After reading a while, Naruto put the book down and began to think about where Jiraiya had been collecting materials during this period. He didn't know if his journey to find the 'Child of Prophecy' was going well or not. And who could the Child of Prophecy be?
After all, the Asura Chakra in his body has disappeared, and it is hard to say who it will be transferred to.
Logically, it should now be in a member of the Senju or Uzumaki Clans.
But now, there are only a few members of both the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan. The descendants of Indra, the Uchiha Clan, also experienced the genocide and had suffered near-extinction.
It seemed that throughout history, the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, intentionally or unintentionally, had gradually disappeared. In other words, the purebloods gradually disappeared during the long evolution.
Only the Chakra of Asura and Indra were still being reincarnated, continuously seeking a way to create a stronger pureblood successor. It was almost like rolling the dice, hoping to breed a new pureblood from the mixed bloods.
If viewed from this perspective, the workings of the Shinobi World were actually quite simple.
If you stand at the level of an ordinary Shinobi, the worldview you come into contact with is the Shinobi World dominated by the Five Great Shinobi Countries, with the Five Kage holding supreme power.
Shinobi were mere war machines, thrown into endless cycles of conflict.
From the perspective of figures like Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Madara, who had nearly reached the pinnacle of power in the Shinobi World, they had glimpsed the true workings of the Shinobi World, and grasped some of its underlying rules.
They were constantly searching for the world's truths, pursuing their ultimate fate.
But from the perspective of figures at Kaguya's level, the Shinobi World is nothing more than a massive human farm. All humans are mere livestock and tools.
In the eyes of the pureblooded Otsutsuki, the only true path was glorious evolution, and the mixed-bloods are abominations.
Their entire goal in returning was to exterminate mixed-bloods, condense the Chakra Fruit, and evolve! Endlessly evolve!
With his omniscient perspective, Naruto could see through all three layers of this world. He understood the destined ends and flaws of Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Madara, and he can also see the weaknesses of the Otsutsuki.
Pureblooded Otsutsuki could evolve through direct absorption, but it is difficult for mixed-bloods to the same. They had to either breed or stack their bloodlines through transplantation.
The best among them were figures like Orochimaru, Danzo, and Madara, or those with a unique sensitivity to Natural Energy, such as Jugo with his Sage Body.
With a click, Yugito walked out of the bathroom. She had loosely draped a bathrobe over herself, but it was barely covering anything.
This was even more of a visual impact than wearing nothing at all. The act of concealment made it all the more tantalizing. And as for who exactly was tantalized… well, that was adult business, not for children to ask.
Naruto, who was sitting on the rattan bed, took a quick glance and then calmly looked away. He was too experienced for this, and knew exactly what Yugito was trying to do. He wasn't about to fall for it.
"You're wearing something weird, so weird." Naruto muttered, "So weird that I should take another look, just to be sure."
Hearing this, Yugito simply sneered and sat down across from Naruto. She stretched lazily right in front of him, and she could feel that the eyes of the person opposite were practically glued to her.
But even so, he didn't make a single move.
"What's so weird about it? Why don't you come over and check for yourself?" The catlike Yugito smirked boldly, curling a finger at Naruto in invitation.
She knew that Naruto would not do it, and she just wanted to torture him. After taking that bath, everything had suddenly clicked for her. There was no way she'd go all-in on this.
Naruto is short of manpower, and she was of great use to him. His biggest flaw was also what made him so infuriating, as he had too much self-discipline.
If he said he'd treat her like a tool, then he'd squeeze every last ounce of value out of her.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have held back up to this point.
"…Nah, I'll pass. And don't try testing me with that kind of stuff." Naruto said, glancing at her with mild disdain before taking another look, "It's not like I haven't seen and eaten it before…"
"Oh? Really?" Yugito crossed one leg over the other and clearly heard him swallow a gulp of saliva, which only made her smirk widen.
Without the slightest concern for Naruto, she stripped and changed clothes right there in the middle of the living room.
Naruto just stared, his hand trembling slightly like he had early-stage Alzheimer's, yet he still didn't make a move.
"I'm heading out for a bit to track that guy's whereabouts." She said after getting fully dressed. Flicking her hair, she nimbly leaped out the window.
"Oh." Naruto replied, watching her figure disappear into the night.
But the moment Yugito was truly out of sight, Naruto's expression shifted completely. He flopped onto the vine bed with a slightly disdainful smile on his face.
"That's it?"
Naruto's reaction wasn't as extreme as it seemed, and he had simply been playing along with her little game.
'Employees shouldn't be treated too harshly, and sometimes, we had to let them blow off steam.'
…
Nightfall.
Yugito finally returned, bringing back some good news. The mysterious black-robed man was indeed Kisame, one of the members of the Akatsuki. He came here alone with the Samehada on his back.
"Very good, do you know where he's staying?" Naruto perked up.
"He's in the center of town. Probably trying to make us hesitate to strike." Yugito said, setting her weapons down on the table, "When do we move?"
"If we wait for him to leave town, tracking him will be much harder."
"Tomorrow morning. No need to startle him just yet." Naruto replied casually. The battle wouldn't necessarily put innocent civilians at risk, and as long as he restrained Kisame immediately, there wouldn't be any collateral damage.
And that was something he excelled at. Whether through Sealing Technique or simply trapping Kisame in a sealed space right from the start, he had plenty of options.
Kisame might still be the same Kisame from six years ago, but Naruto is no longer the Genin he was six years ago.
Although Kurama had been fully extracted from him now, it is still no problem for him to drive a Kyubi Bloody Gundam now.
"Alright, I'm going to rest." Yugito nodded, and without further ado, turned around to wash up.
…
The next day, before dawn, the two opened their eyes in tacit understanding and quietly slipped out of their beds.
Standing in front of the bathroom door, Naruto glanced at Yugito.
"Forget it, you can go first." He said after a brief pause.
"Don't you want to go together?" Yugito's lips curled into a smirk. It was hard to tell if it was a cold sneer or just her mocking him, but the look in her eyes practically screamed, 'What's the matter, boss? Can't handle it?'
"You go first, there's no rush." Naruto replied, refusing to take the bait.
He had patience. He didn't need to prove anything to her. Right now, all that mattered was tracking down Kisame and collecting some overdue payback.
Six years ago, Kisame had nearly split Ino in half with one swing of his blade.
Naruto had carried that grudge for six years. While he has no chance to seek revenge on Itachi anymore, Kisame is still alive.
At the very least, he needed to collect some interest. And reclaiming Samehada seemed like a good start.
As for that freak Kisame, he deserved an appropriate ending, so Naruto would make sure he would get that.
"Hehe." Yugito chuckled as she stepped into the bathroom, glancing meaningfully at Naruto's lower body before closing the door.
"You are awesome." Naruto sneered and didn't bother with her, thinking there was always tomorrow.