The next morning.
Boruto was still sound asleep beside the campfire embers.
Sasuke sat under the tree, breathing steadily. His Chakra was recovering much faster than last night.
Naruto walked around, activating Negative Emotions Sensing and Mind's Eye of the Kagura to scan the entire area, while carving Flying Thunder God Marks into the tree trunks, rocks, and crevices along the way.
Although Urashiki was a bottom-tier member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, his arsenal was anything but low-end.
His Rinnegan, which could rewind time, allowed him to see what had happened over ten seconds ago.
His Origami Replacement Technique, used for escaping, ranked highly among the Ōtsutsuki in terms of mobility.
His fishing rod could fish away other people's Chakra to use for himself, making him stronger the longer he fought.
Naruto was confident he could repel or defeat him by relying on speed and strength alone. But merely repelling or defeating him was not what he wanted.
Currently, his strength had reached a bottleneck stage.
Kurama Mode, Light Release, Flying Thunder God Technique, Rasenshuriken. Combined, these methods were more than enough to go head-to-head against ordinary Super Kage level powerhouses.
However, looking further ahead, the next enemies he would face were Six Paths level, requiring Six Paths level combat power and methods.
Therefore, from the moment Boruto and Sasuke appeared in Konoha, he had been calculating what Urashiki had on him.
A complete Ōtsutsuki Bloodline, a pure Rinnegan, and the most core life-saving method of the Ōtsutsuki Clan—Kāma!
If he could get Urashiki to carve Kāma onto him, relying on Absolute Control, he could turn the tables and digest all of Urashiki's data.
The Ōtsutsuki Bloodline, the Rinnegan's abilities, and even the combat experience he had accumulated over a millennium.
The essence of Kāma was the ultimate means for the Ōtsutsuki to resurrect, by compressing and packaging their genetic data and injecting it into a vessel. The data would slowly decompress over time and erode the vessel's body until it completely covered the vessel's genes, allowing the Ōtsutsuki to be reborn within the vessel.
This process was theoretically irreversible, which was the fundamental reason why the Ōtsutsuki were extremely difficult to truly kill.
As a last resort, Urashiki should use this move when near death. And the people present were himself, Sasuke, and Boruto, and since Boruto had already been carved with Kāma by Momoshiki, Urashiki only had him and Sasuke as options.
He needed to plan for Urashiki to choose to carve Kāma onto him. As long as he carved Kāma onto Naruto, his so-called resurrection would be equivalent to packaging himself up and delivering it into Naruto's hands.
If Urashiki didn't carve Kāma in the end, it wouldn't be a loss. Just his pair of Rinnegan and his Ōtsutsuki body would be a sufficiently rich trophy.
Several plans flashed quickly through Naruto's mind.
Then, he turned and walked toward Boruto, who was still fast asleep beside the campfire embers.
"Boruto, wake up. The new day's training has begun." Naruto squatted down and said.
Boruto opened his eyes groggily. Seeing Naruto's face close by, he was stunned for a moment, and then sat up.
"Dad, it's not even fully light out yet."
"Training waits for no one. Yesterday, you just touched the threshold for the first step of Flying Thunder God Technique—sensing spatial coordinates. Today, strike while the iron is hot and continue practicing."
"You also need to start learning Fuinjutsu. Your Chakra control precision is good, learning the basics of Fuinjutsu won't take too long."
Boruto rubbed his eyes and patted the grass clippings off his pants.
Although his body wasn't fully awake, seeing that Naruto was already standing in the middle of the clearing waiting for him, he gathered his spirits and ran toward Naruto.
—
On the other side.
After traveling all night, Jiraiya and three Anbu arrived at Konoha with the unconscious A and his two guards.
Along the way, he had already learned the entire process of the battle between Naruto and the Raikage from the Anbu.
Tsunade rushed from the Hokage Office to the Medical Team upon receiving the news.
When she pulled back the curtain of the emergency room and saw A lying on the hospital bed, despite knowing that Naruto was very strong, she was still shocked by the Raikage's miserable state.
