Chapter 360: Where Is the Nine-Tails?
"Sasuke, you understand Naruto's personality. This matter can only be entrusted to you."
Orochimaru handed this responsibility to Sasuke with great seriousness.
"But you don't need to worry. You won't have to maintain this entanglement forever. You only need to keep this state until Second Hokage-sama and I develop a method to transfer this latent chakra."
"From the fact that the First Hokage-sama remains through Impure World Reincarnation, and that Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan did not disappear, we can see that Indra and Asura's chakra are merely two keys to unlocking the Rinnegan."
"Just like how two Mangekyō Sharingan are the keys to unlocking Susanoo. Once it has been activated, even if you lose the Mangekyō, you can still use Susanoo."
"Similarly, Indra's chakra has already reincarnated into you, Sasuke, yet Madara's Rinnegan still exists. Based on this, once you awaken the Rinnegan, even if you lose Indra's chakra, it won't have any effect on you."
"That's good."
After hearing this, Sasuke finally let out a sigh of relief.
Even though he had prepared himself to bear the burden, he couldn't guarantee that he could maintain this entangled state with Naruto forever.
This wasn't something that could just be maintained on the surface, it had to be genuine in the heart.
He might be able to control it for a short time, but over the long term, who could say?
"Sasuke, based on my research with the Second Hokage-sama, Indra and Asura's chakra have certain characteristics. So here's a small trick."
Orochimaru handed Sasuke a small slip of paper.
Sasuke took it and slipped it directly into his pocket without even looking.
Even though Naruto stretched his neck curiously to peek, he saw nothing.
"I'll arrange a place for you outside the village. You can stay there and train for now."
Orochimaru planned to keep the two of them there.
The Land of Rain wasn't large, and its population density was very low.
Outside Amegakure, there were barely any people.
It was the perfect place for Naruto and Sasuke's upcoming "training."
If they returned to Konoha, they would be easily disturbed.
Konoha had the Byakugan, the Inuzuka clan, the Aburame clan, and far too many sensory and intelligence-type shinobi.
Their "bonding situation" would be easily discovered.
Some might think, so what if it's discovered?
But in reality, it wasn't that simple.
Although Naruto and Sasuke seemed full of "bond energy", whenever those bonds were actually triggered, they showed strong resistance.
Like their first accidental kiss in class, both of them looked like they were about to throw up.
The second time, when their hands were stuck together and they kissed again, their resistance was noticeably less, but they were still clearly uncomfortable.
More recently, when Naruto teamed up with Sai, he showed strong rejection toward Sai's attempts at closeness.
What did that indicate?
Orochimaru believed that Naruto and Sasuke weren't people who enjoyed same-gender intimacy, in fact, they resisted it.
They didn't like the same gender.
They just happened to like someone who was the same gender.
They would still resist such "bonding behavior"… unless no one was watching.
So Orochimaru prepared a private space for them.
Naruto and Sasuke arrived at the residence Orochimaru had arranged.
After the guiding ninja left, Sasuke shut the iron door with a loud "bang."
"By the way, how does training work here at Orochimaru's place? You're familiar with it, Sasuke, tell me about it."
Naruto flopped onto the sofa and looked at Sasuke.
But Sasuke didn't answer. He simply stared at Naruto.
The stare made Naruto's scalp tingle.
"Maybe I should just go train with Pervy Sage instead…"
As he spoke, Naruto stood up and moved toward the door.
"You can't leave."
Sasuke placed one hand on the door and covered his eye with the other.
"Naruto, my Mangekyō ability is called Kokūshi (Void Sight). It allows me to observe and project people and objects from thousands of miles away…"
Sasuke briefly explained his ability. Under Naruto's confused gaze, an image appeared on the iron door like a photograph.
After a moment, another appeared.
In total, four images were projected, like a four-panel comic.
"Jiraiya is currently busy. He doesn't have time to train you."
Sasuke lowered his hands, signaling Naruto to take a look.
"W-what?!"
Naruto stared at the images of Jiraiya, shocked, as if betrayed. He pointed at the image with trembling fingers.
"Pervy Sage is supposed to be my sensei, and he's secretly learning my technique?!"
In the images, Jiraiya was holding an indecent book in one hand, wearing a lecherous grin, acting like a "legendary pilot."
After completing his "take-off", Jiraiya successfully entered Sage Mode, his face full of excitement.
That's right.
After Jiraiya learned about the shortcut to Sage Mode from his "Number One Most Unpredictable Ninja" disciple, he, unsurprisingly, chose to undergo "continuous training" instead.
For the first time, Jiraiya discovered that training could be this enjoyable, and he became completely immersed in it.
Moreover, compared to Naruto, Jiraiya had a clear advantage in this area.
Naruto had the Uzumaki physique and a young, resilient body, which was why he needed multiple shadow clones to assist him in entering Sage Mode.
But Jiraiya was different.
He didn't have a special physique, and he was no longer young.
After years of wandering and indulgence in alcohol and pleasure, he had long since reached the stage of decline.
Because of that, even without shadow clones, Jiraiya could enter Sage Mode very quickly. (Joy) (Sorrow).
"Damn you, Pervy Sage! Damn it!"
For the first time, Naruto felt the pain of having his "intellectual property" violated.
And the one violating it was his own sensei, Jiraiya.
If word got out, people would definitely think Jiraiya taught him, rather than Jiraiya learning from him.
"Naruto."
Sasuke called out.
"What?"
Naruto instinctively looked up, meeting Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan, and was startled.
Why was Sasuke activating his eyes now?
Before Naruto could react, he had already fallen into a genjutsu.
Sasuke's Mangekyō ability wasn't an illusion-based technique, but that didn't prevent him from using standard Sharingan genjutsu.
Even ordinary Sharingan genjutsu, enhanced by the power of the Eternal Mangekyō, was extremely formidable.
Still, before using it on Naruto, Sasuke had hesitated.
He wasn't sure whether it would even work.
And Naruto?
After being caught in the genjutsu, he wasn't worried at all.
"Sasuke, you're such an idiot. You don't actually think genjutsu works on me, do you?"
Naruto said smugly from within the illusion.
Killer Bee had told him before, genjutsu doesn't work on a perfect jinchūriki.
Because a jinchūriki has two consciousnesses. If one falls into a genjutsu, the tailed beast can easily snap them out of it.
"Haha, Kurama, I'll leave it to you."
Naruto called out into the depths of his mind.
Of course, he believed that even without calling, Kurama would already be preparing to break the genjutsu.
However…
"..."
"Kurama?"
Naruto began to panic.
Why wasn't the Nine-Tails responding?
(End of this chapter)