Uncle Snake, Mastering Core Technology

In Naruto's eyes, Yue Guanhai might have been a little violent, his muscles might have looked a little stifling, and he might have been a little stingy, but he was a man who knew everything. Any question could always be answered by him.

"Boss, I want to learn Ninjutsu."

Obtained the book 'Beginner's Introduction to Ninjutsu.'

"Boss, I want to learn Genjutsu."

Obtained the book 'Beginner's Introduction to Genjutsu.'

"Boss, I want to learn Taijutsu."

Obtained the flying kick Yue Guanhai's Kick.

"Boss, I want to learn Forbidden Jutsu."

At last, Naruto asked something he should not have asked out of ignorance.

"No. Get lost!"

"Eh? Why? Don't you know everything?"

"You brat, you really dare to say that. Learning Forbidden Jutsu without permission gets you thrown in prison. I don't want to die with you, so get lost, get lost, get lost!"

Yue Guanhai angrily chased Naruto out of the shop, then locked the door.

"What was that about? Huh?"

Naruto had no idea why Yue Guanhai was angry. After thinking for a while and preparing to head back, he suddenly spotted a sheet of paper—a blank piece of paper that had somehow drifted down beside his feet.

"Does this mean he wants me to go there?"

Naruto easily understood the map markings on it, since he was always looking at maps. After some thought, he put the paper in his pocket and ran along the marked route.

"That'll do."

Having watched Naruto's actions from the window, Yue Guanhai closed his eyes, lost in thought.

"Konoha Cemetery... Ghosts aren't going to pop out, are they?"

Following the map's markings, Naruto arrived at the cemetery. Memorial Monuments for ninjas who had sacrificed themselves for the village stood here, and beneath the howling night wind, the place seemed especially bleak and eerie.

Naruto stopped before an inconspicuous Memorial Monument, compared it with the mark on the paper, and lightly pressed on one of the characters.

'Clank, clank, clank, clank.'

A grating sound of gears rang out. The green lawn slowly rose, revealing a passage leading underground.

"Excuse me, is anyone here? I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Please don't mind me suddenly barging into your home."

Naruto uneasily walked down. The passage gradually lit up as torches on the walls ignited by themselves. The orange firelight made the corridor seem even stranger. After more than ten minutes of walking, a wooden door finally appeared. Naruto gathered his courage and pushed it open, only to see a bizarre sight: strange things soaking in jars and bottles, while books filled with incomprehensible writing covered the table.

"Who are you?"

A long-haired woman stood with her back to Naruto. Without turning around, she remained focused on fiddling with something at her workbench.

"Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage! Hello, Auntie."

"Auntie... Although there was once an annoying white-haired guy who said I looked like a woman, this is the first time I've been called that."

Orochimaru turned around. With his effeminate features, purple eyeshadow, tomoe-shaped earrings, and hoarse voice, it was indeed easy to mistake his gender.

"Eh, eh, did I get it wrong? You're an Uncle?"

"Welcome to my Laboratory. I'm Orochimaru, little Nine-Tails."

His tongue slipped out of his mouth and licked the blood staining his left cheek.

"Then I'll call you Uncle Snake. Mm, mm, mm."

"What are you doing?"

Orochimaru's smile froze. Naruto stuck out his tongue and copied him, but no matter how he tried, he could only lick his own lips.

"I can't reach it. How do you lick your own cheek? That way, if ramen broth gets on my face, I can lick it off myself."

"What did you come here for?"

His golden slit pupils narrowed slightly. Giving up on settling accounts with a brat, Orochimaru asked.

"I came to learn Forbidden Jutsu. Uncle Snake, do you know any?"

"Oh? What made you brave the danger of coming here to learn Forbidden Jutsu?"

Orochimaru did not deny knowing Forbidden Jutsu and continued questioning him.

"My Dad and Mother are dead. I want to bring them back to life. Only Forbidden Jutsu can do that, right?"

"The path of learning Forbidden Jutsu is extremely dangerous. Not only will *** Jutsu threaten you, but so will people. People are foolish and conservative. They see Forbidden Jutsu as disasters and dare not try them, locking away the possibilities known as Forbidden Jutsu. If anyone discovers that you practice Forbidden Jutsu, they will destroy you while shouting about righteousness. Even so, are you not afraid?"

Orochimaru's expression grew slightly more serious. In his view, Naruto was like him: he had lost his parents at a young age and was trying in his own way to see them again. There was a sense of shared misery between them.

"Of course!"

Naruto answered earnestly. In truth, after listening to Orochimaru talk for so long, he only understood one thing: Forbidden Jutsu could not be discovered, so he had to practice them in secret.

"Fine. But before that, I need to see what you're made of."

Orochimaru stepped aside. Only then did Naruto see that there were no documents on the workbench, but a corpse—a corpse that had been disemboweled.

"Oh? I was just about to praise you. You didn't reject such a strong smell of blood at all, and now you're not afraid even after seeing such a bloody sight?"

Orochimaru watched Naruto with great interest. This alone showed what Naruto might achieve in the future. What kind of ninja feared blood? He might as well go home and farm.

