Naruto: The Abstract Strategist of the Akatsuki

"that."

Just as Naruto was telling Obito he was hungry, a voice came from behind them.

Obito and Naruto were both startled.

They've done so many bad things these days, so naturally their senses are constantly on guard.

As a result, despite their combined strength, they failed to detect the newcomers at all.

Looking back, Naruto had a puzzled expression.

This person seems to have appeared in the original body's memories, but the original body doesn't remember their specific name.

"From the Uzumaki clan."

Upon seeing the newcomer's classic red hair, Obito, even without recognizing the person, immediately knew who they were.

"A vortex? That's not..."

Dark Naruto immediately became alert.

After all, although he is the son of the Nine-Tailed Fox, he is also influenced by the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan, and he knows more about the secrets of the Uzumaki clan than the original body.

Be careful!

"Um, I heard you say you were hungry. I happen to have a rice ball here. I'm not hungry yet, so please have it."

The red-haired girl with swirling hair extended her hand, holding a rice ball, and handed it to the two of them with a friendly expression.

grunt.

Naruto swallowed hard and took the rice ball.

But instead of eating it first, he broke off half and handed it to Obito.

It wasn't that he thought Obito was hungry, but rather that he wanted Obito to help him test for poison.

He had forgotten to eat these past few days. One reason was that he had only been a real person for a few days and hadn't yet developed the habit of eating. The second reason was that Obito, his companion, was now being possessed by Black Zetsu after being seriously injured, and his life was entirely dependent on Black Zetsu, so he didn't need to eat either.

Obito understood Naruto's meaning, symbolically took a bite, and then returned the rest: "Eat it."

The meaning is clear—it's not poisonous.

"Hello, my name is Karin, and I am a villager from Kusagakure Village."

I often help travelers.

My village is quite big, you're welcome to come and visit. If you get tired, you can just go straight to sleep, no problem.

"..."

Naruto felt something was getting weirder and weirder.

But after eating just one rice ball, I wasn't full at all.

On the contrary, I was almost used to being hungry, but after eating something, I was even hungrier.

"It's okay if you don't come. If you do come, I can have the villagers cook something delicious for you later."

Karin pushed up her glasses, feigning indifference.

"There's something to eat, why don't we go check it out?"

Naruto finally couldn't resist.

In addition, he thought that with his strength, he had already destroyed so many small ninja villages, so what difference would it make if he destroyed one more ninja village, Kusagakure?

Even if the other party has malicious intentions, what can they do to me?

"Then let's go."

Obito agreed.

He also had his own little schemes.

Dark Naruto was ultimately his rival.

He possesses the ability to transform into an invisible form, so he is not afraid of being ambushed.

Even when possessed by Black Zetsu, he is not afraid of being poisoned.

Anyway, if something goes wrong, Naruto will be the one who suffers.

Let's see if we can weaken or delay Naruto a bit, so that he can capture one less tailed beast.

And so, Karin led Obito and Naruto to Kusagakure.

"Um, it smells good..."

"They all call me Sister Xianglin."

"Oh, Karin-nee, I'd like to ask, does your neighboring Takigakure village have tailed beasts?"

Naruto feigned innocence and asked.

"Yes, why are you curious?"

"Yes, because I'm the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and I want to make friends with the other Jinchuriki. So, Karin-nee, do you know where the Jinchuriki of Takigakure are?"

Naruto looked completely sincere.

"Making friends? That's no problem. I happen to be best friends with the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki. She's supposed to come visit me today. I'll introduce her to you later."

Karin waved her hand.

"Really? That's great!"

Naruto looked delighted.

This joy comes from the bottom of my heart.

He originally thought it would take some time to first go to the Land of Waterfalls and then gather information before he could find the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.

Unexpectedly, it came to us effortlessly.

While I was just having a meal in Kusagakure, I managed to accomplish this task.

If we judge the amount of chakra by the number of tails, the Seven-Tails is second only to the Nine-Tails and the Eight-Tails.

Killer Bee and Dark Naruto have already given up on the Eight-Tails.

Killer Bee knew that the real Naruto had been to the True Waterfall and that he was Dark Naruto; there was no way to fool him.

Moreover, the Land of Lightning is currently celebrating the Lunar New Year, and its military forces are concentrated.

You might even encounter some of the Raikage from past generations returning to their original forms.

It's better not to go.

Therefore, the Seven-Tails became Dark Naruto's first target.

"Here, try this. This is a specialty of the neighboring Takigakure village, the Hero's Water. Drinking it will greatly increase your chakra reserves."

Karin brought over two bowls of something that looked like cream of mushroom soup and placed them in front of Obito and Naruto.

"Hero's Water?"

Both Obito and Naruto had heard of this thing.

In the real ninja world, the Hero's Water amplifies chakra but reduces lifespan.

The Hero's Water in the limited Tsukuyomi reduces chakra while increasing lifespan.

What are the effects of the Hero's Water in this world?

Karin said that drinking it would increase chakra, which means it's the same as in the real ninja world?

Naruto, fearing poison, hesitated and looked at Obito.

Without hesitation, Obito picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

His life is currently hanging by a thread by Black Zetsu; if he could recover, he wouldn't mind shortening his lifespan.

Anyway, this is a world of illusion.

What is the relationship between lifespan in the illusion world and his lifespan in the real world?

"How does it taste?"

Karin asked with a mysterious smile.

"It's very good, quite fragrant and sweet, thank you, Mom..."

Obito covered his mouth in embarrassment.

Ever since he was possessed by Black Zetsu, he can't help but call any woman he sees "Mom" because he can't control himself at all.

"Can you feel your chakra increase?"

Karin pressed for an answer.

"Let me feel it... Hmm? It really increased?"

Obito looked completely bewildered.

Their chakra really did increase; the other side wasn't lying to them.

Moreover, he didn't feel any loss of lifespan.

Or was it because he was already near death and had no more lifespan to lose?

"Naruto, you should try it."

With this question in mind, Obito pushed the bowl in front of Naruto towards him.

"Glug."

Naruto also drank it all in one gulp.

"Has your chakra actually increased?"

Naruto was also stunned.

The amount of chakra he gained was almost equivalent to the amount of chakra he absorbed from ten ninjas or fifty civilians!

And this is merely the nutritional value of a bowl of water?

and……

There appear to be no side effects.

Naruto did not feel the loss of his life.

Naruto was confused.

Could it be that Karin Uzumaki in front of me is really a kind-hearted person?

impossible?

"Hey, let me go check if the food is ready. You can't just drink water all the time."

Karin left the room after saying just one sentence.

The two were left bewildered.

"By the way! Uncle Obito, could you try asking Black Zetsu? He probably knows more than any of us, maybe he knows what's going on here!"

Naruto suddenly thought of something and said to Obito.