Naruto: Konoha Spring of the Uchiha Prodigies

"So, I'm not alone after all?" Gaara murmured to himself.

"So what you need to do now is learn to control your power, as yourself, not as a weapon," Naruto said with a smile.

"Control my own power?" Gaara muttered to himself.

The next second, a huge commotion resounded in the space. Shukaku, who had been beaten to a pulp, was thrown next to the two by Kurama. Kurama clapped its paws, then returned to Naruto's back, saying, "I've already talked to this guy, and he'll behave himself from now on."

"Thank you so much, Kurama!" Naruto turned around and gave Kurama a bright smile.

The next moment, Naruto and Gaara left the space together and returned to the campfire.

After Gaara emerged from the sealed space, he sat blankly by the campfire, staring intently at the flickering flames.

"Hey, are you hungry?" Naruto handed a roasted gerbil to Gaara, who was in a daze.

When Gaara was faced with something that suddenly appeared in front of him, he instinctively assumed an attack stance. However, after a while, he froze on the spot. In the past, if his emotions fluctuated, the big guy inside him would take the opportunity to amplify his negative emotions and become extremely irritable.

However, this time, Gaara did not sense anything unusual.

"Thank you." Gaara, realizing what was happening, stopped his attack and took Naruto's sand rat.

"Brother Kurama told me that the big tanuki inside you will be behaving itself for a while, so you don't need to be too nervous," Naruto said with a smile.

"Are you... a companion of Him?" Gaara asked.

"You mean Kurama?" Naruto said. "He and I are more than just companions; we're like family. After all, he's been with me the longest since I was born. But it took me a long time to get Kurama to accept me. I believe you can get along well with the tailed beast inside you too."

"Hmph! Even if I, Shukaku, am trapped inside a Jinchuriki for the rest of my life, I will never be friends with humans like this stinky fox!" Naruto's words had barely faded when Shukaku's roar rang in his ears.

"If you don't want to get beaten up, then show some respect to my Jinchūriki!" Kurama said at this moment.

"You stinky... Kurama, you even told him your name, could it be that you really are with this brat..." After hearing Kurama's words, Shukaku's still throbbing wounds calmed him down a little.

"Hmph, why should I explain my actions to others?" Nine-Tailed Fox said with a cold snort.

If it were any other tailed beast, such as the Seven-Tails Chōmei who came to Konoha on his own initiative, the Two-Tails Matatabi who was captured in Konoha, the Six-Tails Saiken, and the Three-Tails Isobu who is currently sleeping inside Karin, Kurama would not hesitate to tell them his speculation, which is that Naruto is very likely the boy in the prophecy that the Six Paths Elder told them about back then.

As for Shukaku? Kurama said he was too lazy to talk about it and that the guy wasn't worthy of listening.

"That's wonderful," Gaara said, looking at Naruto with a somewhat absent-minded expression.

The two were eating roasted meat and chatting by the campfire when Naruto suddenly heard a croaking of frogs not far from their campfire.

"Huh? What's going on? There are frogs in the desert now?" Naruto scratched his head, puzzled, upon hearing the voice.

From the direction of the frog croaking, a middle-aged man with white hair strode towards the two of them.

……

The border of the Swamp Country.

Shion, who had been knocked unconscious by Neji's single chop, slowly woke up as night fell.

As soon as Ziyuan woke up, he saw that in their camp, Zuhui, whose death he should have foreseen, was lying on the ground with a wet towel on his forehead. The hideous green runes on his body had disappeared, but his right arm was now empty.

“Ashiho…” Shion stared in disbelief at the scene before her. In the prophetic vision brought about by her ability, Ashiho was clearly going to die in his place.

"Miss Shrine Maiden, it seems I've won this bet." Just then, Sasuke approached Shion and said with a light laugh.

"I..." Ziyuan looked at Zui, who was breathing steadily in the camp, with an extremely complicated expression on her face. After a while, Ziyuan shed tears, but made intermittent smiles.

"Hahaha...hahaha...hahahaha!"

"Miss Shrine Maiden, you don't think you can renege on our bet by pretending to be crazy, do you?" Sasuke said, frowning as he looked at Shion.

"Hahaha! This cursed prophecy can finally...finally...finally be broken!" Ziyuan said, laughing and crying at the same time.

"If you could provide a little more information, his right arm might even be saved." At this moment, Sakura looked at the crazed Shion and couldn't help but say coldly.

In the surgery just now, in order to obtain the energy that resembled resentment for Karin and thus construct a seal that could target this energy, Sakura had to amputate Ashiho's right arm to prevent the toxins of this energy from invading Ashiho's internal organs. However, if Shion had provided even a little more information, this step could have been completely skipped.

