Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 404 Next Step Strategy

"What new thing have you come up with this time? You haven't given any chakra to the Two-Tails Jinchuriki before, have you?"

To reduce Naruto's chakra consumption, Tobirama, who volunteered to provide backup, witnessed something incredible. The wisdom of later generations is simply unimaginable. Even Tobirama, the creator of the Flying Thunder God Technique, never imagined that it could be activated from a great distance without contact. To this day, he still hasn't figured out how Naruto managed to use the unmarked Flying Thunder God Technique.

For this operation, they even sought help from Ms. Uzumaki Seyu, whose health had improved and whose eyes had regenerated with Naruto's help, asking her to use Kagura's Mind's Eye to hide Naruto's increasingly uncontrollable chakra.

The operation was a great success, and all the Jinchuriki they wanted to bring back were successfully rescued. However, a disgraceful thing happened at the very end of their great victory.

Seyou approached Tobirama privately and subtly expressed her concern for Lord Kinrin's health.

"I have never sensed such a massive amount of chakra from anyone before, and this power is not entirely ordered; it seems there are parts that even Lord Jinlun cannot control. If he continues to squander it like this, it may not be good for his body."

Tobirama suppressed the twitching at the corner of his mouth and nodded to thank his junior for the reminder, but when he turned around, all that was left was a dark, gloomy face.

He and his older brother had long since realized one thing. Despite Naruto's active cooperation with treatment over the past year, his body was still steadily sliding towards that abyss. Right now, only the Uzumaki clan's special sensory abilities could detect it, but what about after a while? Would even the Senju clan be able to detect it through their senses? He simply couldn't imagine what would happen if the members of Hui knew that "Golden Wheel" was about to die.

Impure World Reincarnation is indeed a solution... but who can bear to watch the sun set? He had indeed tried his best, even resorting to forbidden techniques that his elder brother had explicitly prohibited, but it still had no effect. Therefore, he was now worried about something else:

If Naruto's soul is strong enough to be imprisoned in his own body by forbidden techniques, then... can the inferior vessel of the Impure World Reincarnation really recall him? If the Impure World Reincarnation fails, what should they do next?

Thinking of this, Tobirama couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself. Years ago, he had constantly emphasized Naruto's importance to "Hikaru," urging the kid to live and not die. But when things truly reached a point of no return, although he remained outwardly firm, he still considered a way out. Sometimes, he didn't want to be such a pragmatic person.

"That inspiration came from the 'Flying Thunder God Formation,' and it's hard to describe exactly how it's activated... It's like, a place that normally requires crossing a mountain to reach, but I found a cave at the foot of the mountain that happens to run through it. I drew air from one side of the cave and brought the person from the other side over. Throughout the process, I still followed the rules of space and time, so I didn't consume too much energy."

Naruto couldn't directly articulate the qualitative change that occurred after acquiring the "Source Core," even though he had sealed it away himself, its effects continued. For instance, the mystery surrounding space had greatly diminished in his eyes; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to understand the time rules of Loulan. He now even felt that with the aid of the "Source," splitting space itself wouldn't be a pipe dream. Unfortunately, his body couldn't support him in conducting this kind of research.

"...So, you opened a two-way portal similar to the Flying Thunder God Formation all by yourself, and you were able to bring someone back safely through the portal." Tobirama, true to his name, understood immediately, and then his expression seemed to darken even more. "Maintaining the Flying Thunder God Formation also requires chakra from both sides. You opened it unilaterally, and you're telling me it doesn't consume much?"

...Let's not be so perceptive in this regard.

Seeing Naruto speechless, Tobirama was furious but couldn't do anything about it. He simply stood to one side with his arms crossed the entire time during the meeting, without saying a word.

"Shouldn't we be thinking more about the barrier now? Hokushin currently has four Jinchuriki stationed there, and occasionally a fifth will arrive. Shouldn't we reinforce the barrier? With such a dense concentration of chakra, a leak would likely be detected immediately." Fugaku, who had been responsible for guarding the base for years, was genuinely having a headache and unusually brought up the issue. In his opinion, Naruto never seemed to run out of chakra, so worrying about how much he was using was unnecessary.

"Ah, that is indeed a problem." Someone changed the subject, and Naruto quickly seized the opportunity, saying, "The Uzumaki clan is known for its sealing techniques, so creating a secure barrier shouldn't be a problem. Since Ms. Seyu is still here, shall we ask her for advice?"

"It wasn't easy to save her life, so it's time to get some reward." Izuna deliberately stirred things up from the side, but everyone had already figured out his temper, so no one took the bait.

"Tsk, this is getting more and more boring."

“I think Ms. Seyou would be happy to help. She’s been asking about us ever since Hirako was weaned, and when we asked her this time, she agreed without hesitation, without even asking what we were coming for.” Hashirama had been following the story of the Uzumaki family who had been rescued. Hirako was the name Seyou had given to her daughter. Her health took a long time to recover, and her eldest son, Shiratori, was gradually becoming more cheerful in the peaceful atmosphere. It could be said that everything was moving in a positive direction.

The place they found for this family to live wasn't just any random place. The Land of Fire was a land of outstanding people and abundant resources, perfect for recuperation, and the village official in charge of them happened to be a lady who had moved there from Wande City. She and Shiratori had similar pasts, even more tragic ones, but those pasts had long been buried along with the name of Flower Street.

She was once saved by "Hui," and now it's her turn to save the white bird.

"That's wonderful! I need to find some time to thank her in person." Naruto had his reasons for saying that. The number of his shadow clones had decreased significantly, while the affairs of "Hui" were increasing day by day. Recently, he had been extremely busy negotiating with the Land of Fire to join them, and he really couldn't squeeze out much time. Moreover, his Konoha main body wasn't idle either. The sudden attack by "Akatsuki" had touched a nerve with the advisory group, and they had started trying to indirectly detain Naruto again. Dealing with these people every day was really annoying.

Izuna was displeased upon hearing this, saying, "Come on, what you did for her can't be repaid with just a few vortex techniques. You might as well give some proper guidance to the 'Jinchūriki Modification Project'."

"Calling him that is too hasty, Izuna-nii. Judging from Fu's reaction, we can just be ourselves. Why do we need to write a special plan?"

"That's because there was plenty of time, and Fu was silly enough."

"It's impolite to say that to a little girl."

“'Naive,' fine, naive enough.”

"It should be 'sincerity'. Her desire to make friends was sincere, and we reciprocated with the same sincerity, which is why she was able to accept new things so quickly."

"This is crucial for dealing with Jinchuriki, Izuna-kun."