Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 332 Mineral Veins

"This must be... a story from before the ninjas appeared, right?" someone who was eavesdropping from a distance murmured.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Asuma, who was on rest, looked up.

"Nothing, it's just that I find the guard duty really boring." Naruto's complaint was genuine; he genuinely found it incredibly boring.

Asuma, who had once served as one of the twelve guardian ninja of the daimyo, laughed and slapped Naruto so hard that he stumbled. "You little brat, hope for the best. Peace and quiet are when the guards have the easiest time. If something really happens, you'll have a lot of trouble."

Naruto gave a perfunctory reply, his attention actually fixed on the distant horizon. According to the old man, they were on their way to a mine, an area indeed one of the most treacherous in the Land of Fire, rugged and harsh, where virtually nothing could grow. The legendary Grell Stone was considered the source of life; how could its location be so desolate? Moreover, if it truly possessed such power, there was no reason he wouldn't have detected it. Or was the seal on the mine too strong, completely concealing the energy fluctuations?

"Speaking of which, Kakashi often bragged to me about how powerful and unpredictable your Wind Release is. I've been curious about it for a long time, but unfortunately, I haven't encountered any decent enemies along the way, not even a single one." Asuma suddenly changed the subject. For a ninja, the most important thing is strength; everything else is secondary.

Kakashi wasn't actually that competitive; this mission-obsessed ninja spent more time traveling than in Konoha. What Asuma said was all hearsay, gleaned from other ninjas who had teamed up with Naruto. There was actually a lot of controversy within the Sarutobi clan regarding Naruto. While their father was alive, these dissenting opinions could be suppressed, but with his sudden passing, many strange and problematic individuals emerged.

Asuma genuinely hated playing games with those people, but he had no choice. He was his father's only remaining child, and to protect his young nephew, he had to step up. Back then, Konohamaru's interactions with Naruto were tacitly approved by his father. Later, these people felt that being associated with a Jinchuriki was a bad thing and tried their best to hinder the children's friendship. How could Asuma let that happen? Now, they saw Naruto's potential and also noticed Tsunade's favoritism, so they wanted to force this friendship forward, even proposing an even more absurd plan.

"Naruto Uzumaki has become a Jonin, which is enough for him to be Konohamaru's mentor."

Konohamaru will graduate next year, while Naruto will only be fifteen years old then, right? Which Jonin instructor only has three years of ninja career?! It's ridiculous!

"Asuma-sensei is joking. Your wind blade is the sharpest spear in Konoha." Although Naruto wasn't focused, he could still sense Asuma's eagerness to fight. He didn't want to fight right now; it was best to save his strength for where it mattered most.

"You little brat, you're quite the smooth talker." Asuma could tell that Naruto was backing down, considering that Naruto had been responsible for giving the team advance warnings all along the way. The younger members of the Yamanaka clan had all collapsed from exhaustion once, but Naruto had persevered without ever slacking off. It would indeed be unethical for him to drag people out to fight during his rest time.

Having finally managed to fool Asuma, Naruto increased his exploration this time, no longer limiting himself to the surface but probing deeper underground. This time, he finally discovered some man-made ruins and, following the clues, found something resembling an "elevator." The elevator shaft was bottomless and too far away for even his "sensory perception" to continue.

It seems I still have to use the original body.

"Is the mine here?" Timci saw something that looked like ruins, broken and weathered, standing in a desolate and uninhabited place.

The Grell Stone within my body seems to be pulsating; it seems I'm right, this is where the ore vein is located.

Timothy raised his sword and shot a green beam of light into the sky. The special power allowed it to change direction mid-air, soaring towards the distant horizon. Only after doing this did he lead the old man toward the ruins.

The roads here are intricate and many parts are weathered and damaged. It was the old man's first time here, but the guidance left by his ancestors was surprisingly comprehensive. He successfully found the most spacious hall in the ruins and stood on the only stone pillar that led to the underground.

"A huge, movable object is approaching; they're coming from the beach," Naruto suddenly said.

Torune, who was intently watching, was taken aback, momentarily unsure whether the approaching object was alive or dead. The wind had once said that perception only sketches the general outline of an object in the mind, and only a living being with chakra can manifest this perception.

A huge object with chakra... it can't be a tailed beast, can it?

"There aren't many enemies, but we only need to be careful of two people with special powers. Let's take them down first," Naruto continued.

"Huh?" Qu Gen really didn't understand.

"They're coming in a huge machine, and it uses that special energy, which is why it can be detected. In short, there's no need to worry about this for now; let's take down the most threatening one first."

Naruto nonchalantly extended his hand, seemingly unconcerned about being poisoned through his glove. "Right," he thought, "it's just a clone; there's no point in poisoning it anyway."

A boy and an old man—such a combination is indeed not very threatening, far less so than others who can arrive in giant machines. He was quite curious about what the giant machines actually looked like, so he decided to listen to him for now.

Did you leave any marks on them?

"Of course I kept them. Otherwise, how could I let them run away without my permission?"

"That makes sense, let's go."

The two figures that had been following them vanished instantly, and the stone pillar where Timothy and the old man were standing fell down due to the triggering of a mechanism. The ruins, which had just become lively, returned to silence once more.

Suddenly, a figure appeared where the two had disappeared—it was Naruto himself. He glanced down, and a faint golden light shone in his eyes.

It was indeed close enough that he could hear the "pulse" of the mine.