"I...I'm sorry..." Ziyuan's expression also turned somber.

"Well, it's already a miracle that Asahi-kun survived." Karin then stepped in as a peacemaker.

"Miss Shrine Maiden, what other information do you know about this enemy? Please tell me everything now." At this moment, Neji also came to Shion's side and spoke.

……

"A perverted sage?" Naruto's expression changed as he looked at the people walking towards their camp by the campfire.

He's still a rogue ninja of Konoha.

"Naruto." Jiraiya walked into their camp with a smile. "Why are you running around all over the world? I had a hard time looking for you."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Jiraiya's attitude; it seemed the perverted sage hadn't come to take him back to Konoha.

"Haha, I originally just wanted to stroll around the Land of Wind, but I didn't expect to get involved in some things in Sunagakure."

"Make way, give me one too." Jiraiya came to Naruto's side, pushed Naruto a little away from the rock he was sitting on, and then held out his hand to Naruto.

Naruto handed the extra food to Jiraiya. After taking the roasted gerbil, Jiraiya first took out a sake pouch from his waist, and then ate the gerbil with a bite of food and a sip of sake.

"Your cooking skills are pretty good. I heard from Kakashi that you always eat ramen. I thought you didn't know how to cook. I didn't expect you to have this skill." Jiraiya laughed.

"I learned it from Choji when I skipped class to go out and play back in school. It's pretty good, isn't it?" Naruto said.

The way the two were chatting resembled a grandfather and grandson talking in an ordinary family. To an outsider, it would be hard to imagine that one of them was a rogue ninja.

"By the way, who is this child?" Jiraiya noticed Gaara staring at him and Naruto with a peculiar look and couldn't help but ask.

“Oh, a friend I just met,” Naruto said.

"There's a chakra fluctuation on him, a ninja from Sunagakure?" Jiraiya continued to ask.

“Yes, a ninja from Sunagakure, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast,” Naruto said.

"puff!"

As soon as Naruto finished speaking, Jiraiya spat out a mouthful of sake.

Dude, you've only been out for a few days? And you've already hooked up with the jinchūriki from other villages?

"Naruto, if the Sand Village finds out that you're making contact with the Sand Village's Jinchuriki, they will see this as Konoha declaring war on the Sand Village," Jiraiya couldn't help but warn him.

At this point, Jiraiya finally understood why Uchiha Touko had sent him to follow Naruto. This kid was too much of a troublemaker. He'd only been out for a few days, and he'd already taken away another village's Jinchuriki. Would this kid go and challenge another village's Kage in a while?

“But Gaara is his older sister, the princess of Sunagakure. She asked me to take care of her. It shouldn’t be considered a provocation, right? Besides, what I, a rogue ninja, do would have anything to do with Konoha, would it?” Naruto shrugged and then took out the headband that Sasuke had scorched.

"His sister, the princess of Sunagakure, asked you to take care of their village's Jinchūriki?" Jiraiya looked incredulous upon hearing this, but he quickly realized, "Could something have happened to Sunagakure? That's right, when I entered the Land of Wind this time, I didn't see a single Sunagakure ninja at the border. It seems that something really has happened to Sunagakure. Do you know what happened?"

"Sunagakure? It's probably in the midst of a coup right now," Naruto said.

"A coup?" Jiraiya was stunned upon hearing this.

“Yes, Gaara’s sister is probably staging a coup in Sunagakure right now so that Gaara can return to the village normally in the future. I even called my teacher over to give her some guidance,” Naruto said.

Jiraiya: ...

Well, since Uchiha Touko's affairs are involved, he can't interfere anymore, since he's still a demoted genin in Konoha's organization.

"But why did you come here?" Jiraiya asked, having stopped dwelling on Gaara's identity.

“This area of ​​the Land of Wind is a large uninhabited area, and there’s a very dangerous place ahead,” Jiraiya said.

"We just wandered around and ended up here, Grandpa Jiraiya, do you know where this is?" Naruto said.

"This area was once home to an ancient kingdom called Loulan. However, after the Loulan kingdom declined over the years, only some ruins and a few remaining Loulan people remain here."

"The ancient kingdom of Loulan? There's such a country in the ninja world?" Naruto scratched his head. As a slacker who had skipped academic classes for years, Naruto's knowledge of the world was basically limited to knowing that there were five great nations in the ninja world, and that there were five great ninja villages in those five nations.

