Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 33 The God of Ninja pulled a fast one.

After the third training session ended, most of the staff left the base except for those who maintained the infrastructure and conducted research and development. It's quite remarkable that these young people, who had been cooped up at the base for three years, had a major fight.

However, the amazing Hashirama Senju always manages to pull off some unexpected tricks.

Without anyone knowing, he took branches from the tree underground and planted them at intervals, nurturing each new tree until its roots connected with the original ones before planting the next. These trees looked normal when planted above ground, but turned whitish when underground. In this way, over three years he secretly measured the land area of ​​the Land of Rivers and also planted many more in the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.

The base was short-staffed, and Hashirama suddenly remembered the "information relay station" he had forgotten underground. He immediately dragged his nemesis brother to harvest the "fruit".

That day, Tobirama, who disliked causing Naruto any trouble, used his Mind Transfer Technique for the first time, summoning Naruto to work overtime in broad daylight. Since there were simply too many White Zetsu available, moving them around was too much trouble, so they decided to start right there in the cave. Naruto ended up working an extra week for nothing. At first, he would follow the two brothers, but later he comfortably clung to Hashirama's back, hitching a ride on the Hokage's coattails. After all, only the living can make a summoning contract with the dead. And the creator of the Impure World Reincarnation strongly refused to let the technique spread, resolutely refusing to let Naruto teach it to anyone. Therefore, Naruto was left to suffer.

"Uncle Hashirama, what's it like to receive information from the entire Land of Rivers all at once?" Naruto, trying to find humor in the midst of his ordeal, recalled the original purpose of planting those trees and became particularly curious about Hashirama's feelings. After all, he had experienced information overload for a second or two, so he was curious about how others would feel facing this.

“That’s definitely not a good feeling,” Hashirama answered bluntly. “I felt like I died once, literally.”

...Wow, even Madara Uchiha couldn't do it, but the Land of Rivers did. I feel like they can be proud of this for the rest of their lives.

Naruto pretended not to hear the sharp, explosive sound Kurama made when he heard those words, and asked again, "So how much information can you receive now?"

“I don’t usually stare at it all the time. To receive information from the tree, I need to connect my chakra with the tree, and I can’t stay in the cave all day. Usually, I release a few wood clones to check different areas, and then they come back in turn. I’ve never tried anything beyond what I can handle right now.”

That's a good idea, but it can only be used when they're a little older.

"Did you find White Zetsu in the Land of Rivers?"

“There are a few, but they only pass by when they travel to and from the Land of Wind and Fire.” Hashirama immediately guessed why Naruto asked this question and comforted him, “Don’t worry, the cells that grew into trees have undergone several iterations and have been completely altered by Tobirama. In addition, they are activated by my Sage Chakra, making them closer to a natural state, so they can’t detect them.”

Naruto subconsciously scratched the back of his head, changing the subject. If he didn't go and appease Kurama, another tail would sprout and accuse him.

"This is what you meant by 'nothing'?! Hashirama Senju said he died once!" Kurama was about to explode. At this rate, he'd eventually become numb to Naruto's various miraculous feats. What if the kid suddenly died, and the autopsy report came out saying, "Good heavens, he died from exhaustion." Is that even plausible? Is this the kind of illness a Jinchuriki could cause?

Naruto, with a forced smile, explained from inside the cage, "I only kept a brief look after the members of 'Hui' nearby; I didn't let them out completely."

"You still want to completely let go?! Don't think I can't guess. Weren't you just thinking of using the Shadow Clone Technique? Don't even think about it!" Kurama had been inside Naruto's body for so long that he had figured out his ways to some extent. In some matters, Naruto could generously show trust, but when it came to truly important things, he was stubborn to a terrifying degree, even to the point of having an excessive desire for control.

For example, taking care of Sasuke requires knowing even how many days he's been having nightmares. In addition to reviewing extensive files, the selection process for members also involves observing them continuously for at least a week using one's own methods.

