"Heh heh, then I'll have to thank you, Lord Orochimaru. Is there any particular information you're after? I'll let you choose. Whether it's the First Hokage's cells, the secrets of the Sharingan, or how to cure Kimmimaro's illness, I can tell you whatever you want to know—but only one thing." The child chuckled.
Orochimaru asked with interest, "You really do seem to know a lot."
"Of course. I wouldn't dare make a deal with you without being prepared, Lord Orochimaru," the child said confidently.
"Then I'll ask one question. Why does chakra exist in this world?" Orochimaru asked with interest.
The child was clearly a little surprised, but then said, "As expected of you, Lord Orochimaru. You went straight to the heart of this world with one question. But I'm curious—why would you ask something like that? Ordinary people don't ask questions like this."
Orochimaru chuckled. "It's nothing. I'm just curious."
The child watched Orochimaru for a while, then said, "If you asked someone else this question, Lord Orochimaru, you might not get an answer. But I really do know. Are you sure you want to trade for this information? It won't be of much use to you."
Orochimaru's face lit up with excitement. "There are too many things in this world that people don't know. Seeking the truth behind them is what I've pursued all my life. If you truly have information about this, then it's exactly what I want to know."
The masked child looked at Orochimaru. "If this is what you want, Lord Orochimaru, then I can tell you. Chakra came from a woman. Before she appeared, there was no chakra in this world."
"Oh? A woman? What kind of woman?" Orochimaru asked curiously.
"Don't be impatient, Lord Orochimaru. Please let me finish," the masked child said calmly.
"Heh heh, I got ahead of myself. Go on," Orochimaru said with a chuckle.
The masked child glanced at Orochimaru, then continued, "She was a woman from another world, named Kaguya Otsutsuki. She also brought a God Tree with her.
This woman had two children with a man from this world. The older brother was named Ōtsutsuki Hamura, and the younger brother was named Hamura Otsutsuki.
Later, after the two brothers sealed their mother away, the younger brother stayed behind to watch over her, while the older brother traveled the world and shared the chakra he had inherited from their mother with humanity.
He hoped chakra would bring peace to the world, because it could connect people's hearts. I'm sure Lord Orochimaru has already guessed who that older brother was.
That's right: the Sage of Six Paths. And the source of chakra was his mother—the princess of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, the owner of the God Tree, the Progenitor of Chakra, and the mother of the Sage of Six Paths: Kaguya Otsutsuki. That's the information you wanted, Lord Orochimaru."
Orochimaru was too astonished to speak. He knew the mysterious child was telling the truth, because he had searched many ruins and historical records, and they all indicated the same thing.
Chakra really had come to the Sage of Six Paths' mother after she ate a fruit. Later, the Sage of Six Paths shared chakra with everyone.
But there were many details he hadn't known—and this child did, as if he had witnessed everything himself.
"Lord Orochimaru, are you all right?" Kabuto Yakushi asked with concern.
Only when Kabuto interrupted his thoughts did Orochimaru come back to himself. He smiled and said, "Your information was very useful to me. Now I should give you what you wanted in exchange. This is the secret technique of Impure World Reincarnation. It contains the method for summoning souls you wanted."
Orochimaru took a scroll from his sleeve and tossed it to the masked child, then left with Kabuto Yakushi.
After receiving the scroll of Impure World Reincarnation, the masked child murmured, "We'll meet again, Lord Orochimaru. Heh heh, hahahaha." A flash of black light passed through the child as he laughed, and he vanished, as if he had never appeared.
After getting Minato's Flying Thunder God, Naruto had marked a secluded spot at the school. Every day, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to get there. Since it was so out of the way, no one had ever noticed. But today, when Naruto arrived using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he found a child staring at him blankly.
Naruto looked him over, then asked, "Who are you? Why are you here?" The child seemed very timid and tried
to run away, but he hadn't gone far before Naruto caught him with Adamantine Sealing Chains and pulled him back. Once caught, he kept crying and fussing, and rain began to fall from the sky. Naruto had to work hard to calm him down.
In a secluded corner of Konoha's Kage Rock, Naruto and the child from earlier were eating ice cream together. "Once you finish your ice cream, you're not allowed to cry anymore, okay? What kind of boy cries all the time? By the way, what's your name? I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said to him.
The child thought about it, then said, "My name is Yota. Shikamaru and Ino won't let me come into the village, but I was really lonely in the forest, so I ran away."
"You said your name is Yota?" Naruto asked. He seemed to remember that, when he was little, he'd had a friend named Yota who could control the weather. It seemed that Orochimaru had brought him back with Impure World Reincarnation and left him here.
