.You've Been Hollowed Out Again

.An endless seashore!

Nairaku stood on the shore, gazing at the boundless sea!

"Having stayed in Konohagakure for so long, it's rare to get out and see the seaside scenery—it's pretty nice!"

"Every time I see the vast, endless ocean, it stirs something deep inside me!"

Facing the endless, tide‑rising and falling sea, Nairaku couldn't help but sigh!

He then kicked aside the Fog ninja's corpse at his feet and leapt off the cliff!

The next instant, instead of falling into the sea, Nairaku defied physics, soaring straight up into the sky and racing toward the horizon!

This is the Land of Water, and half a month has passed since the Genin exams!

A day after the Genin exams, Nairaku began training Sasuke, but only for a short period—just three days!

Three days later, just as in the original story, the kids started being assigned to squads!

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were, as always, placed together!

And their squad leader was Hatake Kakashi!

After giving Kakashi the headache of handling the rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto, Nairaku set out on a new mission!

This time the mission involved the Land of Water: steal a piece of intelligence. Nairaku took the assignment solo and set off!

Upon arriving, he met up with the Konohagakure ninja who were covertly stationed there, then infiltrated the target and extracted the intel!

However, a few Fog ninjas who discovered the theft blocked his path, forcing Nairaku to deal with them!

It's been four years since Nairaku became a Jonin, and his chakra level is still Jonin—unchanged!

In those four years, he clearly hasn't increased his chakra through any kind of check‑in!

That's normal, though we don't know what rank lies beyond High‑level chakra; in any case, in the Naruto world, at least it's Shadow‑level, which isn't easy to obtain!

Even though his strength hasn't risen, over four years Nairaku has picked up a few good things—his luck hasn't completely run out!

At this moment, Nairaku's system interface shows:

Host: Hinata Nairaku
Level: High Chakra (Jonin)
Abilities: Byakugan (Perfect), Soft Fist (Master), Eight Trigrams 128 Palms (Master), Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm (Master), Heavenly Reversal (Master), Hadō (Sequences 1~60), Bakudō (Sequences 1~60), Intermediate Kaidō, Advanced Instant Step, Sky Dance Technique
Items: Zanpakutō (Illusion) – Initial Release abilities: Reverse Slash, Moon Cut, Gray Cat, Divine Spear, Heavenly Judgment, Wabi‑Suke
Dragon Ball World: Senzu Beans *3

The addition of Sky Dance Technique lets Nairaku freely fly in the air, greatly boosting his aerial combat capability!

Although Instant Step allows Nairaku to hover, it's not as comfortable as truly soaring through the sky!

The Zanpakutō gained four new Initial Releases; Gray Cat is weak and optional, but the other three thrilled Nairaku!

The speed‑focused Divine Spear, when Nairaku tested it, already reached five times the speed of sound in its Initial Release—no one could evade his surprise attacks!

The gigantic Heavenly Judgment lets Nairaku enlarge his Zanpakutō. Have you ever seen a 40‑meter sword? If not, you can run 39 meters first! After a Bankai, he could even summon a "Black Rope Heavenly Judgment Dark King" to fight!

Lastly, the most surprising was Wabi‑Suke: its ability doubles the weight of anything it cuts, with no upper limit!

In the original work, because Kira Izu's strength was too weak, the blade's terrifying potential never manifested!

But in Nairaku's hands it's different; with his power and speed, he can slice an opponent hundreds of times in an instant, and the accumulated weight can crush enemies under their own weapons!

As for the Senzu Beans, they give Nairaku an extra safety net in the late‑stage Naruto world!

Nairaku kept flying in the sky; after half a day, he was far from the Land of Water and had entered the territory of the Land of Waves!

At that moment, Nairaku, still airborne, spotted a group on the ground!

"Huh!"

Curious, Nairaku tilted his head and quickly descended!

"Hey, Naruto, what are you doing here?"

The group was Kakashi's squad; Naruto and Sasuke were carrying the unconscious Kakashi on their backs!

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And an old man was standing there!

"Ah… Nairaku‑bro, what are you doing here?" Naruto stared at Nairaku in astonishment.

"Wow, I'm on a mission and run into Nairaku‑senpai—is this fate?" Sakura gushed, eyes sparkling at Nairaku.

"Nairaku‑senpai!" Sasuke gave a cool salute to Nairaku.

"Hey, what are you doing in the Land of Waves? And what's up with Kakashi?"

"We took a mission to the Land of Waves to protect Uncle Dazna and the crew while they build a bridge from gang interference!"

"But we were ambushed by ninjas; Kakashi‑sensei repelled them but ended up knocked out!"

Naruto explained it to Naraku!

"I see, this is a mission from the Land of Waves? Looks like Kakashi finally got to Zabuza!"

"Hmm, if that's the case, doesn't that mean Byaku also has to show up? By the way, is Byaku male or female? I'm curious!"

Naraku pondered.

Then he stepped forward to check Kakashi's condition.

"There's nothing serious, just a chakra depletion that left him exhausted. A bit of rest will fix it."

Naraku clapped his hands and said, Hearing that Kakashi was fine, Naruto and the others instantly relaxed.

But knowing he'll need time to recover, a grim look returned to their faces.

Seeing their expressions, Naraku smiled, "Don't worry, I'll stay here with you during this time."

"Really? Then we have nothing to worry about!"

At the news that Naraku would stay, their worries vanished instantly.

After that, the group headed to Dazna's house. Once Kakashi was settled, Naruto and the others each went to rest, while Naraku took on guard duty.

Early the next morning, Kakashi slowly awoke under the sunlight.

He reached out and patted his slightly dizzy head.

"Yo, you're awake. What happened? Who drained you this time?"

"You, always reading those books, you just wrecked your body like that. Be careful or you'll burn out!"

Kakashi looked toward where the voice came from and saw Naraku standing there with a smug grin, saying to him, "Naraku‑kun? What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Ah, I finished my Water Country mission and on the way back I saw you. Seeing you in such a sorry state, how could I feel comfortable leaving you here!"

Kakashi gave a wry smile, "I originally came just for a B‑rank mission, but so many things went wrong, and in the end I ran into the rogue mist‑shadow ninja, the 'Demon' Momochi Zabuza!"

"Luckily I managed to slay him without any trouble!"

"Wait, something's odd about this. Maybe he's not dead yet!"

"Naraku‑kun, could you get Naruto and the others? I have something to ask them."

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