Just when Naruto wanted to try again, the Shadow Clone with Kurama's consciousness exhausted its Chakra and dissipated into a cloud of white smoke on the sea.
"Kurama, was it fun?"
After Kurama's consciousness returned, Naruto asked.
"Not bad. I didn't expect you to come up with such an interesting Kekkei Tota. It's just that the consumption is a bit high."
"Kurama, you need to hurry up and train. Don't let me run out of your Chakra as I get more and more moves."
"Huh? I, the strongest Tailed Beast, the Nine-Tails, will run out of Chakra?"
Kurama slapped its tail on the ground in the Mindscape, kicking up a patch of grass.
This served as a reminder. As the level of Jutsu he mastered became higher, the consumption also rose accordingly. To prevent running out of Nine-Tails's Chakra in the future, he needed to prepare in advance.
After thinking for a while, two plans appeared in his mind.
First, increase his own Chakra capacity.
Second, get back the other half of Kurama that was sealed in the Shinigami's stomach.
The Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple outside Konoha enshrined the Shinigami mask.
As long as he got the Shinigami mask and let Orochimaru perform Edo Tensei, and cut the Shinigami like in the original series, he could release Minato's soul from the Shinigami's stomach and retrieve the other half of Kurama at the same time.
However, Naruto did not want to act so hastily for the time being. He planned to retrieve Kurama's Chakra after getting the Rinnegan. As for the mask, he could get it in advance.
Finally taking one last look at the reef below, Naruto shook his head and stopped overthinking, using the Flying Thunder God Technique to return home.
Just after returning home, Naruto sensed someone in the courtyard. He pushed open the door to the training room and arrived in the courtyard to see two people sitting there.
Jiraiya was sitting with his arms crossed, his face solemn. Tsunade had her hands crossed, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Hearing the sound, both looked at Naruto simultaneously, then exchanged a glance, neither speaking first.
Seeing their expressions, Naruto guessed something must be wrong.
He asked, "What happened, Pervy Sage, Granny Tsunade?"
For two of the Sannin to appear in his courtyard simultaneously, and with such expressions, the matter could definitely not be trivial.
"Well... Naruto, stay calm, a small incident occurred." Jiraiya scratched the back of his head and shifted his gaze to Tsunade.
"What is it?" Naruto frowned.
Usually, Jiraiya could be carefree even if the sky were falling, but now he looked hesitant about how to speak.
Tsunade took a deep breath and stopped beating around the bush. "This afternoon, after I finished teaching Karin and Sakura Medical Ninjutsu, I discovered a Root member observing from the shadows. After I discovered that guy, he committed suicide on the spot, and I couldn't get any information out of him."
"I felt something was wrong, so I had the Anbu conduct a full-scale search, and as a result, I discovered that Iruka and Ino were missing. After the Anbu investigation, it was confirmed that Root had taken them."
"That damn old man, even without Root, he still won't settle down."
Speaking of this, Tsunade looked furious. After calming down, she said to Naruto, "Naruto, Danzo capturing them is clearly aimed at you. I have already sent the Anbu to track them, and Karin and Sakura are being kept in the Hokage office, where Anbu are guarding them, so they are safe for now."
After hearing this, Naruto's expression didn't change much, but his Chakra overflowed slightly.
He activated Negative Emotions Sensing and Mind's Eye of the Kagura simultaneously, spreading them out at full power.
In an instant, the Chakra of all of Konoha, including the forest outside the village, entered his sensory range.
A moment later, he captured Danzo's Chakra in the mountains northwest of the village. Beside Danzo's Chakra, there were over a dozen other Chakra signatures, as well as two familiar ones. Naruto recognized these as the Chakra of Iruka and Ino. Although their Chakra was weak, they were still alive.
He opened his eyes and glanced in that direction. Then, with a thought, Light Release Chakra surged from within him, his body lighting up with a golden radiance.
"Naruto, why is your body glowing?" Jiraiya widened his eyes, looking at the glowing Naruto in disbelief.
