Cutting Through the Chaos

Kurotsuchi believes Naruto can mobilize the Kumogakure and the Sand is one thing, but whether she is afraid that this person will use dirty tricks against Ōnoki is another matter entirely.

Even though she knew that there were very few people in the Shinobi World stronger than Ōnoki, she was still wary of Naruto and didn't want to take the gamble.

There's no other reason than that this person is too strange. Even she herself doesn't know how she fell for it; a contract of unknown origin is more powerful than any Ninjutsu she's ever seen.

Even if she didn't believe it, her life was already in the other party's hands.

What exactly do you want?

"Either cooperate as I say, or we'll fight until you're subdued before we cooperate," Naruto said. "You figure out the former yourself. If you choose the latter, I'll just have to deal with the trouble, but I still have ways to target Iwagakure."

"Besides that, you can forget about having a good life. You know what I'm capable of, so don't push things to the point of a complete falling out, because nobody will benefit from that."

"Be smart. It will benefit both you and Iwagakure. Cooperation is always better than fighting. Otherwise, if things continue like this, Iwagakure will be destroyed sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, Kurotsuchi showed a hint of struggle on his face, which quickly turned into submission.

"Okay, alright."

Naruto pursed his lips. He should have agreed earlier. This guy just needs to be disciplined.

The two reached a preliminary agreement and were finally able to sit down and talk properly. It wasn't exactly amicable, but the Yakumi had lessened.

"You've been out for so long, hasn't anyone looked for you?" Naruto suddenly asked an unrelated question.

"Who can stop me!" Kurotsuchi became proud again, puffing out his unassuming chest. "I can go wherever I want, and no one will look for me."

"Then no one will care if you die?" he said quietly.

"Ordinary people can't get into the village. If someone stronger tries to enter, that old man will find out." Kurotsuchi retorted sourly, staring at Naruto with a sinister look.

"Uh, you're going to kill the conversation like that." He scratched his head.

There was a moment of silence; going from being at each other's throats to being on the same side always takes time. The current situation is that no matter how much Kurotsuchi struggles, her fate is already sealed.

"Heh, although you say it nicely, I absolutely don't believe you're doing this for Iwagakure's good." Kurotsuchi curled her lip. "Even if I don't understand technology, don't try to fool me."

"Technology encompasses too many aspects. Which aspect are you referring to as cooperation? The differences are huge. Don't tell me you're just being kind."

"Hey, you," Naruto casually, leaning against the pavilion. "Chatting with you is really boring. Of course, I don't care about the life or death of Iwagakure."

"But can't you pretend you don't know? I'm your master now, after all. You see, even if you have any opinions, you can't disobey me. So why bother? Even if you're just pretending to submit, would it kill you to say something nicer?"

Kurotsuchi: "."

She realized that chatting with this person was definitely not a good thing; it could easily lead to a heart attack.

"So, can you tell the truth now?"

"Cannot."

"Why?"

"Has no one taught you anything about social etiquette? You explain everything so clearly, I've lost the desire to talk," Naruto said shamelessly.

Kurotsuchi was furious. When had anyone ever spoken to her like that? In this Iwagakure, and even in this small corner of the Land of Earth, she was the only princess.

She had never been treated like this before, yet now she had no choice but to swallow her anger. Naruto Uzumaki truly deserved to die; she should have killed him during the Five Kage Summit.

What exactly do you want?

"Call me 'Master' and I'll listen." He looked up at Kurotsuchi and lazily crossed his legs.

He probed a few times, knowing full well that Kurotsuchi hadn't given up. This was an attempt to trick him into revealing information, then find a way to relay it, and continue this futile struggle.

Although it would all prove futile in the end, Naruto wasn't going to play house with her anymore. He had originally planned to get down to business, but now he decided to deflate her arrogance.

He didn't expect her to be as devoted as Yakumo Kurama; he just didn't want Kurotsuchi to cause any more trouble and end up wasting his time. The thing he hated most was trouble, and troublesome people.

"Dream!"

"Hmm." Naruto stopped wasting time talking to her and directly brought up Kurotsuchi's control panel. He glanced at the data and finally stopped at the last line of operable data.

He had never clicked on this option before, nor had he ever encountered such an unruly believer. The three Amegakure sisters broke down with just a little threat, and Konan signed the agreement voluntarily while on the verge of death.

Besides, Nagato is dead, and among the people she knows, only Jiraiya and Naruto are left. Naruto usually discusses things with her, and Konan is very cooperative; there's never any disharmony between them.

