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"Summoning: Triple Rashomon!"

Rumble!

Three enormous gates rose from the ground, finally holding back the endless fireballs.

"I have to go..."

Behind the Rashomon gates, Orochimaru thought for a moment before immediately deciding to retreat.

There was no way he could win this fight. Staying would just mean waiting to die.

"My body... is starting to give out."

Feeling the sharp pain coming from his chakra network, Naruto understood. The flow was too great, and his channels were about to burst.

But it wasn't a big problem. The Life Energy stored in the Rinnegan flowed into his body, and all his discomfort disappeared at once.

"These Triple Rashomon... can't stop me!"

Naruto looked toward the enormous gates ahead and raised a hand, using Shinra Tensei three times.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The earth-shaking blasts tore the Rashomon gates apart, reducing them to fragments. Orochimaru appeared before Naruto.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

Fireballs thundered in from every direction. Orochimaru let out a pained scream and soon turned into a pile of ashes.

Shadow walked over, her face full of confusion. "Do bad guys... really die that easily?"

Orochimaru was one of the bad guys Naruto had warned Shadow to watch out for.

"He's not dead. Look closely. That's just a pile of dirt. The real Orochimaru..."

Naruto closed his eyes and combined that with the Nine-Tails' powerful ability to sense good and evil. He soon located Orochimaru.

Two kilometers away, in the ten o'clock direction.

If he went after him now, he could still catch up.

But after hesitating for a few seconds, Naruto gave up the pursuit.

With Orochimaru's near-immortal ability to stay alive, chasing him would probably be useless even if Naruto caught up. It would just be a waste of time.

"...That's what happened. Because of Danzo's persecution, we can no longer return to Konoha. Please take us in, my lord."

After dying once, Nonō's Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal had disappeared from her tongue.

She told Naruto what had happened to her, exposing one piece of Danzo's dirty laundry after another. Then she pulled Kabuto down with her and knelt before Naruto, asking him to take them in.

With her intelligence, she naturally knew Naruto wanted to recruit her and Kabuto. And when a powerful man who could defeat Orochimaru offered them a place, neither she nor Kabuto had the right to refuse.

Since the outcome was already decided, she might as well offer her allegiance of her own accord and leave a good impression on her new leader.

Naruto didn't answer right away. He sent part of his consciousness into the Sealing Space.

"What do you think after hearing all that, Dad?"

After spending so much time together, Naruto could now call his parents that without a second thought.

Looking at his eldest son, who seemed just a little too pleased with himself, Minato felt a headache coming on.

What had happened to Nonō and Kabuto had already happened. It didn't matter what he thought about it. At least it hadn't ended in tragedy.

What mattered now was teaching his son, who was straying further and further off course.

"Konoha has its dark side, so Danzo deserved to die. And I admit the Third Hokage failed in his duties... But Naruto, you can't reject the whole village just because it has flaws. There are good things about it, too. Your teacher Iruka, your classmates Hinata and Sasuke, Ayame and Teuchi at Ichiraku Ramen—they're all good people..."

Minato went on and on, earnestly trying to persuade him. To sum up, what he meant was—

If you think Konoha is no good, then help build it up. If you think the Hokage is no good, then train hard and become Hokage yourself. If you think the people are uncultured, you can establish schools and educate them, just like the Second Hokage. Don't keep thinking about undermining Konoha, defecting, or founding a new country. Those are treasonous ideas.

Where you stand is your Konoha. What you are like is what Konoha is like. If you are a light, then Konoha will not be dark...

"You sure are long-winded..."

Naruto yawned with boredom, and Kushina grabbed his ear.

"Listen properly to your father!"

"Ah! Easy, easy, Mom! I get it, I'm listening."

Naruto pretended to cry out in pain.

"That didn't hurt that much. I know my own strength. You're trying to fool your mother again."

Though she said that, Kushina's grip loosened despite herself.

But she kept hold of Naruto's ear, her expression turning ominous. "What about the fact that you shut your mother out earlier?"

Naruto put on a solemn expression. "I think I should listen carefully to Dad."

Minato stopped his long-winded lecture and gave a wry smile. "Forget it. You have your own ideas, so I'll stop talking. If I say too much, you'll just get annoyed with me."

Wow, what a perfectly timed betrayal.

Naruto said seriously, "It's more annoying when you stop talking now."

"Don't you dare be annoyed with your father!"

Kushina's brows shot up, and she tightened her grip on Naruto's ear.

"It's coming off! My ear's going to come off..."

Naruto yelped.

Back in the outside world, Naruto didn't put up much of a fuss. He nodded and agreed to take in Nonō and Kabuto.

The two were about to thank him when Naruto suddenly turned to Kabuto. "Someone tampered with your brain. It looks like Sunagakure's handiwork."

Nonō's expression changed. Kabuto was an orphan she had taken in during the war between Konoha and Sunagakure. Could it be...

"Matron, I... I don't know what happened."

Kabuto looked at Nonō in a panic, as if afraid she would abandon him.

Nonō placed both hands on Kabuto's shoulders and looked at him warmly. "I believe you, Kabuto. Whoever you are, you're my child."

"Matron..."

Kabuto calmed down and quickly understood what he needed to do next.

"Please help me remove the threat, my lord."

"I can, but first, I'll need you to die once."

The Mind-Controlling Sand Technique was a secret technique Sasori of the Red Sand used to control Kabuto. It sent a tiny needle through the memory center of a person's brain, sealing the target's memories.

In theory, Kamimusubi, which governed life, could undo the Mind-Controlling Sand Technique.

But because living people had their own consciousness, Kamimusubi couldn't control anyone's body but Naruto's.

To undo the Mind-Controlling Sand Technique in Kabuto's head, Kabuto first had to die and become a corpse.

The Human Path extracted Kabuto's soul, Kamimusubi controlled his body, and the Naraka Path revived him.

Watching the whole process left Kushina and Minato inside the Sealing Space amazed.

Their son... was unbelievably powerful. He could even bring the dead back to life!

In the distance, Nonō comforted Kabuto, whose mind was still a little muddled.

Shadow glanced at the two of them, then turned back to Naruto, puzzled. "Why do you want them to follow me?"

She thought she was doing just fine on her own.

"Nonō's a medical ninja. If you ever get hurt, she can help."

Shadow didn't agree with Naruto's reasoning.

"I won't get hurt. And even if I do, don't I have you?"

The Life Energy created by the Rinnegan was much more effective than Medical Ninjutsu.

Naruto shook his head. "But I can't always be by your side."