Chapter 139: Adaptation is Not Random Creation
"The Sect Leader isn't someone you can just see whenever you want."
Hearing Naruto's request, Haku smiled faintly, displaying the poise of a peerless beauty.
He already had a habit of cross-dressing; in the original work, he disguised himself as a girl gathering herbs, completely enchanting the naive Naruto.
"..."
Naruto took a sip of black tea.
He felt it was a bit hard to handle.
Mainly because he was a pure straight man and had no interest in cross-dressing guys.
"I heard from the guards that some kind of password is required."
Naruto recalled the guard saying the password he used was the second one, so the first one should allow him to see the Sect Leader.
As the original body, he naturally knew the passwords his Shadow Clones used.
For instance, the password he just used actually came from 'The Sage Who Transcended Samsara'.
"Indeed. So, do you want to attempt the first password?" Haku asked.
Attempt the password?
Naruto nodded calmly.
"The King of Heaven covers the Earth Tiger."
"Small chicken stewed with mushrooms?" Narutosaid subconsciously.
"No." Haku shook his head.
"The Pagoda suppresses the River Monster."
Naruto already knew what the password was; it was from the dialogue in 'Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy'.
"Why is your face red?"
"Glowing with spirit."
"Why has it turned yellow again?"
"To prevent the cold, I applied wax."
"Shai da, shai da."
"An exquisite pagoda, facing the Green Village with its back to the sand!"
"You're the first person to get it right," Haku said in surprise.
"The first? You mean many people before me got it wrong?"
"Yes. Since the White Lotus Sect occupied Wudi City, many spies have flooded in—from the Land of Fire, Konoha, and other factions. They all want to see the Sect Leader, but unfortunately, no matter what they try, they can't guess this first password. Because in the entire White Lotus Sect, only I, the Eyebrowless Blade King, and the Sect Leader know it."
"Wait, Eyebrowless Blade King?"
Naruto found a point to complain about. What the hell is 'Eyebrowless'? Can that even be a title?
"Yes, Lord Zabuza."
Haku didn't hide it; since he got the first password right, it proved he was a core member of the White Lotus Sect.
He hesitated for a moment and added, "But Lord Zabuza doesn't like this title, so if you see him, don't call him that."
"..."
If it were me, I wouldn't like it either.
You might as well call him a 'long-legged Oppa' or something.
Anyway, Zabuza is quite tall.
However, Naruto was now more certain that besides Zabuza and Haku, everyone else was non-existent—those were just empty titles.
"I wonder how I should address you?" Haku asked after a moment's thought, seeing from his previous reaction that he seemed to know him.
"Merlin," Naruto replied offhandedly. "Take me to see your Sect Leader."
Haku nodded.
Although the name Merlin was very unfamiliar, since he got the password right, he was naturally qualified.
"Follow me."
He stood up, walked into the room, and moved a certain spot on the bookshelf, revealing a secret passage.
After walking through the passage for half a minute, Haku pressed a switch in the darkness, and an exit appeared above.
Naruto squinted his eyes to adjust to the light, discovering that this was actually just an ordinary second-floor residence.
It was just relatively remote and quiet.
But it was still within the White Lotus Sect manor.
Haku knocked on the door.
"Sect Leader, a guest calling himself Merlin requests an audience?"
"Old Thief Merlin?"
The door opened, and a Shadow Clone appeared.
He was dressed in black robes with long, flowing hair.
Damn!
Buddha Wutian.
Naruto froze for a moment, remembering this classic image.
He then remembered that the White Lotus Saintess played by Haku was named White Lotus Flower.
So it wasn't just a sick joke.
In 'journey to the west Post-sequel', White Lotus Flower was the lover of Qiao Linger, the reincarnated soul boy of Buddha Shakyamuni.
And his Shadow Clone had previously performed the famous scene of Shakyamuni's 'Above and below heaven, I alone am honored'.
Good grief!
Adaptation is not random creation, and storytelling is not nonsense... forget it, just let it bloom.
After Haku left, the Shadow Clone reached out and said, "Where's the money?"
It looked exactly like Naruto in his past life asking his dad for living expenses.
Of course, not quite that arrogant.
Sigh, it's my own kid.
Naruto didn't mind his attitude. He gave him the money and asked, "What do you need so much money for?"
There were actually many ways for the White Lotus Sect, or rather Tianming, to make money.
The shipping company in the Land of Waves, though not as unscrupulous as Gato's before, was definitely raking in money even with legitimate business.
Plus, from what he had just seen and heard in Wudi City.
The Shadow Clone had definitely reformed the economic model here.
Its money-making ability surely wasn't bad.
After all, it controlled the economic lifeblood of an entire city.
