Kabuto had lost his mind. He realized that even if he couldn't find his own identity, he could become Orochimaru. With power, he could become anyone.
"I did it… I did it!" He laughed maniacally, and half of his face bear Orochimaru's pale, snake-like features.
For as long as he could remember, Kabuto had never had an identity that truly belonged to him. Without an identity, he couldn't recognize himself, and he's like a ghost drifting through the world.
After enduring Naruto's trash talk, the hollowness in Kabuto's heart grew even worse. Fortunately, Orochimaru had given him purpose, the role as Orochimaru's loyal subordinate.
But now that Orochimaru is dead (Kabuto thought he was dead), he has no identity anymore. The forces under Orochimaru are scattered, some defected, some held on.
Whenever Kabuto had interacted with them in the past, he'd always used fake identities. So now, no one recognized him. No one remembered him.
Under this stimulation, Kabuto collapsed and embarked on a desperate quest to become someone… anyone.
…
In Iwagakure, after achieving his goal, Naruto watched Kurotsuchi's retreating figure stumble away and smirked.
Since Kurotsuchi has signed the contract, he wondered how long will it take for Iwagakure to fall.
The most stubborn of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Iwagakure, has been dealt with, and Onoki couldn't do a thing about it.
The Jashin contract was undetectable, unbreakable.
Kurotsuchi couldn't reveal anything about him, nor could she act against his interests.
In fact, as long as Kurotsuchi did not think of resisting, nothing would happen, and the contract might as well not exist.
Naruto had no interest in micromanaging his subordinates. He just let them do whatever they wanted. As long as they didn't disturb him, it would be difficult for them to find him by the time everything was over.
…
On the other side, Kurotsuchi returned to the village, but found that she couldn't speak any information about that bastard, no matter how hard she tried.
"What happened?"
Kurotsuchi: "..."
When she realized that all the words she had thought of in her mind can no longer be used, she was completely stunned. No matter how she struggled, the truth wouldn't come out.
After struggling several times without success, she simply gave up. What she'd thought was a harmless contract had become chains around her soul.
Onoki found his granddaughter and was relieved to see that she didn't seem to be injured at all and there was nothing wrong with her.
Then, Iwagakure has regained its peace and tranquility… at least on the surface.
…
Is Kurotsuchi stupid?
If someone else was present and watched the whole process, they would naturally think that she was extremely stupid, as she's tricked into selling herself without even realizing it.
But the truth was, Naruto's deception had reached artistic levels. He made up some lies to divert her attention and conceal the real purpose of his words, which has almost become a second nature to him now.
No matter how clever Kurotsuchi was, she was still inexperienced and didn't know what kind of person Jiraiya was. The information gap, combined with Naruto's silver tongue, left her utterly outmaneuvered.
…
Konoha.
Naruto had just returned with the Gate of the Underworld. He didn't look for anyone and went straight home to lie down for a day.
Having two wives is good, but the time management was exhausting.
Moreover, he had been traveling nonstop for the past few days. Even a Shinobi should take a break. After all, the human's body is not made of iron, and it is easy to lose strength if they worked too hard.
It was already evening when he woke up. The curtains in the room were drawn tightly, and his stomach was empty. Naruto sat up from the bed, stepped on the floor with his bare feet, and opened the curtains.
Konoha was bathed in sunset hues, and the rolling bright red looked like an oil painting.
Growl!
'So hungry!'
After standing there for a while, Naruto felt bored looking at the beautiful scenery. No matter the beauty or the surprises in the details of life, hunger trumped everything.
Now that things have come to this, he chose to eat first.
He walked downstairs and headed towards Ichiraku Ramen. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he last went to Ichiraku Ramen.
One reason was that it was too far away. Since he was too lazy to even cook, he is naturally too lazy to walk.
The streets buzzed with life, lanterns flickering as food stalls filled the air with mouthwatering scents.
Hungry and exhausted, Naruto blended into the bustling crowd, his eyes wandering over the various food stalls. But the thought of ramen steeled his resolve.
A true foodie had their own principles. Once he has decided to eat ramen, he will not change his mind easily.
He plans to go back to sleep after eating, and wait until he wakes up tomorrow to think about anything else.
He didn't want to run around like this, but he couldn't escape being involved if he just stood by and watched.
Whether it was Obito or Black Zetsu, or the members of the Otsutsuki Clan who hadn't shown up yet, they all wanted to do something, and it would definitely involve the Kyubi.
Naruto wished he could just put up a damn chastity memorial arch with the words: "DAMN IT! I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE KYUBI ANYMORE! DON'T COME AFTER ME!!" And repeat it three times for emphasis!
But it was useless, as the other party would come looking for him as long as they thought of the Kyubi.
Assuming that the people in Konoha or Kumogakure are strong enough, Naruto wouldn't hesitate to hand over the Kyubi to whoever wanted it, without any second thoughts.
But in reality, those so-called 'righteous' people were pathetically weak. If he actually did that, the world would probably be destroyed eight or ten times over.
This reminded him of a Chinese tokusatsu show he'd watched in his previous life, Armor Hero Nawa. One guy carried 80 to 90% of the team's firepower. Who wouldn't get arrogant?
Below the final boss, I'm invincible. And above the final boss, I trade one-for-one.
Naruto is in almost the same state now, except that he'd been forced into this mess. Compared to fighting and killing, he would rather lie at home and do nothing.
But there were too many problems, and dealing with them one by one would mean there's no peace in his life. That's why he chose the speedrun route. Since he knew who should die, he would just kill them one by one.
While the original Naruto had suffered greatly, Naruto never felt obligated to seek revenge on his behalf. It was only because Obito tried to hurt his people that he decided to retaliate against him.
Petty grievances were settled on the spot. And for true vengeance, he had to destroy both the person and their spirit.
Back then, he couldn't do it face-to-face, but the bait had already been thrown to Obito, so now, he just had to wait for Obito to bite it.
Lost in thought, Naruto looked up and saw the glowing sign of Ichiraku Ramen. After a brief daze, he lifted the curtain and ducked inside.
The moment he entered the ramen shop, bright light spilled over him.
"What would you like to eat, sir?"
Ayame was handing two bowls of ramen to customers, while the kitchen was bustling with activity.
When she heard some noise at the entrance of the shop, she greeted the customer warmly without even turning her head.
"Chashu set." Naruto found an empty seat at the counter and sat down.
"Got it, si... Naruto? You're here?"
Ayame's face lit up, obviously a little happy. It had been a while since she'd seen Naruto, as Naruto didn't go there very often, so she only saw him occasionally.
Seeing him again after not seeing him for a while made her very happy, that sense of being trusted and relied upon.
"Yeah." Naruto was unusually quiet when eating alone.
Soon, a steaming bowl of clear broth ramen was placed in front of him. After saying 'Enjoy your meal', Ayame smiled and turned away, her fingers clasped behind her back.