Land of Hot Water

The new route starts from Muyuan Town, heading first to the Land of Hot Water, then the Land of Fields, and finally the Land of Whirlpools.

After planning the route, the group sat down. Naruto asked Minato, "Dad, Mom, do you have any special sensations right now?"

"I can feel that my soul essence is very strong now; it should be catching up to a complete soul body," Minato replied after a moment of thought.

"I think after cultivating for a while longer, even if Kurama doesn't provide spiritual energy, we won't dissipate," Kushina added.

Naruto teased them, "Dad, stop playing cards all the time when you aren't cultivating. Even though you don't have a physical body, you could develop ninjutsu or martial arts. Don't waste such great talent."

Minato's talent was immense—this was common knowledge—but no one knew his upper limit. He was the only ninja to become Hokage as a commoner, relying on his powerful talent to improve the Flying Thunder God and develop the Flying Thunder God Level 3. During the Third Great Ninja War, he developed the Rasengan, an A-rank ninjutsu without hand seals, just by watching a Tailed Beast Bomb, and that was only a semi-finished product.

Hearing Naruto mention development, Minato's eyes lit up. "Actually, I already have many ideas, and they are all related to space."

Hearing that it was related to space, Naruto encouraged him, "Then keep at it, Dad. It won't be long before you and Mom can leave the Sealing Space."

In truth, the ideas Minato spoke of weren't about developing new ninjutsu; he had already developed them before sealing the Nine-Tails. Combined with the time spent in the Sealing Space, these new techniques were now only at the testing stage. His current thoughts were merely about naming them.

At this moment, Kushina also spoke up, "I've also developed many new uses for sealing techniques and the Adamantine Sealing Chains. I'll tell you when the time comes to use them, hehe."

Hearing this, Naruto and Minato both shook their heads with a chuckle, while Kurama, crouching nearby, let out a disdainful "Tch."

Hearing that "tch," a vein popped on Kushina's forehead. She instantly erupted, "Damn you, Kurama, do you have a problem?"

Kurama didn't even acknowledge her, just continued to look at her with disdain. Kushina had a temperament like a husky; the more you engaged her, the happier she was. Conversely, looking at her with such disdain would make her so angry she'd practically combust.

Sure enough, seeing Kurama ignore her while still looking at her with disdain, Kushina's hair began to float, and chains extended from her back. Seeing this, Minato hurriedly ran over to hold her back.

Seeing this, black lines appeared on Naruto's forehead, and he exited the Sealing Space.

It was still early, and Naruto didn't start cultivating. He still had much of the Demon Owl's memories to digest. As he slowly explored them, he discovered many interesting things. Beyond the Encyclopedia of Strange Objects mentioned before, there were things like the Sound Transmission Technique, the Pulse Severing Hand, and so on.

The ninja world hadn't developed for long, and its technological tree was quite strange, so there were still many resources yet to be discovered. To ensure he wouldn't miss anything in the future, Naruto accepted everything—whether it was the Encyclopedia of Strange Objects or other miscellaneous notes—reading through them whenever he had free time.

The next day, after checking out, Naruto headed in the direction Minato pointed.

Located in the northeast of the Land of Fire, the Land of Hot Water was known as the "Nation That Forgot War." After the great wars ended, the original "Village of Fighting Ninjas," Yugakure, gradually withered (due to the Daimyo cutting their funding). However, thanks to its beautiful natural environment and tourism resources, it gained recognition as times changed. Hidan of the Akatsuki organization hailed from this village.

By this time, Hidan had long since defected from Yugakure and joined the Akatsuki.

Naruto didn't encounter any trouble along the way, balancing cultivation with travel, so it took him five days to reach a small town on the border of the Land of Hot Water.

Naruto planned to stay there for the night; he hadn't rested well during the last few days of travel, spending his nights cultivating wherever he could find a spot.

Naruto had made great progress in his cultivation over these few days.

Although splitting spiritual energy was still far from reaching the level of threads, he could now split a wisp of spiritual energy into ten parts without it collapsing. During this time, Minato taught him two Earth Style ninjutsu. He also tried summoning the Jedi Demon King—a demon statue that could be summoned after the first layer of his cultivation technique was perfected. After letting it possess him to perform ninjutsu, he compared it to performing them alone and found that the power of the ninjutsu increased by about 30% after possession.

The Supreme Demon Sutra had broken through to the mid-stage of the second layer, and the droplets of spiritual energy in his vortex were becoming more numerous. Naruto hadn't practiced much martial arts or ninjutsu these past few days; instead, he practiced some small tricks he found in his memories.

Lying on the bed, Naruto asked Minato in the Sealing Space, "Dad, do you know where the Pervy Sage is most likely to be in Yugakure?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but he should be near Yugakure," Minato replied.

