Land of Hot Water

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

After planning the route, they sat down. Naruto asked Minato, "Dad, Mom, do you feel any different now?"

"I can feel that my Soul Origin is very strong now. It should be close to that of a complete soul," Minato replied after a moment's thought.

"I think after cultivating for a while, we won't dissipate even if Kurama stops providing us with spiritual energy," Kushina added.

Naruto heard that and complained to them, "Dad, don't just play cards when you're not cultivating. Even though you don't have a body right now, you can still develop ninjutsu or martial techniques. Don't waste your amazing talent."

Everyone knew Minato had exceptional talent, but no one knew where his limits lay. He was the only ninja from a civilian background to become Hokage. Thanks to his immense talent, he had improved the Flying Thunder God and developed Flying Thunder God Level 3. During the Third Shinobi World War, he had merely watched a Tailed Beast Bomb before developing the A-rank, hand-seal-free Rasengan—and even that was only a prototype.

At the mention of developing new techniques, Minato's eyes lit up. "Actually, I already have a lot of ideas, and they're related to space."

Hearing that Minato's ideas involved space, Naruto encouraged him. "Then do your best, Dad. It won't be long before you and Mom can leave the Sealing Space."

Minato wasn't talking about developing new ninjutsu. He had already developed new techniques before sealing the Nine-Tails. After spending this time in the Sealing Space, all that remained was to test them in practice. What he was thinking about now was simply what to name his new techniques.

Kushina spoke up as well. "I've come up with lots of new ways to use Sealing Jutsu and the Adamantine Sealing Chains. I'll tell you about them when the time comes. Hehe."

Naruto and Minato could only shake their heads and chuckle. Kurama, squatting nearby, gave a disdainful "Tch."

At Kurama's "tch," a vein popped on Kushina's forehead. She sprang up in an instant. "You little brat, Kurama! Got a problem?"

Kurama didn't respond. He just continued looking at her disdainfully. With Kushina's temper, like a hyperactive puppy, the more attention you gave her, the happier she got. But if you just looked at her with disdain, she'd get so mad she'd burst into flames.

Sure enough, when Kurama ignored her and kept looking at her disdainfully, Kushina's hair floated upward, and several chains sprang out from behind her. Minato hurried over and grabbed her.

A few dark lines appeared over Naruto's head at the sight. He left the Sealing Space.

It was still early, and Naruto didn't cultivate. There was still a lot of Demon Owl's memories he hadn't finished absorbing. As he gradually uncovered more, he found all sorts of interesting things. Besides the Encyclopedia of Strange Objects he'd mentioned before, there were things like the Sound Transmission Technique and the Pulse Severing Hand.

The Shinobi World hadn't been around for long, and its technological development was strange, so many resources remained undiscovered. To make sure he didn't miss anything in the future, Naruto read everything he could, whether it was the Encyclopedia of Strange Objects or other miscellaneous writings. Whenever he had free time, he would take them out and read.

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

Located in the northeastern part of the Land of Fire, the Land of Hot Water was known as "the country that had forgotten war." After the war ended, Yugakure, once a "combat-oriented ninja village," gradually declined because the daimyo cut its funding. But the country's beautiful natural scenery and tourist attractions became more appreciated as times changed. Hidan of the Akatsuki came from this village.

By this point, Hidan had already defected from Yugakure and joined the Akatsuki.

Naruto didn't encounter any trouble on the way. He cultivated as he traveled, and it took him five days to reach a small town on the border of the Land of Hot Water.

He planned to stay there for the night. He hadn't gotten a proper rest during the past few days of travel, and at night he'd just found somewhere to cultivate.

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

His spiritual-energy separation was still far from splitting it into threads, but he could now divide a wisp of spiritual energy into ten portions without it dispersing. During this time, Minato had taught him two Earth Release techniques. Naruto had also tried summoning the Jedi Demon King, a demonic idol he could summon after reaching the first level of his cultivation technique. After letting it possess him and then using ninjutsu, he found that his techniques were about thirty percent more powerful than when he used them on his own.

The Supreme Demon Sutra had reached the middle stage of the second layer, and more and more of the spiritual energy in his vortex was turning into droplets. Naruto hadn't practiced martial techniques or ninjutsu much over the past few days. Instead, he'd tried out some of the minor tricks he'd found in the 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 sure, but he should be somewhere near Yugakure," Minato replied.

Minato still remembered what Jiraiya had said when he gave him his book, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. "Minato, this is the first novel I've written. Unfortunately, it didn't sell well. I might have to try a different writing style for my next book. I have a few ideas, and I'll probably spend a lot of time in Yugakure from now on."

