Chapter 503: Shrinking Head Turtle
Traversing across mountains and oceans, cutting straight through the dense throngs of humanity, two flying carpets sliced through the sky at absolute maximum velocity, carving a direct trajectory toward the extreme northeast sector of the shinobi world.
Along the route, Ryo comprehensively broke down the logistical root cause behind the localized disruption that had erupted within the Land of Rain to Naruto.
"Sasuke, that absolute bastard! He genuinely squandered a monumental layer of Konoha Village's sovereign dignity! Great Ancestor, you rightfully should have permitted my presence to breach the interior!"
Ryo shook his head, shifting his focus to lock onto Mabui, who occupied the alternative flying carpet: "Secretary, temporarily shelve your distant yet impeccably polite smile. Look down at the breathtaking landscape unfurling beneath us and engage in a casual communication block alongside the Great Ancestor. What is your unvarnished evaluation regarding Naruto, this specific Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"
As he delivered those words, Ryo subtly mouthed a silent question toward her: Is he exceptionally dim-witted or what?
Mabui elegantly smoothed out the hair strands that had been ruffled by the high-altitude winds, offering a gentle smile: "Situated directly upon Turtle Island exists a highly specific geographical coordinate designated as the Falls of Truth. At that exact location, an individual is structurally forced to visually confront the absolute darkest manifestation of their own inner parameters. Only by cleanly conquering it can they successfully proceed to execute the subsequent phase of their cultivation."
"Considering that this youth is exceptionally simple and pure-hearted, conquering his inner darkness should structurally map out as a relatively low-difficulty execution."
"Tsk, your linguistic execution is genuinely spectacular. Secretary, the Great Ancestor has formally locked his sights onto you; how about officially transitioning to operate as my personal secretary? I'll personally transmit the absolute premier secrets to achieving longevity and flawless youth retention straight into your parameters..."
Mabui seamlessly swapped her expression back into a distant yet impeccably polite smile: "My deepest gratitude for your high-tier evaluation."
"Hey! Great Ancestor, if the logistical objective demands that I conquer my own inner darkness, exactly what constitutes the dark side of my parameters?" Harvesting the active intelligence that Sasuke's ocular structures had already successfully metamorphosed, Naruto's internal anxiety regarding his independent cultivation had surged to a significantly more frantic tier.
Ryo scratched his hair. His active memory retention regarding the specific narrative blocks covering Naruto's cultivation sequence on Turtle Island was a fraction hazy. He strictly recalled that Naruto engaged in a literal tug-of-war against the Nine-Tails, subsequent to which it appeared Kushina successfully materialized to supply a high-powered flanking assist?
As for the Falls of Truth...
"The darkest manifestation of your parameters strictly constitutes your exceptionally mischievous, unruly 'brat' side. If you genuinely desire to conquer it, you are structurally forced to expend a monumental volume of effort. Regarding this specific execution, the Great Ancestor is fundamentally incapable of supplying technical assistance, primarily because your baseline brat parameters are simply far too astronomical!"
Over on the opposite carpet, Mabui shook her head: "Humanity's inner darkness encompasses a vast array of complex facets, yet the 'brat' attribute you articulated is highly unlikely to be included within the calculation matrix. Envy, hatred, profound inferiority, lust—these specific elements constitute the true, unvarnished darkness..."
Ryo nodded with a face full of profound realization: "Naruto, your vessel is completely finished; you actively command every single one of those parameters!"
"Eh?! I command every single one of them?"
Ryo gave a firm nod: "Envy—you envy the unvarnished reality that Sasuke commands superior strength; Hatred—you harbor intense animosity precisely because Sasuke eclipses your baseline; Inferiority—you harbor a deep-seated inferiority complex regarding your inability to match his tier; Lust—you and Sasuke have literally... Ahem!"
"Eh? Breaking down the logistics under that specific framework, it is highly probable that your inner darkness literally manifests in the physical form of Sasuke!"
Naruto's countenance plunged into deep, visceral anxiety: "Sasuke, that absolute bastard!"
