After returning to Mount Myoboku, Naruto continued his Senjutsu training.
However, he still hadn't grasped the second stage of the training, as his mind was a mess, filled with distracting thoughts that kept tempting him.
"Forget it!"
"I'm done for today."
Naruto slowly got up from the ground and glanced at Jiraiya, who was engrossed in his writing. He sneaked up behind the old man, curious about what he'd been working on lately.
Jiraiya was so absorbed in his writing that he didn't notice his student peeking over his shoulder.
Until the boy's voice suddenly sounded behind him...
"The spy Kunoichi was captured, and the Kumogakure's Shinobi came forward with a sinister smile..."
"You damn brat!!"
"Shut your mouth right now!"
"You're not allowed to read this kind of stuff yet."
Jiraiya's face turned bright red from sheer embarrassment, and he closed his notebook in panic.
Although it is a great pride for his book to be liked by others, being caught mid-creation by his own student, who then proceeded to read it aloud behind his back, was just...
At this moment, he really wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
It's so shameful!
"Tch…"
"Forget it if you don't want to show it to me."
Naruto curled his lips, dismissing Jiraiya's writing as mediocre and not exciting enough.
"By the way, I'm going to go find Sasuke."
"I may not be back for dinner tonight."
Jiraiya waved his hand, signaling Naruto to get out of here immediately so as not to disturb his creative flow.
The portal opened, and Naruto appeared inside one of Orochimaru's hideouts.
This time, the hideout is actually in the Land of Earth.
As soon as he stepped through, he noticed only his shadow clone was around.
Under normal circumstances, Sasuke should be staying with his own clone, so he couldn't help but asked, "Huh?"
"Where's Sasuke?"
"Hmm?"
"He's beating his son over there."
The clone pointed, and then Naruto saw Sasuke swinging his Heavy Xuan Ruler to hit Mitsuki.
The child was crying and screaming at the same time.
"All I did was suck my finger!?"
"Father, why are you hitting me?"
"I don't accept this!"
"I don't accept this!!"
Mitsuki's crying was so miserable that Naruto could not bear to watch it anymore. He ran forward to stop Sasuke, saying, "Sasuke! Calm down."
"He just sucked his finger, no need to go this hard!"
"Naruto! Get out of my way!"
"I must kill this brat today!!"
Sasuke struggled furiously, and angrily threw the Heavy Xuan Ruler in his hand towards Mitsuki. It was the first time that Naruto saw Sasuke so angry.
Pointing at Mitsuki, Sasuke cursed for a while before finally turning to Naruto.
"Sucked his finger?"
"This little bastard made a bet with people in the hideout..."
"He stuck his finger in cow dung!"
Naruto looked at Mitsuki strangely, and sighed in his heart, 'This child didn't even look like White Zetsu, so how could he have such a hobby?'
"But…"
"Even if the kid ate it, you shouldn't beat him to death, right?"
Sasuke raised his finger and kept pointing at Mitsuki, who was still on the ground, "Yeah! If he ate it himself, I'll just let him be!"
"But he also made a bet with others in the hideout, saying that if he dared to eat it, others would have to eat it with him."
Life in Orochimaru's hideout is boring, as there's too few entertainment activities. Mitsuki's bet first attracted the interest of Hozuki Suigetsu and Jugo.
At first, they thought Mitsuki was just bluffing, so they gathered the others in the base to watch the spectacle...
And they ended up taking the bet.
The sheer absurdity of the information left Naruto stunned for a moment. A few minutes later, he suddenly widened his eyes in realization.
"Wait... did you eat it too?!"
"U! ZU! MA! KI! NA! RU! TO!"
"Alright, alright, calm down."
Seeing how easily riled up Sasuke was, Naruto quickly changed the subject.
"It's not that big a deal. It's not like everyone in Orochimaru's hideout is an idiot, right?"
"There's no way they all actually went along with Mitsuki's nonsense, right?"
As Naruto spoke, he suddenly noticed that Sasuke's expression darkened and he didn't say a word.
"No way?!"
"They all ate it?"
The thought of half the people in Orochimaru's base following Mitsuki's lead and sucking their fingers made Sasuke's stomach churn.
"After they finished, Mitsuki stood in front of everyone and announced that the finger he dipped in cow dung was his index finger..."
"But the one he sucked was his middle finger."
Naruto's smile suddenly froze. He slowly let go of Sasuke's hand, pulled out a black rod he'd 'borrowed' from Mount Myoboku, rolled up his sleeves and said, "You went too easy on him."
"Count me in."
The two grabbed their weapons and charged at Mitsuki with menacing intent.
The quiet hideout once again echoed with Mitsuki's screams.
After teaching this naughty brat a lesson, Naruto looked at Sasuke and asked with some concern.
"So… how's Orochimaru been treating you lately?"
He remembered that Orochimaru had been coveting Sasuke's body for a long time, and he always talked about him being the 'perfect vessel'.
"fine."
"He probably isn't planning to take over my body anymore."
Sasuke replied flatly, then explained the situation to Naruto.
After Orochimaru's last incident, which basically caused a Shinobi World's version of a zombie outbreak, he no longer focused on taking over Sasuke's body.
Now, Orochimaru was fully dedicated to researching how to combine the various Kekkei Genkai in the Shinobi World.
"So that's how it is…"
Naruto's expression turned complicated. He hadn't expected Orochimaru to accidentally stumble onto the path of researching the Otsutsuki Clan.
All this talk about merging Kekkei Genkai, when in reality, those bloodlines originally descended from the Otsutsuki in the first place.
It was just regression to ancestry.
At this point, Naruto suddenly remembered the task he had given Sasuke earlier about the Shinigami Mask.
"By the way, did you guys get the Shinigami Mask?"
"Come with me. I'll take you to Orochimaru."
Sasuke nodded slightly, then stood up from where he'd been pinning Mitsuki down. Naruto also stood up and followed.
But before leaving, he glanced at the bruised and battered Mitsuki still lying on the ground.
A few minutes later, Orochimaru arrived with Kabuto in tow.
And Kabuto was holding a mask in his hands.
"Naruto-kun..."
"Long time no see. I heard that you got into some serious trouble a while ago."
Orochimaru licked his lips excitedly, as he had also received the information about the Gelel's Stones some time ago.
But in the end, the entire vein had vanished, and he suspected that those stones were most likely taken away by Naruto.
"Let's get started."
Sasuke ignored Orochimaru's attempt at small talk and urged impatiently.
But Orochimaru still didn't make any move, and his eyes were still fixed on Naruto.
"Naruto-kun… the price of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal is quite steep, you know."
Hearing this, Naruto sighed.
'Damn it!'
'It seems that there is no way to get it for free.'
Of course he knew what Orochimaru meant. If he didn't offer something worthwhile, Orochimaru might not use the Shinigami Mask at all.
Naruto's consciousness sank into the sealed space. After communicating briefly with the big fox, he took out a 'Spirit Stone' condensed by the Immortal Emperor Kurama.
"Naruto-kun, you really know how to negotiate..."
Orochimaru licked his lips excitedly and turned to look at Sasuke.
'Look!'
'The Kyubi's Jinchuriki is still more sensible!'
'You stay at my place every day, eat my food and drink my drinks, and even beat my child...'
'And then acting like you're the one in charge!'
Thinking of this, Orochimaru suddenly regretted letting Sasuke follow him.
After sighing, Orochimaru motioned for Kabuto to step forward and get the thing, but just as he was about to take the stone, Naruto suddenly pulled his arm back.
"You can have it…"
"But you have to teach me the Impure World Reincarnation."