"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 184: Fragments (4)
While Yūshin was away executing his mission, an incident occurred back in Konoha.
First, after years of research, "Gan Wencui" successfully restored Lan's eyesight.
Second, "Gan Wencui" passed away peacefully, ascending to the afterlife. His death carried considerable romantic undertones—he collapsed from exhaustion at his research station and never awakened.
Orochimaru naturally wouldn't die; he must have escaped. But arranging such a plausible death while helping Yūshin one final time before departing already showed considerable respect.
A single Hashirama cell had kept Orochimaru in check for twenty years—the results were unexpectedly effective. Now that Orochimaru chose to leave, he must have developed something significant.
With the First Hokage dead and the Second Hokage and Yūshin at war, Orochimaru had every reason to depart Konoha at such an opportune moment.
Upon receiving this news, Yūshin could only shake his head. Orochimaru's restlessness was expected and reasonable—conversely, his prolonged silence had seemed unnatural... After all, having witnessed the Buddha's Summit Transformation, little Orochimaru wouldn't dare cause trouble while the First Hokage lived.
Though Orochimaru had fled, his timing was impeccable, and Yūshin currently had no bandwidth to pursue him.
As for Sakumo Hatake, the original version remained in storage playing popsicle, while the new version was already old enough to run errands.
After a year of warfare, Sunagakure's front had been pushed back into the desert, and Iwagakure, having fought nearly every major nation, had reached the end of its strength.
The Tsuchikage rationally chose not to continue pressuring Sunagakure. After achieving his strategic objectives, he actually withdrew his forces somewhat, creating a buffer zone between both sides.
As long as Sunagakure forces didn't encroach upon the buffer zone, Iwagakure was willing to coexist peacefully... Predictably, several small nations would soon emerge within this buffer area.
Konoha Year Twenty-Three, on the condition that Iwagakure would cease invading the Land of Waterfall, Konoha signed a friendship agreement with them.
After a year of peace on the western front, Yūshin finally encountered the aged and deeply troubled First Kazekage Retto once more.
"Lord Retto, it's been quite some time."
"Lord Yūshin, you seem remarkably comfortable here, sigh..."
Retto came alone—certainly not to quarrel with Yūshin—but upon reaching the boundary marker's summit and seeing the tea bags and thermos beside Yūshin, he nearly choked.
While Sunagakure and Iwagakure fought to the death, Yūshin was here playing security guard. What did this mean—Gatekeeper Yū?
Despite everyone experiencing the same Shinobi World War, the disparity in circumstances was staggering.
"For Sunagakure, hasn't the war's most intense phase concluded? Though the results weren't favorable." Yūshin smiled.
He unscrewed his thermos, tapped the lid against the rim, brushed aside floating tea leaves, brought the cup to his lips, found the water too hot, gently blew on it, then screwed the lid back on...
Honestly, Yūshin might have genuinely reached that age, as his every gesture now exuded that particular aura.
Yūshin felt no sympathy for Sunagakure—this was essentially reaping what they'd sown. Had they not initially displayed such aggressive expansionism, how would they have suffered Iwagakure's fierce retaliation... Theoretically, Yūshin and Konoha should have been Iwagakure's most hated enemies, yet Sunagakure had taken the brunt instead.
Retto was deeply dissatisfied with Konoha's peace agreement with Iwagakure, but knew he lacked any standing to criticize Konoha's actions.
"Given the circumstances, we can only struggle to maintain the current situation... Who could have anticipated that 'demigod' would display such overwhelming power?"
"Demigod? Who?"
Yūshin paused, finally setting down his thermos.
"First Tsuchikage Mū. The shinobi world now calls him a demigod."
"Ah..."
Theoretically, this "demigod" title carried considerable weight. The God of Shinobi had just died, and over the past year, the one who fought most effectively and demonstrated the greatest strength was the First Tsuchikage. Calling him "demigod" was quite reasonable.
The First Tsuchikage displayed more than just power—his warfare was highly methodical. Though declaring war on multiple fronts, Iwagakure's main offensive at any given time focused on only one direction, maintaining defensive postures elsewhere.
