"So, aside from the missing Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Seven-Tails, the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki has already been captured?"
Naruto looked somewhat surprised as he asked Konan.
Clang!
"Yes, to be precise, he should have been controlled by the Sharingan Genjutsu used by Uchiha Madara."
Hearing Konan's reply, Naruto nodded.
'In that case, the Three-Tails was out of the question. By the time we headed to the Land of Water, it would probably have already left proactively.'
Clang! Clang!
"So, are we going to the Land of Earth next? After all, it's not far from here."
After jotting down a few notes on paper, Jiraiya looked up at Naruto.
The Land of Earth bordered the Land of Rain, and traveling from Amegakure to there was closer than going to Kumogakure.
"No, we'll wait here in the Land of Rain for two days first."
Naruto, however, rejected this decision, then added.
"First, to see if other Akatsuki's members will return here, like the two who went to capture the One-Tail..."
"Sasori and Deidara."
Konan promptly supplied. After Nagato's death, she no longer felt any allegiance to the Akatsuki.
Thus, she felt no pressure whatsoever about betraying her former comrades.
"Right, right. Speaking of which, isn't that Deidara the current Tsuchikage's disciple? If we return him, we might be able to negotiate without even having to fight."
A look of satisfaction appeared on Naruto's face, while Jiraiya and Konan beside him remained silent.
'It couldn't possibly be that simple.'
"Of course, there's also Uchiha Itachi. If he returns, we can leave him to Sasuke to deal with. What do you think, Sasuke, are you confident?"
Sasuke didn't answer him.
Because Sasuke currently had his hands full.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sounds of intense weapon clashes echoed across the open ground.
From the moment they started, Sasuke and Karin, who are in hybrid form, and B, who had drawn seven swords and used his Acrobat sword-style, had been relentlessly attacking Naruto.
But all their attacks were blocked by Naruto using a single transparent katana.
He even seemed to be overpowering them instead.
Indeed, without using Tailed Beast Transformations, these three together were no match for Naruto.
This was also the first appearance of Mushoukou in the Ninja World.
Previously, after swallowing it, Naruto had only used it as the material for creating arm blades, forgetting that he had once been a Master Swordsman himself.
Although as a true Master Swordsman, he could execute corresponding slashes using just his limbs, it still wasn't as suitable as actually holding a hilt.
"Hey hey! Naruto, bro! Distracted during a fight! Looking down on us too much! Yo!"
Even with seven swords dancing like blossoms, B couldn't break through that seemingly flimsy defense.
No matter from which angle B attacked, Mushoukou would always perfectly block its path.
That feeling of having strength but being unable to use it was truly frustrating.
Tilting the sword slightly, Naruto casually swung, and Mushoukou easily broke through B's defense, then he used the flat of the blade to smack him away.
Then, the pommel struck backwards, colliding with Sasuke, who had seized an opening to sneak attack.
Bang!
Two shockwaves collided, ending with Sasuke being sent flying.
Karin's wind blades and feathers rained down like droplets at that moment, but were precisely deflected by Mushoukou.
Following a clear bird cry, Karin's figure suddenly accelerated, diving low and fast along the ground, then her sharp claws thrust forward, catching Naruto at the moment he raised his sword.
Snap!
Unfortunately, this claw was blocked by Naruto's other hand.
The trio's coordinated attacks were still quite rough, unable to launch linked assaults without disrupting each other's rhythm.
It seemed more like they were fighting independently.
"Alright, let's stop here for now."
Naruto casually exerted force, and Karin was easily thrown away. Then, Naruto stored his old companion, Mushoukou back into the seal space within his palm, choosing not to swallow it again.
"Karin, not a bad performance. You has good thinking, using feints to attract attention."
Karin, who had been thrown back, heard Naruto's praise. The smile that had just appeared on her face, having returned from her bird-person form, froze as Naruto's criticism followed immediately.
"Unfortunately, your attacks are too weak, and you still haven't mastered Armament Haki. Even if I didn't block attacks of this level and just tanked them with my body, it wouldn't matter much."
"Not only that, you haven't mastered the Body Revival Technique or the Eight Gates Technique I taught you either."
Under that sharp gaze, Karin guiltily lowered her head, unable to say a word.
"As for Sasuke, you did very well. Your Observation Haki is quite proficient, the color of your Armament Haki has deepened a lot, and this technique you developed yourself is taking shape."
