Unbelievable

Naruto, Konan, and Kisame walked through the dark interior of a pipe.

Three days had passed since their return from Kumogakure.

Orochimaru had gone out to retrieve usable laboratory equipment from his old research facilities.

Konan asked, "Aren't you afraid he'll leave and never come back?"

Naruto said, "He won't. That man's thirst for truth outweighs everything else. At my side, he can get closer to it."

Konan asked another question. "Are you happy with the food?"

Naruto said, "It's pretty good."

Konan said, "I specially selected the chef from the village. If anything isn't to your taste, just say so. I can recruit someone from outside."

Naruto said, "That would cost too much, Konan."

Konan said, "Amegakure still has enough savings for that."

Tap!

At the end of the pipe, the sea and sky opened up before them.

Gazing at the Ocean, Naruto said wistfully, "This is the sea where Pervy Sage died, isn't it..."

Konan couldn't hide the guilt in her eyes. "To tell you the truth, Master Jiraiya lost an arm. Akatsuki's White Zetsu disposed of that severed arm afterward..."

Naruto said, "Right. They all use Zetsu to dispose of their comrades' or enemies' bodies, to keep any information from leaking."

Konan lowered her eyes. "This Ocean is vast. Searching it would probably..."

The water pressure in the deep sea made it absolutely off-limits to shinobi.

Even an unrivaled body like the Third Raikage's might withstand the pressure, but it couldn't overcome the problem of breathing.

Of course, a shinobi who could glide through the Ocean like a shark and breathe freely was another matter.

Naruto said, "Kisame, sorry for the trouble."

"Leave it to me!"

Kisame stepped forward and fused with Samehada, transforming into a half-human, half-shark!

Every cell in a marine creature's body was filled with fluid at a pressure comparable to its surroundings. That kept the difference between internal and external pressure small, preventing the immense water pressure from crushing it.

Marine creatures could also breathe through gills. Water flowed in through the mouth and out through the gill openings, exchanging gases as it continually passed over the gills.

Naruto asked with concern, "Kisame, I've heard there are deep-sea fish and shallow-water fish. Deep-sea fish can burst from the pressure difference if they enter shallow water, and shallow-water fish get crushed if they go too deep. Can that form of yours adapt to the deep sea?"

Kisame said, "No problem. Once I've fused with Samehada, I can adjust the pressure inside my cells to suit the depth. I can also use Thousand Feeding Sharks to expand the search area, but compared to the entire Ocean, even that is a little thin..."

Naruto said, "Then I'm really counting on you, Kisame..."

Whoosh!

Kisame darted into the sea and vanished in an instant, his powerful, agile movements leaving them in awe.

Naruto sat down where he was and waited quietly.

Night fell.

Ripples disturbed the surface, and Kisame leaped out of the sea!

Naruto perked up and landed on the water's surface.

Kisame undid his fusion and set down a skeleton tightly entangled in seaweed.

Naruto examined the skeleton.

It clearly had both arms intact, which plainly didn't match Jiraiya.

Konan said, "It must be someone who died in the Ocean. Remnants of Hanzō's forces used to sneak in quite often. Their bodies were thrown straight into the Ocean..."

Naruto said somberly, "Yeah, perhaps."

In truth, Konan couldn't bear to tell him that bodies that fell into the Ocean almost always ended up as food for fish. Jiraiya had probably...

But Naruto had solid evidence.

In the future, Amado, a scientist with Kara, had created a clone of Jiraiya. He had explicitly stated that he had used specialized equipment to find Jiraiya's body in the Ocean!

"Whew." Kisame took a deep breath. "I'll go back and keep looking, then."

Naruto hurried to stop him. "Kisame, let's call it a day. You can't replenish your chakra in the Ocean, either. Rest up first. This isn't a job we can finish in a few hours!"

He had already prepared himself for a prolonged effort.

Kisame went back to rest.

Weighed down by his thoughts, Naruto walked through the nighttime rain.

Konan sighed. "I'm sorry. If it weren't for us, Master Jiraiya wouldn't have died."

Naruto gave a faint smile. "It's all right. That's all in the past. Actually, I was thinking that if I had summoning creatures like Pain's, we could get twice the results with half the effort."

Konan said, "You mean... the ones summoned by the Animal Path?"

Naruto half-covered his left eye. "Yeah. They operate on land, at sea, and in the air, have all kinds of abilities, and are incredibly strong. There doesn't seem to be a limit on their numbers, either. If I could summon those crabs and the like, maybe we could speed things up..."

Konan said, "If it's the Animal Path's ability, I might be able to help."

Tap! Naruto stopped walking.

Konan said, "The Animal Path's summoning creatures all come from the Realm of Reincarnation. It's a land of contracts that only someone with the Rinnegan can reach..."

This was the first Naruto had heard of that secret!

After all, even Sasuke in the future had never awakened the Animal Path's abilities!

Naruto perked up. "Then how do I get there?"

Konan shook her head. "You can't open it at will. A Rinnegan wielder has a chance of entering it in their sleep. Nagato only triggered the Realm of Reincarnation after he first summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path..."

Naruto's gaze darkened. "I've already tried summoning the Demonic Statue, but there's a huge barrier blocking the Summoning Technique. I suspect Akatsuki did something to the statue. For example, Obito might have sucked it into that eye of his..."

Konan said, "But you might be able to do it without summoning the Demonic Statue."

Naruto said, "Oh? Why's that?"

Konan said, "Because Nagato only gradually mastered the Rinnegan's Deva Path abilities you've already mastered after summoning the Demonic Statue and offering up his chakra. You've mastered them without summoning it, which means your talent for using the Rinnegan surpasses Nagato's. Perhaps you already meet the conditions for triggering the Realm of Reincarnation."

Naruto said, "But I still can't open it at will, right?"

Konan said, "Right. You can only leave it to chance. It could happen tonight, a month from now, a year from now, or even longer."

Naruto said, "But I can't wait that long..."

Ever since seeing that sea, Naruto had been unable to stop thinking about Pervy Sage resting on its icy floor. He could neither eat nor sleep in peace...

But out of consideration for Konan's feelings, he didn't say it aloud.

"..." Konan's expression dimmed. Even without Naruto saying it, she knew why he was so desperate for quick results.

Then a look of resolve rose in Naruto's eyes. "I might have a way..."

Konan asked in surprise, "What way?"

Naruto formed hand seals in front of his chest. "I used this method a lot during training to speed up my progress. But I've never tried having thousands of Shadow Clones dream at the same time..."

"Ninja art: Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

Poof, poof, poof, poof, poof, poof...!!

Under Konan's stunned gaze, clouds of white smoke billowed up, and thousands of Shadow Clones appeared in the rain...!

Smack!

Naruto's original body struck his fist against his palm and declared loudly, "Whatever this Realm of Reincarnation is, tonight we're going to crash its party, believe it!"

The clones' shouts rang out one after another.

"Yeah!!"

"No problem!!"

"Leave it to me!!!"

"I'm going to catch that big bubble-blowing crab, believe it!!!"

Konan watched the scene with a complicated look, a hundred emotions stirring within her. "This boy is simply unbelievable..."