"Um…"
Just as Naruto told Obito that he was getting hungry, a voice suddenly came from behind them.
Both Naruto and Obito jumped.
After all the terrible things they had been doing these past few days, the two of them had kept their sensory abilities active almost constantly.
Yet despite their strength, neither of them had noticed anyone approaching.
They turned around.
Naruto looked puzzled.
The red-haired girl seemed vaguely familiar from the original Naruto's memories, but he couldn't remember her name.
"She's an Uzumaki."
Obito immediately recognized the girl's origins from her distinctive red hair, even if he didn't know exactly who she was.
"An Uzumaki? Then isn't that…"
Dark Naruto instantly became cautious.
Although he was technically the Nine-Tails' child, Naruto's body had still been influenced by Uzumaki blood.
And unlike the original consciousness, Dark Naruto knew quite a few of the Uzumaki clan's hidden secrets.
He had to be careful.
"Um, I overheard you saying you were hungry."
The red-haired Uzumaki girl smiled warmly and held out a rice ball.
"I happen to have one with me, and I'm not hungry yet. You two can have it."
Naruto swallowed and accepted the rice ball.
But instead of eating immediately, he broke off half and handed it to Obito.
Not because he was worried Obito might be hungry.
He wanted Obito to test whether it was poisoned.
Obito immediately understood.
Neither of them had really been eating lately.
Dark Naruto had only recently become a fully manifested existence and still hadn't developed much of a habit of regular meals.
As for Obito, after being critically injured and possessed by Black Zetsu, his life was essentially being sustained by Black Zetsu anyway.
He didn't particularly need food.
Obito took a token bite, waited a moment, then handed the rest back.
"Eat."
The meaning was obvious.
No poison.
"Hello. My name is Karin, and I'm a villager from Kusagakure."
She introduced herself cheerfully.
"I often help travelers passing through the area."
"My village is pretty big. You're welcome to come visit."
"If you get tired, you can even stay the night. No problem at all."
"…"
Naruto felt increasingly suspicious.
Still, that one rice ball hadn't come close to filling him up.
He had almost gotten used to being hungry, but after finally eating a little, his stomach suddenly felt even emptier.
"If you don't want to come, that's fine too."
Karin adjusted her glasses and deliberately acted casual.
"But if you do come, I can ask the villagers to make something good for you."
Naruto's resolve immediately weakened.
"If there's food… maybe we should stop by."
In the end, hunger won.
Besides, considering his current strength, he had already wiped out several small shinobi villages.
Adding Kusagakure to the list wouldn't make much difference.
Even if Karin had some ulterior motive, what could she possibly do to him?
"Let's go."
Obito agreed as well.
He had his own calculations.
Dark Naruto was ultimately his competitor.
Obito had intangibility, so he wasn't afraid of ambushes.
With Black Zetsu keeping him alive, poison was hardly a concern either.
If anything went wrong, Naruto would be the one taking the damage.
If this trip could weaken or delay Dark Naruto enough to stop him from collecting even one more Tailed Beast, that would be a bonus.
And so Karin led Naruto and Obito toward Kusagakure.
"Um, Kari—"
"Everyone calls me Big Sis Karin."
"Oh."
Naruto immediately corrected himself.
"Big Sis Karin, I wanted to ask something."
"The neighboring village, Takigakure… they have a Tailed Beast, right?"
Naruto put on the most innocent expression he could manage.
"Yeah."
Karin glanced at him.
"Why? Curious?"
"Very."
Naruto smiled sincerely.
"I'm the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, so I want to make friends with other jinchūriki."
"Big Sis Karin, do you know where Takigakure's jinchūriki is?"
"Making friends?"
Karin waved dismissively.
"That's easy enough."
"I'm actually close friends with the Seven-Tails jinchūriki."
"She should be coming by to visit me today. I can introduce you when she gets here."
"Really?"
Naruto's face lit up.
"That's great!"
His happiness was completely genuine.
He had expected to spend time traveling to the Land of Waterfalls, gathering intelligence, and tracking down the Seven-Tails jinchūriki.
Instead, he had come to Kusagakure for a meal and somehow gotten his target handed directly to him.
If Tailed Beast chakra roughly corresponded to the number of tails, then the Seven-Tails possessed more chakra than any Tailed Beast except the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.
Dark Naruto had already given up on the Eight-Tails.
Killer B knew that the original Naruto had undergone the Falls of Truth trial.
That meant B would immediately recognize Dark Naruto for what he was.
There was no chance of deceiving him.
Besides, the Land of Lightning was currently celebrating New Year, so its military strength was concentrated at home.
Who knew? They might even run into the spirits of former Raikage coming back for the festivities.
Better not risk it.
Which meant—
The Seven-Tails would be Dark Naruto's first serious target.
"Here."
Karin returned carrying two bowls of something that looked like creamy mushroom soup.
"Try this."
"It's a specialty from neighboring Takigakure—the Hero Water."
"Drinking it greatly increases your chakra reserves."
"Hero Water?"
Both Naruto and Obito had heard of it.
In the real shinobi world, Hero Water dramatically increased chakra while shortening the drinker's lifespan.
In Limited Tsukuyomi, however, it did the opposite: reducing chakra while extending lifespan.
So what did Hero Water do in this world?
Karin said it increased chakra.
Did that mean it worked like the real-world version?
Naruto hesitated, worried it might contain poison, and glanced toward Obito.
Obito didn't hesitate.
He picked up the bowl and drained it in one gulp.
His life was currently hanging entirely on Black Zetsu anyway.
If the drink could somehow restore him, then losing a little lifespan hardly mattered.
Besides—
This was an illusionary world.
Why should the lifespan of his avatar here have anything to do with his real body?
"How does it taste?"
Karin asked with a mysterious smile.
"Pretty good."
Obito nodded.
"Sweet, actually. Thanks, Mom—"
He abruptly covered his mouth, looking embarrassed.
Ever since Black Zetsu possessed him, he had developed an uncontrollable habit of calling every woman he saw "Mom."
"Did your chakra increase?"
Karin pressed.
"Let me check…"
Obito focused inward.
Then his expression changed.
"Huh?"
"It actually did?"
His chakra reserves had genuinely increased.
She hadn't lied.
And he couldn't sense any loss of lifespan either.
Then again, maybe that was because he was already half-dead and barely had any lifespan left to lose.
"Naruto."
Still suspicious, Obito pushed the second bowl toward him.
"Try it."
"Gulp."
Naruto drained the entire thing in one go.
Then his eyes widened.
"My chakra really increased?"
The amount was substantial.
One bowl had given him almost as much chakra as absorbing ten shinobi—
or fifty ordinary civilians.
And all that from the nutritional value of one bowl of water?
Even stranger—
There didn't seem to be any side effects.
Naruto couldn't feel his lifespan being drained either.
He fell into confusion.
Could this Uzumaki Karin really just be an incredibly kind and helpful person?
No way.
"Um, I'll go check whether your food is ready."
Karin stood up.
"You can't live on drinks alone."
With that, she left the guest room.
Naruto and Obito remained behind, both deeply puzzled.
Then Naruto suddenly remembered something.
"That's it!"
He looked toward Obito.
"Uncle Obito, can you ask Black Zetsu?"
"He probably knows more than either of us."
"Maybe he knows what's really going on here!"