Chapter 626: The Founding of Kusagakure
Obito was preparing to screw Naruto over, but no matter how much of a schemer he was, he still intended to tell Naruto the information he needed to know.
It wasn't because Obito had been influenced and genuinely turned into a good person. If he suddenly refused to say anything, or made up some illogical false information on the spot, he would easily be exposed, and it would only backfire.
Besides, letting Naruto know the information first, letting him understand exactly what was going to happen, and then pushing him into the abyss—that would create true despair.
That was right.
At this moment, Obito was just like Obito from the Fourth Great Ninja War in the original story. He desperately wanted the Naruto whom Kakashi had said was 'like him' to experience the same despair he had.
This mentality was actually quite normal.
Just like many traitors would do everything in their power to make other people betray their comrades as well.
Only then could they find comfort in their hearts, gaining the feeling that 'I'm not alone' and 'my choice was the right one.'
If Obito were a Thanos-style villain, then all he needed to do was quietly pursue his ambitions. There would be no need to waste meaningless effort seeking other people's approval.
At the end of the day, he was still that young Uchiha Obito who longed for the recognition of others, even though what he was doing now was completely different from what he had done in the past.
"Naruto, do you know what this place is called?"
"Kusagakure? What about it?"
"That's right. This place is Kusagakure in the Land of Grass. But did you know that a long time ago, this place was actually called the Land of Coffins? As in, a coffin."
"Huh? A coffin?"
Naruto shuddered when he heard that.
Although he had killed countless people, because he had inherited his original self's memories, aside from having different choices when dealing with other people, everything else was the same.
Therefore, Dark Naruto was also afraid of things like ghosts and monsters.
Most importantly, he himself was Naruto's dark side. If he could exist, then why couldn't ghosts and monsters exist?
"Could Uzumaki Karin and Fū both be dead? Is this place actually a mass grave?"
After hearing Obito say this, Naruto immediately made the connection.
"No."
Obito shook his head. "You're thinking in the wrong direction. What I mean is that this place was renamed the Land of Grass and Kusagakure. Do you realize why they changed the name?"
"Because there's a lot of grass here?"
Naruto cautiously offered his answer.
What else could it be?
"Wrong."
"Because everyone who comes here gets to enjoy grass." (Cǎo means grass and it also means fuck)
"?"
A question mark appeared above Naruto's head.
What did he mean?
Was the 'grass' in Kusagakure that kind of grass?
That didn't make sense either.
"Even if Kusagakure really has such a custom, with our current strength, should we really be afraid of them forcing themselves on us?"
Naruto asked in confusion.
He had originally felt that something was wrong with Karin, but he had still chosen to enter Kusagakure for the sake of food. That was because he had absolute confidence in his own strength.
So what exactly was Obito afraid of?
Was there some information he hadn't revealed yet?
"You're thinking too simply, Naruto. This place was renamed in ancient times. If Black Zetsu's memories didn't contain this information, outsiders would have no way of knowing about it."
"What happened in ancient times?"
"Forget it. I'll tell you the whole story."
"It happened around the time after the death of the Sage of Six Paths. After the Sage of Six Paths died, the entire world mourned, and everyone came to see him off."
"The people of the Land of Coffins were responsible for conducting the Sage of Six Paths' funeral."
"According to the Sage of Six Paths' will, he was to be cremated, and this task was also entrusted to the people of the Land of Coffins."
"However, one of the people from the Land of Coffins became greedy. During the cremation, he secretly stole and hid a portion of the Sage of Six Paths' remains for himself."
"After the funeral ceremony was completed, that person brought the remains back to the Land of Coffins."
"He wanted to use them to obtain immense power, conquer the ninja world, and become an existence as powerful as the Sage of Six Paths."
"But he had no idea how to use those remains, which left him troubled."
"Should he eat them directly? Transplant them? Or use some other method?"
"He decided to start by trying the simplest method."
"After all, if he ate them or transplanted them and something went wrong, he wouldn't get another chance to regret it…"
"That guy stole a piece of the Sage of Six Paths' flesh?"
Naruto seemed to understand something. "So there's actually someone hiding here who possesses the Sage of Six Paths' power, which means this place is extremely dangerous?"
"Not a piece of flesh. It was Stick."
"?"
"Otherwise, why do you think this place was renamed Kusagakure?"
Obito rolled his eyes at Naruto and continued explaining.
"That person discovered that the Sage of Six Paths' body possessed an extremely powerful life force. As long as he gave it sacrifices and let it absorb some kinetic energy and chakra, it could produce Hero's Water, which could increase a person's strength."
"And this Hero's Water could also make the land produce abundant harvests and accelerate the reproduction of livestock."
"So that person found several people who were loyal to him and sacrificed them to the Sage of Six Paths' body, obtaining his initial capital."
"After his strength increased, he took control of the entire Land of Coffins and renamed it the Land of Grass."
"The Hero's Water from the neighboring Takigakure was actually nothing more than a deceptive smokescreen left behind by that person."
"That way, if a crisis ever came and someone invaded and plundered the area, Takigakure would be the one to suffer."
"The true source was still Kusagakure."
"So when you say sacrifice, you mean…"
Naruto cautiously asked.
"Exactly what you're thinking."
Obito gave him a definite answer.
"?!"
Naruto instinctively covered himself from behind with both hands.
"Those who are sacrificed have their chakra drained dry. Even if they don't die, they'll turn into idiots who can only go 'oh-ho.'"
"And the stronger the person being sacrificed is, the more Hero's Water is produced."
"It is said that the First Hokage, who should originally have lived a long life, became lonely and miserable after Madara's death. The village chief of Kusagakure at the time took advantage of this opportunity and 'gave' the First Hokage some of the Sage of Six Paths' Stick."
"After using it, the First Hokage had a huge amount of chakra absorbed from him and became someone who only knew how to go 'oh-ho.' After Uzumaki Mito discovered him, she painfully had no choice but to kill him."
"The Hero's Water produced by absorbing the First Hokage's chakra allowed Kusagakure to enjoy favorable weather and abundant harvests for several decades."
"Only now has Kusagakure gradually begun suffering from droughts and food shortages."
"I have good reason to suspect that those two want to use you and me as the next sacrifices, allowing the Sage of Six Paths' Stick to produce even more Hero's Water!"
Obito revealed a secret that had been hidden for many years, leaving Naruto completely stunned.
He knew that the ninja world was dark, but he had never imagined it could be this dark.
"My dad is so promiscuous. Could it be that he was sacrificed before too?"
Naruto suddenly thought of Namikaze Minato.
"Uh… in his case, I think he was just born that way."
The corner of Obito's mouth twitched.
"So, uncle Obito, are you saying that those two have both drunk Hero's Water and strengthened their powers? But why would they want us to drink it too?"
Naruto raised his question.
"No, they haven't drunk it."
Obito shook his head. "Naruto, have you ever thought about what the founder of Kusagakure originally wanted when he stole the Sage of Six Paths' body? He wanted power. He wanted to conquer the ninja world."
"He did obtain power. Drinking Hero's Water can increase one's strength. So why is he still hiding away in this corner of Kusagakure?"
(End of this chapter)