Chapter 32: Walpurgisnacht
Although Naruto didn't know how Kyubey had turned into a crow, or what Sasuke's Magical Girlform was like, he couldn't keep staring at the guy forever. He could only suppress his curiosity and dive into his training.
He planned to devote most of his energy over the next two months to Chakra refinement.
This was for his next Wandering Shadow Cloneplan.
No matter how much trouble the Shadow Clones caused, the benefits were obvious.
Naturally, he wouldn't give up on this plan.
The reason for waiting another two months was that the only drawback of the Perfected Edition of the Shadow Clone Jutsu was that the Chakra limit was fixed.
In other words, his Shadow Clone could only possess half of the Chakra the original body used when performing the technique.
It could not exceed this amount.
However, as long as it didn't sustain a fatal injury, even if it ran out of Chakra, the Perfected Edition Shadow Clone wouldn't disappear; instead, it could slowly recover its Chakra.
All in all, the pros outweighed the cons.
After all, its sustainability was greatly improved.
This drawback might be troublesome for others.
But he didn't care.
Who told him to have such massive Chakrareserves?
And he was still far from reaching his limit.
Naruto estimated that he could increase his power by one Kakashi unit in two months.
Another week passed.
"Come with me, I want to show you something."
Neji, rarely skipping his Eight Extremes Fistpractice, appeared before Naruto.
"What is it? Did you find some kind of treasure?"
Naruto was curious as he dispersed the Chakra in his hands.
Given Neji's personality, he wouldn't come to mess with him out of boredom.
"To my house."
Neji didn't explain, turning around to lead the way.
"This doesn't look like the way to your house, does it?"
Naruto noticed something was off.
He was a frequent guest at Neji's residence, so he knew the path well.
But the current direction was clearly different.
"It's my father's estate."
Neji explained briefly and stopped talking.
Naruto also fell silent, and soon they arrived at a large estate no smaller than Hinata's.
He realized at this moment that Neji might be incredibly loaded.
After all, he had inherited all of Hyuga Hizashi's legacy.
Speaking of which, Naruto should have been the same.
But he hadn't received any inheritance from Minatoand Kushina.
Otherwise, he would have been able to learn the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu.
If Kurama ever dared to rebel in the future, he would just whip out some Adamantine Sealing Chains and tie it up.
Neji opened the door, walked straight into the courtyard, and stopped in front of a room a few minutes later.
"This is the laboratory I prepared."
"Oh, so it's this."
Naruto suddenly understood and entered the room.
He immediately felt like he was back in a high school chemistry and physics class.
Distillation flasks, test tubes, beakers, alcohol lamps, iron stands, and so on.
Things he recognized and things he didn't almost filled the entire room.
"I didn't know what I'd need, so I just bought everything available on the market."
"..."
Naruto was somewhat speechless.
I hate rich people!
A question suddenly occurred to him: if Neji was this rich, what about Hinata?
"Sugar mommy, I'm hungry!"
Naruto's eyes lit up; he wouldn't have to worry too much about his future life.
Under normal circumstances, could the Hyuga Clanreally not afford to support him?
Ahem.
Snapping back to reality, Naruto asked, "Where do you plan to start your research?"
"I've read many medical books about the human body recently."
A thoughtful look appeared on Neji's face. "The Caged Bird Seal definitely doesn't just act on the physical body, so I plan to study the cells and genes of the Hyuga Clan to understand my own physical condition first."
Good grief.
Are you going to research yourself and then act as your own test subject?
Naruto didn't say anything.
He couldn't help with this.
Neji bringing him here was more like showing him that he wasn't slacking off.
Yep, a qualified tool-man.
He didn't even need to be urged; he was getting things done with great enthusiasm.
"I might need your help when the time comes."
Neji looked at him and said, "Once I understand my own situation, I'll need a Ninja from the Main House for comparison. Only then can I know exactly what effects the Caged Bird Seal has on us in the Branch House."
Naruto frowned and said, "I won't let Hinata help you with your research, but I promise I'll get you a Ninja from the Main House."
Besides Hyuga Hiashi, Hinata, and Hanabi, there were quite a few people in the Hyuga Main House.
A guard from the Main House was mentioned in the original work.
Neji didn't say anything more.
He sought out Naruto partly because of the Caged Bird Seal—he couldn't move against the Main House himself—and partly because Naruto was strong enough.
But actually, according to his estimations, it wouldn't endanger the test subject's life.
However, since Naruto was unwilling, he naturally wouldn't force Hinata to help.
Though given her personality, she would very likely agree.
After visiting the lab, the number of times Narutosaw Neji's real body became increasingly rare.
Most of the time, he was obsessed with his experiments.
Instead, he noticed something unusual about Sasuke.
In the past, no matter the circumstances, he was the most proactive during training.
But lately, he had been dazing off and staring into space.
And it happened more than once or twice.
Naruto couldn't help but wonder: had Sasukediscovered his brother Uchiha Itachi's secret?
Two days later, he asked, "You seem a bit distracted lately. Can you tell me why?"
Taking a rare moment to get closer, Naruto decided to have a chat with him.
Sasuke was slightly startled, and then he showed a bashful expression.
"???"
Naruto took a step back in fright. What's wrong with you? Have you been possessed?
However, he could be certain that this had nothing to do with Uchiha Itachi.
True, with Uchiha Itachi's meticulousness, wouldn't it be easy to hide things from a seven-year-old Sasuke?
"I've been having the same dream for a week straight."
Sasuke hesitated for a moment before revealing the reason for his distraction.
"What kind of dream? Is it a wet dream?"
Naruto teased him, thinking of his previously embarrassed look.
"Of course not."
Sasuke shook his head and said, "In the dream, I turned into an ordinary elementary school student and went to school with a fox-like Summoned Beast also named Kyubey. But Kyubey always tells me strange things, like about Magical Girls."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
So Sasuke was learning about Magical Girls in this way.
He suddenly thought of Masters and Servants, who also learned about the past through dreams.
As the saying goes, "What you think about by day, you dream about by night."
Naruto said with a smile, "Did you read some Magical Girl novels?"
"How is that possible?"
Sasuke's face turned red. "I would never watch such things!"
"It's okay, it doesn't matter if you did."
Naruto patted his shoulder. "I understand."
You don't understand crap!
Sasuke left the training ground, grumbling.
When he got home, as usual, he didn't see Uchiha Itachi.
He ate dinner and drifted off to sleep.
The strange Kyubey appeared once again.
"Every human with the potential to become a Magical Girl will encounter Walpurgisnacht before their transformation."
"A Witch is a fallen Magical Girl; she will appear before you as the thing you fear most in your heart."
"Uchiha Sasuke, wake up. Your Walpurgisnacht has arrived."
Sasuke woke up with a start.
Countless screams rang out outside the door.
The air was filled with a thick, metallic scent of blood.
A massive fear gripped his heart, making his face turn deathly pale.
He struggled to get up, pushed open the door, and saw someone familiar, his favorite brother.
Uchiha Itachi.
He stood atop a utility pole with a pair of crimson eyes, expressionless, against a backdrop of blood-red moonlight.