"Naruto, once we get back to the village, I'll have to go on a mission for a while. You absolutely can't stop training."
Jiraiya looked at Naruto as if he were his own grandson.
He had already taught him many of the skills he could pass on.
Now, his next task was to gather as much information as he could about the Akatsuki.
They were extremely dangerous, and Orochimaru, Itachi, and Kisame Hoshigaki were hardly harmless. In the end, they were all connected to the organization.
Was it for Naruto's sake?
Or for the Ninja World?
Beneath the evening sky, Jiraiya felt a sense of contentment.
He had another young person to worry about, someone he felt he needed to protect.
"Naruto."
Tsunade gave Naruto her pendant necklace.
"Wear it, and really become Hokage!"
Was it a curse or a blessing?
It all depended on the person.
"Hey! Tsunade, you're not really planning to recommend Naruto for Hokage, are you? Don't be so reckless!"
Jiraiya had a headache. He was genuinely worried Tsunade might do that.
"Who knows what the old Third Hokage was trying to protect by now? We should at least find out."
Tsunade swayed along the road back to Konoha, holding a small sake bottle.
"This is just awful."
Kabuto had only just woken up, and he was already practically crippled.
All he could do now was wait to be taken back to Konoha and see if anyone would treat him.
The damage to his chakra network meant he could no longer use ninjutsu.
"Lord Orochimaru, are you all right? I'll find a way to get you out of here!"
Kabuto saw Orochimaru apparently whispering something into Naruto's ear and hurried to speak up.
"There's no need, Kabuto. This will be more interesting."
Orochimaru wore a strange smile, which only put Kabuto more at ease.
If Orochimaru ever stopped being a lunatic, that was when Kabuto would be sad.
"It's rare to see the Sannin gathered like this. No matter how I look at it, this scene makes me a little nervous."
Shizune glanced anxiously at Naruto.
"Naruto, is Konoha all right now?"
"Nar... Naruto!"
Shizune turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin.
Naruto was sitting on the head of an enormous Purple-Scaled Manda.
"He actually managed to tame Lord Manda! Even Lord Orochimaru couldn't do that!"
Even Kabuto was startled.
Where on earth had Naruto gotten such charisma?
[ Ding! ]
[ The Host's mission progress is terrible. Not only did you fail to persuade Tsunade to become Hokage, you also ruined the gathering of the Sannin and captured Orochimaru alone. ]
[ Mission failed! ]
[ 2,000 Punishment Points will be deducted as punishment! ]
[ The Host is urged to turn back before it is too late and stop Blackening. ]
"Get lost!"
Naruto couldn't be bothered arguing with the system.
"What kind of trash system charges 2,000 points? That's only enough for two pulls from the Epic Prize Pool. Do you even deserve to be a system?"
Naruto had been in this world for nearly two months.
Anyone else would have become invincible by now.
Yet Konoha still had Guy, who could open the Eight Gates.
And that was without even mentioning the whole crowd of old-timers in the Ninja World lined up to be brought back with Impure World Reincarnation.
[ This system does not do evil, no matter how small. Endure! ]
"Get lost!"
Naruto immediately used the Punishment Points to pull twice from the prize pool.
[ Heaven truly has eyes. ]
[ The items the Host won are truly mediocre. ]
[ Water Style: Water Mirror Technique ]
[ Summoning Technique: Impure World Reincarnation ]
Well, well!
Naruto thought these prizes were actually pretty decent.
Impure World Reincarnation was a useful technique, though this was the version from before it had been improved.
Only after Kabuto and Orochimaru revamped it would it reach the level seen in the Fourth Ninja World War.
Few people knew about the Water Mirror Technique.
That was mainly because its user, the Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura, had been controlled by Obito Uchiha's genjutsu for a long time. After creating the Bloody Mist Village, he had even less contact with the outside world.
Otherwise, this technique would have made a name for itself throughout the Ninja World.
It created a copy of an opponent in a water mirror, then had the copy use the same ninjutsu to fight. It was a super technique for taking on multiple enemies.