Only Kurotsuchi, that stubborn tsundere, is far too rebellious, never having experienced the cruelty of the Shinobi World. She knows neither how high the sky is nor how deep the earth is.

"Ah! Why can't I move?" Kurotsuchi suddenly screamed, but the place was remote and no one outside could hear anything.

"Maybe you've been standing for too long and your legs are numb." He didn't move, but a slight smile played on his lips as he made a sarcastic remark. "It's also possible that your central nervous system is damaged. Try moving your eyelids."

Upon hearing this, Kurotsuchi blinked.

"Yes, you can!"

"Oh, that might be another problem," Naruto said dismissively, then with a series of actions, Kurotsuchi suddenly bent over at a ninety-degree angle, her legs straight.

"Ah!! Damn it, Naruto Uzumaki, what did you do to me?!"

"Don't you dare frame an innocent person. What could I possibly do three meters away from you?" Naruto said sarcastically as he stood up and walked step by step toward Kurotsuchi.

"You!!! What are you doing?"

Smack!

A resounding slap landed on her butt, followed by another. Naruto didn't bother responding; he just kept slapping her, making sure to hit other places would be obvious.

At present, Ōnoki is unaware of this matter, and he does not want the old man Ōnoki to know that he has controlled his grandson, so as not to lose control of Iwagakure.

Furthermore, although this fighting style doesn't deal much physical damage, it adds magical damage, making it incredibly embarrassing.

"Ah!!! Stop it!"

I'm going to kill you!

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

What did you call me?

"You bastard!" Kurotsuchi gritted his teeth, wishing he could tear him to pieces immediately.

Upon hearing this, Naruto stopped fighting after a while. Kurotsuchi was still cursing at him, spewing out words like "bastard" and "scumbag."

It wasn't until she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye that she saw Naruto pull out a camera and a bottle of yogurt. Her heart skipped a beat, and she knew something was wrong.

"What do you want to do?" Kurotsuchi's voice trembled slightly.

"It's nothing, just taking a few photos, don't be so nervous," Naruto said. "I'm not that kind of person, don't worry, I won't hurt you."

As he spoke, he opened the yogurt lid. He looked down and fiddled with the camera for a moment, then looked up and smiled at her.

"You'd better take some nice photos, you don't want Ōnoki to lose face in the Land of Earth, do you?"

"You!!! I'm going to kill you!"

The only response to Kurotsuchi was the clicking of camera shutters. A short while later, Naruto released his control over Kurotsuchi. Clicking away, he tossed the yogurt container on the ground and casually said to her...

"Find a place to wash up later. I hope you can speak more quietly in the future, okay?"

Kurotsuchi gritted his teeth, wishing he could punch him away. How could anyone come up with such a despicable tactic? It's utterly vile, trash, a complete bastard!

Naruto didn't care what Kurotsuchi thought of him; he had already given her a chance, but she stubbornly refused to listen. Perhaps his method was indeed somewhat despicable, but at least it wasn't a serious attempt.

After all, if he wanted to, it wouldn't be impossible for him to give Ōnoki a great-grandson.

Naruto found Kurotsuchi troublesome, and besides, he didn't need to contact Ōnoki at the moment, nor did they have any conflicting objectives. It was simply about promoting cooperation, or more precisely, promoting cooperation in genetic Medical Ninjutsu.

After all that fuss, Kurotsuchi finally calmed down, sitting there silently wiping the yogurt off her hair with a tissue. She no longer dared to glare at Naruto with hatred, only remaining silent with her lips pursed.

"Why did you have to go through with this? It would be so ugly if we broke up." Naruto squatted there, swiping his finger across the screen, browsing the photos he had just taken.

"I came to Iwagakure with sincerity to discuss cooperation, and I couldn't avoid mentioning you anyway. Wouldn't it be better if we got along amicably and just discussed some small collaborations, with the results shared by everyone?"

"And what happened? You insisted on doing this, and the locals are just being rude. Ugh, what a hassle, it's all turned out like this."

Kurotsuchi looked up and stared at Naruto for a few moments.

"You didn't even say what the collaboration would entail, how would anyone know!"

Did you ask?

"You didn't say that either!" Kurotsuchi said, feeling wronged.

"Why don't you ask first! This is utterly unreasonable."

"I mentioned it, but you didn't!"

"You didn't even ask, and with that attitude I thought you were deliberately causing trouble!" Naruto slapped his forehead. "Looks like it was all a misunderstanding. What should we do?"