Minato still remembered what Jiraiya said when he gave him The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi: "Minato, this is the first novel I've written. It's a pity the sales were poor. I might change my writing direction for the next book. I have some ideas, and I should be staying in Yugakure often in the future."

By chance, Naruto had seen Icha Icha Paradise, and the author's name on it was Jiraiya, which let Minato know what his teacher meant by changing his writing direction.

According to Jiraiya, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi was inspired by his other student, Nagato, telling the story of a ninja who remained unyielding in the face of setbacks. Naruto's name was that of the novel's protagonist. After reading the book, Minato had begged Jiraiya to bestow that name upon his unborn child.

So, after seeing Icha Icha Paradise, Minato roughly understood why he said he would be staying in Yugakure often.

Hearing Minato's uncertain answer, Naruto sighed and said, "It's a pity I don't know the Pervy Sage's chakra signature."

This worked on the same principle as using the Flying Thunder God; as long as Naruto knew a person's chakra signature, he could sense their location no matter how far away they were.

"It's fine. The Land of Hot Water isn't big. If Jiraiya is really staying in Yugakure, we'll find him before long," Minato said, comforting Naruto when he heard the disappointment in his tone.

"Yeah, I guess I'll have to use the slow way. I'll keep my senses open once I enter the Land of Hot Water," Naruto continued.

"Just pay special attention to the hot springs and taverns. Jiraiya will likely only stay in those places," Minato added.

Hearing the places Minato mentioned, Naruto grinned. "Fair enough. You guys go back to your card game; I won't disturb you." He could hear Kushina's voice in the Sealing Space, asking Minato why he hadn't played a card in so long.

Naruto was anxious to find Jiraiya not just to unlock Kurama's seal, but for other reasons as well. At this time, Shisui Uchiha should have already told Shimura Danzō about his Mangekyō ability. Although he could save Shisui Uchiha on his own, Naruto didn't want to return to Konoha to take him away; he had other plans.

Moreover, Jiraiya was one of the few ninjas who truly hoped for peace in the ninja world. He and Minato were like father and son, which was why Minato supported Naruto when he said he wanted to find Jiraiya.

Slowly pulling back his thoughts, Naruto began to circulate the Supreme Demon Sutra, absorbing spiritual energy.

Early the next morning, Naruto checked out, shouldered his pack, and set off. If nothing went wrong, he would reach the Land of Hot Water by the afternoon.

Walking along while splitting his spiritual energy, Naruto heard Minato's voice near noon: "Naruto, there's a small village about three kilometers ahead. You can go there to rest and get something to eat."

"Got it, Dad. How much longer until I reach the Land of Hot Water?" Naruto asked.

Hearing Naruto ask for an estimate, Minato calculated briefly and said, "After resting at that village, it should take about three hours to reach the Land of Hot Water." Since Naruto was traveling on foot, his speed was a bit slower.

At that moment, as Naruto was heading toward the village to rest, a person wearing a red-cloud robe was in the middle of a slaughter, laughing maniacally as he killed.

This person had gray hair and a headband with a slash through it tied around his neck, signifying his status as a rogue ninja. He held a large, strangely shaped scythe, chasing people down to hack at them.

Not far away, another ninja wearing a red-cloud robe and a rogue ninja headband, his face covered by a mask, sat on a rooftop. This was the Akatsuki's Immortal Duo: Hidan and Kakuzu.

Watching Hidan act like a madman, Kakuzu asked coldly, "Hidan, are you done yet?"

Hearing Kakuzu, Hidan didn't stop his slaughter. Without turning his head, he roared, "Hahaha, Kakuzu, don't be so impatient! It's not often the Leader lets us both out together. Wait a little longer; these are all sacrifices for Lord Jashin."

Hearing Hidan say this, Kakuzu didn't say anything more, just watched him quietly.

Kakuzu was originally a ninja from Takigakure. After failing the mission assigned by his village to assassinate the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, he returned to Takigakure only to learn that the village elders had decided to execute him for his failure. Kakuzu killed the guards watching him, stole the village's treasure—Earth Grudge Fear—and subsequently defected from Takigakure.

When the Akatsuki organization was first founded, it lacked funds, so Pain went to recruit Kakuzu, who excelled at making money. Kakuzu joined Akatsuki because Pain's immense strength made it easier to engage with high-bounty ninjas and generate profit.

For a long time after joining Akatsuki, Kakuzu operated alone until Hidan joined the organization. Because the two shared the same characteristic—immortality—the Akatsuki leader, Pain, placed them in the same team.

They were out this time because of a mission assigned by Pain; Akatsuki was tight on funds, so he sent them out to take on missions and earn bounties.

Below, Hidan had already killed all the villagers. He was seen using blood to draw a massive circle in the center of the village clearing, with a triangle inscribed in the middle.

Ti Ta, author of "Starting Naruto by Drawing Asura Chakra."