After the night of the Uchiha clan's extermination, only Sasuke Uchiha remained as a survivor.
Although Mikoto Uchiha and others who had gone missing were eventually found, no one acknowledged them due to their lack of strength.
As soon as Mui saw the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he instantly recognized the boy before him—Sasuke Uchiha.
Would such a prodigy really go so far as to attempt the assassination of the Hokage—and be exiled to Hozuki Castle by Konoha Village as a result?
He didn't believe it.
Combined with Natsume's earlier instructions for him to train both Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki...
Even if he wasn't the brightest, he surely realized now that he'd walked into a trap.
But this was a trap he had no choice but to jump into.
Because he couldn't fight back.
And because he still needed the Box of Supreme Bliss to revive his son Mukaku.
After confirming Sasuke's identity, Mui shifted his gaze to Natsume.
His unspoken question: Boss, how do we play this out now?
"Mui, you stop him."
Natsume was quite pleased with his quick understanding.
At this point, he might as well teach his two students another lesson.
Thinking about this, he suddenly realized he had overlooked one student—Hinata Hyuga.
Ah, well—he'd bring her along next time.
Mui instantly grasped what Natsume meant.
It was "stop," not "kill."
Slowly, he raised his right hand.
But Sasuke Uchiha reacted even faster.
His hands flashed through seals, then he opened his mouth wide.
A massive fireball, radiating searing heat, erupted with rolling waves of scorching air behind it.
"Sasuke! Another guy is mine!"
Naruto Uzumaki shouted, brimming with excitement.
In an instant, surging chakra burst outward, filling the underground base with countless clones of him.
Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Ryuzetsu's heart immediately clenched.
She began to move, only to realize the guy completely ignored her.
Every single clone charged straight at Natsume, fists slicing through the air.
Without a sound, Ryuzetsu took a step back.
Still wary of both Mui and Natsume, she had no intention of getting involved.
The fireball struck.
Mui showed no sign of panic whatsoever.
His gloved right hand blazed with crimson flames, which quickly solidified into a razor-sharp blade.
The giant fireball split cleanly in two.
Sasuke Uchiha narrowed his eyes slightly, but he wasn't surprised.
Crash! A figure tumbled backward, slamming hard into the wall.
Instinctively, Sasuke glanced over—only to see Naruto Uzumaki.
He felt surprised but powerless to intervene.
Because Mui had already rushed forward.
[Fire Release: Flame Bullet!]
With one hand over his mouth, Sasuke unleashed a series of precisely aimed fireballs into the air.
Mui exploded into motion with unprecedented speed, evading every fireball with acrobatic twists midair.
No sooner had he landed than shuriken burst around him like petals scattered across the sky.
Mui's expression shifted slightly. He thought to himself, no wonder this guy had the Sharingan—it had effortlessly locked onto his position.
With no time left to dodge, he ceased evasive maneuvers altogether.
[Fire Release: Great Fire Prison!]
He thrust his right hand forward, unleashing five blood-red streams of flame from his palm, expanding instantly and sealing all incoming shuriken midair.
"This is your end."
Sasuke Uchiha's figure suddenly appeared behind him.
A blinding burst of lightning erupted from his hand, its sound like the chirping of countless birds.
The quiet underground base was suddenly bathed in dazzling light.
Mui instinctively turned around.
The Lightning Cutter pierced straight into his abdomen.
A confident smirk immediately appeared on Sasuke Uchiha's face.
But before the smile could spread further, it froze completely.
Mui transformed into a flash of light.
It was a Shadow Clone.
[Grass Shadow Style: Hair Shattering Palm!]
Mui reappeared at Sasuke's side.
Grabbing his face, he slammed him down hard.
With a loud crash, the ground cracked open.
Sasuke felt as if his body were coming apart, intense pain shooting through every limb, nearly causing him to pass out.
[Demonic Illusion: Stake Binding Jutsu!]
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan flared violently.
The scene before Mui changed abruptly, pulling him into an illusory space.
A massive wedge pierced through his limbs.
[Genjutsu: Release!]
Mui quickly leapt backward, dodging the kunai thrown by Sasuke Uchiha.
The two resumed their battle once more.
On the other side, however, the fight was one-sided.
Naruto Uzumaki charged forward, only to go flying back once again.
After several repetitions, Natsume began showing signs of irritation.
"You got any new moves, or what?"
"Tch!"
Naruto wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
At the same time, he mentally contacted Minato and Kushina.
In fact, Minato had already recognized Natsume—or at least, his Sage Mode.
Minato himself had trained in Sage Mode, so he could sense the natural energy being used by the mysterious masked man.
Across the entire ninja world, there was only one person Minato could think of who could use Sage Mode so effortlessly—Natsume.
"Kurama, time to earn your keep."
Minato said with a grin.
The moment those words left his lips, golden chakra erupted from Naruto's body.
At the same time, a powerful, otherworldly aura burst outward.
Affected by this, both Sasuke and Mui were forced to halt their fight.
Both wore expressions of shock as they stared at Naruto Uzumaki.
"This feeling?!"
Mui's pupils contracted sharply.
Damn it!
A tailed beast?!
He was now almost certain of the masked man's identity.
Oh—
Sixth Hokage... Natsume.
Are you seriously playing ninja tag in a fight like this?
As everyone knows, Natsume had three apprentices—Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Hinata Hyuga.
An Uchiha orphan, the son of the Fourth Hokage, and the young miss of the Hyuga main house.
