Late that quiet night, Naruto lay in bed with his hands behind his head, staring absently at the ceiling.
Everything he had experienced, from the brink of death to his rebirth as a boy, still felt somewhat unreal, even though it had truly happened.
So he needed the stillness of night to let it all settle, to bring his mind and body into step with reality.
Shhh... The faint sound of a shower drifted in from next door.
Something stirred in Naruto's heart. He pulled his left hand out from beneath his head and slowly lowered it to his abdomen...
Hiss!
The Ritual Formula of the Eight Trigrams Seal appeared.
Naruto asked, "Hey, Kurama, you've finished looking through them, right? The memories I brought back with me?"
Those memories spanned nearly a century-an immense amount of information. Even the Nine-Tails could not digest them in a mere moment.
The Nine-Tails' cold, haughty voice came through. "Hmph. So?"
Naruto said calmly, "Since you've seen them all, you should know why I'm doing this, right?"
The Nine-Tails remained cold and haughty. "So?"
Naruto stayed just as calm. "So, can we open our hearts to each other like we used to?"
The Nine-Tails said darkly, "Open our hearts? I don't remember ever being that close to you! As for the one in your memories, that wasn't me at all..."
Naruto sat up. "Hey, that was clearly you!"
The Nine-Tails roared, "Shut up!!! I am the embodiment of evil! How could I possibly bow to a brat like you!? And say all those sickeningly sentimental things? That wasn't me!!!"
Naruto said helplessly, "Kurama, I know you like being stubborn, but you're just fooling yourself...!!"
"Grr, shut your mouth! Don't use my name as if you know me...!!!"
Within Naruto's inner world, the Nine-Tails thrashed his tails in fury. His seething rage even spilled through the seal's markings...!!!
Thud!!!
"Ow..." Naruto's head slammed into the bed frame, sending a jolt of pain through him!
"Even if that was me, I still don't like you as you are now! I don't like you, I really don't like you, I absolutely don't like you-I loathe you to the very depths of my being!!"
"Kurama, I..." Naruto tried to explain, but the Nine-Tails gave him no chance. He even swore an oath.
"Whatever your reasons, you're no longer Naruto Uzumaki!! Get out! Get out of this boy's body! I'll never acknowledge someone like you as Naruto! Never, not ever!!!"
Whoosh!
The Ritual Formula of the Eight Trigrams Seal vanished again, and the Nine-Tails fell silent once more... Clearly, it had shut off the chakra pathway again!
"..." Naruto shook his head helplessly, though he could understand how the Nine-Tails felt at that moment.
Tailed beasts were animals too, and animals had feelings. They also needed experience to grow.
In his previous life, the Nine-Tails and Naruto had gradually opened their hearts to each other, until the Nine-Tails eventually offered his life willingly.
The Nine-Tails of the present had yet to undergo that growth. Even after seeing those memories and feeling the pain deep within Naruto's heart, he could not simply reach the same understanding.
Differences in perception could not be resolved in a moment.
Naruto murmured to himself, "But I believe the day will come when we open our hearts to each other again..."
Having heard the earlier commotion, Konan called from next door, "Naruto, what's wrong? Are you arguing with someone?"
Naruto replied, "Konan... I'm fine. I just met an old friend."
"I see..." Konan understood.
After seeing the Nine-Tails' reaction, Naruto could not help asking with mixed feelings, "Konan, are you willing to help me like this just because I showed you those memories?"
After a long silence next door, Konan spoke again. "We're both Jiraiya's students, but from beginning to end, you were the only one who kept following the Ninja Way he passed down. Even just before you died, I could still see traces of the Yahiko I once knew in you..."
"Those memories certainly played a large part, but they weren't everything."
Naruto felt relieved. "I understand. That puts my mind at ease..."
"Go to sleep," Konan said gently. "We have a long road ahead. We'll take it one step at a time."
Naruto closed his eyes. "Okay. Good night, Konan."
The rest of the night passed quietly.
Early the next morning, refreshed after a good night's sleep and breakfast, Naruto joined the others on the tower's ninth floor.
Here, they would discuss their plans for the future.
