Setting aside Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura's petty schemes for the moment, Naruto knew what his most urgent task was.
To fuse all seven chakra natures and create a Kekkei Mōra.
Only by successfully reaching the Six Paths level, gaining greater power and a deeper understanding of the rules, could he begin the next phase of his plan, which concerned the future of the entire Shinobi World.
To that end, he had even set his sights on Otohime's miraculous dōjutsu, Shinkōsanrei.
If he could use that ability to briefly travel into the future, perhaps he could obtain the method for cultivating Kekkei Mōra, or some crucial insight, directly from his future self. It would undoubtedly be a shortcut.
After all, if he succeeded, then in theory, his future self should already have mastered that power.
If he failed, he could still learn from his future self's experiences.
Yet when he returned home, knocked on Otohime's door late that night, and explained his intentions, their attempt to activate Shinkōsanrei in her room met an unexpected obstacle.
Her golden Rinnegan opened, and powerful space-time fluctuations rippled outward, but the anticipated Space-Time Rift never appeared.
The power seemed to strike an invisible yet indestructible wall. It stirred a few ripples in space, then swiftly dissipated.
They tried several times, all with the same result.
"Heh heh."
Otohime deactivated her dōjutsu. She hardly looked surprised; instead, a knowing, amused expression crossed her face.
After returning to her teenage form, she was like an entirely different person from the little girl she had become when she exhausted her chakra.
Now, there was a cool edge to her languid manner, with even a touch of adolescent theatrics.
She brazenly propped her long, slender, pale legs on the table, idly bobbing her toes.
"This was probably my