His entire body was covered in scabbed wounds. The deepest one ran diagonally from his right shoulder to his left rib, with jagged traces remaining on the edges from being repeatedly torn by the Wind Chakra of the Rasenshuriken. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of A's chest and the occasional flashes of lightning, anyone looking at the injuries would have thought this was a corpse.
Tsunade turned to look at Jiraiya, who was leaning against the wall, and asked, "What exactly happened at the scene? Where is Naruto? Why didn't he come back with you?"
Jiraiya replied, "I arrived too late. By the time I arrived, the battle was already over. Except for the Raikage, who was still hanging on by a thread, the Kumo ninjas he brought were all wiped out, and his two guards were beaten to a pulp."
"Naruto was standing in the middle of the battlefield, without even catching his breath. The whole process was quite easy for him."
Speaking of this, Jiraiya's tone carried a hint of regret. "I had hoped to see with my own eyes how the kid beat up the Raikage, but I ran my legs off only to catch the aftermath."
"As for Naruto, he said he had something to take care of and would return to the village in a few days. I suspect it has something to do with the two people following him."
"Let's put the matter of those two people aside for now."
Tsunade walked to the Raikage's bed. A green glow appeared in her hands, scanning the Raikage's body.
A moment later, she withdrew her Chakra, her brows furrowing slightly. "From the skin to the muscles and down to the internal organs, it's all these dense lacerations. If I'm not mistaken, Naruto must have hit him head-on. Fortunately, the wind blades had some of their penetrating power offset by the Lightning Release, so it didn't damage his heart or major blood vessels."
"This level of physical strength is considered top-tier in the entire Ninja World. However, if we don't treat it, he won't last much longer. His internal organs have been suffering from minor internal bleeding, and if it drags on, it will lead to organ failure."
Jiraiya said, "Naruto's intention is to save him, don't let him die. He wants to use him as a bargaining chip, and notify Kumogakure to bring resources to trade for him."
"Resources?" The corners of Tsunade's lips curled up.
If it were before, given the diplomatic style during the Third Hokage's reign, he would definitely have to consider whether the Land of Lightning would seize the opportunity to launch an all-out war, and whether Konoha could bear another round of war losses right now. But now, with Naruto, this nuclear bomb, there is no longer any need for such concerns.
She clapped her hands on the spot. "Good, I've long found that bunch of unreasonable muscle-heads unpleasant."
She immediately called for Shizune, having her draft a formal diplomatic notice to be sent to Kumogakure.
[Fourth Raikage A and his personal guards trespassed into the Land of Fire to conduct hostile actions and have been captured on the spot by Konoha. Kumogakure must exchange them with the specified reparation materials. Failure to do so by the deadline will be considered an abandonment.]
Jiraiya spoke up, "Oh, by the way, Naruto said he is very interested in Kumogakure's Lightning Release Chakra Mode and the Heavenly Transfer Technique."
"Oh? This kid really knows how to pick." Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
The Lightning Release Chakra Mode is the signature secret technique passed down through generations in Kumogakure, and the Heavenly Transfer Technique is Kumogakure's exclusive space-time Ninjutsu used for transporting supplies and emergency troop deployment. Together, these two things are practically Kumogakure's most prized treasures.
She could already imagine the expressions of those elders in Kumogakure, staring in anger when they received this compensation list.
"Shizune, add these two things in. Don't be polite with them."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama."
After hearing this, Shizune couldn't help but imagine in her mind what the reaction would be from Kumogakure after receiving this notice.
The Raikage is missing, and the people sent to negotiate return not with a battle report, but with a ransom list. They will probably smash through the desks in the Raikage building.
Shizune bowed to Tsunade and walked out of the emergency room to draft the document.
After Shizune left, Jiraiya leaned against the wall and asked, "Tsunade, don't you think that blond kid who was following Naruto yesterday looks too much like him? It's not just the hair and eyes, the whisker marks on his face are also exactly the same."
"You mean..."
Tsunade stopped her hands from tidying the medical tray and began to recall the blond kid she had caught a fleeting glimpse of yesterday.
He did look similar to Naruto. It's just that his temperament was a bit more restless and his eyes were also more innocent.