"If I could kill Danzo and then use his corpse to practice Impure World Reincarnation, that'd be perfect."
Naruto muttered to himself. Orochimaru was restrained, lying nearby with an excited look on his face.
"Sounds good. I can help you!"
Orochimaru stared at Naruto.
"If you were capable of that, you'd have done it yourself already, you useless piece of trash."
Naruto's taunt made smoke practically rise from Orochimaru's head.
"Once we reach Konoha, someone will come to rescue me sooner or later. The people of Konoha won't kill me. They'll make sure I live even longer."
"When my people come to rescue me from the outside, you'll lose the most important bond in your life!"
Orochimaru let out his distinctive laugh. He wasn't making a threat; he was stating what he believed to be a fact.
"Couldn't be better."
Naruto grabbed Orochimaru and started practicing Impure World Reincarnation.
"What are you doing, you bastard?!"
Orochimaru hadn't expected Naruto to use him for practice.
"You have the Orochimaru Substitution Style. Give me your original body so I can practice Impure World Reincarnation."
Naruto was doing something downright inhuman.
"Absolutely not! You bastard, Naruto!"
Orochimaru was losing it. Neither he nor Danzo had ever been this twisted.
Practicing Impure World Reincarnation with someone's corpse right in front of them.
Of course, there was no way to stop him.
Naruto successfully practiced Impure World Reincarnation using one of the old bodies Orochimaru had shed.
"You summoned the Second, Tobirama Senju!"
Orochimaru took half a step back.
Naruto seemed to be getting more and more insane.
"We only looked away for a moment, and now that kid's doing what?!"
Jiraiya jumped onto Manda's head, much to Manda's displeasure.
"My granduncle!"
Tsunade's face turned green.
Good grief.
Practicing a forbidden technique was bad enough, but now he was using Tobirama Senju for it.
"Orochimaru, why did you teach him Impure World Reincarnation?"
Jiraiya's face darkened as he pressed a hand down on Orochimaru's head.
"Would you believe me if I said he taught himself?"
Orochimaru could have grown a hundred mouths and it still wouldn't have helped.
"Thank you for letting my soul ascend to the Pure Land last time. But why use Impure World Reincarnation on me again?"
Tobirama's attitude was different from everyone else's.
He looked at Naruto calmly.
He did, however, notice Orochimaru's condition.
"I just want to learn a couple more ninjutsu. Forbidden ones, preferably."
Naruto thought his first attempt at Impure World Reincarnation had gone pretty well.
"I won't teach you."
Before Tobirama had even finished speaking, he was sent back to the afterlife.
"If you won't teach me, then get lost."
Naruto immediately released Impure World Reincarnation.
"Wow, Konoha really does surpass the previous generation. Too bad I didn't see your true colors sooner!"
Orochimaru was stunned.
Naruto had summoned Tobirama Senju, who had been dead for ages, just to learn a forbidden technique. When Tobirama refused, Naruto sent him straight back.
Although Impure World Reincarnation fell under Summoning Technique, at its heart it was the essence of Space-Time Ninjutsu, which encompassed Summoning Technique.
"Isn't that a little disrespectful to the dead?"
Tsunade blinked.
"No. If there really is a ninjutsu in this world that can bring the dead back to life, then death is just another state of life."
"If I can use Impure World Reincarnation by myself in the Pure Land after I die, that means I can come back to life forever."
Naruto reached out as if he could touch the sunset, and the Gate of Life and Death.
"So that's it."
"The Pure Land is a spring of resurrection!"
Huh?
While the others were still puzzled, Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock. He looked at Naruto with a newfound intensity.
"Naruto! I can help you with this path! I want to achieve eternal life, too!"
Orochimaru was terribly excited.
He had never thought about life and death this way before.
"Orochimaru, you're still far too weak."
Naruto gazed into the distance. Behind him, only Orochimaru's frenzied laughter remained.
"The Gate of Eternal Life—endless resurrection!"
Orochimaru had never been so excited.
The high walls of Konoha appeared on the far side of the land, where the last light was fading.