Chapter 307: Naruto Kidnapped by the Kumo Ninja
While washing his pants, Naruto couldn't help regretting that he hadn't chosen to believe Shiromo earlier.
To prove that he had only wanted to fart, he had even deliberately pushed harder at the time, preparing to make the fart loud and clear.
The result…was terrifying.
If these hadn't been the brand-new pants that Pervy Sage bought for him, with especially good quality, Naruto suspected the pants might have been blasted straight through with a hole.
The force behind it had been enormous.
And because the pants were such good quality, instead of tearing, everything surged out through the pant legs like a rocket thruster, blasting Naruto straight into the air.
Fortunately, Shiromo had kept a safe distance from Naruto from the very beginning and hadn't been affected.
Even now, Shiromo was still keeping his distance from Naruto.
As the saying goes, "A mop covered in poop is like Lu Bu reborn." (Lu Bu from Romance of the Three Kingdoms is unbeatable in 1v1.)
Naruto's situation just now had been the result of several factors stacking together.
First, before leaving Mount Myoboku, Naruto had truly been eating and drinking extravagantly, which had stimulated his digestive system.
Second, the "channel" was widened by Kimimaro's earlier attack.
And lastly, He had eaten a huge number of insect dishes at Mount Myoboku, along with local vegetables and fruits.
These foods had a certain characteristic, similar to "oilfish" also known as escolar.
After eating them, well… oil would keep leaking out.
They were actually a favorite among some people in the Sichuan region. (Sichuan is a major province in Southwest China.)
Under the influence of all these factors combined, Naruto still trusting his own fart could only be described as naïve.
As he kept washing, Naruto suddenly said, "Eh?"
Shiromo silently took a few more steps back.
Seeing Shiromo retreat, Orochimaru also retreated along with him, even though he didn't understand what was going on.
While washing his pants, Naruto discovered that his… area was constantly leaking oil. The oil gave him a feeling very similar to the toad oil from Mount Myoboku.
Of course, this wasn't real toad oil.
The toad oil of Mount Myoboku isn't produced by toads. It's oil that naturally forms because of the unique environment of Mount Myoboku.
Techniques like the Toad Oil Flame Bullet that Jiraiya uses with the toads are essentially about summoning the toad oil, or storing some in advance in the stomach.
What Naruto had definitely wasn't real toad oil, but it still had some similar effect.
After all, the naturally formed toad oil of Mount Myoboku was basically the result of overly dense natural energy interacting with the environment.
And the things Naruto had been stuffing himself with were exactly products of Mount Myoboku's environment.
He had been training like crazy these past few days, and his body had been in Sage Mode for long periods of time. Natural energy in his body had been constantly saturated.
The quality of this oil was actually quite high.
That was why Naruto felt it resembled toad oil.
And once he made this discovery, it was a big deal.
Naruto was extremely excited.
"I heard Pervy Sage say that toad oil can increase the power of Fire Release!"
"Toad oil and Wind Release both increase the power of Sasuke's Fire Release…"
The more Naruto thought about it, the more excited he became. His gaze shifted toward Orochimaru, who was retreating.
"Orochimaru, no matter what you do, you can't cut the bond between Sasuke and me!"
"Uh…"
Orochimaru very much wanted to ask Naruto how exactly he planned to use his own "toad oil" to assist Sasuke.
Was he planning to enter Sage Mode on the battlefield using that "take off" method, and then spray toad oil from that place as well?
Did he no longer have anyone left in the world whose opinion he cared about?
But then Orochimaru reconsidered. If Naruto could truly treat worldly concerns as nothing, that might not be a bad thing.
Just like himself.
So Orochimaru decided to affirm Naruto's idea and encourage him to continue down this path.
"Naruto, Jiraiya has a technique called Sage Art: Goemon. It requires two Toad Sages working together, combining toad oil, Wind Release, and Fire Release at the same time."
"This technique is extremely powerful. In theory, it can incinerate any tangible substance. It's one of the highest-level Fire Release ninjutsu."
"Sage Art: Goemon?"
Naruto's eyes immediately lit up.
He had heard the two sages, Shima and Fukasaku, mention that name before.
Although he could now freely enter and exit Sage Mode, he didn't actually know any truly powerful sage techniques yet.
If he could…
The two of them, one big and one small, stood there chuckling with their own thoughts in mind.
Shiromo stood nearby, speechless, silently complaining in his mind.
Goemon was indeed a powerful technique.
Its power was even greater than the Sage Art: Five Fire Gods' Fan of Flames used by Kashin Koji.
The official description says it "surpasses Amaterasu in power."
Although Amaterasu is the flame of kindness, it still ranks fairly high among Fire Release techniques.
What Shiromo was complaining about was the naming method of the technique "Goemon."
Kashin Koji's Sage Art: Five Fire Gods' Fan of Flames already proved that after finishing 'Journey to the West', Kishimoto had moved on to reading 'Investiture of the Gods'.
But the name Goemon was still incredibly dark.
The origin is this: the legendary thief Ishikawa Goemon was executed by being boiled alive in a pot, which is why his name was used for this "strongest Fire Release."
By that logic, if Shiromo developed new ninjutsu, he could name them like this…
[Fire Release: Bo Yikao!]
[Fire Release: Zhu Gaoxu!] (He was burnt)
[Water Release: Qu Yuan!] (He drowned himself)
[Water Release: Li Bai!] (He drowned)
That would definitely be dark enough.
Who knows what the author was thinking. Maybe it was just a cultural difference.
Just like Uchiha Fugaku gave his son the name Sasuke. It was actually meant as a tribute to Sarutobi Hiruzen's father, Sarutobi Sasuke.
It was genuine respect, not a jab implying "your father is my son."
Also, if Shiromo hadn't appeared, the Daimyō system would have remained like some strange rule-based curse, eternally standing above everyone's heads.
—
Naruto lit a fire and hung his pants over it to dry.
While drying them, he took off his shirt to cover himself and listened as Shiromo explained things to him.
"Naruto, since you now believe me and you're willing to help Sasuke, then you should go abroad to study for a while, just like Sasuke."
"I've already contacted the Kumogakure Village. As the place that once had the only perfect jinchūriki, they have a relatively systematic method for training jinchūriki."
Shiromo revealed the first half of the plan, the truthful part.
Although the Kumogakure Village and the Raikage had a habit of "zero-cost shopping" from other villages, when it came to major issues, the Raikage still had his principles.
After everything that had happened, the Raikage was also aware that the Ōtsutsuki clan hung over the shinobi world like a sword.
It was similar to the Fourth Great Ninja War in the original story, when everyone united against "Uchiha Madara."
If Naruto was sent over now, the Raikage wouldn't have thoughts about keeping Naruto for himself or turning him into a permanent military asset for the Kumogakure.
Of course, that conclusion came from Shiromo's godlike perspective of seeing the bigger picture.
Other people might see things differently.
For example, Tsunade completely trusted Shiromo now, but that didn't mean she would trust the Raikage.
Especially since the Raikage had a criminal record.
But this wasn't a bad thing.
Precisely because others wouldn't easily trust the Raikage and the Kumogakure Village, the plan would feel even more real.
—
Three days later.
Sasuke slowly woke up.
Orochimaru, wearing a grave expression, informed him of a piece of news.
Naruto had been captured by the Kumogakure Village.
They planned to use Naruto's body to reproduce an entire bloodline of the Uzumaki clan, so that it could be used to inherit and host their tailed beasts.
(End of this chapter)