The banquet wasn't anything special—everyone ate to their heart's content.
The only small incident was Hiashi asking Tsunade why she wasn't drinking today.
Her answer: she planned to quit alcohol.
It shocked him so much he didn't know how to respond.
Tsunade quitting booze—now that's a miracle like the sun rising in the west.
Hiashi didn't believe it.
But since Tsunade truly didn't drink, he could only drop it.
That night, besides gaining a sister, Natsume also earned 60 Fate Points.
They came from Hanabi, Hiashi, and Neji.
He could understand the first two, but the last one was a bit strange.
Still, anyone who contributes Fate Points is good leek—worthy of praise.
…
Early the next morning.
Konoha High Security Prison.
A relatively secluded penitentiary.
"Hey, sensei, this is going too far!"
Naruto struggled a few times but couldn't break free of the ropes.
Whoever tied him up clearly had a lot of experience, keeping him from exerting much strength.
"If we don't do this, Mui will spot the flaws."
Natsume looked at the two trussed-up boys and smiled. "See? Sasuke isn't saying anything."
Sasuke was speechless.
Would talking help?
He simply saw reality for what it was.
And, of course, he was also looking forward to the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
After learning about it, he did his homework, went to Granny Cat for intel, and picked up a few useful tidbits.
The Box of Ultimate Bliss was the ultimate weapon of the Sage of Six Paths' era.
There are four faces on its sides: joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.
Grass Village nearly used it to dominate the shinobi world.
Without a doubt, it's a treasure.
"All right, enough talk. You two just go with the flow."
Natsume waved a hand.
Ninja immediately hauled them out of Konoha.
They would sail to Hozuki Castle.
"Lord Natsume, should we send some ANBU to protect them?"
Kurenai asked worriedly. "They're just kids."
"No need. They're not ordinary kids."
Natsume glanced at her and could clearly see the vivid lipstick on her lips.
Kurenai pressed her lips together and said nothing more.
"Kurenai, if I recall, aren't there two inmates in the prison called Fūjin and Raijin?"
Natsume remembered an anime-original arc.
Those two big lugs didn't have much in the way of skills—just raw strength.
On a mission once, they killed a teammate for not delivering food on time and got locked up in Konoha High Security.
Later, Mizuki—after failing to con Naruto—tempted Fūjin and Raijin with food and helped them break out.
But after escaping, they ran into Tsunade and meekly went back to prison.
"There are."
Kurenai flipped through a file and asked, "Natsume, do you have a new idea?"
"Feed them well and they'll work. Keeping them in prison is a waste."
Natsume rubbed his chin. "Since they've got blood on their hands, hand them over to Orochimaru."
Orochimaru had been quite quiet these years.
Other than research, still research—who knew what he'd achieved.
Natsume, powerful enough now, didn't really need to hassle him anymore.
But for Konoha's sake, it wouldn't hurt to see what he was up to.
Judging from the original, Fūjin and Raijin's raw strength was Kage-tier.
Give them a Cursed Seal or something, and they'd be tank-class war machines.
"I understand."
Kurenai nodded. "I'll make arrangements shortly."
[Because of your actions, the fates of Fūjin and Raijin have changed. You have gained a total of 30 Fate Points.]
Hearing the prompt, Natsume smiled slightly. "Thanks, Kurenai."
"It's my duty."
Kurenai's red eyes blinked as she spoke softly.
"Kurenai, you should head back."
The smile at Natsume's lips deepened. "This gloomy prison isn't a place for a pretty secretary."
Kurenai blinked in surprise, then nodded and turned to leave.
Flying Thunder God—activate.
…
Natsume appeared in the Daimyō's mansion of the Land of Waves.
Hinae had finished preparations.
Since time was ample, the two of them would travel by carriage.
They needed to give Sasuke and Naruto enough time, after all.
But mainly, Natsume wasn't in a hurry.
They left the Land of Waves by carriage, heading for the Land of Grass.
The road was rough, so the carriage jolted quite a bit.
"Hinae, let's hear the intel you gathered."
Natsume leaned against the carriage wall.
Hinae's face flushed red as she glared at him—always teasing her.
Still, she haltingly began detailing the situation in Grass Village.
This small village had split into two factions.
The main divide was over using the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
One side believed it could resurrect their former glory and realize the dream of unifying the shinobi world.
The other believed it would bring disaster and must not be used.
