off." Naruto argued. "What should we do then? We can't just run away!"

"Don't worry, Naruto. I have a plan." Jiraiya said. "I will take care of them."

He stopped and turned around to face the incoming bats. Then, he made hand seals and used a summoning jutsu.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Slamming his hand on the ground, Jiraiya expected a giant toad to answer his call. However, nothing happened.

'What? Why didn't my summoning jutsu work?' He thought, confused.

Jiraiya tried again, but the result was the same. Nothing happened.

Silence descended upon the group as they stared at Jiraiya in disbelief. Even the bats were confused.

Then, the perverted Sage ran at full speed.

"That didn't work, change of plan!" He shouted as he ran, "We're running away!"

"What? You're kidding me!" Naruto yelled.

"No time to joke. Let's go!" Shikamaru shouted as the bats chased after them.

As they ran, the bats continued to chase them, their numbers growing with each passing moment. Jiraiya and the others kept running, trying to outrun the bats.

"That's the sign!" Jiraiya shouted as he found a door-like sign carved on a tree. "We have to keep running straight, we will reach the entrance gate!"

"Damn, I can't feel my legs anymore!" Naruto shouted.

"Me too, this is so troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered.

They were getting tired, but they couldn't stop. The bats were still chasing them, and there was no time for rest.

Pushing themselves to the limit, they reached the door and left through it.

And then... They returned to the Hub.

"Huff... Huff..." Naruto was gasping for air, his body covered in sweat, "That was close..."

Shikamaru was panting heavily as well, "Yeah... That was a lot of bats..."

"So, we have to fight those bats if we want to reach that wall?" Temari asked, her heart beaten so fast from all the running. "Great. Just great."

"Maybe we can dodge all the bats and reach that wall?" Naruto said, "If we can do that, we will reach the wall."

"Don't be ridiculous, there is no way that can work. There are at least a thousand bats and we're just 6 people." Kankurou shot back in anger, "Also, why did you join us? Aren't you with the Chicken?"

"The Chicken ran away." Naruto groaned in frustration. "Jiraiya-sensei didn't even help me."

Jiraiya laughed at the scene before his face turned solemn, "We have another problem, however. My Summoning Jutsu didn't work at all. I don't think other similar Jutsu will work too. It's like something is preventing me from using them."

The others turned their heads toward the Sage, looking at him with surprise. Their expressions were grim. They were thinking of what this meant, what they were up against, and whether they could defeat it. They didn't know what to expect from the enemy they were going to face next, and that scared them. Even if it was an easy enemy, it didn't make the situation any less terrifying.

They knew how powerful their enemies could be, and they knew how dangerous this world could be.

Worry and fear filled their hearts as they realized that fact. Not all jutsus could be used in the dungeon and they didn't know the reason. Not to mention, the bats that could suck blood and used Wind Blade. It was like they were fighting humans, not monsters.

Seeing the younger generation go silent, Jiraiya grinned and clapped his hands. He wanted to raise the mood.

"It is fine, don't be afraid." The Sage spoke confidently, "It's not like everything is completely useless, we still have our chakra and normal jutsus. We just need to strategize and attack the dungeon once again."

Stopping, he looked at Gaara.

"We might need to discuss this between Konohagakure and Sunagakure officially. What should we do?"

Gaara nodded, "Yes, let's talk about it later. But first, I think we should return to our village. Kankurou is injured, and he needs medical treatment. Temari and I also need some rest before we can continue. Also, I don't think I have the stamina to deal with that again right now."

Jiraiya nodded, "Okay then. We will also return to report back to Hokage-sama, and prepare some plans for the dungeon."

Gaara turned around and walked toward the entrance door.

Temari sighed, "You heard him, let's go." She said to her brother.

The ninja bid farewell to each other and left the dungeon, returning to the surface.