Unlike Karin, Sasuke didn't pay much heed to this kind of praise, silently using Calamity Flames to treat the injuries from the training.
The more he learned, the more he felt the gap between himself and Naruto.
That bottomless Armament Haki, the Observation Haki that almost seemed to predict the future, and the so-called Conqueror's Haki...
It was hard for his attacks to even break through the other party's defense.
As for the derivative techniques he developed based on the Hasshoken, Naruto understood them at a glance, even using the sword's hilt to counter with the fist techniques during the fight.
'If his opponent were that man, would he be defeated just as easily?'
Sasuke's eyelids drooped, his emotions unreadable.
In the previous few battles, his own role hadn't been very significant.
Although he managed to defeat one of the Six Paths of Pain using Calamity Flames, the opponent recovered immediately.
His Mangekyo Sharingan's Ability still hadn't manifested, and whenever he left his Huodou State, his eyes would revert to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
'I'm still far too weak!'
Naruto could understand Sasuke's feelings, but he knew that saying anything now would be useless.
So he just walked over, gently patted the other's shoulder, and then walked away.
A young person's growth required their own reflection. Pure external force and forced growth would most likely lead to unsatisfactory results.
"B, how was it?"
"I take back my words! The two youngsters, not bad! Naruto, your strength is even more exaggerated, yo!"
This guy, B, having been thoroughly beaten by Naruto once, was actually quite convinced by him.
It's just that after the two youngsters woke up, some inexplicable friction arose.
Sasuke and B just didn't seem to get along naturally.
One was taciturn, the other noisy and boisterous… they couldn't talk for long before the conversation fell apart.
While Karin usually didn't get along with Sasuke either, she couldn't just watch Sasuke being lectured by B, an 'outsider', so she joined the fray.
After that, the two sides almost came to blows. Naruto and Jiraiya, who loved watching a good show without worrying about the trouble, were even sitting there drinking sake and betting on which side would win.
Of course, in the end, to avoid hurting harmony, Naruto stepped in.
If the two sides really fought, it wouldn't be good if anyone got hurt. It was better to have both sides attack him together, as it would also help him assess Sasuke and Karin's progress during this time.
It proved that nothing resolves friction better than fighting side-by-side.
If that doesn't work, then a trip to the pleasure district might.
Considering Sasuke was still young and Karin was a girl, that option was of course dismissed.
Sitting back down by the campfire, Naruto seemed to remember something and suddenly turned to look at B.
"Oh right, B, I almost forgot to ask you."
"Why do you call Eight-Tails [Big Bro Gyuki]? And what exactly is that so-called [Perfect Jinchuriki Mode]?"
Earlier, when the two were chatting happily about rap art, they had mentioned the harmonious relationship between Eight-Tails and B.
But they hadn't had time to explain it clearly then.
"Because Big Bro Gyuki is Big Bro Gyuki!"
B's answer was still confusing.
Instead, Gyuki inside him suddenly realized something and started communicating with Kurama 'face-to-face' through the link between Tailed Beasts.
"What's wrong, Kurama? You haven't told Naruto your name yet?"
Gyuki seemed somewhat puzzled about this.
In his view, Naruto didn't seem to reject Kurama, the legendary Nine-Tails, very much. Their interaction pattern seemed quite natural.
'How come Naruto still didn't know that each of the Nine Tailed Beasts had their own names?'
"Tch, none of your business."
Kurama crossed his front paws, burying his head in them, pretending to be asleep.
Actually, he wanted to reconcile with Naruto too.
During this time interacting with Naruto, he could also sense the emotions and will within the other party's heart.
It was a will of equality, different from anyone else in the Ninja World.
Although Naruto initially held a grudge against Kurama, after the Fourth Hokage appeared and cleared up the misunderstanding, explaining that the mastermind was someone else, Naruto no longer held much hatred for Kurama.
During the battle at the Holy Land, the two cooperated sincerely for the first time.
Again, nothing improves relationships better than fighting side-by-side.
Actually, after that, Kurama had already been thinking.
Was Naruto, who could travel between two worlds and had also accomplished 'freeing slaves' in the other world, the person the Sage of Six Paths mentioned who could change the fate of the Ninja World?
Even putting that aside, just on a personal level, Kurama felt that Naruto was quite to his liking.
But...
He missed the chance to introduce himself at the beginning.
So now, suddenly telling the other his real name out of the blue felt a bit strange.
If he were to tell, he should wait for Naruto to ask him first.
In short, this old fox was just being a tsundere.