Mui was effectively a third faction.
He came from the clan tasked with guarding the Box.
As Hinae spoke, her voice steady despite the carriage's rhythmic swaying, Natsume's gaze lingered on her with a familiar intensity.
The confined space, warmed by their proximity, seemed to draw them closer with each bump in the road. He reached out, his fingers brushing lightly against her hand, then trailing up her arm. Her words faltered for a moment, but she continued, describing the factions' tensions, even as his touch grew bolder.
Without breaking the flow of conversation, Natsume shifted nearer, his hand slipping to the ties of her kimono, gently loosening them.
The fabric parted slowly, revealing the smooth curve of her shoulders and the soft swell of her breasts, her skin pale and flushed under the dim light filtering through the carriage curtains.
Hinae's breath hitched, but she pressed on, explaining Mui's guarded stance, her voice a mix of resolve and emerging desire.
Natsume's lips found hers in a deep, lingering kiss, their tongues intertwining with a passionate urgency that mirrored the jolts of the carriage. She responded eagerly, her hands clutching at his shirt, pulling him closer as the kiss deepened, their mouths exploring each other with fervent hunger.
He guided her hands to undress him in turn, his own garments falling away to expose the toned lines of his chest and abdomen, muscles shifting under her touch.
Natsume's fingers roamed her body, cupping the fullness of her breasts, his thumbs circling the sensitive peaks that hardened beneath his caress. Hinae gasped into his mouth, her body arching toward him, but she didn't stop speaking, her words interspersed with soft moans. He lowered his head, his lips closing around one of her nipples, drawing it gently into his mouth with a rhythmic suction that sent waves of pleasure through her. She threaded her fingers through his hair, holding him there as she recounted the Box's perilous history, her voice breathy and uneven.
Encouraged by the growing heat between them, Hinae slid down his body, her hands trailing along his firm thighs as she positioned herself lower on the carriage seat.
She leaned forward, her lips parting to take him into her mouth, enveloping his hardened length with warm, gentle pressure. Her tongue moved in slow, deliberate circles, exploring the smooth contours and sensitive ridges, while she continued her report, her words muffled yet persistent around him.
Natsume's hand rested on her head, fingers weaving into her hair, guiding her rhythm as the carriage's jolts added an unpredictable cadence to her motions. He groaned softly, his body tensing with building pleasure.
Her pace varied, sometimes drawing him deeper with a steady suction that made his hips lift slightly, other times teasing with lighter touches of her lips and tongue along his shaft.
The sensation built a deep ache within him, her mouth working with skillful devotion, her cheeks hollowing as she maintained the connection. Natsume's breaths grew ragged, his free hand caressing her exposed back, tracing the elegant curve of her spine down to the softness of her hips, where her kimono had fully slipped away, leaving her bare and vulnerable in the swaying confines.
The carriage's motion only heightened the intimacy, urging them onward. As the pleasure mounted, Natsume eased her upward, their lips meeting again in another profound kiss, tongues entwining with renewed fervor. Hinae, with a spark of initiative, shifted to straddle him, her thighs parting to settle over his hips.
She guided him inside her with a slow, deliberate motion, their bodies joining in a seamless union that made them both sigh in unison, her warmth enveloping him fully.
As she began to move, rising and falling in a steady rhythm that matched the carriage's sway.
Natsume's hands gripped her waist, then roamed to knead the soft flesh of her hips and thighs, his touch firm and exploratory, heightening the sensations building between them.
He leaned in to capture one of her breasts again, his mouth drawing on the tender peak with gentle pulls, eliciting shivers from her as she rode him.
Their pace quickened, her movements growing more insistent as pleasure coiled within her, her inner depths clenching around him with each descent. Natsume met her rhythm, thrusting upward to deepen their connection, his fingers tracing the curves of her body—down her back, over the swell of her rear—while she leaned forward, capturing his lips once more in a heated kiss, their tongues dancing in harmonious passion. The air grew thick with their shared breaths and the subtle sounds of their union, the carriage's jolts adding an unpredictable thrill.
Hinae's body tensed first, a wave of ecstasy crashing over her as she reached her peak, her inner walls pulsing in rhythmic release around him, a soft cry escaping her lips, her entire form trembling with the intensity of her climax.
Natsume followed soon after, his own release surging through him in a powerful rush, filling her with warmth as he groaned against her neck, his hands holding her close through the shuddering waves that left him spent and satisfied.