Naruto had once come across Icha Icha Paradise, and the author's name on it was Jiraiya. That had helped Minato understand what his teacher had meant by trying a different writing style.

According to Jiraiya, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi was inspired by his other student, Nagato. It told the story of a ninja who faced setbacks without ever giving up. Naruto was the name of the novel's protagonist. After reading the book, Minato had asked Jiraiya to give that name to his unborn child.

So when he saw Icha Icha Paradise, Minato had a good idea why Jiraiya had said he would spend a lot of time in Yugakure.

Hearing Minato's uncertain answer, Naruto sighed. "Too bad I don't know the Pervy Sage's chakra signature."

It was like using the Flying Thunder God: as long as Naruto knew someone's chakra signature, he could sense their location no matter how far away they were.

"It's all right. The Land of Hot Water isn't very big. If Jiraiya-sensei is really staying in Yugakure, we'll find him soon enough," Minato said, noticing Naruto's disappointment and trying to comfort him.

"Yeah. Then I'll have to use the clumsy method: keep my senses active once I enter the Land of Hot Water," Naruto replied.

"You only need to pay special attention to hot springs and bars. Jiraiya-sensei probably only hangs around places like those," Minato continued.

At Minato's words, Naruto grinned. "Right. You and Mom can keep playing cards, then. I won't bother you." He'd heard Kushina in the Sealing Space asking Minato why he'd taken so long to play his next card.

Naruto was in a hurry to find Jiraiya not only to undo his Nine-Tails seal, but for other reasons as well. By now, Shisui Uchiha had probably told Shimura Danzō about his Mangekyō Sharingan ability. Naruto could save Shisui on his own, but he didn't want to go back to Konoha to bring him away. He had some other plans.

Besides, Jiraiya was one of the few ninja who genuinely hoped for peace in the Shinobi World. He and Minato were like father and son, which was why Minato had supported Naruto's decision to find Jiraiya.

Gradually putting his thoughts aside, Naruto circulated the Supreme Demon Sutra and began absorbing spiritual energy.

Early the next morning, Naruto checked out, slung his backpack over his shoulders, and set off. If nothing unexpected happened, he'd reach the Land of Hot Water that afternoon.

He walked along, splitting his spiritual energy as he went. Around noon, Minato's voice came to him. "Naruto, there's a small village about three kilometers ahead. You can rest there and get something to eat."

"Okay, got it, Dad. How much farther is it to the Land of Hot Water?" Naruto asked.

Hearing Naruto ask how long it would take, Minato made a quick estimate. "After you rest in that village, it'll take about three hours to reach the Land of Hot Water." Naruto was walking, so he was moving more slowly.

As Naruto headed for the village to rest, a man wearing an Akatsuki robe was slaughtering people, laughing wildly as he killed.

The man had gray hair and wore a Forehead Protector with a line slashed through it, marking him as a rogue ninja. He wielded a strange-looking scythe and chased people down to cut them apart.

Not far away, another man in an Akatsuki robe and a slashed rogue-ninja Forehead Protector sat on a rooftop. A mask covered his face. These were the Akatsuki's Immortal Duo, Hidan and Kakuzu.

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

Hidan didn't stop killing when Kakuzu asked him. Without even turning around, he shouted, "Hahaha, don't rush me, Kakuzu! The leader finally sent us out together. Give me a little longer. These people are all offerings to Lord Jashin!"

Hearing Hidan say that, Kakuzu said nothing more. He simply watched him in silence.

Kakuzu had originally been a ninja from Takigakure. After failing a mission from the village to assassinate the First, Hashirama Senju, he returned to Takigakure. When he learned that the village elders had decided to execute him for his failure, Kakuzu killed the ninja guarding him, stole Takigakure's treasure, Earth Grudge Fear, and defected from the village.

When the Akatsuki was first founded, it lacked funds, so Pain recruited Kakuzu, who was good at making money. Kakuzu joined because Pain was powerful, which would make it easier to fight high-bounty targets and earn money.

For a long time after joining the Akatsuki, Kakuzu operated alone. Then Hidan joined. Since they shared the same trait—immortality—the Akatsuki's leader, Pain, assigned them to the same team.

Pain had sent them out on this mission because the Akatsuki was short on funds and needed them to take jobs and earn bounty money.

Hidan had killed all the villagers below. He used blood to draw a huge circle in the open space at the center of the village, then drew a triangle inside it.