Hidden Leaf Military Police Force Building.
"Really?"
Sitting in the Captain's office, Shinji put down the document in his hand and raised an eyebrow at Sasuke.
Sasuke lowered his head: "That guy Naruto mastered a high-level state called 'Nine-Tails Chakra Mode'. I couldn't match him even using the power of the 'Cursed Seal' and lost a round!"
Mumei aside asked: "You couldn't win even after activating 'Susanoo'?"
"Mhm!"
Sasuke nodded awkwardly.
The defensive power of 'Susanoo' was unquestionable, but his half-body 'Susanoo' couldn't withstand Naruto's near-endless barrage of 'Rasengan'.
So rather than saying his 'Susanoo' was breached by Naruto, it was more accurate to say he voluntarily gave up the tactic of passive defense with 'Susanoo'.
Haku and Karin, also in the office, looked at each other, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
Not long ago, Naruto still needed protection from his companions. In the blink of an eye, he actually defeated even Sasuke who activated Mangekyo Dojutsu.
Shinji smiled: "Looks like Naruto has really grown!"
"I will find a way to defeat him!"
With that, Sasuke turned around angrily and left.
Reporting the result of his spar with Naruto to Shinji was partly a duty of every Military Police Force member, and partly because he wanted to hear Shinji's advice. Because he racked his brains all night yesterday but still couldn't come up with a method to counter Naruto.
It was just that he didn't expect Shinji to look relaxed after listening, seemingly not caring at all about the impact on the Uchiha clan's reputation caused by him, a Mangekyo Uchiha, being defeated by Naruto.
Subsequently, Haku and Karin bowed to Shinji, then also left the office to carry out the daily patrol tasks of the Military Police Force.
Mumei was still sighing: "How could he lose even after activating 'Susanoo'!"
Shinji shook his head: "Don't underestimate Naruto!"
In the original timeline, the key point where Naruto's strength surpassed Sasuke's was when Naruto mastered 'Sage Mode' and 'Nine-Tails Chakra Mode'.
After that, Sasuke's strength was actually always slightly inferior to Naruto's.
Even in the battle at the Valley of the End after the Fourth Great Ninja War, Sasuke, who controlled eight Tailed Beasts with the 'Six-Tomoe Rinnegan' and caught up with Naruto in chakra amount, was ultimately defeated by Naruto.
From that moment on, only then was Sasuke convinced, admitting that Naruto was indeed stronger than him.
So whether it was Sasuke himself, or Haku, Karin, and Mumei, they all thought that as long as Sasuke practiced well for a while, he could surpass and crush Naruto again just like before.
But in reality, Sasuke might never catch up with Naruto's pace again.
Thinking of this, Shinji was suddenly stunned for a moment.
Previously, when Naruto was controlled by the Heart Demon and defected, he worried about accidents happening to Naruto prematurely, leading to the 'Sage of Six Paths' interfering. So he openly instructed Yakumo and Sasuke, and secretly sent out Karin and Haku, wanting to ensure Naruto's safety.
But unexpectedly, Menma ran straight into the hands of Hiruko and Ranmaru, not only losing the Yang Nine-Tails but also putting Naruto's life on the line.
At that time, he was wondering why the 'Sage of Six Paths' didn't intervene.
Was it that the 'Sage of Six Paths' was not paying attention to Naruto, or did the 'Sage of Six Paths' feel there was no need to intervene at that time?
Judging from the result, it seemed to be the latter.
After a life-or-death calamity, Naruto not only obtained the Yin Nine-Tails sent by the Fourth Hokage and was reborn from the ashes but also took this opportunity to master 'Nine-Tails Chakra Mode'.
Furthermore, 'Menma', Naruto's Heart Demon, was surprisingly preserved, which was also beyond Shinji's expectation.
"Could it be that the 'Sage of Six Paths' already intervened, but I didn't notice?"
Doubts arose in his heart.
Although this chaotic battle in the Land of Rice Fields didn't deviate from his arrangement in the general direction, and the Nine-Tails was successfully delivered to the Akatsuki organization, accelerating the progress of the Ten-Tails' resurrection, there were still quite a few details that exceeded his expectations.
"Forget it, regardless of whether the 'Sage of Six Paths' intervened secretly or noticed something, I can't let my rhythm be affected by this!"
In the original timeline, the Ten-Tails was eventually resurrected, showing that the resurrection of the Ten-Tails was not the bottom line of the 'Sage of Six Paths'.
His bottom line might just be not letting Kaguya Ōtsutsuki out to destroy the world.
"I wonder if he has noticed the threat of the Overlord..."
Smiling, Shinji sighed faintly.
If it were the 'Sage of Six Paths' at his peak mastering the Ten-Tails, maybe he could contend with the Overlord a bit. But now, having lost his physical body and remaining only as a spirit, the 'Sage of Six Paths' was definitely no match for the Overlord who could devour worlds one by one.
So pinning hopes on the 'Sage of Six Paths' was obviously a sign of cowardice and evasion.
Having finished handling the official duties of the Military Police Force, Shinji looked at Mumei aside: "Ready?"
"Come on!"
Mumei was eager to try.
Without wasting words, Shinji instantly activated 'Takamagahara', and he and Mumei entered the scarlet world of 'Takamagahara' together.
These days, besides providing 'Takamagahara' experience to other ninjas in the village every day, Shinji would also practice with Mumei in 'Takamagahara' in his spare time after finishing official duties.
Since Mumei was considered half the master of 'Takamagahara', their sparring in 'Takamagahara' not only had the highest simulation fidelity but also the best experience.
Based on this, Shinji utilized the feature that 'Takamagahara' could control the flow of time, dragging Mumei together to invest in the optimization of the 'Twelve Zodiac Signs'.
However, what he didn't expect was that this move brought him an unexpected surprise.
Perhaps because of 'Yachihoko', Mumei had extremely strong chakra control ability. Previously, when she only had the Mangekyo Sharingan, it wasn't very obvious. But after Shinji gave Fugaku Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan to Mumei for fusion, Mumei, who obtained the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, immediately demonstrated her terrifying control over chakra.
Chakra nature transformation, which was very difficult for many ninjas, even Kage-level powerhouses, came easily to her.
And after practicing the 'Twelve Zodiac Signs' with Shinji, Mumei's control over her body began to improve rapidly.
This not only gave her taijutsu strength a qualitative leap but also triggered a series of qualitative changes that even Shinji couldn't explain or understand, further improving her control over chakra. Even the power of 'Yachihoko' jumped up by a large margin.
Simply put, if taijutsu was a shortcoming of Mumei before, then after practicing the 'Twelve Zodiac Signs', this shortcoming was not only made up for, but Mumei's strengths were also improved along with it, resulting in a significant improvement in overall strength.