Naruto transformed into a beam of golden light and shot straight up into the sky, flying rapidly toward the northwest of the village.
Watching the golden light disappear into the sky, it took Jiraiya several seconds to recover.
He turned to look at Tsunade and asked, "Is this the power of Nine-Tails?"
Tsunade stood up and grabbed the Hokage hat from the table. "No, when he showed me the Nine-Tails Chakra form before, it was completely different."
"It's not? Could this be another one of that kid's trump cards? Just how many moves does he have that he hasn't revealed?" Jiraiya pondered to himself upon hearing this.
Tsunade immediately ordered an Anbu who was waiting, "Notify all Anbu, the target is in the mountainous area to the northwest, depart immediately."
She then grabbed the still-dazed Jiraiya and said, "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and follow. If that kid rushes over alone, by the time we get there, Danzo probably won't even have his bones left."
...
Above Konoha, a golden light flashed.
A little girl leaning on a windowsill by the street tugged at her mother's sleeve and shouted, "Mom, look, a shooting star!"
The little girl's mother looked up at the pitch-black night sky and ruffled her hair, saying with a smile, "Shooting stars don't happen every day. Have you been playing outside for too long again?"
Hearing that her mother didn't believe her, the little girl angrily shook off her hand, her face puffed up.
A dumpling shop owner who had just closed up also saw the golden light. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he had been standing for too long and his vision was blurry, so he didn't take it to heart.
"That was..."
Some Jonin, seeing the flashing golden light, wore thoughtful expressions on their faces.
...
Northwest mountainous area.
Danzo stood on a leveled rock platform, leaning on his cane, with over a dozen Root members standing behind him. Each person's position was carefully arranged, vaguely forming a semi-circular encirclement.
The unconscious Ino and Iruka were thrown on the ground at the edge. Several Root members crouched beside them, having already prepared Fuinjutsu, just waiting for Danzo's order.
"Danzo-sama, Hinata stayed at the Hyuga Clan residence all day today and did not go out. Root members could not take action without alerting the Hyuga Clan."
"Karin and Sakura spent the entire day in the Hokage office practicing Medical Ninjutsu. The Root responsible for surveillance was discovered on the spot by the Fifth Hokage and has already committed suicide."
A Root Ninja knelt on one knee before Danzo, reporting item by item in a emotionless tone.
Danzo listened expressionlessly and said, "So, you only captured two people for today's mission."
Hearing this, the Root ninja's body trembled slightly, and he lowered his head further.
"Yes, Danzo-sama, please punish me."
"Hmph, what's the use of punishment? Now there are only a few of you left in Root." Danzo snorted coldly.
He glanced at the unconscious Ino and Iruka on the ground, and calculated in his heart the weight these two people held for the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Ino had been in the same class as Naruto since childhood, and was also close to him during previous gatherings.
Iruka was the teacher closest to Naruto during his time at the Ninja Academy.
The two of them added together should be enough to lure Naruto over. Once lured over, as long as he stepped into the range of the Fuinjutsu, Kotoamatsukami would be activated. No matter how strong he was, he would become the sharpest blade in his hand.
Just then, a Root member on the edge responsible for sensory vigilance suddenly opened his eyes.
Just a moment ago, a Chakra signal flashed across the edge of his sensory range. This Chakra was very fast, so fast that just as he captured it, it was already out of his sensory range.
"Danzo-sama, I sensed a flash of Chakra!" He immediately reported to Danzo.
Danzo frowned. "What do you mean by a flash?"
"I did indeed sense it, but that Chakra was moving too fast. Within the next second, it exceeded the limit of my tracking range..."
Before the Root member could finish his sentence, a golden light shot straight from the direction of Konoha across the sky.
"Danzo-sama!"
Danzo didn't need the reminder, he had already seen the golden light. He narrowed his left eye, thinking rapidly.
Is this Ninjutsu? Summoning Jutsu? Or some unknown Kekkei Genkai?