"Should I go back to Konoha?"
"Or..."
Shihōin Naraku hadn't left Konoha in some time, and he didn't want to rush straight back just yet.
"Right, I'll go take a look at Flame Mountain."
"Ever since the war with the Land of Lightning ended, I haven't gone back to see the miracle I created!"
For a long time, people had been telling Naraku that the Fire Release he had unleashed had set an entire mountain range ablaze, and that it was still burning endlessly, without any sign of going out.
Naraku had done it himself, so he knew.
But after defeating the Cloud Ninja force, he had led his own force away immediately.
After all, the fighting in other parts of the Land of Lightning hadn't ended yet.
After leaving, he had never returned to see what Flame Mountain, with its year-round flames, looked like.
Almost everything he knew about its current state came from people who had gone to see Flame Mountain because of its reputation.
Since he happened to be in the Land of Lightning this time, he wanted to take a look himself.
Besides, Naraku now commanded several Space-Time Ninjutsu, so distance was no longer an obstacle to him.
One moment, he could be in Konoha, dutifully serving as the Sixth Hokage.
The next, he might have run off to another country.
There was no helping it. Space-Time Ninjutsu was simply that convenient, especially in Naraku's hands.
And now, several months-nearly half a year-had passed since the Shinobi World War, and the upheaval stirred up by the war had gradually subsided.
Konoha was back on track as well.
Apart from some routine affairs that required his attention, Naraku actually had quite a lot of free time.
There were essentially no external threats now.
The other Shinobi Villages