Bang—
Just as Orochimaru finished speaking, Gusion waved his hand, and several corpses appeared on the ground. "Will these do?"
Orochimaru's expression changed, a sinister smile curling at his lips. "Gusion-kun, if you do this, the Hidden Mist Village will probably hate you to the bone."
The corpses on the ground were none other than the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Black Tech.
Gusion hadn't wanted to insult Yagura's resolve—he didn't break him down after capturing him alive and turn him into a weapon for Konoha. But that didn't mean that after Yagura's heroic sacrifice and fulfilling his role as Mizukage, Gusion still needed to care about his dignity.
Right now, Sound Village's combat strength was seriously lacking. Apart from himself and Orochimaru—the two bosses—they didn't even have a single elite monster. There was simply no way to put pressure on Konoha's ninjas.
Konoha's high-level combat strength wasn't just average—Kakashi, Might Guy, these elite jonin were all top-notch fighters. If Guy opened the Eight Gates, even Gusion would have to avoid him.
If they were all just small fry, Konoha's elite jonin would quickly wipe them out, and the Uchiha clan wouldn't get a chance to shine.
Before retreating, he'd considered that Sunagakure might not be able to form an alliance, so he'd stored several corpses from the battlefield in his storage space.
"It doesn't matter. The more they hate me, the more stable Zabuza's position becomes. This is good for my future plans."
Giving these corpses to Orochimaru was just to give him a hint—Gusion believed that once reminded, Orochimaru would prepare even more high-quality dead to take the stage.
He handed over Black Tech's body as well, wanting to see if the Impure World Reincarnation could revive an Explorer.
"Then I'll gladly accept them."
Orochimaru had his subordinates carry the corpses away, then smiled, "Gusion-kun, you should know, Pain told you to keep a low profile, right? If we attack Konoha, that's basically betraying the Akatsuki."
"So what, are you scared, Orochimaru?"
Gusion couldn't possibly stop his hidden mission just because of Nagato's warning. Besides, he'd just received a message from Itachi—due to Obito's appearance, the Uchiha clan's situation had taken a dramatic turn for the worse.
To prevent Obito from causing trouble behind the scenes and to stop Konoha from making a rash decision to wipe out the Uchiha, Gusion had to go to Konoha himself and oversee things in secret.
"Hehe, I only joined Akatsuki out of curiosity anyway. Now it looks like there's no hope for the Rinnegan, so I might as well fulfill my own wish first."
Orochimaru laughed sinisterly. In front of Gusion, he didn't bother pretending—he admitted that he joined Akatsuki because he coveted the Rinnegan.
"The Rinnegan, huh… Orochimaru, have you ever wondered how the Rinnegan is born? The Uchiha are descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, and so are the Senju. Maybe if their bloodlines collide, something wonderful might happen."
Gusion hinted to Orochimaru—he didn't know much about research himself, but he'd read the manga and could point Orochimaru in the right direction.
Though he didn't think that simply fusing Yin-Yang bloodlines could create another Rinnegan—it seemed unique, and it was hard to imagine a second pair being born while the first still existed.
But this research direction wasn't wrong. If Orochimaru followed it, at least it would speed up his progress on the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Oh? That's an interesting idea—I'll try it when I get back."
Orochimaru's eyes lit up. Suddenly, he felt that even if he didn't go after Pain, perhaps he could use science to recreate the Rinnegan.
After they discussed the details of the Konoha destruction plan, they went their separate ways—Orochimaru headed to Sunagakure, while Gusion made straight for Konoha.
After leaving Sound Village, Gusion got a prompt from the End Space system.
[Hidden Task: Zabuza's Ambition completed. Reward: Complete Hidden Mist Ninjutsu Compendium Scroll *1]
Gusion had thought this reward would come from Zabuza, but it was issued directly by the system.
He checked the details—this was a dark gold quality skill scroll. Using it would teach him all ninjutsu and secret techniques ever recorded in Hidden Mist's texts. This single scroll would keep his Origin Spirit Seed irrigated for a long time.
Since he'd already received the reward, that meant Zabuza had already succeeded in becoming Mizukage—sooner and smoother than he'd expected.
[Pioneer's reputation among factions has changed significantly. Please check.]
Another prompt urged Gusion to check the world menu.
[Cloud Village Reputation: -6121 (Blood Feud)]
[ Sand Village Reputation: -3073 (Hostile)]
[ Rock Village Reputation: 2009 (Friendly)]
[ Leaf Village Reputation: -1533 (Indifferent)]
[ Mist Village Reputation: -15632 (Mortal Enemy)]
[ Akatsuki Reputation: 5000 (Respect)]
Looking at his updated reputation, Gusion felt he really was the number one terrorist in the ninja world right now. Except for Iwagakure—which was probably friendly because of his strength and thinking about hiring him for mischief—every other village's reputation was negative.
Mist Village had even reached "mortal enemy" status with him.