Mabui let out a soft sigh, decisively concluding that she would refrain from contributing any further redundant prose to the communication block. Providing active input merely resulted in the conversational coordinates being violently skewed off track...
Since she opted for silence, Ryo proactively launched a fresh inquiry: "Secretary, execute a comprehensive briefing detailing the logistical parameters mapping Turtle Island for us!"
Mabui given a subtle pause: "In unvarnished truth, Turtle Island operates explicitly as a premier mobile fortress native to our Hidden Cloud Village. The entirety of the island's terrestrial mass rests squarely upon the shell of a colossal giant turtle, and the giant turtle itself is actively nurtured and sustained by our Hidden Cloud Village."
"You actively nurture it?" Ryo was briefly startled: "The age parameters of that colossal turtle don't vertically eclipse the entire historical span of the Hidden Cloud Village?"
Mabui shook her head: "We successfully intercepted its active coordinates roughly two decades ago. It commands an exceptionally docile and gentle temperament. Following a handful of feeding rotations, it seamlessly submitted to our logistical commands... Err!"
Reaching that exact syllable, Mabui frantically snapped her head upward to lock her gaze squarely onto Ryo's facial expression.
Ryo chuckled smoothly: "Carry on with your briefing. I fundamentally harbor zero desire to abduct it; rest your mind at ease!"
Mabui: "..."
"Regarding its precise age parameters, we lack the absolute technical data. From the absolute fraction of a second we intercepted its coordinates, it was already physically hauling the island mass across the ocean... Sigh, Senior, unvarnished greed equally operates as a highly specific facet of humanity's inner darkness."
"Ah, correct!" Naruto violently inserted his presence into the block: "Great Ancestor, exactly what would the dark side of your parameters manifest as?"
Ryo burst into a gentle laugh: "Operating as an individual whose baseline persona is this monumentally magnificent, upright, and radiant, exactly how could an entity like inner darkness fundamentally exist within my vessel? It is absolutely nonexistent!"
Naruto curled his lips into a pout, subsequently returning to stew in intense, visceral anxiety regarding exactly 'how he was supposed to conquer Sasuke' during his impending trial.
Mabui was equally stewing in intense anxiety, hastily shifting the conversational coordinates: "Senior, exactly how much duration remains before we successfully hit our destination?"
Ryo cast his gaze straight downward: "A mere five minutes before we breach the oceanic perimeter. Subsequent to that, I shall decrease our vertical altitude; you shall assume direct navigational control to guide our route. Continue your briefing regarding Turtle Island."
Mabui shook her head: "There is fundamentally zero supplementary intelligence left to articulate... Oh, the island houses a densely packed population of highly ferocious beasts and rogue Summoning Beasts, yet relative to your absolute parameters..."
Ryo nodded thoughtfully. A dense population of Summoning Beasts? That structurally implies I can comfortably capture a handful of high-tier specimens to haul back as premier gifts for the children. Toneri and Hinata fundamentally lack active contracts with any Summoning Beasts, after all.
A brief moment later, the dual flying carpets steadily decreased their vertical altitude, slicing into the airspace of the shinobi world's northeast ocean at a height strictly below a hundred meters above sea level. Under Mabui's navigational guidance, they executed a highly chaotic, zigzagging flight path across the waters.
Penetrating deeper into the oceanic expanse, they bypassed a vast array of completely deserted islands. Ryo systematically locked their exact geographical coordinates directly into his active memory banks. Having maxed out his Wind and Fire attributes, up until this exact timeline, he still hadn't carved out a localized window of duration to execute an island-obliterating strike...
"Execute a sharp left turn, Senior."
Ryo shifted his trajectory, abruptly freezing for a split second: "Didn't we explicitly execute a left turn four continuous times just a moment ago? Are you genuinely attempting to force the Great Ancestor to fly in literal circles across this coordinate block?"
A radiant smile blanketed Mabui's face: "Your memory parameters are slightly malfunctioning, Senior; we have actively executed right turns as well!"
