Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 198 Training and Life

Learning to break through space from a single point isn't so simple. They tried three times, and Kakashi even got to experience the super benefits of the Fourth Shinobi World War early—the enhanced version of Kamui with Nine-Tails chakra. After a comprehensive and detailed perception, Naruto confirmed that Kamui didn't completely pierce through space; it still relied on the assistance of another dimension. Each Kamui was essentially a brief connection between the other dimension and the main world. The only difference from intangibility was that the other dimension wasn't bound to Kakashi's eyes. Each connection involved actively creating an opening in the main world, thus consuming more energy than intangibility.

Naruto once again marveled at the unpredictable nature of space and time. His ability to perform the Flying Thunder God Technique relied on his super-sensory abilities, substituting perception for tactile feedback. Finding weaknesses in space was incredibly difficult; he couldn't possibly perform such precise calculations in every fight. The powerful brick-throwing technique was definitely more suitable for him… However, the limitations of the Truth-Seeking Balls truly stumped him. He tried synchronizing his super-sensory location with his shadow clones, allowing them to concentrate their attacks on the fleeting opening. He succeeded, but the shadow clones also vanished in an instant, and his main body couldn't increase its output to widen the gap. Besides continuing to use shadow clones to cover the gap, his only option was to throw the balls. He dared not attempt attacks with uncertain outcomes so close to the residential area, so he could only use sporadic shadow clones to train his ability to find weak points.

"Don't you have a lot of chakra? If you increase the number of shadow clones, the effect will definitely be better." Kakashi, who rarely enjoyed a state where he didn't lack chakra, also borrowed Naruto's method, but he did it to test whether the clones could use Kamui. As it turned out, they couldn't.

“Clones can’t perceive things more precisely.” Naruto’s answer was prepared in advance. The truth is that he had already sent out too many clones. If his main body continued to create clones without restraint, the accumulated memories and fatigue would not only make him dizzy, but would also cause those clones to disappear, which would be adding insult to injury.

Having spent so many years using himself as several people, Naruto had long since figured out the acceptable frequency for recalling his shadow clones. He actually recalled and rearranged his clones every day, but the maximum number was three, no more. These clones had been away for two or three days, and recalling seven days' worth of memories at once was the limit for the shadow clones, so he even staggered the recall times to avoid any problems.

In short, Naruto was researching at a rate of five clones being destroyed every day. He spent his days gathering data and his nights sharing the findings with Tobirama, while also refining his techniques. On the third night of discussion, Izuna, for some reason, forcefully joined the discussion, which I probably wouldn't understand. Most of the time, he would sit quietly to the side, staring at Tobirama, but sometimes he would give Naruto a helpless yet resentful look, making Naruto feel a chill down his spine, as if he had done something wrong. Finally, he moved the discussion to the daytime, directly communicating the situation through telepathy. Although it consumed a little more energy, at least he wasn't being stared at for no reason.

Are you there?

In the middle of their routine discussion, a guy who had been away for half a year suddenly spoke up. Luckily, Naruto was already used to the feeling of multiple calls, and when he noticed that Tobirama's voice hadn't changed, he knew that Shisui was calling him alone.

How could I possibly be absent?

"Ahem, I was just kidding. Of course you'll always be there." Shisui probably hadn't played this game in a while and was a bit rusty, which is why he made such a joke. "Is Akatsuki going to cause trouble in the Land of Earth recently? I saw Itachi enter the capital of the Land of Earth under a disguise."

"You're not going to keep following me, are you?"

"Not really. I'll just stop briefly in a few places. I know the intelligence department very well now." There was even a hint of pride in Shisui's voice.

"Then you'd better not let Izuna find out, lest it affect everyone." This was the opinion of a leader who hadn't heard Shisui's exact location for six months.

"Oh dear, I've been stuck at the base all day, not knowing what to do. Wouldn't it be better to come out and do some medical consultations, learn medicine, and spread 'Radiance' at the same time? I'll definitely report every month from now on, so don't be angry. Tell me what's been going on in the Land of Earth lately."

Naruto was a little taken aback by the casual language. It wasn't that he couldn't understand it, but rather... it sounded too down-to-earth, inconsistent with Shisui's image. Had he been spending too much time among people and picked up dialects? It sounded a bit like a northern accent.

Have you heard of human trafficking cases?

"Of course! I heard you personally led the team to do this job? Well done!"

The Land of Earth is currently peaceful, except they might be considering digging up the road along the border of the Land of Owls.

Zhi Shui didn't understand. He knew that the Kingdom of Owls was already under Hui's rule, but why would a small country be worth the trouble of a large country?

The kingdoms of Wind and Owl will be coming to Konoha for peace talks soon; they probably already know. The Daimyo of Wind is extremely secretive; there's no way he could keep this from them.

"Huh? The Land of Owls and the Land of Fire don't border each other? Why are they coming here to talk?"

"It's precisely because we don't border each other that we can remain neutral," Naruto replied matter-of-factly.

He was indeed training, but that didn't hinder "Hui's" intelligence system from functioning properly. Besides, he was using his super-sensory abilities daily; wouldn't it be inappropriate for him not to check the situation at the Hokage Building? Before the team even returned, Naruto had already had a serious talk with the advisory group, fully demonstrating the importance of reputation for a ninja. Although the advisors were cunning old foxes, he could still cheat by sensing who had been persuaded and who remained stubbornly unyielding. Danzo's disdain was practically overflowing; he was the type to never agree, but the other two advisors had already been persuaded, and he believed that a smooth meeting was only a matter of time.

With the internal affairs of Konoha settled, the next step was to appease the Daimyo. This wasn't difficult, as the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was the kind of person who valued his reputation. The talks would be held in the name of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, inviting representatives from the other two countries, and a well-known global newspaper had pledged to promote the event. The Wind and Fire nations had been allies for some time, and the Daimyo still remembered what the Land of Wind had done last time. Preventing the Land of Wind from annexing the smaller countries on the Earth side was itself beneficial to the Wind-Fire alliance. The insecure Land of Wind would only become more reliant on the Land of Fire's power, subtly demonstrating the Land of Fire's position within the alliance to the world. The talks themselves didn't require the Daimyo to contribute money or effort; why wouldn't he take advantage of the free reputation? Therefore, the Daimyo readily agreed, even going so far as to present gifts to the representatives of both countries.

In short, the Land of Fire's involvement in the geopolitical affairs bordering the Land of Earth was hardly reassuring for the cunning and vengeful daimyo of the Land of Earth. Naturally, he began discussing countermeasures as soon as he received the news.