The Akatsuki reputation was a bit surprising—he hadn't expected to be respected.
But thinking about it, with the organization depleted, he was now the most powerful on the surface. Even though he'd failed to capture jinchuriki, he'd made the organization's name known—which warranted some positive reputation.
Gusion didn't think this reputation was useless. From his experience, titles were tied to reputation. He looked forward to what new titles he might get when he returned.
———
A day later—Gusion had already infiltrated Konoha's borders.
Considering the Akatsuki cloak was too conspicuous, Gusion gritted his teeth and spent some End Space coins to change its appearance back to his original Midnight Walker coat.
His speed far exceeded that of ordinary ninjas, and with Shunpo letting him stay airborne, sneaking into Konoha was no challenge at all.
Gusion gathered some chakra and used the Transformation Technique, altering his face to look like a gentle and handsome young man. He walked down Konoha's main street just like that.
The ninja world war had been over for eight years. Konoha had enjoyed long peace, and the streets were bustling. Few people bothered to check if someone was using a transformation.
Could the guards see through it? Of course—they were Uchiha, and a Sharingan could instantly spot the chakra fluctuations of the Transformation Technique.
But the Transformation Technique was just a basic jutsu. Even ninja school kids played with it. As long as you passed the border check, everyone in the village was presumed a good citizen. Even if someone noticed, it wouldn't be considered strange.
So, Gusion swaggered down Konoha's streets and even stopped at the famous Ichiraku Ramen for a bowl.
No wonder Ichiraku had such a reputation—the flavor was first class. The noodles were springy and smooth, and the expertly crafted broth was rich and aromatic.
Add a bite of chashu, and it was simply irresistible. No wonder Naruto loved this place so much.
Gusion had quite an appetite—he ate eighteen bowls in a row, finally paying under the stunned gaze of the old man.
"Great craftsmanship! I haven't had noodles this delicious in a long time."
Gusion praised, and using the system's appraisal function, saw that Ichiraku Ramen was actually a purple-quality food. Despite using ordinary ingredients, the taste was superb.
"As long as you're satisfied, young man—come again next time!"
The old man beamed; he loved hearing praise for his cooking.
"I'll come if I get the chance."
Gusion stretched as he got up. "The ninja world's been restless lately. I suggest you brush up on your evacuation knowledge these days, old man."
With that, and leaving the old man confused, he lifted the curtain and left the shop.
Outside, a figure in Konoha Police uniform stood by the street and glanced at him casually.
It was Uchiha Itachi.
Just a glance, and they both recognized each other, but neither spoke.
Itachi subtly left a signal, telling Gusion to meet him that night in the Uchiha clan's forest.
Gusion, looking like an ordinary traveler, continued to stroll the streets until he reached a park and heard an argument.
He turned and saw a blond-haired boy quarreling with some other kids. After a few words, the fight broke out.
That blond boy was none other than the main character of Naruto: Uzumaki Naruto.
At this moment, Naruto was angrily wrestling with the other boys. "You're bullies, that's too much!"
Gusion glanced behind Naruto and saw a short-haired girl with her hands in her pockets, looking timid. She worriedly called out, "Naruto-kun, don't fight!"
Gusion stroked his chin—wasn't this Hinata?
He remembered the original manga had something like this: some boys called Hinata a "white-eyed freak," and Naruto got angry and fought with them.
When he was a kid, Gusion thought this scene was kind of childhood sweetheart romantic, but also felt it was a stretch. After all, the Hyuga were the top clan in Konoha—could there really be people who didn't know what the Byakugan was?
And Hinata was the heiress—could she really be bullied like this?
With nothing else to do, Gusion sat on a park bench and watched the show. Naruto's stamina was no joke—he eventually drove the other kids away. Hinata wanted to thank him, but too shy, she couldn't muster the courage and ran off.
The sun gradually set, the park emptied, and only a battered Naruto remained, looking a bit lost.
Facing the sunset, his lonely shadow stretched long and far.
After a while, he walked over to a swing not far from Gusion and sat down, swinging gently and occasionally sneaking glances at Gusion.
Naruto noticed that this "uncle," or rather "big brother," had been sitting in the park all afternoon without leaving, and no one had come to find him. He looked very lonely.
He wanted to go over and ask why he was sitting there.
After a while, he stood up, whistled casually, and walked over to sit down beside Gusion on the bench.
"I heard that girl call you Naruto just now?"
Gusion looked at the little Naruto sitting beside him, thoughts swirling in his mind.
He'd always had a hard time believing that if Naruto existed in the real world, he could really have had such a tough childhood.
But the facts were right in front of him—Naruto, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, was ostracized by the village. Parents told their kids not to play with him.
Little Naruto lived a lonely life, with only the Third Hokage occasionally checking in on him.
This wasn't a manga, but a real world—so Gusion had to wonder what the Third Hokage's intention was in all this.
Did he really not know about Naruto's situation? Did he not know the villagers treated Naruto as the demon fox and shunned him?