Naruto: Just Want To Be A Death God

Naruto had been away for more than forty years.

But the shinobi world had hardly changed.

The scars from his recent battle with Nagato still remained on the land.

The Yin Nine-Tails had escaped and run off playfully, its whereabouts unknown.

The Yang Nine-Tails, disinterested, squatted lazily on Naruto's shoulder, dozing off.

"Not doing experiments anymore?" Karin followed behind Naruto, her tone tinged with barely suppressed disappointment.

Naruto nodded. "We're going to Iwagakure first."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi was a scumbag, but his research abilities were top-notch.

Over the years, Naruto had learned a lot from him, and upon returning to the shinobi world and reviewing his old experiments, he found them rather crude.

Fortunately, the data was still valid.

But—

This time, upon reevaluation, he immediately realized the core issue.

The chakra in his own body, though powerful, was actually further from the true essence of chakra compared to that of the Tailed Beasts.

Rather than studying himself, it made more sense to study the Tailed Beasts.

Karin nodded gloomily and sighed.

Oh well...

No more naked test subjects to observe. What a pity.

Soon, she perked up again. "Naruto, I'm totally prepared for the next experiment! You can count on me—I won't mess up this time!"

She spoke with utmost sincerity and confidence.

Naruto smiled and nodded.

As soon as they crossed the border, they were greeted by Iwagakure's Anbu.

They respectfully escorted them to the village.

Ōnoki was waiting at the village entrance.

"Welcome, Lord Uzumaki," he said with a warm smile. His nose was red and shiny with drink.

Naruto spoke softly, "Just call me Uzumaki."

Ōnoki nodded. "Then I'll shamelessly accept that."

"What brings you to Iwagakure?"

"Don't worry," Naruto smiled. "I have no hostile intent—just looking to make a trade."

Ōnoki immediately grew serious. "Come in and rest. We'll talk inside."

Once seated in a conference room, he eagerly asked, "What kind of trade do you want with Iwagakure?"

"You've probably heard about what happened in Kumogakure," Naruto said.

Ōnoki's expression froze, turning somewhat grim. He slowly nodded. "As long as it's not too outrageous, Iwagakure will do our best to cooperate."

The man and woman behind him also showed strained expressions—clearly, they were misunderstanding something.

"I'm talking about the matter with the Jinchūriki," Naruto clarified.

Ōnoki caught the implication and laughed dryly. "You mean giving the Tailed Beasts some freedom while maintaining the Jinchūriki's function?"

This was something Kumogakure had tried to keep secret, but failed to do so.

The Eight-Tails was obedient and rarely caused trouble.

But... the Two-Tails was a cat.

No matter the size, cats are naturally mischievous—jumping around constantly.

In short—

Almost everyone except Kumo's Anbu had seen the Two-Tails out and about.

"Do you want to do the same with Iwagakure's Jinchūriki?" Ōnoki asked, frowning, clearly puzzled.

"That's part of it," Naruto nodded. "The other part is that I want to make a deal with the Tailed Beasts in exchange for some chakra."

"And in return…"

"Some jutsu formulas?"

"Or…"

"The corpses of Iwagakure's rogue ninja?"

Ōnoki froze.

Rogue ninja corpses?

"There are Iwa rogue-nin in the Akatsuki?" he asked lowly, though he already suspected the answer.

That organization...

Was extremely "elite." Of all Iwa's defectors, only one could possibly qualify.

"A young man named Deidara. Blond, uses a special kekkei genkai technique," Naruto said, slapping a scroll onto the table with one hand.

Ōnoki's pupils widened.

Not only was he shocked at hearing Deidara's name—

He was also stunned by Naruto's technique.

The more you understand about chakra and ninjutsu, the clearer it becomes: what Naruto just did was astonishing.

"Reducing hand seals," even to "seal-less" execution—

Many top-tier ninja could use familiar techniques without hand signs.

But Naruto's casual display—

Ōnoki could tell—it wasn't just a personal mastery of "seal-less" jutsu.

He had fundamentally restructured the technique so that even others could perform it without seals.

This went far beyond mere strength.

Ōnoki hadn't reached "that level" and didn't know how to describe it—

But one thing was clear:

Even Uchiha Madara couldn't do something like this.

"Then I'll accept Deidara's body in exchange," Ōnoki said, his voice subdued, though his eyes were greedy. He didn't dare ask for more, but respectfully added, "I will have Iwagakure's Jinchūriki cooperate with you."