They lingered in the afterglow, bodies still entwined.
Luckily, she was an Uzumaki—tough physique—and recovered quickly.
…
Night fell.
Hinae, exhausted, drifted into sleep.
Natsume was still energetic and couldn't sleep.
He set up an early-warning barrier around the carriage and left a Flying Thunder God kunai.
Once triggered, he could rush back instantly.
After safety measures, Natsume appeared in the Daimyō's mansion of the Land of Snow.
As soon as he opened the door, Kaguya hugged him.
Only after a full minute of kissing did she let go.
"Why so happy today?"
Natsume looked at her snow-white skin and eyes, curious.
"Sunagakure."
Kaguya kept it terse as always.
"Oh."
Natsume understood.
By now, Chiyo and Rasa should have returned to Sunagakure.
With their promotion, over a thousand ninjas were using the SkyNet login devices.
And those poverty-stricken ninjas, their first move was to trade chakra for money.
Naturally, Kaguya was pleased.
Natsume mused that to win a beauty's smile, he'd essentially sunk a fortune.
Good thing he was rich.
His main income now came from Kirigakure.
Especially mining and food service.
He was raking it in.
If there were a rich list, Natsume figured he'd be number one in the shinobi world.
"Here."
Kaguya handed him a scroll. "A rework of Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."
So fast?
Natsume thought—worthy of the progenitor of chakra.
He opened the scroll and studied it.
He knew the original Sixty-Four Palms: using the Byakugan to place the enemy within the Eight Trigrams, then rapidly striking the sixty-four major tenketsu.
Ordinary shinobi hit by it would directly lose their ability to fight, without any room to resist.
Because each strike also damaged meridians and sealed chakra.
But the rework was different.
No need to hit sixty-four points in sequence—instant full coverage instead.
And when the points are struck, imbued chakra detonates like paper bombs, killing the enemy immediately.
Natsume felt the technique borrowed from Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.
Compared to that, this was even more brutal.
And, of course, more devastating.
"Mhm, let's call it Empty Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Strikes."
Natsume casually named it, stowed the scroll, and said, "Kaguya, thanks for the hard work."
Kaguya, hearing him call her by name so directly, was a bit unused to it.
She nodded. "Sleep."
Without waiting for his reply, she scooped him up.
With her power, Kaguya didn't need to sleep.
But she felt that sleeping together with Natsume wasn't bad.
She liked it.
…
A new day.
Natsume returned to the carriage.
After breakfast, he and Hinae set off again.
Once they reached the Land of Grass, the roads smoothed out.
They'd entered an endless prairie.
"What a waste."
Natsume gazed into the distance and chuckled. "Hinae, let's raise a herd of cattle and sheep someday."
"Cattle and sheep?"
Hinae stared at him, a gentle smile at her lips. "As long as you like it."
"Mainly for our kids' health."
Natsume said casually. "Fresh cow and goat milk, anytime."
Kids?
Hinae's face reddened.
She'd been avoiding getting pregnant because she didn't know how to explain it to Karin.
But now their daughter was grown; if Karin agreed, maybe they could have a child.
Still, timing mattered.
"Also, it's good business."
Natsume laughed and added, "Let's bring the Land of Grass into the Sunny Miles Trading Company."
"Okay."
Hinae came back to herself and answered.
"Do you know an ANBU from Grass named Ryūzetsu?"
Natsume asked.
Every movie has a heroine.
In Naruto: Blood Prison, it's a girl named Ryūzetsu.
She has a unique kekkei genkai, Dragon Life Reincarnation—sharing her life with another.
In other words, a one-for-one resurrection ninjutsu.
Worth noting she's a white-eyed, white-haired girl.
Natsume found her kekkei genkai interesting—worth saving.
"I don't."
Hinae thought a moment, then shook her head.
Natsume scratched his head.
His mistake.
Ryūzetsu was about Naruto's age.
When he rescued Hinae, Ryūzetsu would've been just born—how would Hinae know her?
"Do you know Grass's top brass?"
Natsume recalled four elders in the movie.
They, along with Mui, opened the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
"I do."
Hinae nodded.
"Bring one of the elders out, any will do."
Since he didn't know Ryūzetsu, the simplest way was to use his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan to ask.
Hinae closed her eyes.
Kagura's Mind Eye—activate.
The Uzumaki clan's strongest sensory technique.