Ryo burst into a light laugh. She is actively deploying a defensive screen to prevent my vessel from parsing the Hidden Cloud's technical methodology for tracking Turtle Island. How exceptionally naive! He had fundamentally zero intention of studying their navigation metrics to begin with. The absolute millisecond his boots touched down on the dirt of Turtle Island, the entire landmass would naturally be stamped with his permanent tracking seal.
Looping and zigzagging across the oceanic expanse, Ryo maintained a thoroughly unbothered smile across his face, complying with Mabui's navigational commands down to the absolute letter while casually dropping conversational traps to tease Naruto. It wasn't until dusk fully set in that the cluster of three finally successfully arrived within the immediate perimeter of Turtle Island.
Ryo lightly expanded his sensory parameters: "It commands a raw chakra repository equating to half a Nine-Tails. However, this entity's physical mass is simply too astronomically colossal; executing dynamic physical movement is structurally heavily impaired. Its absolute combat output can be fundamentally disregarded; its sole practical utility is operating strictly as a mobile fortress."
The giant turtle was a non-negligible tier larger than Ryo had initially speculated. The terrestrial surface area of Turtle Island spanned roughly one square kilometer, while the giant turtle itself possessed an even vaster volumetric mass.
"We have successfully arrived, Senior."
"Arrived?" Naruto strained his eyes, scanning the distant horizon: "Is that the target coordinate? Exactly where is the colossal turtle?"
"The turtle's physical vessel rests securely beneath the island mass," Ryo responded, systematically guiding the dual flying carpets to land smoothly atop the oceanic surface. Reabsorbing the Truth-Seeking Orbs back into his matrix, he flicked his wrist to cleanly release Killer Bee from his pocket space.
Killer Bee's reflex parameters were exceptionally rapid; he instantly stabilized his physical stance across the water's surface: "Oh, yo~! Liberation!"
"Lord Killer Bee!"
"Oh, Mabui is present as well." Killer Bee's countenance instantly snapped into a thoroughly serious alignment. The absolute personal secretary to my older brother—an entity I fundamentally cannot afford to provoke. "Are these specific coordinates... Turtle Island? Turtle Island!"
Ryo peered straight through the oceanic currents to inspect the massive turtle head resting beneath the waves: "Is it currently in an active sleep state?"
"Senior, let us execute our physical landing immediately," Mabui frantically urged.
Ryo waved his hand dismissively: "The cluster of you advance first. Killer Bee, execute your navigational duty and escort Naruto straight toward the Falls of Truth. The Great Ancestor shall catch up with your coordinates in a brief moment."
"Great Ancestor, are you genuinely not tagging along?" Deep inside his heart parameters, Naruto still firmly operated under the assumption that his inner darkness explicitly manifested as Sasuke, leaving him feeling a fraction terrified...
Ryo was briefly startled: "Are you genuinely terrified of Sasuke?"
Naruto violently spun around, kicking off the water's surface to execute a rapid leap straight onto the island's shores: "Uncle Killer Bee, let's launch our advance!"
"Oh, yo~!"
Mabui shot Ryo a glance packed to the brim with absolute, unvarnished helplessness, before executing a leap to closely follow their trajectory.
Ryo smiled gently. The water surface directly beneath his boots cleanly parted, and his physical frame slowly descended straight onto the colossal turtle head. Stepping onto this entity feels exceptionally stable and robust...
"Hey, wake up! You command the capacity to execute vocal communication, correct?"
"Giant Turtle, exactly how prolonged has your current sleep block been? What are your absolute age parameters? You must undeniably command a timeline older than the Great Ancestor, right?"
After waiting for a prolonged duration without securing a single syllable of response, Ryo suddenly parsed out that his presence was being entirely disregarded. I STOMP!
The colossal turtle head violently shuddered, cleanly retracting straight into its impenetrable shell with a sharp swish, resulting in Ryo stepping flat against the oceanic surface once again.
Ryo pursed his lips: "Emerge! The Great Ancestor is merely attempting to establish a friendly diplomatic connection alongside you; let's execute a direct comparison to parse out exactly who commands a superior longevity baseline... Emerge instantly!"
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