On the girls' side, everyone was having an amazing time.
Meanwhile, the boys had finally gathered together as well.
Uchiha Sasuke and Hyūga Neji successfully joined the team,
though Sasuke still wore that arrogant look on his face.
"Hmph. If my uncle hadn't begged me, there's no way I'd play with a bunch of childish brats like you."
(Uchiha Kamito: Me?! Begging someone?!)
Since his father hadn't been forced to death by the Hidden Cloud Village,
(Hyūga Hiyasu: Those Cloud bastards, I heard you've got your eyes on my cousin?)
Neji had grown into an incredibly caring older brother figure.
Being a year older still counted as older, right?
The group of seven charged into Yellow Sand Paradise together.
The very first thing they did was roll around wildly in the sand.
No wonder they were all going to get beaten when they got home.
...
Inside Orochimaru's laboratory,
Orochimaru, dressed in a white lab coat, and Aburame Shiken were engaged in an intense discussion.
"Sensei, your idea is flawed."
"The body… a fragile body can never reach the other shore of immortality."
"The path of immortalizing the soul itself isn't wrong, but Sensei, if your soul keeps adapting to new bodies, can your soul truly withstand it?"
Orochimaru and Aburame Shiken shared one common belief: a physical body alone could never achieve immortality.
Only the soul was the true path to eternal life.
But where they differed was this—
Orochimaru believed the soul and body should be separated entirely.
The body was merely a consumable. Once one body's lifespan ended, he could simply switch to another.
But Aburame Shiken believed otherwise.
If the body was just a consumable, then why would true immortality require consumables at all?
Could living longer by stacking body after body together really count as immortality?
"Orochimaru-sensei, have you ever researched Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique?"
"Of course I have. But Dan's technique has a major flaw. Every time he used the Spirit Transformation Technique to kill an enemy, it inevitably damaged his own soul as well. Because of that issue, he gradually withdrew from the front lines."
"If even the Spirit Transformation Technique damages the soul, then when you transfer bodies, how could your soul possibly remain completely unharmed?"
That question stopped Orochimaru cold.
He understood the problem perfectly well himself— he simply had no way to solve it.
"Then do you have any ideas?"
"Nothing concrete yet, but future research should probably focus on strengthening the soul itself."
Aburame Shiken pondered for a moment.
Maybe during the final war, they could capture Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
She was a genuine immortal, after all.
Studying her would surely be better than blindly theorizing on their own.
(Kaguya Ōtsutsuki: This is bad. Black Zetsu, whatever you do, don't rescue me. The moment I come out, I'm becoming lab material.)
"Orochimaru-sensei, immortality is probably too difficult right now. How about we take things one step at a time and start with Sage Mode instead? The Great Toad Sage, Katsuyu, and the Great White Snake Sage have all lived for thousands of years."
Aburame Shiken offered a suggestion.
Compared to the unrealistic dream of immortality,
Sage Mode was clearly much more practical to study.
And besides—there were already ready-made samples available.
(Inuzuka Ryoha: Damn… you won't even spare your own people.)
(Namikaze Minato: No way… I just learned it and now I'm being targeted?)
(Jiraiya: Thank god I ran fast. Unless something huge happens, I'm never returning to Konoha in this lifetime.)
Orochimaru licked his lips.
"That works. We'll start with Sage Mode."
Especially after seeing an idiot like Jiraiya successfully learn Sage Mode, he honestly felt a little unconvinced.
If even you can learn it, why can't I?
Thus, Konoha's immortal duo officially debuted.
Adults chased after immortality and things like that.
For children, simply being happy was enough.
But once that happiness got interrupted, they stopped being happy—and became extremely angry instead.
"You're paying for the food we made!"
Inuzuka Nami led four girls and one dog as they glared fiercely at the seven boys opposite them.
"What food? It was obviously just a pile of sand. You girls are so stingy. Fine, we'll pay you back with another pile of sand. Here."
Namikaze Naruto still had no idea danger was approaching, and continued provoking them recklessly.
Nara Shikaku quietly took a step backward.
This is bad. No matter the location or the age, provoking girls is always troublesome.
Meanwhile, Hyūga Neji kept his eyes fixed on Hyūga Hinata.
If a fight breaks out later, I absolutely have to protect my little cousin.
Inuzuka Kiba cracked his knuckles eagerly.
He'd already found that little Inuzuka girl annoying for a long time.
Why did she get a dog while he didn't?
"Good. I didn't expect you boys to have this much nerve. You made a mistake and still dare to provoke us? Sisters, let's get them!"
With a single order from Inuzuka Nami, the five-girl squad plus one dog charged straight at the seven boys.
For a moment, the entire Yellow Sand Paradise descended into absolute chaos.
And among them all, the fiercest by far was undoubtedly—
Inuzuka Nami.
One girl plus one dog, holding down Namikaze Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba, and Uchiha Sasuke, beating them so hard they couldn't fight back at all.
It was literally one punch per child.
Anyone watching would have to say— she truly had her father's bearing.
On the Hyūga battlefield, Hyūga Hinata looked timidly at Hyūga Neji.
"Neji-niichan, for the sake of my sisters, I absolutely won't lose."
Neji could only smile helplessly.
How could he possibly hit her?
Having grown up with a happy childhood, Neji had completely transformed into a full-blown siscon.
"Neji-niichan, here I come!"
Thud.
Hinata tripped over the sand beneath her feet.
"Ah, that hurts…"
Elsewhere, Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura faced off against Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chōza.
"Ino, do we really need to fight? We're close enough already. Can't we just fake it a little?"
Shikaku said.
Thankfully it was Ino they ran into. With their relationship, throwing a staged fight shouldn't have been a problem, right?
"Hmph! Who wants to fake it with you, you lazy bum? I've put up with you for a long time already, okay? Sakura, let's go!"
"Okay!"
Shikaku sighed.
"What a pain. Chōza, focus on frontal defense. I'll attack from the sides."
"Got it."
As expected of the Nara Clan—even children's fights required tactics.
Meanwhile, Tenten stared blankly at the various battlefields around her.
"Should I just stay here and watch? Or should I go help somewhere?"
She fell into deep confusion.
Aburame Shino: Should I remind her that I'm standing here? Wouldn't that be too stupid? Or should I take the chance to ambush her? But wouldn't that be too dishonorable?
A born basketball prodigy really was terrifying.
In the end, the battle concluded with victory for the girls.
The other battlefields were fairly normal, but Inuzuka Nami had simply been too overwhelming.
One against three.
Bruised and swollen, Uchiha Sasuke still stubbornly declared,
"Hmph. Just you wait. I was in bad condition today. One day, I'll definitely win back my honor."
The equally bruised Namikaze Naruto quickly chimed in,
"That's right! Same here!"
Another battered and bruised Inuzuka Kiba added,
"You have a dog and I don't. That's unfair. Next time I'll definitely beat you."
In response,
Inuzuka Nami simply said:
"I'll be waiting anytime."