There was a chair on each of the east, south, and west sides. Naruto sat in the south, facing north, with a round table before him and a wooden box on it. From his seat, he had an unobstructed view of the overcast sky and curtain of rain outside the tower.
Konan stood behind Naruto.
Orochimaru sat to the east, his arms folded across his chest and an intellectual smile lingering on his lips.
Kisame sat to the west, his posture proper, with Samehada standing beside him.
"..." Naruto leaned forward, clasping his hands and resting his chin on their backs, his gaze intent.
"Let's begin."
Swish! With a slight movement of Konan's hand, a parchment map of the shinobi world unfurled against the back wall.
Rumble!
Lightning flashed and Thunderclap roared, illuminating her cold face. The stud at the corner of her mouth added to her air of maturity.
Naruto spoke methodically.
"With economic support from the Five Great Nations and ninjutsu passed down through generations, Konoha, Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Iwagakure became the Five Great Shinobi Villages that carved up the shinobi world..."
"Our first objective is to gather the secret ninjutsu and kekkei genkai of the major Ninja Villages..."
"Kekkei genkai require the right bloodline, so we'll begin with secret techniques!"
"Kumogakure's Lightning Release Nintaijutsu, Iwagakure's lightening and Added-Weight Rock Techniques, Kirigakure's secret assassination techniques, Sunagakure's secret puppetry techniques, and... Konoha's Ino-Shika-Cho secret techniques. Those are all powers I want!"
In his previous life, the Five Great Shinobi Villages had enjoyed friendly relations. As the pillar holding the Five Kage together, Naruto could easily have obtained those secret techniques if he had wanted to. But back then, he had never cared about them, believing the ninjutsu he already excelled at were enough...
Only after facing overwhelmingly powerful enemies had Naruto belatedly realized that there was no harm in having more skills. Those distinctive ninjutsu, in particular, could often catch an enemy off guard or even turn the tide entirely!
So in this life, Naruto intended to acquire those secret techniques first!
Orochimaru slid a hand through his hair and rested it against his cheek. Turning toward the Shinobi World Map, he spoke in a low, raspy voice. "Amegakure, where we are now, borders Sunagakure, the Land of Earth, and Konoha. We should begin with those three Ninja Villages. To narrow it down further, Konoha, where you already have a Flying Thunder God Mark, and Sunagakure, with its relatively weak fighting strength, would be our first choices..."
"I want to leave Konoha until last. As for Sunagakure... the wind and sand there make travel difficult. And in Iwagakure, Tsuchikage Ōnoki is a veteran of countless battles. We might not come away with much to show for our trouble."
"Besides, it's precisely because Amegakure lies at the junction of those three great shinobi villages that we can't clash with them first. They're too close. They could send Ninja to attack us at any time, and with our current limited strength, we couldn't beat them head-on..."
Naruto slowly rose and walked over to the Shinobi World Map. Taking out a pen, he circled Kumogakure's territory and drew an arrow pointing toward it from Amegakure.
"Kumogakure has already shown hostility toward us. A clash is bound to happen sooner or later, so we might as well strike first..."
Naruto thought, It would also let me draw the Raikage's hatred of Sasuke onto myself...
Orochimaru smiled. "It seems you've already decided. Do you want that chakra mode so badly, Naruto-kun...?"
Naruto's gaze was deep and serious. "Yes... Lightning Release Chakra Mode can take my reflexes, taijutsu, and defensive strength to another level. Combined with Sage Mode, or even Kurama Chakra Mode in the future, it might make me so strong that I'd frighten myself..."
Then Kisame spoke. "Come to think of it, our organization still doesn't have a name, does it? Will we operate under Amegakure's name? That seems... a little lacking in intimidation."
Naruto looked at Konan, who still wore her flame-cloud robe.
Looking back, Naruto declared firmly, "Our organization will still bear the name 'Akatsuki.' We dwell in darkness, but our hearts turn toward the light. To distinguish ourselves from the other Akatsuki, we'll add the word 'Bright'!"
"Bright Akatsuki..." A radiant smile graced Konan's cool lips.
From that moment on, Akatsuki was divided into light and darkness!
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