Naruto, walking beside Mikoto Uchiha while holding her hand, looked up at her.
"Ryūchi Cave... isn't that a secret realm said to be inhabited by sages? Naruto, do you want to go to Ryūchi Cave?" Mikoto Uchiha froze for a moment.
"Yeah. I want to learn sage techniques. We might face even stronger enemies in the future, and I want to make myself stronger." Naruto nodded and voiced her thoughts.
Mikoto Uchiha guessed, "I don't know where Ryūchi Cave is. I've heard it's an extremely secretive place. You probably need some special means to enter it, right?"
"Why learn sage techniques? Isn't using my Chakra good enough?" There was a trace of jealousy in the Nine-Tails' voice. Naruto thought she had misheard, but when she entered her inner world and saw the Nine-Tails puffing up in anger, she confirmed that this big furry kid was really jealous. The corners of her mouth curled up despite herself.
Naruto walked over to the Nine-Tails and stroked its fur.
"That's different."
"Your power is very strong, Nine-Tails, but if I want to become even stronger in a short time, this is the only way. You understand that using even the power of your five tails is already extremely difficult with my current body, let alone greater power. Besides..."
"Nine-Tails, you aren't complete right now, are you?"
"H-how did you know?"
The Nine-Tails froze at Naruto's words and stared at her seriously.
"Because when my idiot dad sealed you away back then, I still had my memories."
When Minato Namikaze sealed the Nine-Tails, Naruto had not noticed that he had sealed half of the Nine-Tails inside himself. At the time, she had been crying and screaming in unwillingness before losing consciousness in excruciating pain.
Of course, she knew the Nine-Tails was incomplete because she had read the original work.
Naruto wanted to learn sage techniques not only because the Nine-Tails was incomplete, but also because Sage Mode could use Nature Energy and was powerful enough.
After all, Jiraiya had fought the Three Paths of Pain to a standstill with Sage Mode in the original story. If he had known the secrets of the Three Paths of Pain and Nagato, Jiraiya would not have died. He might even have killed Nagato instead.
Naruto figured that if she mastered Sage Mode and added the Nine-Tails' Chakra, she could crush Nagato with absolute certainty. Even against Obito Uchiha, she might not lose.
"My Chakra has two attributes, yin and yang. The Chakra sealed inside you, Naruto, is the yang half, while the Chakra sealed inside Minato Namikaze is the yin half. But Minato Namikaze is already dead, so my other half must have gone to that world with him."
"There's another way to restore you to your complete form."
Naruto gave a mysterious smile and tapped the Nine-Tails' claw with her finger again and again.
"What way?"
The Nine-Tails' ears twitched as it stared wide-eyed at Naruto. Was there really a way to summon its other half back from that world?
"Impure World Reincarnation, a forbidden technique that can summon the dead back into the living world. As long as we summon Minato Namikaze, who has your other half sealed inside him, then take that half from him, you'll become complete."
Naruto calculated that in a few years, the Chunin Ninja Exams would arrive, and Orochimaru's Konoha Crush plan would begin. When he fought the Third Hokage and used Impure World Reincarnation, she had to make him summon Minato Namikaze. Then she could take back the Nine-Tails' other half from him!
"In a few years, we'll have our chance. As long as we seize it, I can make you whole again! When that time comes, I believe no one will be able to restrain your freedom any longer!"
Naruto planted her hands on her hips confidently before the Nine-Tails.
"You'd better protect me then!"
"Isn't that obvious? I'll be looking forward to it!" The Nine-Tails revealed an excited grin.
Karin suddenly spotted a figure appearing in the distance. From him, she sensed Chakra as cold as a snake and a sinister, terrifying killing intent.
"નારuto! Sister Mikoto! Be careful, there's an enemy over there!"
Hearing Karin's warning, Naruto looked in the direction she pointed. Mikoto Uchiha activated her Three Tomoe Sharingan.
Amid a hoarse voice and eerie laughter, someone who shocked Naruto appeared there.
"Orochimaru..."
Mikoto Uchiha watched Orochimaru warily, instinctively stepping in front of Naruto as her Sharingan locked onto him.
"Orochimaru, one of the Three Sannin. What are you plotting by coming here specifically to find us?!"
"Don't misunderstand."
When Orochimaru saw Mikoto Uchiha's Three Tomoe Sharingan, a flash of greed passed through his eyes.
Naruto frowned unhappily. She had seen that greed clearly. What exactly had happened for Orochimaru to still be so fixated on the Sharingan?
"Naruto Uzumaki, you want to go to Ryūchi Cave, don't you?"
"What if I do?"
Naruto stepped out from behind Mikoto Uchiha and raised her head to meet Orochimaru's golden snake eyes.
"I can take you to Ryūchi Cave, but on one condition."
"A condition?"
Naruto instantly entered a Three-Tailed Nine-Tails Transformation. The tails swaying behind her stretched out like lightning, wrapped around Orochimaru's neck, lifted him into the air, then slowly tightened until they severed his head.
"You don't even dare show your real body in front of me. What gives you the right to discuss conditions with me?" Naruto's blood-red eyes gleamed viciously as she looked at Orochimaru's motionless clone on the ground.
"Are you going to call back your clone, or do you want me to invite you out?" A dark crimson pellet appeared at Naruto's fingertips, aimed at the ground in the distance.
"I didn't expect you to find me!"
As Orochimaru crawled out of the ground, his "corpse" turned into mud.
Naruto snorted but said nothing. The only reason she had been able to find Orochimaru was because of Karin.
Karin, who had activated the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, did not rashly speak to Naruto. Instead, she kept staring in one direction, hoping Naruto would understand what she was trying to tell her.
When Naruto saw that Karin was not looking at Orochimaru but was instead staring intensely at another spot, she naturally guessed that the one before her might be a clone, while Orochimaru's real body was hiding there.
"Go on. What are you plotting? If you're thinking of attacking her while I'm not paying attention, you'd better weigh your own strength first." Three tails swayed behind Naruto as she glared at Orochimaru with hostility in her eyes.
The greed in Orochimaru's eyes had just sounded an alarm for her. If Orochimaru took a bite out of Mikoto while Naruto was not paying attention, that would be troublesome.
"How could I dare attack her in front of you? This time, I came entirely for you, Naruto Uzumaki."
Orochimaru looked at Naruto with a broad smile. He was clearly very satisfied with this version of Naruto. If she had been like her father, Minato Namikaze, Orochimaru would have found her terribly boring.
"Heh! I don't think there's anything about me that you could possibly want..." Naruto sneered and pointed at the tails behind her.
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