"He's dead. What's there to be afraid of?"

Naruto had seen far too many corpses. That bad guy Nine-Tails showed him scenes of ninjas fighting to the death every day and every night. Forget an intact corpse like this—even bodies chopped into dozens of pieces had become normal to him.

"Not bad. You're qualified to become my vessel—no, it's nothing."

Orochimaru was very satisfied with Naruto's qualities. He shoved a kunai into Naruto's hand, pulled a switch on the table, and the wall beside them slowly receded. Before long, someone bound to a cross was pushed out by some machinery.

"Mm! Mm! Mm!!!"

The gagged ninja desperately shook his head upon seeing Orochimaru. He seemed to be begging for mercy, yet also roaring in fury.

"What is this for?"

"Kill him. Stab him wherever you want, as many times as you want."

Orochimaru casually decided that ninja's fate. The poor man immediately looked toward Naruto, making muffled sounds without stop.

"I can't do it. I can't hurt innocent people."

Naruto shook his head. Minato's teachings had taken effect: be ruthless toward enemies, but never use one's strength to harm innocents.

"Innocent? He isn't a Konoha ninja. He's a spy sent by the Land of Earth. To accomplish his mission, he murdered an innocent villager, took on his appearance to gather intelligence, and after being discovered, killed a neighboring family of four. Does that still make him innocent?"

Even Orochimaru would not capture Konoha ninjas. Even rabbits did not eat grass around their own burrows, much less when his teacher was the Third Hokage. Attacking his own people was not something he could escape with a mere scolding.

"I see."

Naruto nodded, turned around, and walked toward the door.

"Just walking away...?"

Orochimaru was disappointed. How could someone with so little resolve become his vessel? But it was not over. To his surprise, Naruto picked up a chair by the door, placed it in front of the spy, and slowly climbed onto it.

"I can't reach him."

Naruto grinned, raised the kunai, and casually slashed. The sharp blade instantly cut open the spy's throat. Blood erupted like a spring and splashed all over Naruto's face.

"Ah, ahh, my eyes!"

Naruto covered his eyes and cried out, falling off the chair.

"You pass."

Looking at Naruto, who was still screaming, even Orochimaru felt helpless. He picked up a towel from the table and wiped the blood from Naruto's face.

"Brat, what were you thinking when you killed him just now?"

"I wasn't thinking anything. He's an enemy of the village. Isn't it only right to kill him to protect the village?"

"Hehehe. Is that the conclusion you reached after being abused since childhood? Interesting."

Seeing not a trace of confusion in Naruto's eyes, Orochimaru said delightedly. Danzo had truly sent him a perfect specimen.

Inside Naruto

"Oh, he's already taken the first step."

Nine-Tails perked up his ears, grinned, and lay back down.

"Checkmate, Nine-Tails. You lost."

Minato had no idea what was happening. Only Nine-Tails could see what Naruto was doing; unless he showed Minato the images, Minato could not see them. He was still playing chess against Nine-Tails with chess pieces made of Chakra.

"The one who lost is you."

Nine-Tails lifted his eyelids and casually altered the shapes of the Chakra. The pieces changed positions several times, putting Minato in checkmate.

"Ah, you cheated! You despicable Tailed Beast!"

"Hmph."

Inside Yue Guanhai's shop, he poured a cup of tea and set it on the table, waiting for someone.

"You're still so precise with your timing."

No one saw how this person entered. He sat down in front of the prepared cup and calmly praised him.

"Is that so?"

"I am very dissatisfied with the mission you have been carrying out."

Danzo did not drink the tea. He spoke coldly, intense Killing Intent enveloping Yue Guanhai.

"I have always been diligently carrying out my mission, looking after the Nine-Tails brat."

"Stop making excuses. You should know that no one has ever left Root alive. The reason I gave you this opportunity was to let you make use of your remaining worth, yet you cannot even complete such a simple task."

Danzo was furious. It was not that Yue Guanhai treated Naruto too well, but that he treated him far too poorly. He needed to care for Naruto in every possible way and become the pillar of support in his heart. Then, when that pillar one day betrayed Naruto, Naruto would become a perfect weapon—a weapon that belonged only to him.

Yet what he saw now was Yue Guanhai constantly beating and scolding Naruto every day, without the slightest hint of gentleness. Even if such a person betrayed Naruto, it would not cause any emotional turmoil.

"I understand."

"I do not wish to remind you a second time. Back then, I went to great lengths to suppress the fact that he was the Fourth Hokage's son, and spread word throughout the village that he was the Nine-Tails Fox, all so that he would become Konoha's weapon. And weapons do not need emotions."

"However, you did well this time by luring him to Orochimaru. Orochimaru is also very satisfied and will provide us with much technology... Or perhaps I am being overly suspicious. You, the one called the Moonlit Killer, haven't developed feelings for that brat, have you?"

Danzo turned into smoke and vanished without waiting for an answer, leaving behind a cup of tea that still retained some warmth.

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PS: Danzo: Come on, just dump all the blame on me! I'll take all of Konoha's blame!