Thanks for the 250 power stones, here's a bonus chapter.
Beside an unnamed river on the border of the Land of Fire.
The sound of gurgling water masked the distant clamor; this was a place of temporary tranquility.
Orochimaru, Kabuto, Karin, the Sound Four, and over a dozen elites from Otogakure who survived the melee were respectfully guarding the perimeter.
Although their thoughts varied, at this moment, all eyes were subtly focused on a large boulder by the river.
A blonde youth dressed in dark blue martial attire sat cross-legged, resting with his eyes closed.
No one dared to step forward and disturb him; even their breathing subconsciously slowed.
At this moment, Naruto's consciousness sank into the system space.
Looking at the four treasure chests floating before him, emitting an enticing luster, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
Two B-rank treasure chests, one A-rank treasure chest, and the most dazzling one—an S-rank treasure chest.
"A time for harvest."
In this Konoha operation, he had not only excised a piece of rotten flesh, but more importantly, he had gained the rewards before him.
These rewards would be his ladder to the heavens.
"Let's start with the basics."
With a thought, Naruto first opened one of the B-rank treasure chests.
[Opening B-rank treasure chest...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the skill: Conqueror's Haki]
[Description: A special skill originating from a certain seafaring world; it is the "qualities of a king" that stand above ten thousand people.]
[Effects:
Spiritual Pressure: Can use spirit to knock out those with weak will or inflict a spiritual shock on the strong.
Spiritual power has been raised to the minimum standard for releasing Haki.
Its power grows along with the user's own spiritual power.]
As the orb of light merged into his body, Naruto felt a boom in his brain, as if an invisible torrent had smashed through the barriers of his spiritual world.
His spiritual power, which had been strained from simultaneously controlling others, suddenly became ample.
It felt like a dried-up riverbed suddenly being filled with surging water.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes.
An invisible, overbearingly powerful pressure centered on him and instantly spread in all directions.
The Otogakure ninja on guard nearby bore the brunt of it; they suddenly felt a wave of dizziness and nearly collapsed.
Several Otogakure elites exchanged pale-faced glances, their hearts churning with turmoil.
Initially, when Lord Orochimaru announced his allegiance to this youth, they felt only absurdity and confusion.
Later, when they saw Naruto brutally kill Danzo, that confusion turned into deep fear and awe.
And now—
Just by sitting there, the aura he unintentionally emitted made it impossible for them to even think of resisting.
"What kind of monster is he..."
"This feeling... it's even more terrifying than when Lord Orochimaru is enraged..."
Fear is one of the best means of maintaining rule.
Naruto didn't care about the psychological activities of his subordinates.
He clenched his fist, feeling the qualitative change on the spiritual level.
"A very useful ability."
"This way, I can control even more pawns."
Next, he turned his gaze to the second B-rank treasure chest.
[Opening B-rank treasure chest...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the skill: Legilimency]
[Description: A high-level mind-reading and spiritual intrusion technique originating from a magical world.]
[Effect: When the target is relaxed, defenseless, or in an extremely fragile spiritual state, you can silently slip into their mind and read their thoughts, memories, and emotions like flipping through a book.]
"Reading the opponent's thoughts?"
Naruto adjusted his glasses and glanced at Yakushi Kabuto and the others.
Unlike the Yamanaka clan's crude mind-reading secret techniques, which require equipment or forced control, Legilimency can read the other person's thoughts silently.
As long as the target's psychological defenses are broken, or at the moment they submit, all secrets will be laid bare.
Although this technique has limitations on its application, it is still an excellent skill.
Naruto nodded slightly, very satisfied with this auxiliary skill.
After sorting through the two B-rank rewards, Naruto's breathing became slightly heavier.
What came next was the main event.
He focused his consciousness on the A-rank treasure chest.
[Opening A-rank treasure chest...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the item: Hōgyoku (Universal Version)]
A gemstone emitting an eerie blue-black light appeared out of thin air in his consciousness space.
It floated quietly, yet it seemed to have life, each flicker like a breath.
[Description: Originating from a certain spiritual world, it has been modified to be universally applicable across the myriad worlds.]
[Effects:
Wish Materialization: It can read the host's heart and materialize their wishes, provided the host possesses the capability to realize that wish.
Evolution Guidance: It can break the boundaries of species and guide living beings toward higher-dimensional evolution.
Due to its nature of breaking the dimensional wall, driving its functions requires astronomical amounts of energy and time for nourishment.]
"Hōgyoku..."
Even with Naruto's shrewdness, a hint of uncontrollable excitement flashed in his eyes after reading the description.
This was a true treasure, the key to breaking free from the limitations of the fragile "human" species.
He felt the bottomless desire within the Hōgyoku.
It was thirsting for energy.
Only massive amounts of energy could drive it to activate its evolutionary capability.
"Does it require an astronomical amount of energy?"
Naruto exited his consciousness space and looked down at his abdomen.
There was a monster made of energy inside.
Naruto calculated briefly.
If he wanted to use his own chakra to nourish the Hōgyoku until it initiated its first evolution, even he would have to continuously channel chakra for about a thousand years.
But with the Nine-Tailed fox added, it would take about several hundred years.
"Still too slow," Naruto muttered to himself.
"I don't have that much time to wait."
"However... as for energy, this world is not lacking in it."
If the chakra of one Nine-Tails required a long time to nourish the Hōgyoku, then... what about nine of them?
These nine Tailed Beasts were essentially nine massive, renewable chakra aggregate batteries.
"It seems that while establishing a new order, I'll have to be a hunter as well."
Naruto adjusted his glasses, establishing this crazy idea as a long-term strategic goal.
He already planned to overturn the Ninja World anyway.
For the sake of evolution, and to truly stand in the heavens in this cruel world, he was determined to get those nine batteries.
Calming his excitement, Naruto turned his gaze to the final orb of light.
That was the first S-rank treasure chest given by the mission [Extremely Cautious].
"Let's see what this highest reward actually is..."
Naruto took a deep breath and slowly opened that treasure chest in his consciousness.
[Opening S-rank treasure chest...]
[Congratulations! You have obtained...]