After reaching a deal with Orochimaru, Naruto didn't rush off to Ryūchi Cave right away. Instead, he returned to Uzushiogakure.
The group of giant snakes in Ryūchi Cave are far more brutal than the toads of Mount Myōboku—they'll even devour each other just to produce the strongest snake. Real charming bunch, those guys.
As for failing to learn senjutsu? Well… whether you turn into a stone statue or end up as snake food, the result isn't exactly a happy ending either. Pick your poison.
The reason Naruto hadn't set out yet was simple: he wanted a form of senjutsu more suitable for humans—like the mysterious Sage Mode used by Hashirama Senju when he fought Madara Uchiha.
That power might come from Shikkotsu Forest—the last of the Three Great Sage Regions—or it might have been something Hashirama developed himself.
More importantly, Naruto simply didn't trust the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave or Gamamaru of Mount Myōboku. Those ancient creatures had lived far too long and never revealed their full strength. And all that "Child of Prophecy" nonsense? Yeah, that made him even more suspicious.
At that moment, the office door was knocked.
Izumi Uchiha entered with a stack of documents and lowered her head.
"Lord Mianma, this is all the Uchiha clan's information on senjutsu. The rest… was lost in Konoha."
Naruto nodded and dismissed her. As she left, she couldn't help but glance back at him, eyes filled with admiration—borderline fanatic, honestly.
The Uchiha respect strength. And Naruto? He was the kind of monster who made them willingly follow him.
While eating lunch, Naruto flipped through the records.
Soon, he frowned.
The Uchiha clan had barely any information on senjutsu—less than what he already knew. For a clan that once stood at the top of the ninja world, that was… kind of pathetic.
Then again, unless Madara Uchiha had killed Hashirama and handed his corpse to Izuna Uchiha for research (yeah, not happening), there was no way they'd uncover that secret.
Inside the sealed space, Minato Namikaze finally spoke up:
"If you want to learn senjutsu, you could just ask me. I did learn it… though I'm not exactly great at using it."
Naruto glanced at him.
"You know senjutsu? Then why didn't you use it against Kurama?"
Minato froze.
Direct hit. Critical damage.
It wasn't that he couldn't use Sage Mode—it just didn't last long. Combine that with the massive chakra cost of Flying Thunder God, and he'd run dry in under three minutes.
"What I mean is," Minato continued awkwardly, "instead of wasting time searching, you could go to Mount Myōboku. Jiraiya-sensei may be… questionable, but he won't harm you like Orochimaru would."
Naruto stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled.
"Fourth Hokage… have you forgotten? I'm the leader of Uzushiogakure. Asking me to learn from Jiraiya is basically asking him to betray Konoha."
Minato fell silent.
Yeah… that wasn't happening.
Naruto continued calmly,
"From my perspective, neither Jiraiya nor Orochimaru can be fully trusted. And as far as I know, Mount Myōboku has been searching for a so-called 'Child of Prophecy.'"
"By their logic, both Nagato and I qualify. But that 'child' doesn't belong to Konoha."
Minato raised an eyebrow.
"You think you're the Child of Prophecy?"
Naruto snorted.
"No. I hate that title. I hate the idea of being 'chosen' even more."
"If I ever go to Mount Myōboku, it'll be a transaction. Nothing more. I'm not becoming anyone's damn spokesperson."
From the side, Kurama burst out laughing.
"Good! I hate those toad freaks too. Smell like crap. Besides, you don't even need senjutsu—this old man is enough!"
"Uncle Kurama is the strongest tailed beast! With me, you can do anything!"
Naruto fell silent.
The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.
Even Isobu (the Three-Tails) looked like he'd seen enough nonsense for one lifetime.
Kurama frowned.
"What? You don't agree? Or do you think I'm weak?"
Naruto sighed.
"Kurama… that's your power, not mine. If I rely on you too much, I'll be screwed the moment you're gone."
Kurama snorted.
"So you think I'll just leave after the seal breaks? If you beg me nicely, I might consider staying."
What Kurama didn't realize was that Naruto was thinking much further ahead.
Even Kurama's power wasn't enough against enemies like the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
In the future Naruto remembered, Kurama had even sacrificed himself in Baryon Mode. After that? Naruto was basically nerfed into irrelevance.
And right now, he didn't even have Sage Mode.
Lose Kurama now, and he'd be finished—completely.
Naruto's expression turned serious.
"Kurama… have you ever thought about getting stronger?"
"Humans can learn senjutsu. Summoned beasts can too. So why not tailed beasts?"
"I'm not doing this just for myself… I'm doing it for us."
"You said it yourself—the Ten-Tails and the Rinnegan are threats. So we need more power to deal with them."
Kurama's eyes lit up.
Damn right.
If he mastered senjutsu, he could beat Shukaku even in the desert and shut that one-tailed idiot up forever.
"I don't mind you learning senjutsu," Kurama said proudly. "But you better contact the other tailed beasts soon. Sharing chakra is important—they need to know what's coming."
In the distance, Minato watched helplessly.
He knew the truth—about Nagato, about Obito Uchiha, about everything.
But he was just a chakra remnant.
Useless.
If only he could be revived with the Reanimation Jutsu…
Then again, bringing back the dead would completely mess up the balance of the ninja world.
He sighed.
Yeah… what a pain.
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