Naruto: The Abstract Strategist of the Akatsuki

Karin took Naruto to find Sasuke, and they couldn't use the Flying Thunder God Technique to travel this distance.

Naruto and Sasuke have a grudge, so there's at least one reason. But what reason could Minato Namikaze possibly have if he were to appear?

Naruto could only secretly create a shadow clone to inform his father, so that his father could follow the two of them.

Even after they find Sasuke, they'll still need their father's Flying Thunder God Technique to get them back to Konoha.

Along the way, Naruto racked his brains for a solution, but ultimately couldn't come up with one.

Naruto didn't think his previous "strategies" were coincidences. He believed it was because Sasuke, who was imprinted in the Tsukuyomi world, had never appeared, and there was too little information, so he didn't know where to start thinking.

Naruto simply gave up, deciding to deal with whatever came his way and see how things went.

Maybe Sasuke, like himself, doesn't care about his mother's personal feelings at all?

Karin and Naruto arrived at Sasuke's location—Hozuki Castle.

That's right, it's the prison belonging to Kusagakure, the place where Jiraiya is currently staying in the real ninja world.

"No wonder we haven't heard from Sasuke. Why is he hiding in such a remote place?"

Naruto stared at the massive prison surrounded by high walls, somewhat puzzled as to why Sasuke had come here.

"I deliberately lured him here."

Karin told the truth directly.

Don't use people with suspicion, don't use people who are suspicious.

Now that they are about to face Sasuke head-on, Karin has chosen to temporarily trust Naruto completely and is preparing to reveal Sasuke's information.

"Huh? You? Oh right, this place is Kusagakure... But what good things are there here that attract Sasuke? What exactly does Sasuke want?"

Naruto was completely confused.

The majority of people in this prison are definitely prisoners.

Isn't Sasuke in this world a Fury fanatic?

If Sasuke is a bond-type ninja, then it makes perfect sense for him to stay permanently in a place with so many prisoners.

"My goal is to avenge myself against Sasuke, so I have been studying his fighting style and abilities, trying to analyze and counter them. Through my tireless efforts, I have finally discovered his most core hidden ability."

Karin clenched her fists and spoke through gritted teeth.

This doesn't feel like Karin anymore; it feels more like Deidara from the original manga.

Deidara suffered from childhood trauma because he was once under Itachi's genjutsu when he was young. He had to defeat Itachi to heal his childhood trauma.

Now it seems that this charcoal is also one.

When Karin saw Sasuke jump out, she probably wondered for a moment if this was a classic hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress scenario.

As a result, Sasuke's subsequent beating of her and rescue of the bear left an indelible psychological trauma on young Karin.

So don't be fooled by Karin's seemingly exaggerated obsession; if you put yourself in Deidara's shoes, you'll understand why she's so fixated on it.

"Hidden ability? You know about Sasuke's ability? You mean that fourth ability besides the Mangekyou Sharingan and Susanoo?"

Naruto's eyes widened.

I never expected the other party to be so powerful, actually knowing Sasuke's fourth ability.

Naruto had seen the Konoha Archives before; Madara Uchiha's fourth ability was only determined after his death.

The Fourth Force, as a force of rules, does not reveal itself on its own.

Just like Madara Uchiha's fourth power [Return to Basics], if Madara hadn't never used his Mangekyou Sharingan abilities until his death, the First and Second Hokage would have thought Madara's Mangekyou Sharingan abilities were too tightly controlled. Was he really that cautious?

That's why Naruto was so surprised when he learned that Karin actually knew about Sasuke's fourth power.

"Because this ability is information I obtained through repeated attempts to challenge him, and through repeated failures, using my blood."

Karin closed her eyes, as if recalling the pain she had endured time and time again.

"I named Sasuke Uchiha's fourth power 'Tooth Fairy.' Its effect is that by inflicting a certain amount of damage on the enemy in a short period of time, it can enhance the ability to break through the enemy's defenses with ninjutsu and taijutsu."

This is a conclusion I reached through repeated challenges and by experiencing pain in my body.

Thanks to the powerful regenerative abilities of the Uzumaki clan, I survived the challenge and recovered completely after the failure.

But the other ninjas targeted by Sasuke were not so lucky.

After Sasuke's defenses were breached to a certain extent, he challenged the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure.

The Fourth Raikage's lightning armor was not as strong as his father, the Third Raikage's, but it was still a very powerful defensive ninjutsu.

However, when faced with Sasuke's attack, the Fourth Raikage's defense was easily broken, and his arm was severed, allowing Sasuke to steal his Tooth Fairy.

After that, I had people stationed in the places Sasuke passed through, subtly guiding him to Hozuki Castle.

The Uchiha are a naturally hypocritical clan; they all think about punishing evil and promoting good, and Uchiha Sasuke is no exception.

Sasuke asked the passerby I had arranged—where in the ninja world are the most villains? The man replied, "Of course, it's Hozuki Castle. Could it be Konoha?"

So Sasuke went to Hozuki Castle.

Every so often, a serious criminal would be taken to a small, dark room for punishment, where the Tooth Fairy would be removed.

"what?"

Naruto was dumbfounded after hearing this.

Regardless of Sasuke's abilities, Karin's actions caused Naruto to lose his composure.

Is it really because he has a grudge against Sasuke?

Isn't this providing Sasuke with a perfect, highly efficient place to improve his abilities?

Naruto was thinking that with the Nine-Tails' cloak protecting him, Sasuke probably wouldn't be able to break through the defense without activating Susanoo. But now, wow, he didn't expect Sasuke's fourth power to be this, and it's already stacked up countless times.

What should we do?

"Aren't you helping Sasuke become stronger? You were just doubting me, now I'm starting to wonder if you have some kind of grudge against Sasuke!"

Naruto complained with a bitter expression.

"You think I didn't think of that? His fourth power can only increase the ability of ninjutsu and taijutsu to break through defenses and penetrate defenses, but it can't increase power."

In my last few challenges, I discovered that his ninjutsu no longer inflicted additional damage on me, meaning he had completely broken through my defenses.

In this situation, even if I let him stack more, it won't affect me.

As a member of the Vortex clan, all I need to do is continuously increase my life force.

In this situation, no matter how many times Sasuke stacks up, he won't improve, but my improvement is effective.

Otherwise, why do you think I hate you so much for destroying the Six Paths Relics?

Not only did it deprive the Land of Grass of its fertile land, but it also cost me my personal hope of continuing to improve and defeating Sasuke!

Karin recounts Naruto's past actions.

Naruto thought it made sense and realized it was true.

But what can he do?

His defensive capabilities are far superior to Karin's; having his defenses breached would be extremely damaging.

Wait a minute, he seems to be from the Uzumaki clan too, so he should be able to tank damage with his health bar, right?