Don't Go Alone

The three women were injured to varying degrees and almost all of them needed to be hospitalized for a period of time, while Naruto was completely fine and was discharged from the hospital that same day.

Tsunade didn't look for him, so he was happy to have some peace and quiet and went straight home.

I haven't been home for a month, and it's still the same. Nine-Tails is sprawled on the sofa, boxes and boxes of empty wine bottles are piled up on the balcony, the windows are wide open, and the wind chimes are tinkling softly.

After washing up, Naruto was drying his hair when Nine-Tails suddenly woke up.

"Oh, you're back?"

"You're back." Naruto dried his hair and casually threw on some clothes. "Were you home alone for the past month?"

"Pretty much. I do go out for a stroll occasionally." Nine-Tails slumped on the sofa with a sweet smile on his face. "Humans are indeed foolish. No one even notices me when I walk down the street."

"It's just a dog, what's there to be concerned about?" Naruto said without any mercy.

"Hehe, what do you know?" The Nine-Tails used its paw to hold out a pair of small glasses and put them on its nose, looking like a wise dog. "Humans have lowered their guard against me because I disguised myself well."

"Really? That's impressive," Naruto replied casually.

"That's what the woman said when I paid for the Takoyaki," Nine-Tails- Tails said, nodding its head.

"What woman?" he asked, turning his head.

"That blonde woman," Nine-Tails said, turning over and pulling a bottle of wine from under her. "That woman came by once while you were away."

"What are you doing here?" Naruto went into the kitchen, poured himself a glass of water, and asked as he leaned against the kitchen wall to drink it.

"Hehe, you are all my slaves." Nine-Tails skillfully bit open the bottle cap with its teeth and spat it into the trash can. "Just like what you do every day, cleaning up everywhere."

"Hmm," he said nothing, put down his water glass, and lazily lay down on the sofa.

"Why do you seem so listless?" Nine-Tails asked, taking another swig of wine. "You've been talking less since you came back."

"Don't meddle in adult matters, fox." Naruto glanced at it and took out the key to the floor heating generator he had gotten from Kazahana Koyuki from his pocket.

The key was purple and crystalline, more like a long necklace. He lay on the sofa, holding it in one hand, staring intently at it.

Option two's reward was an upgrade to Flying Thunder God, but the mission is now suspended.

Although the client has perished at sea, the target being protected, Kazahana Koyuki, is still alive. As long as she is willing to restart the Land of Snow mission, the suspended mission can be restarted instead of being directly terminated.

Konohagakure has already received the payment, and neither morally nor logically would they refuse Kazahana Koyuki.

The question is, how can we persuade Kazahana Koyuki miraculously survived, to embark on the journey to the Land of Snow once again? Would she be willing?

After thinking for a long time, Naruto sighed and gripped the key tightly in his hand.

Let's take it one step at a time and see.

Now that this has happened, whether it was an accident or something else, after drifting at sea for so long, Kazahana Koyuki's spirit is already fragile enough. It's best not to upset her too much.

Some things can't be rushed; there's still plenty of time.

After temporarily putting aside the matter of Kazahana Koyuki, he thought about the mysterious murals and strange statues in the Land of Whirlpools, and suddenly remembered that there seemed to be a shrine of the Uzumaki Clan outside the village.

After careful recollection, it seems that there were twenty-seven statues in the ruins.

"Hey, Nine-Tails."

He turned to look at Nine-Tails on the sofa, "You've met the Sage of Six Paths, haven't you?"

"I've seen him before." Nine-Tails paused in his drinking, looking up at Naruto. "What?"

"Is the Sage of Six Paths a god?" Naruto suddenly asked.

"I'm not sure, I guess so." Nine-Tails paused noticeably before changing his answer, "... No."

"What exactly is a Sage?" Naruto sat up from the sofa, looking at Nine-Tails with a complicated expression. "A Sage who experiences birth, aging, sickness, and death doesn't seem like a god at all."

"I'm not quite sure about that either," Kurama said after a moment 'Nine-Tails thought. "I've only seen the Sage of Six Paths a few times, but whenever he appears, I can sense his presence."

"And now?"

"Now?" Nine-Tails' tone rose as she countered, "What do you think?"

"So, the Sage of Six Paths has disappeared." Naruto stood up and paced around the living room. "But I often hear people talking about the Evil God Festival outside?"

"Some villages in the Land of Rivers also worship the Death Reaper, and the Reaper Death Seal and the Impure World Reincarnation are real phenomena."

"I don't know." Upon hearing the name of the Death Reaper, Nine-Tails's head drooped, and she mumbled, "Why are you asking about those things?"

"Nothing, just asking," Naruto said.

If the Sage of Six Paths truly existed, what about before the Six Paths? If those gods also truly existed, and their power was extracted and used as Ninjutsu.

Reaper Death Seal and the Impure World Reincarnation are, in a sense, Sealing Jutsu. But the end of all truth is destruction, the vanishing Land of Whirlpools of Whirlpools.

Naruto started to get excited; this was much more interesting than Ninjutsu.

From his time Ghost Samurai in the Land of Birds, he developed an interest in the option of seizing power over a nation. Simple Genjutsu could even establish faith and control the people of a country.

What if it's a real god? The Uzumaki Clan can extract the power of the Death Reaper; could I try it too?

He really didn't want to become Hokage, but the thought of becoming a faith for a region was quite exciting. He couldn't stay in Konohagakure forever; there would always be a day when he had to leave.

The system kept tempting him to seize control of small countries—the Land of Land of Rivers, the Land of Land of Birds, the Land of Land of Snow. Naruto wasn't stupid; worldly power was of little use to him.