"Of course, but more than ten years ago, this once prosperous country seemed to vanish into thin air and suddenly declined." Jiraiya explained to Naruto, "Speaking of which, before your father became the Fourth Hokage, he also came here to carry out a mission. However, I remember that after your father returned from that mission, the mission report he submitted to the Third Hokage seemed very strange. There must have been some hidden story behind it. However, Konoha was soon threatened by war, and the matter was left unresolved."

"So this is where my dad carried out his mission?" Naruto nodded upon hearing this, then slammed his right hand into his palm. "It's decided! Let's go check out the ruins of the ancient Loulan Kingdom. After all, this is where my dad fought. Gaara, want to come along?"

"Hey! Naruto! Don't just do whatever comes to mind. That place might be dangerous." Jiraiya, seeing this, was also quite annoyed and couldn't help but remind him.

"What danger could there be?" Naruto waved his hand. "By the way, Grandpa Jiraiya, what brings you here?"

“Your teacher sent me to look after you and teach you a few things,” Jiraiya said.

"Let's not rush these things. Let's go check out the ruins in Loulan first," Naruto said. After learning about Loulan, Naruto became extremely excited. After all, since the Third Hokage returned to power, many traces of the Fourth Hokage in the village had been erased by some people with ulterior motives. After learning about his own background, Naruto had tried to find the traces left by his parents in the village, but apart from the Hokage Rock and photos of the Hokage's office, Naruto couldn't find anything about his father, Minato Namikaze.

Now, in this Land of Wind, there's a chance he might even see traces of his father's battles, so Naruto naturally doesn't want to give up this opportunity.

Gaara, after a moment of silence, nodded in response to Naruto's invitation. He was also eager to witness the legendary Yellow Flash, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze. More importantly, he wanted to know how the Fourth Hokage, also a Kage, differed from his biological father, the Fourth Kazekage.

Chapter 249 Minato: Is this my son?

"Alright! Then, let's go to the ruins of the ancient Loulan Kingdom together tomorrow!" Naruto patted Gaara on the shoulder and made the decision.

"Hey, Naruto, don't mess around. Oh well, Loulan has been abandoned for so long, it shouldn't cause any major trouble." Jiraiya wanted to remind Naruto not to mess around, but seeing that the kid looked like he had already made up his mind, he could only give up. If the kid were someone who listened to advice, he wouldn't have given up the hot springs and pretty girls in the Land of Hot Springs to come to the desert to eat sand.

The next morning, after Naruto and Gaara woke up, they set off for the ruins of the ancient kingdom of Loulan.

As they approached the ruins of the ancient Loulan Kingdom, Naruto looked up at the dilapidated buildings that had been eroded by the wind and sand, but still showed traces of their former grandeur. Naruto was momentarily lost in thought before turning back to look at Gaara.

"Gaara, do you know why this place has become like this?" Naruto asked, somewhat puzzled.

“I don’t know either,” Gaara said.

"When the ancient Loulan Kingdom began to decline, you two weren't even born yet, so it's normal that you don't know," Jiraiya explained to the two. "The ancient Loulan Kingdom once built a brilliant civilization in this desert by using puppetry techniques driven by some special energy. However, when their puppets lost power, they were no longer able to support such a large country, so the ancient Loulan Kingdom declined to its current state."

Jiraiya's face showed a hint of regret after he finished speaking.

"Special energy?" Naruto's face showed a look of astonishment. What kind of energy could support the establishment of such a large and prosperous empire, and then cause the empire to collapse after the energy disappeared?

For some reason, Naruto had a feeling that this matter was related to his father, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

At this moment, a look of recollection appeared on Jiraiya's face: "It was shortly after your father came here on a mission. The Third Hokage also suspected that your father was involved, but neither your father nor the members of his squad remembered what exactly happened on that mission."

The three of them strolled through the ruins of the ancient Loulan Kingdom and soon arrived at a tower that had been eroded by wind and sand, leaving only half of it standing alone in the desert.

Naruto stared at the ruins of the tower, momentarily lost in thought. A strange feeling compelled him to go inside.

Naruto thought for a moment, then stepped into the tower.

Seeing this, Jiraiya and Gaara followed.

After entering the tower and walking through the darkness for a while, Naruto arrived at the center of the tower. When he saw the light again, he had entered a room where the ground was covered with faded sealing runes.

Naruto glanced down at the sealing technique formula on the ground, scratched his head for a long time, and then said uncertainly, "What is this? The Five Elements Seal?"

"Who did you learn this sealing technique from? This is clearly the Eight Trigrams Sealing Technique." After Jiraiya followed in, he observed the situation in the room for a while, and then couldn't help but complain after hearing Naruto's words.

"Oh, so it's the Eight Trigrams Seal," Naruto said, sticking out his tongue. "No wonder it looked familiar."