"However…"

"Only one of them is currently in the village."

Naruto looked at him.

Ōnoki chuckled sheepishly. "The other one had a falling out with me years ago—like Jiraiya of Konoha, he left to travel."

"Even after your notice, he refused to return."

"Currently... he's within the Land of Earth, but quite far from Iwa."

"If you need him, it may take some time."

He spoke carefully, afraid of being misunderstood.

Naruto said nothing, just slid the scroll forward.

A few days later—

Naruto left with two portions of Tailed Beast chakra.

Ōnoki saw him off.

"Naruto seems gentle," Kurotsuchi tilted her head, peering in the same direction as her grandfather, "But that other Uzumaki beside him looks hard to get along with."

Ōnoki let out a breath. "It's a good thing for the world that someone like him is easygoing."

After all, he was polite and came merely to trade.

The only "trouble" he caused was giving the Tailed Beasts some freedom.

And even that—

Might not be a bad thing.

It was already visible: the bond between Jinchūriki and their Tailed Beasts had softened, thanks to Naruto.

After leaving Iwa—

Karin stretched. "Where to next?"

She didn't particularly like Iwagakure.

"First, let's finish collecting the Tailed Beasts' chakra. Then... we'll head to Ryūchi Cave," Naruto replied after a moment.

"Ryūchi Cave?" Karin blinked.

Naruto smiled. "I'm interested in Sage Mode."

Karin nodded.

Over the next six months, Naruto visited Kirigakure to find the Three-Tails, and then Sunagakure to obtain chakra from the One-Tail.

Of course—

Talking to the One-Tail didn't go smoothly.

It had no grudge against Naruto, but hated the Nine-Tails.

After being released from Gaara's body, it immediately pounced on the Nine-Tails.

It thought it could definitely beat the Nine-Tails.

Over the years, it had been practicing sealing techniques, which were the most effective way to deal with Tailed Beasts.

But—

The result spoke for itself: the dual Nine-Tails, now with Shikai and doubled strength, beat the One-Tail to a pulp and tore off one of its arms as a trophy.

The Nine-Tails was satisfied.

It had now beaten the two it hated most—Eight-Tails and One-Tail—and collected trophies from both.

Now, Naruto had chakra from eight of the Tailed Beasts.

Only the Six-Tails remained.

Its Jinchūriki, "Utakata," was a rogue ninja from Kiri and well-hidden.

Kiri was searching for him, and Mei Terumi promised to notify Naruto the moment he was found.

Meanwhile, Naruto continued studying the Tailed Beast chakra as he journeyed to Ryūchi Cave.

Though summoning beasts typically required summoning via jutsu, that didn't mean they lived in another dimension.

The "Three Great Sage Lands" were real, physical places in the world.

Using intel obtained in a deal with Orochimaru, Naruto found the location of Ryūchi Cave before long.

"This environment…" Karin frowned, eyeing a looming temple that looked out of place in the forest.

It was nothing like Mount Myōboku.

Dark, damp.

Snakes slithered through decaying trees and dense undergrowth.

Despite the lush greenery, the air stank terribly.

"I thought snakes weren't scavengers," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Are you sure we should go in?"

"Should we contact Orochimaru and ask him to—"

She stopped mid-sentence.

Naruto turned his head. "To the friend hiding over there—please come out."

Karin looked too.

Nothing was there.

Even activating her "Kagura's Mind Eye," she detected nothing.

"Even that little Uzumaki girl next to you didn't detect us," a voice said.

The air shimmered, and three female figures appeared. "How did you notice?"

Two adults, one child.

"Is Ryūchi Cave specialized in genjutsu?" Naruto didn't answer, simply glanced at them and then turned back to the temple. "This kind of hyper-realistic illusion is rare."

The green-haired woman's face changed slightly. "So you're not here just to seek Sage power?"

"I'd like to see the White Snake Sage," Naruto said calmly. "Could you show the way?"

The blue-haired woman replied, "To enter Ryūchi Cave and see the Sage, you must pass our trials."

"This isn't like Mount Myōboku, where anyone can just—"

She stopped abruptly, her face freezing.

Not from shock.

She literally couldn't speak.

An overwhelming pressure surged from the blond youth before them—

Something entirely different from chakra or natural energy.

They had to focus all their power just to withstand it and maintain their genjutsu—lest their true forms be revealed.

(End of Chapter)