If you really asked him to take charge and diligently manage a small country, he'd be completely lost. Besides, he's still Genin Konohagakure; seizing control too early would be pointless.

The Toki of the Land of Birds, the Kazahana Koyuki of the Land of Snow, and the Queen of Roran quest yet to be triggered. The bloodline of the monarchy continues through the princess; if that's the case, then the church's role comes into play.

The problem now is to figure out the relationship between the Uzumaki Clan and those strange forces. Although the Uzumaki Clan has declined, their bloodline is still alive, so we can definitely find something special.

Thinking about this, Naruto felt it was necessary to visit the Uzumaki Clan's shrine. It was located in the Konoha Forest, quite a distance from the village.

"I need to go out for a bit." Naruto put on his clothes and bent down to change his shoes in the entryway. "You stay here and guard the house."

"Heh." Nine-Tails huddled on the sofa, its voice muffled as it recalled the fear of its soul being controlled.

It was the same when the Reaper Death Seal, and it was the same when Naruto ordered it to devour the Root ninjas. The towering spirit sent shivers down one's spine.

Nine-Tails Fox had no doubt that it would equip that guy with a white dagger and a white-haired demon with blue faces and fangs.

Naruto excitedly left home and headed towards the edge of the village. But after only a few steps, he encountered several people walking towards him, looking travel-worn and as if they had traveled all night to return.

"Hello Teacher Asuma." Naruto smiled awkwardly; he had run into Team 10.

"Oh, it's Naruto."

"Naruto!"

"You're back?"

Asuma, who had just returned from a mission, saw his three disciples and a blond-haired boy mingling together. He didn't urge them on, but lit a cigarette and watched with a smile.

"You rascal, I heard you had an accident at sea." Shikamaru reached out and touched Naruto's hands and feet. "It's a miracle you're completely unharmed."

"What could possibly happen to me? It's just a shipwreck." Naruto boasted upon seeing an acquaintance. "If the ship hadn't been in the deep sea, I would have been back long ago."

"You're something else, kid. You even brought back the mission objective." Shikamaru gently nudged Naruto's shoulder.

"That's right, you haven't even asked around, my 100% mission completion rate, I'm known as... Ah!! Ino! I'm still a patient!"

Ino pinched him hard and said angrily, "Stop being so smug! You've survived and you're still acting all high and mighty! You don't look like a patient at all!"

"Never mind, never mind, Ino." Choji in to take sides. "It's already a miracle that Naruto came back. He might really be injured."

"Choji, don't be fooled by that guy too. If you're really injured, you won't be able to leave the hospital," Shikamaru added.

"Oh, that's good." Choji took a step back.

Ino grabbed Naruto, her brows furrowed slightly and her eyes narrowed.

Where are you headed?

Naruto for a moment, he couldn't very well say that he wanted to go and see the cenotaph of the Uzumaki Clan.

This thing is considered somewhat unlucky, and people who frequently go on missions tend to avoid it. Aside from himself, he has no taboos, because he doesn't believe in it and doesn't care about dancing on graves before missions.

Even though there was an accident during his last mission at sea, he would still dare to go next time.

Just as Naruto was mentally rehearsing his lie, Asuma suddenly exhaled a puff of smoke and spoke up.

"Team 10, let's disband here. I have some things to do. Shikamaru will go to the Hokage Building later to finish the mission report."

Ino was stunned, then turned around and saw the smile in Asuma's eyes.

"Yes," the three members of the Ino-Shika-Cho replied.

After Asuma left, Shikamaru's shoulders slumped, and he said dejectedly.

"It's me writing the task report again!"

Choji looked away, somewhat guiltily saying, "Shikamaru, I want to help too, but you know, Lord Tsunade will reject any mission reports I write."

Ino was still holding onto Naruto, and when she turned to look at Shikamaru, she was about to speak, but Shikamaru spoke first.

"Never mind, I'll do it, Ino. We're leaving now."

After saying that, he pulled Choji away.

Suddenly, only Ino and Naruto remained on the road. Ino released Naruto and asked again.

Where are you going?

"I'll go check out the shrine."

"A shrine?" Ino frowned slightly, turning to look around. "Which shrine? What are you doing in a place like that?"

"This... I'm just looking around," Naruto said. "I found out something outside, so I thought I'd go take a look."

"Wait for me."

"Huh?" Naruto was stunned.

"Oh, I said I'll go with you," Ino said.

Naruto's house was nearby, so Ino simply went there to wash up. Having traveled all night, Ino's face was full of exhaustion, but she didn't care about anything else.

I was soaking in the bathtub and almost fell asleep.

Three knocks sounded on the bathroom door.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked, somewhat annoyed.

"It's nothing. You look tired. Why don't you rest here?" Naruto suggested, standing outside the bathroom door.

"No way!" Ino refused outright. "If you sneak off alone, I'll throw away the key and never care again."

"Uh," Naruto was speechless. "I mean, it's getting late, so why don't we go tomorrow?"

The following morning.

The shrine of the Uzumaki Clan.

A vermilion torii gate stands tall, engraved with the symbol of the Uzumaki Clan.

Naruto and Ino stood in the courtyard, looking up at the dilapidated eaves, then glancing at the shrine with half a door missing. This place was even more desolate than he had imagined.

In the courtyard stands an abandoned well, a single beam of white Nikko shining upon it, its surface filled with floating green algae. The area in front of the shrine is overgrown with weeds and littered with broken tiles.

It was early spring, and tender green plants were growing on the dilapidated walls, so lush and green that they looked as if they had just been pulled out of the water. Perhaps because of the rainy weather in the forest, the ground was covered with moss.