In Ryūchi Cave, Naruto was fighting the giant snake Xin Ya.
For Naruto, mastering Senjutsu and Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation wasn't difficult. As long as he could extract a large amount of senjutsu chakra, even a jonin-level ninja could barely manage it—so for him, it was practically child's play.
Looking at Xin Ya in the distance, currently fighting the "earth" itself, Naruto condensed spike after spike from the ground, planning to surround the giant snake and end this sparring session cleanly.
At that moment, Xin Ya suddenly leaped into the air, spewing out a stream of purple corrosive acid.
The moment the acid touched the ground, the condensed earth spikes instantly shrank back one by one—like they suddenly grew brains and decided, "Nope, not dying today."
Seeing this, Naruto showed a helpless smile.
Although Inorganic Reincarnation gave life to inanimate matter, it also awakened their instinct to seek survival and avoid danger. Now even rocks knew when to run away—great, just great.
"Not sure if that's a feature… or a bug," Naruto muttered.
Thinking this, Naruto forcefully overrode their "cowardly instincts" and commanded the earth to attack again.
This time, the ground surged forward aggressively, trapping Xin Ya in layers of soil, leaving only its massive head exposed.
Xin Ya didn't look annoyed at all—instead, it started casually "playing" with the soil, as if this was just a mild inconvenience.
After finishing the spar, Naruto deactivated Sage Mode and looked toward the entrance of Ryūchi Cave.
Calculating the time, he had already stayed in Ryūchi Cave for nearly two months—way beyond the agreement with the old patriarch.
However, since the Edo Tensei body and the caster shared a connection, there was no need to worry about anything going wrong.
And honestly, this trip had been insanely rewarding.
Not only had he mastered Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode, but Kurama had also learned to refine senjutsu chakra. On top of that, he gained valuable information about Senjutsu and even the Pure Land from the White Snake Sage.
Now… it was time to leave.
Naruto called over Rui Jinji and said,
"Rui Jinji, inform the White Snake Sage that I'm leaving Ryūchi Cave."
Rui Jinji nodded and replied,
"The White Snake Sage is currently in seclusion. However, before entering seclusion, she instructed me to tell you that you may leave at any time, Lord Mianma."
Naruto didn't believe that for a second.
"Seclusion," huh? More like "I don't want to answer your annoying questions anymore."
These ancient sages were all the same—the more they knew, the more paranoid they became.
Who knows if they were guarding against the Sage of Six Paths… or some even scarier existence lurking behind the scenes.
Shaking off the thought, Naruto walked toward the exit.
After about half an hour of walking through the tunnel, he finally saw faint light ahead.
Stepping out of the cave, Naruto squinted slightly and looked into the distance.
The scenery was completely different from before.
This confirmed his earlier guess—Ryūchi Cave was a separate space, completely independent from the ninja world.
After adjusting to the sunlight, Naruto didn't rush off. Instead, he sat cross-legged under a tree.
The ninja world was very different from holy lands like Ryūchi Cave. The concentration of natural energy here was significantly lower, which meant slower absorption and weaker senjutsu output.
A few minutes later, Naruto refined some senjutsu chakra and launched a Wind Release technique enhanced with it.
The result?
It only cut down a few dozen trees before losing power.
"…Yeah, that's underwhelming," Naruto sighed.
But it was expected.
The natural energy density here was at least ten times lower than in Ryūchi Cave. Without shadow clones constantly feeding him senjutsu chakra, both activation speed and duration would take a serious hit.
Of course, if he used Kurama's power…
Instant activation. No cooldown. Absolute cheating.
Kurama could even draw in all the surrounding natural energy and activate Sage Mode instantly.
But Naruto shook his head.
"That's not the point."
His goal was to surpass the Five Kage without relying on Kurama.
Otherwise, what's the point? Just slap Kurama on everything and call it a day?
After finishing his training, Naruto used a Transformation Jutsu and stopped a passing traveler.
From the conversation, he learned that he was no longer in the Land of Earth—instead, he had arrived in the Land of Grass. About ten kilometers ahead was Kusagakure.
Naruto wasn't unfamiliar with this place.
The Land of Grass once had a glorious history—at its peak, it nearly dominated the entire ninja continent.
Now?
Just another small country struggling to survive between bigger powers… basically getting bullied from all sides.
If it weren't positioned as a "buffer zone" during the great wars, it probably would've been wiped out long ago.
As for Kusagakure…
It was even worse.
Due to weak reputation and poor ninja quality, Kusagakure ninjas had to accept missions at dirt-cheap prices just to survive.
And that came with consequences.
Sure, ninja work paid well—but medical treatment and weapons were insanely expensive. Most ninjas were barely scraping by, living paycheck to paycheck.
As for how Kusagakure handled medical costs?
Simple.
They dumped the burden onto the surviving descendants of the Uzumaki clan living there.
"…Disgusting," Naruto thought, shaking his head.
Pushing aside those thoughts, Naruto walked toward Kusagakure and soon arrived at its outskirts.
Unlike places like Konoha or Kirigakure—which were called "villages" but were basically full-scale cities—Kusagakure was a real village.
Small. Sparse. Underdeveloped.
Just a few scattered buildings, with only one or two structures that could even be called "tall."
Walking through the streets, Naruto was quickly stopped by Kusagakure ninjas.
However, after revealing a disguised noble identity, their attitude instantly flipped—becoming respectful and obedient.
After all, their entire business model was basically: "Serve the rich, survive another day."
Following their guidance, Naruto casually bought some local handicrafts before heading to the mission center.
This four-story building was one of the tallest in the village—second only to the Kusagakure administrative building.
Standing inside, Naruto activated Kagura's Mind Eye, expanding his perception across the entire village.
Within seconds, he noticed several irregularities.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Then, he turned off the ability.
"Interesting…"
There were many foreign ninjas lurking in the village—which he had already expected.
Aside from the Five Great Villages, Amegakure, and Uzushiogakure, most villages were basically infiltrated like sieves.
Spies everywhere.
That wasn't surprising.
What did catch Naruto's attention… was something else.
A massive number of White Zetsu hidden underground.
Now, White Zetsu were scattered all over the ninja world—it wasn't unusual to find some here and there.
But this amount?
This was way beyond normal.
Which could only mean one thing—
The Akatsuki were planning to make a move on Kusagakure.
But that didn't make sense.
No tailed beasts. No valuable rogue ninja worth recruiting. No strategic importance.
So why here?
Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Unless…"
Nagato had actually listened to him—
And started searching for a new path… beyond the Tailed Beast Project.
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