He adopted a roguish demeanor, feigning distress.

"I'm sorry, I was being rash. Why don't you go wash it?"

Upon hearing this, Kurotsuchi couldn't hold back any longer. He had never seen such a scoundrel in his life. He thought he was already quite willful, but he had run into such an extreme scoundrel.

She felt so wronged; she had never been wronged like this before.

Unfortunately, Naruto doesn't believe in tears. He kept saying it was a misunderstanding and apologized, but he kept staring at the photo.

Kurotsuchi suddenly didn't want to talk anymore, as if anything he said would be like punching cotton.

"Alright, alright, since it's a misunderstanding, let's get down to business." He casually tossed the photo of Kurotsuchi into the Sealing Space and said nonchalantly.

Kurotsuchi: "???"

After Naruto finished explaining his idea, Kurotsuchi dared not object at all. Although she didn't know why he wanted to study genes or what his special purpose was, the mission still had to be carried out.

"This isn't a big problem, and the old man won't object," Kurotsuchi readily agreed. "But... why did you do this?"

"Do you believe me when I say it's about being prepared for a rainy day? You wouldn't understand even if I told you. It's for dealing with aliens."

"Aliens? Where did these aliens come from?" Kurotsuchi asked in astonishment.

"I've already told you, you wouldn't understand anyway. See, you don't understand now." Naruto didn't want to explain to Kurotsuchi at all, and said evasively, "It's no use telling you, so I won't."

Kurotsuchi: "."

"Do I look like an idiot to you? Even if you don't want to say it, at least come up with a plausible reason."

Naruto said he didn't want to talk to an idiot, and left after giving his instructions. He had been mentally prepared beforehand, expecting Kurotsuchi to be troublesome, but fortunately, it didn't take too much effort.

The feudal system in the Land of Earth is much more severe than that of the other Four Great Nations. Ōnoki is practically no different from the local emperor in Iwagakure, and Kurotsuchi is the hereditary Queen.

Konohagakure.

Kakashi's honeymoon period with Konohagakure was long over, but the mess the higher-ups made led to a further breakdown in Naruto's relationship with Konohagakure on the surface.

This gave Kakashi an opportunity, and he didn't react on the spot. After the meeting, those high-ranking officials who had jumped the gun were all taken away by the Anbu.

Perhaps it was also related to Rin Nohara; in any case, after the meeting, Kakashi's methods became more forceful. He bypassed normal procedures, sending people directly to the homes of those high-ranking officials to deliver evidence of their illicit affairs, arresting them all overnight and dismissing them on the spot.

More than a hundred members of the Anbu, carrying torches and fully armed with white animal masks, surrounded the residences of the high-ranking officials.

At first, those people were shouting at the Anbu, but when the blades were drawn, the high-ranking officers finally shut their mouths. The high-ranking officer who led the disturbance felt a chill run through him, kneeling on the ground as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

The man, his eyes glazed, was pinned to the ground, glancing sideways at the Anbu Captain, Uzuki Yugao. Framing someone, resorting to such dirty tricks—what the hell is your mother's surname?!

The Anbu moved so fast and quickly that the ordinary villagers didn't hear a sound. A couple hundred Anbu scurried through the Konohagakure area, leaping across rooftops.

With those high-ranking officials arrested, the rest of their followers would naturally face slaughter. Arresting high-ranking officials requires evidence, and Kakashi has already perfected that.

To arrest those little Karami who colluded with the nobles of the Land of Fire and plotted to overthrow the foundation of Konohagakure, we don't need any evidence, just a list.

Who would listen to their explanations? Save your words for the Sage of Six Paths.

Overnight, Konohagakure was thrown into turmoil.

Even when Tsunade Fifth Hokage, there wasn't such a big move. It was only during the reign of the Sixth Hokage, who was the most lenient, that a high-ranking official was arrested for the first time.

The night Naruto left, the clash of swords and screams shattered the thick darkness. The evidence was gathered at the scene, the handprints were added after the killing, and it was sent to the Hokage's Office through the most urgent procedures.

Shikamaru was forced to work an extra night, staying up all night with Kakashi. The Anbu completed the paperwork, Hokage's Office immediately approved it; the cinnabar was still fresh and red.

The Anbu's blades fell like rain, swift and ruthless, intimidating all the villains overnight. The last time Konohagakure suffered such widespread bloodshed was on the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

By daybreak the next day, the blood on the streets had already been washed away. Everything seemed as if it had never happened, with only a few people in the know being shocked by the news.