Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 40 The Past

"What's wrong with you? Didn't you pass the exercise smoothly today?" Kurama was comfortably lying in the cage, but he couldn't ignore the silent guy sitting on him. Outside the cell door, the communication center was still running in real time. Sasuke had used Chidori today and was too overwhelmed, so he went back to sleep early. Naruto's body was lying flat on the bed, waiting for the agreed meeting time to arrive, while his spirit body was sitting on Kurama's forelegs, which were crossed under his head, leaning slightly forward and keeping his head down.

Normally, the bond between perfect Jinchūriki is mutual; they can sense each other's emotions, and even if there are seals blocking the connection, it won't be broken. Kurama rarely senses the emotions of this seemingly optimistic man; he's so busy he seems to have no time to think about trivial matters. But now, he senses an inexplicable emotion. It's like an undercurrent on the ocean floor, settling in an imperceptible corner, seemingly calm, but actually turbulent and dangerous; once caught in it, there is no escape.

Kurama knew this couldn't go on. He knew Naruto hadn't stopped thinking; the communication center was still running, and it had processed several communication requests, mostly reports of ninja intrusions into the new base. Normally, Naruto would have already left, instead of lying in bed pretending to be dead.

Seeing that Naruto didn't reply, Kurama glanced down and saw only the calm surface of the water, so he changed the subject, "What are you looking at?"

Naruto, who had been sitting quietly for a long time, raised his head. His eyes were empty; although he turned to look at Kurama, they didn't seem focused at all. Kurama's ears perked up, and his half-open beast eyes widened. Something seemed seriously wrong. Was this really the kind of expression Naruto would have? Before he could observe further, Naruto turned his face back, and a wisp of orange-red fur floated down onto the water's surface.

Kurama straightened up, its tail swaying in response to the sudden change in its emotions. The instincts of a tailed beast are extremely sharp; the aura emanating from Naruto made the fur on its back stand on end—this was clearly not normal!

"Naruto, what happened?" Despite the turmoil in his heart, Kurama remained calm and probed gently. Anyone else would have been swatted away by now; only Naruto received such treatment.

"...I can't remember." Naruto's voice was relatively calm. He just murmured, "I can't remember how that thing was defeated."

What is this talking about? So far, Naruto's only recorded actions have been in Konoha, and he has never really gotten serious. Although those old guys in Konoha are sometimes unreliable, they are serious about taking care of children.

"what?"

“Otsutsuki Shibakai.” Naruto uttered an incredible name. “The so-called Otsutsuki God. I don’t call ‘He’ a human, because ‘He’ truly has no resemblance to a human, and we can’t even grasp ‘His’ form.”

"'He' came from the stars, like a normal shooting star, passing by Earth. But the shooting star stopped, bursting forth with a light more terrifying than the sun!" Ripples spread across the water beneath Naruto, his voice growing increasingly intense. "Everything on Earth was melting—grass, rocks…life. Only the ninjas could endure a little longer, but only a little. That was merely prolonging their suffering! In the end, we won? How did we win? I've forgotten. Why have I forgotten!"

A chilling power exploded from the screaming spirit clutching its chest. Kurama instinctively used its three tails to defend itself, but the force scraped off a layer of its skin. The seal, however, wasn't so lucky. Cracks appeared all over the sturdy prison doors, and several bars even broke. At this point, Kurama didn't care about the pain in its tails; its skin was thick enough that a few more hits wouldn't matter. The real concern was that if the seal were broken in Konoha, Naruto would have no choice but to defect and go underground! It lunged forward, its forelimbs crossing to encircle the already collapsed, kneeling Naruto, its nine tails forming a ball, desperately trying to prevent its chakra from leaking out.

"Naruto! Calm down! If you've defeated an enemy once, you can definitely be defeated a second time! This time you have plenty of help! This time it definitely won't happen again!" Kurama didn't know if saying this would work, but controlling Naruto's emotions was the most important thing. Not only the prison door, but even the sky in the mental space was cracking. Naruto's soul not matching his body hadn't been resolved for many years, only alleviated with age. But if he didn't restrain himself, he would probably die on the spot!

Is this kid's soul strength really normal? A guy who can make even tailed beasts tremble with fear... And those futures Naruto talked about, are they really that cruel? It's not surprising that they've become a knot in his heart.

Perhaps it was Kurama's vibrant chakra that took effect, as Naruto's tense back gradually relaxed, and the lingering terrifying power disappeared.

"...I'm sorry, Kurama."

Kurama breathed a sigh of relief, but maintained a composed demeanor, saying, "Who wants your apology? Hurry up and run away, I can't control my chakra for long."

Naruto looked up and smiled. His blank and listless state had disappeared. He looked a little tired, but not to the point of losing his fighting spirit.

Without delay, the human and the fox created a shadow clone in the bedroom, and their main bodies quickly left Konoha.

"How did the seal end up like this?" Tobirama, whose senses were most acute, arrived shortly after Naruto landed. "Even if you want to practice sealing techniques, you can't use this body as an experiment."

Naruto appeared perfectly normal and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Isn't it because I wanted Kurama to appear legitimately as soon as possible?"

Tobirama frowned disapprovingly, placed one hand on the boy's abdomen to examine him, and his frown deepened.

"This is a seal that has been broken through, not a seal that has been unlocked."

"It fits the state of a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki very well, but... you used a bit too much force."

Tobirama resisted the urge to flick him on the head and, with a dark expression, restored the seal. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki attempting to break the seal in the middle of the night—if word got out, wouldn't the Konoha higher-ups lock this brat up in the deepest dungeon? This kid is usually very composed, sometimes a little airheaded, but surely he wouldn't make such a mistake?

Has something happened?

Just as Tobirama was about to ask a question, the conference room door opened, and Hashirama Senju walked in with a smile. Upon seeing Naruto, who looked like a child, his eyes lit up, and he flashed over and snatched the child away.

"Naruto! You're a genius!"

Hashirama's excessive fondness for children is truly unacceptable. He can usually control himself, but when he's particularly happy, he lets loose. Naruto, the victim, went from struggling desperately to giving up in the blink of an eye. Trying to outmuscle the God of Shinobi? Are you dreaming?

"This is the result of everyone's joint efforts." Naruto was lifted high with a blank expression, and he could even calmly greet Izuna and Fugaku who came in behind him.

The good news was relayed through Naruto, but a detailed report had to be delivered by his summoning beast, as the chakra needed for emergency communication couldn't be wasted. Naruto only knew that several teams had chosen to retreat and observe, while others had defeated the ninja squads that had been commissioned, but without killing them. After all, if no one died, it was just business, and the ninja villages might not care about the clients; but if someone died, it would be an act of provocation. If a small-town ninja dared to touch the ninjas of the Five Great Ninja Villages, they would definitely fight to the death to regain their face.

"Most of the bases that were taken over broke out into internal strife, but the first to fight were the financial backers and noble envoys." Izuna tried to suppress the upturned corners of his mouth, but failed. "Our technology, seeds, and sales chain are so attractive to them that they don't even bother to report to the daimyo."

"Even if they have them, we must intercept them. We can't give these things away for free," said Tobirama, who was working on the front lines of technological upgrades.

Izuna seemed genuinely pleased, even giving him a wink in front of so many people, saying, "Don't worry~"

While everyone else's expressions twitched, Naruto wore a nostalgic look, recalling his daily life with Sasuke. Their relationship seemed really good.