The next day.
After his morning training and a quick wash, Naruto left out a portion of breakfast before heading out. This time, he used the Gate of the Underworld to teleport directly to the outskirts of Tanzaku Town, landing in a forest not far from the bustling town.
Tanzaku Town is a large commercial district in the Land of Fire. It is crowded and full of prying eyes. Naruto didn't want to attract too much attention, that's why he chose to appear in the forest.
Once he arrived, he took a moment to orient himself before walking toward a specific part of town. Half a year had passed, and it was unknown whether those two had adapted to the life here.
Staying in this purely commercial Tanzaku Town, there is no need to worry about safety or anything like that. There are almost no Shinobi here, and most of the people here are civilians.
Konoha is located in the northwest of the town. While it is not too close, it is not too far either. Causing trouble here would be practically courting death.
Early morning, sunlight filtering through the trees.
Back then, to avoid misunderstandings, he had deliberately bought two houses, one in the south, one in the north. The small house in the south belonged to Tayuya, and he went to take a look and found that no one lived there.
He walked through the sparsely populated streets, turned a corner, and finally stopped in front of a small house at the northern edge. When he looked up, he saw clothes drying on the balcony.
He reached out and knocked on the door, but there was no response, so he knocked a few more times.
Finally, there was movement from upstairs. The window suddenly opened, and Nohara Nao squinted her eyes and stuck her head out. She seemed to be still sleepy.
When she looked down dazedly, she was immediately stunned.
"Ah!" She yelped, and suddenly remembered that she had not washed up yet. She covered her face with her hands and ducked back inside.
After a while, there were hurried footsteps coming from the stairs. The door creaked open a crack, revealing half of Nao's flushed face.
"Y-You can come in first… I haven't washed up yet, I'll just…"
After she finished speaking with stammer, she ran into the bathroom as if escaping. The door was slightly ajar, so Naruto opened it with a light push.
After changing his shoes in the entrance, he saw the light on in the bathroom and then someone came down from upstairs.
Princess Sara rubbed her eyes, her fiery red hair cascading down as she stared at him in surprise. Then, she became nervous in an instant, and her movements became a little stiff.
"O-Oh, you're back?" Sara tucked her hands behind her back, visibly nervous, "I-I'll go wash up first. Make yourself at home."
After saying that, Sara ran up the stairs without looking back, as there was also a bathroom on the second floor.
Naruto didn't mind the awkwardness and sat down casually on the couch in the living room. As he looked around, he found the floor was spotless and there was av ase of fresh, understated flowers sitting on the glass table.
When he had first brought the two women out of the Ryumyaku, he didn't stay here for too long. Half a year had passed before he returned here.
Half a year was not a long time for Naruto, as he did not have much time to rest. For him, time flew by in the blink of an eye.
But for them, it was a whole new beginning, so every day must have felt long. Fortunately, Tanzaku Town was a lively, commercial hub, which made it very convenient for the two girls to integrate into life twenty years later.
Not long after, Nao walked out from the bathroom, smiled at him and started making tea.
"Two hundred days have passed."
Hearing her resentful tone, Naruto suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He really hadn't been here for a long time. But while this was the truth, he would not admit it outright.
"I've been too busy lately. I just realized that it's been more than half a year, and I haven't noticed it yet, cough cough."
This excuse was too much of a cliché, but Naruto was already used to lying. He didn't blush or feel nervous at all, and spoke as if it were true, so Nao actually believed it.
"It's fine. We've been adjusting here bit by bit." Nao said, resting her chin in her hands, "Hey, you know, Sara adapted much faster than I did."
"At first, she was the one who went out to buy groceries. Then, she even learned how to use appliances." At this point, she patted her chest and said proudly, "But later, I also learned how to do it. It's quite simple."
"Impressive." Naruto didn't interrupt her rambling. He could see that Nao was really happy to see him.
Originally, he had come here to ask for Nao's help. She and Rin are cousins, and they looked almost identical. At a glance, no one could tell them apart.
He wanted to set up a trap for Obito, who had obtained the Rinnegan. The grudge from the last time was not over yet.
Obito had made one fatal mistake. He should have never, ever, do anything to Ino and Hinata.
Had Obito simply confronted him directly and asked where the Kyubi was, Naruto wouldn't have been this furious. Maybe Obito had never considered others worth his attention, and took Ino and Hinata hostage just for convenience.
The advantage of this is obvious. When facing someone weaker than him, Obito could instantly seize control. After that, they'd be at his mercy.
Unfortunately, Naruto is stronger than him and knows more than him. Obito's approach undoubtedly blocks the path from the very beginning, turning it into a life-or-death deadlock.
There's no way Naruto would be kind enough to help him revive Rin. This was nothing more than a ploy to crush his spirit.
This time, he would make sure both Obito and the Rinnegan vanished for good.
"What's wrong with you? You spaced out?" Nao nudged Naruto lightly.
"No, maybe I didn't sleep well last night." He casually made up an excuse and came back to his senses.
"Why were you staring at me just now?" Nao's face turned slightly red as she asked, somewhat embarrassed. She wondered if it was because they hadn't seen each other for too long.
"Maybe the pressure's getting to me. I've been dealing with a troublesome issue lately." Naruto said with a hesitant look on his face. After all, he had come here to ask Nao for help.
But if she found out that he only wanted to use her to impersonate Rin and break Obito's spirit, it would undoubtedly hurt her as well.
"What's wrong? Can I help?" Nao sat down beside him, grabbed Naruto's hand with a worried look on her face, and stared at him intently.
"I know I can't go home anymore. This place isn't far from Konoha, but it's separated by twenty years. Even though there is nothing here that I am familiar with, as my friends, enemies, family, they're all gone, but at least I still have you."
"I've been missing you a lot in the past six months. If I can help you, I'd be really happy."
As she spoke, she tightened her grip on Naruto's hand, as if she wanted to embed herself deeply into it.
Hearing this, Naruto felt even worse, 'Damn it. I had gotten so used to using those two tools, Ajisai and Yakumo, that my brain had grown numb.'
"You can help. Isn't that why I came to see you?" He said, "Just seeing you makes my worries fade. Things will work out somehow."
"Really?" She asked.
"Of course it's true." Naruto dismissed his earlier foolish plan, "I missed you too."
After spending two days there, Naruto returned to Konoha.
Seeing that he looked a little tired, Konan couldn't help but feel curious and glanced over him.
"These past two days, you..."
"I don't want to go into details." He waved his hand and went back to his room.
Lying on his bed, Naruto looked utterly drained. For the past two days, he had been accompanying two girls on a shopping spree, eating, drinking, and touring all over Tanzaku Town.
Nothing was more exhausting than shopping, and he was practically worn out. Fortunately, someone had massaged his legs at night, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get out of bed.
Two days passed, and he spent another two days recovering after returning.
One day, as he lay sprawled on the couch, flipping idly through a manga, he suddenly slammed the book shut and tossed it aside.
"Did Uchiha Obito die on the way here or something?"
Konan, who is on the opposite side, glanced over and set down her own book. She leisurely took a sip of tea and said, "I asked you the same thing two days ago. You said that Uchiha Obito might have arrived at the village's entrance."
"How was I supposed to know what's up with this guy? Damn it." Naruto rubbed his temples in frustration, "All that effort for nothing, and he still hasn't shown up."