Chapter 585: Naruto, You Can't Outrun Me
"Then I'll choose this one."
After careful consideration, Naruto chose Namikaze Yukiaki.
He had actually wanted to choose Oubi.
Compared to simply running fast, Naruto wanted to fly... Well, this time he meant literally flying, not flying with Sage Mode.
But he had no choice.
Compared to what he wanted to learn, Naruto cared more about his future living conditions and personal freedom.
If he chose a distant uncle, things should at least be safer and more relaxed, right?
"Very well. Naruto, starting tomorrow, you'll train under him. And if I find out you're slacking off... you'd better watch yourself."
Kushina gave him a threatening warning.
The next morning, Naruto got up early and hurried out.
However, instead of heading to the agreed training location, he created several Shadow Clones and sent them in his place.
As for why there were several of them...
That would become clear soon enough.
His real body, meanwhile, headed for the library.
He wanted to learn the basic information about this illusionary world.
As he passed the adult bookshop he used to visit, Naruto couldn't resist taking a look to see if anything had changed.
To his surprise, the owner who sold erotic books had also started selling newspapers.
Naruto picked one up and glanced at it.
He instantly froze.
The headline on the front page read:
"Younger Brother of the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, Star Disciple of Tsuchikage Ōnoki Dies Tragically! Warning: Improper Chakra Usage Leaves Loved Ones in Tears!"
Looking closer at the smiling black-and-white photograph in the article...
Wasn't that Oubi, who had just been in his house yesterday?
The article described Oubi's death in detail.
Since Naruto hadn't chosen him, Oubi used the Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly back to Kumogakure.
Unexpectedly, that very night, he was "flying while fatigued."
He had even started "taking off while taking off," believing that once he was high in the sky where no one could see him, he could do whatever he wanted.
As a result, halfway through the flight, he strained his back.
His chakra flow was disrupted.
He crashed from an altitude of over ten thousand meters and was smashed to death on impact.
"Gulp."
Seeing someone who had been alive just yesterday reduced to a black-and-white memorial photo today, Naruto couldn't help feeling scared.
When he turned to the second page...
He became even more horrified.
"Successor to the Second Hokage's Water Release Perishes During Coastal Training, Body Never Recovered"
Akimichi Hōmo, whom Naruto had also rejected, had gone to the seaside to practice Water Release while taking a vacation.
Sure enough, the old saying proved true.
The ones who drowned were always those who knew how to swim.
While practicing his signature diving technique, he had no idea that the Three-Tails was rolling around beneath the water, digging holes.
Without activating the Expansion Jutsu, Akimichi Hōmo had instantly become the Three-Tails' speed bump.
After being crushed flat, sharks finished off what remained by eating him.
A suspicious thought suddenly appeared in Naruto's mind.
Were these two deaths...
Really accidents?
Could it be that his authoritarian Hokage mother had simply decided they were no longer useful...
And secretly had them assassinated?
It wasn't strange that Naruto would think that way.
The main reason was that Kushina had been far too domineering yesterday.
Even the Sage of Six Paths, after seeing her, would probably have sighed and said,
'Yes... this is exactly how I imagined Mother Kaguya.'
Suppressing that thought for the time being, Naruto decided to continue gathering information.
He would first understand this world through the library.
Inside the library.
Naruto borrowed a book on Modern Konoha History.
Then, borrowing the prestige of his mother Kushina, he intimidated the librarian into showing him even the classified documents.
At last...
Naruto discovered the truth.
In this world, his father, Namikaze Minato, wasn't the Fourth Hokage.
He was the Fourth Husband.
His mother Kushina possessed extraordinary strength and had mastered the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques to perfection.
She had split the Nine-Tails' chakra into Yin and Yang halves.
The Yin half was sealed inside Namikaze Minato.
The Yang half remained sealed within herself.
"Huh? Then... what about me?"
Naruto scratched his head in confusion.
He had already sensed it himself.
There really was a Nine-Tails inside him.
After reading the beginning, he'd assumed the remaining half had been sealed inside him.
So he continued reading.
Kushina had discovered that Tailed Beast chakra was highly malleable.
So she had Minato use Nine-Tails chakra to construct a purple bow.
Meanwhile, she used her own Tailed Beast chakra to form the string.
Naruto was born from that.
Therefore...
Strictly speaking, Naruto couldn't really be considered the child of the two of them.
He was a child created directly by the Nine-Tails itself.
And the "Nine-Tails" inside Naruto wasn't actually Kurama at all.
It was Naruto's own power...
As the Nine-Tails himself!
"...Huh?"
Naruto was dumbfounded.
He had spent his entire childhood being called a demon fox.
How had he become an actual demon fox in this world?
No wonder Mom either beat him or yelled at him.
So he wasn't even her biological son.
The Nine-Tails was his real father and mother!
Meanwhile...
Namikaze Yukiaki was preparing a training plan for Naruto.
Wanting to get rid of him, Naruto proposed a competition.
"Yukiaki-Sensei, let's race from here to the border of the Land of Water. Whoever arrives first wins."
"Fine! I told you yesterday—you can't outrun me!"
The race began.
However...
After Naruto's Shadow Clone ran a few steps and saw Namikaze Yukiaki disappear into the distance...
It stopped running.
Meanwhile, another Shadow Clone had already reached Kirigakure long beforehand and was waiting there.
That was exactly why Naruto had created several Shadow Clones early that morning.
He planned to use this method to keep his instructor occupied while buying enough time to gather information himself.
"How is this possible?!"
"How did you get here before me?!"
When Namikaze Yukiaki arrived in the Land of Water and found Naruto already waiting there, he simply couldn't believe it.
His entire worldview had been shaken.
"No!"
"We're racing again!"
Without Naruto even suggesting it, the highly competitive Namikaze Yukiaki immediately demanded a rematch.
"All right, Yukiaki-Sensei."
"This time, let's make it a longer race."
"From here to Sunagakure."
Naruto nodded.
The two of them started running again.
This time, Namikaze Yukiaki held nothing back.
He immediately activated his unique Wind Release acceleration technique.
At the same time, he opened the Eight Gates all the way to the Gate of View, turning himself into a blur.
The Eight Gates was supposed to be an explosive burst technique.
Yet he was maintaining it continuously over a long period.
The strain on his body was enormous.
Even so...
When he finally reached Sunagakure...
Naruto was already waiting for him.
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
Namikaze Yukiaki completely lost it.
He was a pure believer in strength.
That was why he had willingly submitted to the powerful Kushina and agreed to become Naruto's instructor.
But today...
He had lost in the very thing he was most proud of—
Speed.
And he hadn't even lost to his cousin Namikaze Minato!
Naruto couldn't possibly know the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Even if he did, Flying Thunder God required him to visit the location beforehand and leave a seal there.
"Again!"
"This time, we're racing to Kumogakure!"
Grinding his teeth, Namikaze Yukiaki challenged Naruto once more.
The instant the race began, Namikaze Yukiaki placed his fingers over his heart.
"Eighth Gate..."
"Gate of Death... Open!"
"Naruto!"
"You can't outrun me!"
"Do you believe that?!"
(End of this chapter)