If Kosuke was Sasuke, then Musashi must be Naruto.
The only thing that surprised Mui was discovering he was a jinchuriki.
But upon reflection, it made sense.
What was so strange about a Hokage's apprentice becoming a jinchuriki?
Mui felt bitterness rising within him.
Power truly allowed one to do as they pleased.
All his years of meticulous planning were nothing compared to Natsume's fleeting whim.
What could he even do?
"Naruto?!"
The pressure from Kurama's aura nearly robbed Sasuke of breath.
His Sharingan, glowing with three tomoe, flared intensely.
An overwhelming sense of bitterness surged through him.
Naruto Uzumaki had sparred with him so many times, yet never used this golden chakra.
In other words, he had always held back.
This was something Sasuke Uchiha simply couldn't tolerate.
He had originally thought the gap between him and Naruto Uzumaki was small, but now it turned out to be as vast as the universe.
His composure completely shattered.
A gloomy aura immediately radiated from his entire being.
Natsume glanced at him.
"Wow," Natsume mused internally. The effect was undeniable.
His ocular power surged rapidly.
But he quickly shifted his gaze toward Naruto Uzumaki.
In the original story, Naruto had two distinct golden forms.
The Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and the Kurama Mode.
The former was forcibly borrowing the Nine-Tails' chakra with assistance from Killer B.
The latter was the perfect jinchuriki form achieved after Naruto Uzumaki reached mutual understanding with Kurama.
Currently, he must be in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
Because it appeared somewhat unstable.
Most likely due to his inability to control such immense chakra.
As Natsume was thinking, Naruto suddenly sprang forward and appeared before him in an instant.
Without using any ninjutsu whatsoever, he threw a direct punch.
The entire space seemed to quake from that single blow.
Pure, raw power—nothing short of miraculous.
Natsume raised his hand and caught the punch.
"How is that possible?!"
Shock immediately spread across Naruto's face.
Mu and Sasuke Uchiha, the observers, looked as if they had seen ghosts.
How could such a punch, bursting with chakra, be casually halted?
It felt just as absurd as when he'd heard Professor Mikami announce her resignation in his past life.
Natsume released his grip.
Naruto immediately jumped backward, forming hand seals.
[Multip
le Shadow Clone Jutsu!]
[Rasengan!]
Countless golden orbs came hurtling toward Natsume.
"Idiot!"
Sasuke Uchiha quickly retreated.
He knew how powerful Rasengan was.
But releasing so many at once could destroy the entire underground facility.
Mu and Ryuzetsu did likewise.
Natsume raised his hand and hurled shuriken.
Space split open, consuming each Rasengan.
"Natsume-sensei?"
Sasuke Uchiha stopped mid-step, recognizing the Flying Thunder God Technique.
A faint smirk crept onto his face.
Upon hearing this, Mu's expression hardened. So he really was the Sixth Hokage.
"Ahhh! I can't stop!"
Rushing forward, Naruto Uzumaki slammed on the brakes but still crashed into the wall.
A massive hole formed instantly.
Fortunately, his skin was thick and tough—he emerged completely unharmed.
He sprang upright like a fish flopping onto dry land.
"Sensei Natsume, why did you do that?"
Naruto Uzumaki said unhappily.
"For your training."
Natsume removed his mask without pretense.
Ryuzetsu was clearly the most bewildered.
Two groups locked in fierce battle were actually on the same side.
What truly baffled her was that the mysterious powerhouse was actually Hokage Natsume.
So why would Mu follow his orders?
Had he already defected from Kusagakure Village?
Now what?
There was clearly no chance of winning a fight.
Among these four people, she couldn't even defeat the weakest among them—Sasuke Uchiha.
Let alone the others.
"Natsume-sensei."
Sasuke still held some resentment. He'd gone through all that trouble, only to be told in the end that he was being played.
"Go ahead and open the Box of Supreme Bliss."
Noticing his expression, Natsume smiled. "Sasuke, don't you want to make a wish?"
Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then his bitterness turned into anticipation.
After thinking for a second, he decided to forgive Natsume—it was all part of his training, after all.
"How do we open it?"
Sasuke stepped forward, staring at the pitch-black Box of Supreme Bliss as he asked.
"Let's move somewhere else."
Natsume thought for a moment before saying.
This place is too cramped; not ideal for fighting later on.
Before anyone could respond, Natsume had already used his Flying Thunder God Technique to transport them all to an open grassland.
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha were already used to this, so they didn't find it strange.
Mui and Ryuzetsu, however, felt utterly hopeless.
With this Space-Time Ninjutsu, they had no chance to fight back or even flee.
They were like fish on a cutting board—completely at the mercy of others.
Mui could only pray that Natsume would keep his word.
"Naruto," Natsume pointed to the Box of Supreme Bliss. "Pour your chakra into it, Naruto."
Glowing with golden chakra, Naruto immediately stepped forward.
Mui couldn't help but sigh thoughtfully—truly, a jinchuriki's chakra reserves are immense.
He'd spent years inside Hozuki Castle, feeding off the chakra of prisoners, yet still hadn't met the conditions to open it.
Now, just one person—Naruto Uzumaki—was enough.
Overcome with excitement, Sasuke took another step forward.
"Mui."
Seeing that the Box of Supreme Bliss had finished absorbing chakra, Natsume created three shadow clones and began forming hand seals.
Learning new techniques came effortlessly to him now.
Three thousand words.
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