"You really know how to order people around." Fujiwara Kirito walked to the corpse of Yugito Nii, leaned down, and thought, is that so? This background character who only appeared in a few frames in the original anime doesn't interest me at all, let alone trigger a system option.
Well, let's store her body first. We'll decide later whether she's worth saving.
To put items into the system warehouse, the target must be unconscious, and one must make physical contact.
Thinking of this, Kirito reached out to touch Yugito.
Perhaps due to the angle, Konan, who had been worried about Kirito, turned around at that moment. From her perspective, Kirito's hand appeared to grab the chest of the dead Yugito.
Konan's expression instantly turned cold. She asked with a chilling tone, "What are you planning to do with that body?"
"Collecting it, obviously. What did you think I was doing? Or are you just scared I'd do something improper and you're jealous of a corpse?" Kirito casually placed his hand between Yugito's collar and chest, then stored her into the system warehouse, turned around, and teased.
"Boring." Konan turned her head away in disdain. Pain, waiting outside, saw that Konan hadn't come out and, worried she might be bullied by this shameless Kirito, called out.
Konan walked off after hearing him, but not before giving Kirito a sharp glare—as if warning him not to turn the girl into a corpse bride.
Kirito was momentarily speechless and swore to himself that if he ever married her by force, he'd definitely carry her into the bridal chamber, strip her down, hang her up, and make her call him daddy.
Outside the Hidden Leaf Village, the open plain stretched endlessly. Craters of various sizes dotted the ground.
Watching Naruto fail yet again, Chinatsu was speechless. At this point, she regretted ever agreeing to train Naruto.
She had seen people lacking talent, but never someone quite this hopeless.
"As his teacher, was he always this dumb?" Chinatsu turned to look at Kakashi.
"Well, kind of. But still, it's impressive he's gotten this far in a short time. Hahaha..." Kakashi scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
Whether it was out of guilt for Chinatsu's hard effort or because Naruto truly was a bit slow, he didn't deny it.
"Jiraiya-sama really deserves credit for training him for three years. Aside from his chakra reserves, he's a mess." Chinatsu sighed helplessly.
Kakashi nodded with a wry smile. Then, as if something had come to mind, he asked, "Chinatsu, your Rasenshuriken that includes Wind Release—Tsunade once said your ninjutsu foundation came from Fujiwara Kirito, right? Does that mean he knows this technique too?"
"Not just likely—he absolutely can. I've only managed to fuse Wind and Fire chakra natures so far. But Kirito can combine all chakra natures." Chinatsu spoke proudly, not holding back on praising her father in front of others.
Hearing this, Kakashi took a deep breath. Recalling Kirito's overwhelming strength, he couldn't help but feel despair and muttered, "Such a monster left Konoha to join Akatsuki... scary just thinking about it."
"Well, that's not certain," Chinatsu blinked her large eyes and smiled mysteriously.
Kakashi interpreted that as her implying she might be able to surpass Kirito, and silently confirmed this in his mind.
Chinatsu waved to Naruto in the distance, "Little Naruto, come here."
"What is it, Sensei Chinatsu?" Naruto stopped his training and ran over quickly.
Yes, ever since Chinatsu took on the task of training Naruto, he began calling her teacher.
There was no choice. Even though she was younger than them, she was Tsunade's daughter, which technically made her the same generation as the Fourth Hokage.
And more importantly, she was unbeatable.
Even Kakashi couldn't match Chinatsu once she used Rasenshuriken.
Not to mention, Chinatsu possessed nearly demonic sensory perception.
"If you keep this up, you'll never master it. Tell me—what exactly is holding you back?" Chinatsu folded her arms, mimicking how Kirito used to instruct her.
Naruto scratched his head and said, "Maybe... I just can't manage both parts at once."
"Is that so?" Chinatsu recalled what Kirito had taught her. He had once explained that beginners often faced this issue and gave her a workaround. She replied, "If one shadow clone can't do it, then why not use two?"
"Use two shadow clones?" Kakashi, Yamato, Naruto, and even Karin were momentarily stunned. Naruto reacted first and formed two shadow clones. Sure enough, he managed to form a prototype Rasenshuriken.
At this moment, Kamatsuki Izumo, one of the long-standing Konoha gatekeepers, arrived with news of Asuma's death.
"When did it happen?"
Kakashi, Yamato, and Naruto were instantly overwhelmed with grief.
Karin and Chinatsu exchanged a glance and nodded lightly. They had little reaction. For them, Sarutobi Asuma, who had nearly gone insane trying to kill Kirito, dying by someone else's hand was the best outcome.
"Three days ago. But since you were in a critical training phase, I didn't want to disturb you. Now though..." Kamatsuki Izumo's voice trailed off like a whisper.
That night.
After almost three days of preparation, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji left the village to pursue the Immortal Duo, just like in the original timeline. Kakashi accompanied them.
Chinatsu, Karin, and Yamato stayed to help Naruto finish mastering the Rasenshuriken before heading out to support them.
In the Land of Lightning, within a desert hot spring.
Kirito and Pakura soaked in the water, enjoying rare leisure.
"Mmhh," Kirito stretched, leaning against the rocky wall of the spring lazily. "This natural hot spring's really something. No artificial stink at all."
"It's nice... but, Lord Kirito..." Pakura, who hadn't had meat in ages, slid behind him, embraced his back, and whispered, "Are you sure this is okay? The leader asked us to investigate the Eight-Tails."
Feeling the softness pressing against him, Kirito grinned and shifted positions with her. "Actually, I already know where the Eight-Tails is. So it doesn't matter if we go now or later. With how things are going, Akatsuki's fall is only a matter of time. No need to overwork ourselves."
(End of this chapter)