With a simple calculation, the Shadow Clone's current wealth far exceeded the 1.5 billion he had given.
"Naturally, to complete achievements," the Shadow Clone said.
This was within expectations.
"What achievement? Richest man in the Ninja World?" Naruto guessed.
"No, I'm not such a vulgar person. I don't like money; to me, money is just a number."
The Shadow Clone looked disdainful and said, "Besides, I can't beat Konan for the title of Richest in the Ninja World."
You're acting all cool in front of me, aren't you?
But what he said made sense.
Konan's 600 billion exploding tags, if converted to money, would be truly uncountable.
The number one rich woman in the Ninja World, absolutely no dispute.
Paper Release? No, this thing is clearly Money Release.
Of course, Kakuzu probably deserves some credit for this.
As the financial manager of the Akatsuki Organization, if Konan wanted to use money, would he dare refuse?
Refuse? Do you see this massive Planetary Devastation?
"Then what achievement are you trying to complete?" Naruto asked.
"It won't be a surprise if I tell you now. Just wait for the day it's completed," the Shadow Clone said, shaking his head.
"..."
Naruto's mouth twitched.
I shouldn't have enjoyed being a riddle-master so much; now I'm being riddled by myself.
"Fine."
Naruto suppressed his curiosity; as long as the Shadow Clone wasn't messing around, it was fine.
As the original body, he would just wait peacefully for the achievement to trigger.
"Give me all the teachings of the White Lotus Sect."
Naruto thought of the two disciples he had taken in, Hana Rin and En Yui, who were still waiting to be fed.
"Okay."
The Shadow Clone entered the room and, after a dozen seconds, brought out a stack of books.
"So many?"
Naruto glanced at them; there were about thirteen or fourteen books.
"This is considered few."
The Shadow Clone shook his head and said, "You know the White Lotus Sect's teachings. Can they be explained in just a few books?"
"True."
Naruto remembered studying for several years in his past life; a dozen books really wasn't much.
After taking the teachings, he planned to leave and continue his path of cultivation.
While En Yui was busy, he wasn't doing much better.
He had to teach day and night, and besides that, he had to find time to study the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu.
Just as Jiraiya said, Sealing Jutsu is profound and extensive, with a mountain of materials.
"Oh, right."
Naruto thought of En Yui and told him about the plan he was plotting.
"Oh, that's not bad. You can notify me anytime if you need anything."
"Sure, I've learned the Flying Thunder God Technique now."
Naruto nodded.
With the Flying Thunder God Technique, he essentially had the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the White Lotus Sect.
He finally wouldn't be as blind as before.
"Do you need me to dispel you and then create another Shadow Clone? That way, you'll also have the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"No need." The Shadow Clone waved his hand. "To you, it's the same Shadow Clone, but to me, it might not be. Besides, once dispelled, you'll know exactly what I'm doing right now."
Naruto didn't force it and asked, "Anything else? If not, I'm leaving."
"You came at the right time. There is indeed something I'm not sure how to handle."
The Shadow Clone pointed to the ground and said, "Uchiha Obito is currently in Wudi City. You should know what that means? The Akatsuki Organizationhas already investigated and found out that the White Lotus Sect is the Tianming Organization. Originally, the Land of Fire was preparing for a third suppression, but if the Akatsuki Organizationjoins in, I might be finished."
"Obito, huh? That is indeed a problem."
Naruto frowned.
Obito had previously been wounded by his Shadow Clone, Gen Shisei, so he certainly wouldn't let it go easily.
It was also thanks to The Fool infiltrating the inner circle; otherwise, Tianming would have been uprooted by him long ago.
"I need time. At least for now, Wudi City cannot be lost. The Land of Fire's suppression isn't a problem, but I'm afraid of the Akatsuki Organization getting involved. Find a way to stall for some time."
"You make it sound so easy. Should I go find Orochimaru and have him use Edo Tensei to bring back Rin Nohara to talk some sense into Obito?" Naruto grumbled.
"That works too." The Shadow Clone shrugged. "Anyway, do as you see fit."
Naruto left the White Lotus Sect manor directly.
He expanded his Kagura's Mind's Eye and quickly captured Obito's trail.
Perhaps Obito was very confident, as he basically didn't use any disguise.
He probably didn't expect to run into Naruto, who could use Kagura's Mind's Eye.
Just as the Shadow Clone said, Obito was spying on the White Lotus Sect.
Naruto sat in the Inn thinking about how to suppress this guy.
En Yui was opposite him, trying to refine Chakra.
This was her first time.
"I got it! I got it!"
En Yui shouted excitedly.
Naruto was startled out of his thoughts and glanced at her.