He exploited the brief window when the Shinobi World War erupted and nations' combat strategies remained unclear to achieve his strategic objectives.
He fought well and withdrew well—strategy was definitely involved. Otherwise, despite Dust Release's devastating effectiveness, it couldn't simultaneously suppress the entire shinobi world... Demigod or not, the First Tsuchikage wasn't a true god.
"Lord Yūshin, currently the Land of Wind requires the Land of Fire's assistance. Our material reserves alone cannot sustain us much longer."
Retto bypassed the Tsuchikage topic, revealing his true purpose.
"I'm essentially semi-retired now. You should send someone to negotiate with the Second Hokage about this... Though he'll probably be happy to assist, provided you're willing to pay the price."
Retto's eye twitched—precisely because he wanted to avoid dealing with the Second Hokage, he'd personally sought Yūshin... Everyone knew the Second Hokage excelled at calculations. Want his help? Certainly, but he'd definitely extract a pound of flesh from the Land of Wind.
No choice—sometimes you must take high-interest loans.
Yūshin observed Retto and couldn't resist asking:
"Lord Retto, I'm curious—why does the Land of Wind lack materials?"
"Desert regions, scarce resources..."
"Are resources scarce here too?"
Yūshin somewhat impolitely interrupted.
Looking out from the boundary marker, this land formerly belonging to the "Land of Rivers" was completely barren... Conditions here weren't much worse than the Land of Fire, yet it received no development whatsoever.
Obviously, over these years Sunagakure had exhibited hoarding behavior, focused solely on seizing territory while completely failing to properly utilize their lands.
"Why not engage in production? Ninja are quite capable at that."
After looking at Yūshin's earnest expression, Retto turned his gaze toward the land below... Facing Yūshin's questioning, he was speechless.
Retto ultimately couldn't transcend his era. Though intelligent, he couldn't escape the inertial thinking of violence and conflict... Focused entirely on "expansion," he'd completely ignored "development."
The five great ninja villages participating in the Shinobi World War was equivalent to five stock traders each holding 200,000 to invest in the market, buying low and selling high, holding and liquidating—after a year of turmoil, the one who never entered the market obviously profited most.
Because he still held his 200,000—never lost a cent.
Sunagakure possessed only desert; the border regions with relatively favorable natural environments were adjacent to the Land of Fire. Had they initially avoided conflict with Iwagakure, likely no one would have launched major invasions... Come to steal sand?
If other nations fought themselves bloody while Sunagakure focused wholeheartedly on agriculture...
If they'd never gotten involved from the beginning, perhaps the Land of Wind could have become a paradise-like place...
Well, there are no "what-ifs."
Discussing this now was meaningless—better to seek material loans from the Second Hokage.
...
Konoha Year Twenty-Five, the war remained unfinished, but large-scale battles between Konoha and Kumogakure had ceased.
Currently both sides wanted to end the war, but neither could initiate negotiations, as whoever spoke first would suffer disadvantage... So they continued their stalemate.
After all, Kumogakure had started the conflict—Konoha had no reason to yield.
Reportedly, the Raikage was still awaiting Konoha's call and negotiation team.
The Second Hokage had withdrawn to Konoha, while Yūshin had long since returned to The Fireflies stronghold. The war was difficult to conclude, but had entered garbage time.
That year, the long-absent Shichimi reappeared. Yūshin attempted to seal him but failed—not merely because Shichimi reacted swiftly, but more importantly because the person he summoned left Yūshin no time to focus on anything else.
This individual had golden hair, a tall build, and absurdly powerful chakra.
"So it's Yūshin. Did I perform a space-time jump? You still look young... Actually, you never seem to age. What era is this?"
This person appeared quite familiar with Yūshin.
He showed no confusion from Space-Time Ninjutsu, even clearly understanding he'd performed a "jump." Upon seeing Yūshin and realizing his temporal displacement was forward, he was genuinely delighted—an irrepressible joy.
"This is during the First Shinobi World War. Who exactly are you?"