Naruto was so focused on the first "Burning the Flame" plan that he not only took over the work of the information hub but also had to remotely check on the progress of the others. It wasn't just about sensing their emotions; he was scanning the terrain maps of every village they landed in! Kurama sensed something was wrong when he first learned of Naruto's ability. Those miniature models floated on Naruto's sea of ​​consciousness, updating their status from time to time. Beneath the map was a flat map recording the locations of all the personnel who had gone out.

Can a normal human brain simulate so many things?

Kurama has only had four Jinchūriki in total, the first two being the old man of the Six Paths and that kid Ashura, so he lacked experience in this matter. Therefore, he even swallowed his pride and secretly asked Matatabi, the Two-Tails, who often mingled among humans. Matatabi was shocked by Kurama's remote communication. Although these Tailed Beasts were born together, most of them didn't like to live in groups, and even if they had backdoors, they rarely used them. The last time they made contact must have been hundreds of years ago.

However, Youlv had never seen such an outrageous human before, and she could not provide any information of any value.

Only today did Kurama realize that this ability could also be fatal. Does Naruto really think he's a sitting duck? What if he dies right after becoming Hokage?

"I'll think about these things when I'm older. I know my limits right now, and I know that 'Hui's' career is only just beginning. I will definitely live well and see the moment when the future is truly changed!" Naruto assured him repeatedly, "You know my body best. You can see whether I've been messing around these days, isn't that enough to reassure you, Kurama?"

Kurama, enraged, whipped his tail wildly, plotting to destroy everything outside the seal the next time he opened it. But then he thought Naruto would likely bring them back, which would only add to his burden. This only fueled his anger. He slapped Naruto into the water, baring his teeth and demanding a vicious oath from Naruto promising it wouldn't happen again. Naruto obediently complied, and Kurama's anger subsided considerably. Then, he suddenly noticed something amiss.

"Naruto, your hair has grown longer?"

"what?"

In his mental space, Naruto always maintained the appearance of the Seventh Hokage. It seemed to originate from his heart; he never truly relinquished his responsibilities and lived a fulfilling life, so the idea of ​​suddenly wanting to grow hair was simply impossible. Furthermore, the image he saw on the water's surface was always of himself meditating, so he didn't know if he had changed. To prevent that strange image from interfering with his judgment, he even turned his sea of ​​consciousness into the central hub for processing information, thus completely eliminating any possibility of him seeing his own reflection.

But the cage of the Nine-Lama had not been modified. He could see the very blurry shadow on the water's surface when he turned his head. He suddenly realized that the shadow was moving!

It wasn't the "movement" of a horror movie; rather, he no longer maintained the levitating meditation posture, but moved with his movements! For example, right now, he was staring at his long-haired self in the water, only that self still hadn't opened its eyes.

Naruto suppressed his shock and pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "I guess it's because I see myself as a child every day, so my appearance has changed a bit."

"Really?" Kurama leaned down and put one eye right in front of Naruto, saying with a hint of emotion, "You look much better like this. Good job, keep it up."

Naruto: "..." Thank you, but he doesn't want to hear it.

This batch of summons numbered over a hundred, so it was impossible to deploy them all at once to the base. Considering the limited number of vacant positions and the time required to learn the new era's knowledge, they ultimately decided to summon thirty people at a time.

At this moment, the benefits of the Sharingan were fully demonstrated. Several genjutsu masters played Naruto's lecture on the true source of ninja suffering on a loop, even simulating the emotional fluctuations they themselves experienced while listening to that part. This quickly helped the thirty people accept the reality. However, this was only acceptance; true understanding required a period of adjustment. So, things became lively again at the base. This time, the liveliness had nothing to do with Naruto. They felt that training people was a minor matter and didn't need to trouble him, plus they had entered a buffer period recently and didn't have many tasks. So, they generously gave Naruto a break.

Naruto had a rare few days of real student life.