There was already a bit of Chakra in her body.
It seemed her talent was decent.
"Don't be noisy, continue."
"Oh, okay."
En Yui smiled apologetically and continued to refine Chakra.
After another moment.
Jiraiya returned smelling of perfume, a smile on his face, looking quite happy.
"What's up? Any good news?" Naruto asked.
"Didn't I pass the news about Sasori to Tsunadeearlier?"
Jiraiya sat down carelessly and said, "After Tsunade got the intel, she contacted Chiyo-baasan. Since it involved her missing grandson, she took it very seriously. The two villages worked together to investigate, and they've achieved some small results."
"What results?"
Naruto's heart skipped a beat. Had they found Sasori's whereabouts? That wouldn't be good.
After all, he was now a member of Tianming.
"This organization is called Akatsuki."
After Jiraiya had En Yui leave for a moment, he said, "Konoha and Sunagakure thoroughly checked the high-difficulty missions and bounties in the Land of Wind and Land of Fire over the past two years. They can basically confirm this organization exists, and it has quite a few members."
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief; it wasn't as bad as he had imagined.
But for them to have found this much was already quite good.
"In addition, we also found that the Akatsuki Organization seems to have some friction with the Tianming Organization."
Jiraiya continued.
Compared to the Akatsuki, Konoha didn't actually value the Tianming Organization as much.
Because what they did—like robbing the rich to help the poor and doing business—affected the Land of Fire, not Konoha.
In fact, it was quite the opposite; because the panic of the Daimyo and other nobles caused by the Tianming Organization, Konoha's mission volume had actually increased.
Ninjas essentially preferred chaos and war.
Only then could they get missions and money.
Furthermore, the strength shown by the Tianming Organization wasn't strong; it looked more like an organization formed by commoners rebelling.
But the Akatsuki was different. Whether it was Orochimaru or Uchiha Itachi, they were too dangerous for Konoha.
Especially since Orochimaru had already executed the Konoha Crush plan.
Who knows if he'll come again next time.
Konoha couldn't withstand such torment.
Otherwise, they would have gone to Otogakure to find trouble with Orochimaru long ago.
Jiraiya sighed and said, "There's too little intel on the Akatsuki. Even with two major hidden villages working together, we only found this much. It's clear their organization's power is truly astonishing."
It couldn't be helped.
With White Zetsu around, it was indeed difficult to find the Akatsuki.
Naruto didn't say anything more.
Night.
He used the Flying Thunder God Technique to go to Sasuke's room and exchanged Chakra with him.
"How has your learning been lately?" Naruto asked casually.
"I've already signed a contract with Aoda, and now I'm learning Sage Mode," Sasuke replied.
"So fast? Orochimaru actually agreed to let you learn Sage Mode?"
Naruto was a bit surprised; Orochimaru didn't seem like such an easy-going person.
Could it be that the brother-in-law treatment is different?
"It's not the Cursed Seal, but the Sage Mode of Ryūchi Cave. I plan to try and see if I can learn it with the help of the White Snake Sage."
"Oh, I see."
Sasuke clearly hadn't given up.
After all, the Cursed Seal was just a knockoff; if he could learn the authentic version, he naturally wanted to.
It was worth a try.
It didn't cost anything anyway.
Naruto nodded and said, "Then work hard."
He tapped his head again and threw the sword of the thunder god to him.
"What's this?" Sasuke was stunned. Have you become so poor that you only give people a sword hilt?
"The sword of the thunder god, the Second Hokage's weapon. It has a certain amplification effect for Lightning Release. Channel your Chakrainto it."
Sasuke did as told, and a golden blade instantly appeared.
His eyes lit up; this was a good item. He wouldn't have to worry about the blade breaking during a fight in the future.
"You're welcome," Naruto said.
"..."
Sasuke almost choked. Is there anyone who answers before the question like you?
Besides, how did you know I would say thank you?
"Full of yourself,"
Sasuke put away the sword of the thunder godand spoke coolly.
"?"
Sigh, this guy isn't as cute as when he was a kid.
Naruto waved his hand and disappeared from the spot.
He had another mission next: to teach the new doctrines to En Yui.
It's going to be a long night.
Naruto poked En Yui with a conjured magic wand.
She quickly woke up.
"Teacher," En Yui said respectfully.
The longer she knew him, the more she understood her teacher's vast knowledge.
As a princess, her teachers since childhood were the best in the entire Land of Fire, but none could compare to Merlin.
"A new lesson is being added today."
Naruto took out a book and said, "Principles of Dialectical Materialism."
"???"
En Yui was bewildered.
She recognized the individual words, but combined together, what the hell was this?
Without a doubt, she opened the door to a new world tonight.