Thinking of this, Naruto said, "Yota, how about I teach you to whistle?"
"Sure, sure! Whistling!" Yota was delighted that Naruto wanted to teach him.
Naruto and Yota practiced whistling. Meanwhile, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Sakura, and Kiba were frantically searching for Yota, but they couldn't find him.
"Wait, I remember Yota saying he'd run into Naruto in the village. Could Naruto have taken him?" Shikamaru asked uncertainly.
Ino replied, "No way. Naruto doesn't even know Yota, and he's so antisocial. He probably wouldn't even know Yota wasn't from the village."
"But Yota only met him once," Sakura added.
Ino thought for a moment. "Still, he's scary. I don't really want to get involved with him."
Kiba said, "No matter what, we have to go. If Naruto really did take Yota, then we're in trouble."
Shikamaru said, "Kiba's right. Let's go find him together."
"If you're talking about a little boy from outside the village wearing shabby clothes, I know where he is." A voice came from nearby. Shikamaru and the others turned toward it and saw Shino stepping out of the woods.
Shikamaru looked at Shino and asked, "Shino, you really saw Yota? Where is he?"
Shino looked at everyone and said, "I did see him, but he's from outside the village. Is this really a good idea?"
Sakura replied, "Yota may not be from the village, but he's our friend. Please, Shino, tell us."
Shino could tell from the looks on their faces that he couldn't talk them out of it, so he said, "I saw him with Naruto on top of Kage Rock. They seemed to be eating ice cream."
Shikamaru and the others were stunned. They had assumed that if Naruto had taken Yota, he would have handed him over to the village's Anbu. But from what Shino said, Naruto hadn't turned Yota over to the village. Instead, he'd become Yota's friend, just like they had.
"Whatever the case, we can only go find Naruto now," Shikamaru said helplessly. In the end, they had no choice but to go look for Naruto together.
Naruto and Yota were still practicing whistling, and Yota was already quite good at it. As he whistled, warm breezes stirred around them.
"So you really are here. We've been looking for you for ages." Naruto heard a voice complain. He turned and saw Sasuke and Hinata walking toward him.
"Just because I didn't come find you first? Since when did you get so petty, Sasuke?" Naruto said, smiling at Hinata. "You're here, Hinata."
"Mhm, Naruto-kun," Hinata replied shyly in a quiet voice.
"Naruto-kun, who is this?" Hinata asked when she saw Yota sitting beside Naruto.
Sasuke also looked at Yota, his brows drawing together slightly. "An outsider."
"Heh heh, Sasuke, you're still so wary. That's right, he's a new friend I've made. His name is Yota, but he's not a bad person, so there's no need to be afraid. Yota, this is my best friend, Sasuke, and the person I love most, Hinata."
Hearing Naruto call her the person he loved most, Hinata blushed bright red. She politely greeted Yota. "Hello, I'm Hinata Hyuga. It's nice to meet you, Yota-kun."
"Heh heh, I'm happy to meet you too, Hinata," Yota replied cheerfully. Sasuke said coolly, "I'm Sasuke Uchiha."
"I'm happy to meet you too, Sasuke." Even though Sasuke was cold, Yota was still very happy.
Just then, Shikamaru and the others arrived. Seeing Yota safe and sound, they were relieved. They ran over and gathered around him, all talking at once and asking him questions.
Seeing how much everyone cared about him, Yota was delighted. He turned to Shikamaru and the others and said, "Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, everyone, these are my new friends, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata. I'm so happy—I've made new friends again."
Shikamaru looked at Naruto and Sasuke. "Thank you for not handing Yota over to the village."
"Heh heh, don't be so formal, Shikamaru. We're all friends. There's no need to thank us. Besides, Yota's my friend too," Naruto replied cheerfully.
Seeing Naruto's smile, Shikamaru was momentarily stunned, then smiled too. "That's true. I was being too formal."
This was the first time Shikamaru had seen Naruto's face. He had imagined Naruto would be a very cold person, just like Sasuke, but Naruto wasn't cold at all. He was sunny, like the sun, and gentle, too.
Shikamaru wasn't the only one who felt this way. Everyone did. Ino and Sakura, especially, had thought Naruto would be terrifying and cruel, but they hadn't expected him to be so handsome, gentle, and sunny.
Ino felt a little regretful. Too bad Naruto already loves Hinata.
Yota took Naruto's hand in one of his and Shikamaru's in the other, beaming. "Naruto, Shikamaru, everyone, let's go play together!" Then he happily led Naruto and Shikamaru off, with the others following behind. Everyone laughed happily.
Before you continue