Yūshin remained extremely vigilant, ready to strike at any moment... This person bore the appearance of an adult Naruto Uzumaki, appearing weary and weathered, but Yūshin knew he wasn't Naruto Uzumaki.
The "person" standing before him felt merely human-shaped—essentially a monster.
"The First Shinobi World War... Excellent time, excellent place. I advise against attacking. I harbor no hostility toward you, and currently you're no match for me."
Without Hashirama and Madara's dual supremacy, Yūshin's current strength certainly ranked among the shinobi world's elite, yet now he felt completely seen through.
Yūshin was quite lucid—knowing an enemy surpassed him was normal, but recognizing so clearly before combat that the opponent vastly exceeded his capabilities was extraordinary.
The opponent now intimidated Yūshin exactly as Yūshin had previously intimidated Orochimaru—their positions completely reversed.
"Arriving in this era, you seem to have instantly acquired purpose?" Yūshin probed.
"I have absolutely no interest in ninja or anything occurring in the shinobi world. You needn't feel wary of me—you can even consider me nonexistent... Actually, I'm extremely grateful you summoned me."
"As repayment, I can briefly introduce my situation... The reason I'm delighted to reach this era is because I have an opportunity to wait—to await someone's birth."
This incredibly powerful... let's call him "person"—currently seemed truthful.
He resembled someone who'd experienced everything, a sophisticated urbanite who'd washed away worldly concerns and returned to a small place, met an honest person who didn't mind his past, lived a lifetime together yet still felt it wasn't enough... Well, such devoted individuals might be somewhat fantastical.
But essentially, he seemed to want to rekindle old romance, remaining indifferent to everything else in the world... This was a love-brained individual.
Thinking this, Yūshin suddenly experienced a flash of insight.
"Kurama..."
The summoned being was the Nine-Tails.
His delight at reaching this era stemmed from gaining a "Naruto, love me again" opportunity.
Damn fox—what kind of cross-species, cross-gender, cross-temporal, hyper-dimensional romance was this?
"You figured it out? I thought my disguise was excellent... Though only you could manage this. I know you've always possessed many secrets. This era's version of me might not understand yet, but I know—we're very familiar."
Kurama smiled, very humanly.
What era's Nine-Tails was this? Yūshin now understood why he felt the opponent's overwhelming strength... This was a Nine-Tails with intelligence, capable of using various ninjutsu.
At minimum, Kurama's Transformation Technique was flawless.
Normally, the Nine-Tails' chakra utilization efficiency was extremely low—equivalent to a large fuel tank. But now this fuel tank was mounted directly on the engine...
"Your chakra is too overwhelming—it easily leads to Tailed Beast speculation."
Yūshin avoided mentioning the Naruto-like appearance, offering only this reasoning.
"How about now?"
Kurama seemed to adjust his chakra.
"...Completely ordinary."
Yūshin answered with some difficulty. Kurama could effortlessly conceal his chakra signature—what kind of Nine-Tails was this?
This creature actually resembled a sage or wise man, emanating no violent emotions whatsoever... Wasn't the Nine-Tails supposed to represent "hatred" among Tailed Beasts?
How long had this Nine-Tails lived?
A sage, yet love-brained—this sounded extremely dangerous.
Should he attempt something...
Yūshin couldn't decide.
"I told you—don't attempt to fight."
As Kurama spoke, golden chains erupted from beneath his feet, instantly piercing the sky.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains..."
Yūshin felt his heart racing. Adamantine Sealing Chains weren't particularly remarkable... Well, that wasn't accurate, but Kurama using Adamantine Sealing Chains indicated he'd mastered countless advanced ninjutsu and sealing techniques.
Combined with his chakra...
Fine, Yūshin regained rationality—after all, this Nine-Tails appeared extremely rational.
"One warning—there won't be another."
See, a humanoid Nine-Tails could communicate. At this moment, Yūshin truly felt language was humanity's greatest invention.
"You're too dangerous. Consider this era's version of yourself... I cannot completely trust your words."
"If you're idle, you can follow me—I don't mind... I believe you'll soon understand what kind of person I am."
Heh, what kind of person are you?
You're not even human!
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