Chapter 374: Naruto Comes Out to Work a Part-Time Job?
"..."
Faced with Senju Tobirama's request to seal Uchiha Madara with his backside sticking out, Uchiha Sasuke fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.
"I can't do that. The level of precision required is too high."
Chibaku Tensei uses the target as the gravitational core, meaning Madara would inevitably be at the very center.
To control him at the edge of the seal while leaving half his body exposed would require using a version like Nagato's, creating a gravitational black sphere instead of using Madara directly as the core.
At the same time, Sasuke would have to continuously use Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull) to pull Madara's body, keeping him within a specific range.
Only then could he meet Tobirama's request.
That simply wasn't something Sasuke could achieve at his current level.
"..."
Tobirama lay on the ground in silence, offering no response.
Only after the small Chibaku Tensei had fully formed did he speak.
"It's fine. I just said that for Madara to hear."
Now that Madara was sealed inside, he shouldn't be able to hear anything outside. Only then did Tobirama reveal his true intention.
Sasuke's expression froze instantly.
He had just successfully pulled off his "cool act" against Madara, finally getting a satisfying moment without being interrupted.
But now, Sasuke clearly saw the gap between himself and the scheming veterans.
Was this Second Hokage even human?
An Impure World Reincarnation body has no sensation. Madara's current body had almost zero sensory ability, and once sealed inside Chibaku Tensei, it dropped to absolute zero.
So Madara inside couldn't perceive anything about his own condition.
The only thing he knew was that Tobirama had mentioned "leave the backside exposed, with half outside" before the sealing.
Even though Madara was now completely sealed inside, he would inevitably start imagining.
Was half his body really exposed outside?
Was Tobirama going to call over the Inuzuka clan's dogs to do something unspeakable to him?
What?
You say Tobirama had promised Hashirama not to act?
Could anything that cunning man said actually be trusted?
In short, Tobirama exploited Madara's distrust of him, planting that single sentence before the sealing.
As a result, Madara would endlessly torment himself in the darkness, imagining what might be happening to the "half" of his body outside.
It's really terrifying.
Even Sasuke couldn't help but take a sharp breath inward.
"Second Hokage, help me look after Naruto. I'm a bit exhausted."
Sasuke slowly lay down on the broken bed, adjusted a pillow beneath his head, and soon lost consciousness, whether from fainting or falling asleep.
Sasuke's Rinnegan awakening differed from the original story, where the Sage of Six Paths directly infused him with Yin power.
He didn't have any extra temporary strength to burn through.
His Rinnegan was indeed on the verge of awakening, but this forced activation under stimulation had ultimately happened earlier than it should have.
It was like in certain monster-catching games, where a third-stage evolution requires level 36, but with high enough affinity, it can be triggered early at level 32 during battle when the creature is near defeat.
"..."
Tobirama, still lying on the ground, had just opened his mouth to speak when Sasuke had already passed out.
He was speechless.
The only part of his body he could move right now was his tongue, how exactly was he supposed to take care of Naruto?
After thinking it over, Tobirama gave up.
With the disturbance caused by Chibaku Tensei, someone would arrive soon.
Even if no one came, his elder brother would be back shortly.
He could explain everything then.
As for Naruto, If his guess was correct, Sasuke's newly awakened dual Rinnegan ability was the same as that future Sasuke's single Rinnegan ability.
A space-time technique that swaps the positions of two objects.
It was called "Amenotejikara", right?
Back then, the adult Sasuke had used Amenotejikara to swap the Rinnegan in Urashiki's hand with a pile of shit on the ground, giving an Ōtsutsuki a taste of Earth's "cuisine."
If that was the case, then when Sasuke swapped with Uzumaki Naruto earlier, Naruto should now be at Sasuke's previous location.
Even if not inside Amegakure, it would at least be somewhere nearby outside the village.
He should be relatively safe.
There was no need to worry about Naruto encountering danger.
Meanwhile, Inside Amegakure Village.
Before awakening the Rinnegan and using Amenotejikara to swap with Naruto, Sasuke had been flying through the air in Susanoo, trying to rush back as fast as possible. Realizing he still wouldn't make it in time, he then awakened the Rinnegan.
Which meant that when Naruto swapped with him, he appeared in midair.
Of course, Sasuke hadn't lost his rationality in panic.
Before using Amenotejikara, he deliberately lowered his altitude.
Only after ensuring Naruto wouldn't be injured from the fall did he activate the technique.
The low-altitude Susanoo flight caused some commotion, but it subsided as soon as the swap occurred.
Naruto, now swapped in, fell from the sky, landing straight into a clothing store, coincidentally dropping into a dress displayed in the shop window.
The entire sequence was so smooth it almost felt like a scene straight out of Tom and Jerry.
"Rin, now that you've been revived and are alive again, stop training so recklessly all the time."
"
And since you're alive, you can finally wear pretty clothes again. Today, your big sis is taking you to buy some."
Uzumaki Kushina led Nohara Rin toward a women's clothing store she had long taken a liking to.
As they passed the display window, Kushina paused in surprise.
"Why does this shop have a mannequin that looks so much like Naruto?"
"Um… Kushina-nee, are you sure that's a mannequin?"
Rin looked slightly awkward.
The Three-Tails inside her had none of the concerns the Nine-Tails usually had. As soon as they got close, it immediately told her,
This was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, and he even carried some of its chakra.
There was no doubt about it.
"What do you mean? You're saying that's actually Naruto?"
Kushina looked more closely and noticed that the "mannequin" was indeed breathing.
She froze.
"Could it be… Naruto's so broke that he's come out to work part-time like this?"
That was just too…
Wait.
Something wasn't right.
Kushina looked down and noticed the issue.
Naruto was wearing a dress, with bare legs underneath.
But on the ground below him, there was a pair of pants.
If Naruto were really working part-time, the pants should be in the fitting room. Why would they be here?
Could it be he was forced?
Crash.
Bang!
Without another word, Kushina punched through the display glass, jumped inside, and slapped Naruto across the face.
"Mm… huh?"
Naruto, who had already been freed from genjutsu but remained asleep, slowly opened his eyes in confusion.
(End of this chapter)