In Konoha, Naruto lies down

If the Sage of Six Paths really existed, what about the gods before the Six Paths? If those gods also really existed, their power was extracted and used as ninjutsu.

In a sense, both the Shiki Fuujin and the Impure World Reincarnation are sealing techniques. However, the end of all truths is destruction, the disappearance of the Whirlpool Kingdom.

Naruto began to get excited. This was much more interesting than ninjutsu.

Ever since the Ghost Warriors of Bird Country, he had become interested in the option of seizing power over a nation. Simple illusions could even establish faith and control the people of a nation.

What if it was a real god? The Uzumaki clan could harvest the power of the God of Death, so could I try?

He really didn't want to become Hokage, but if he wanted to become a faith, the thought of it was quite exciting. He couldn't stay in Konoha forever, there would always be a day when he would leave.

The system has been tempting him to seize control of small countries, such as the River Country mission, the Bird Country mission, and the Snow Country mission. Naruto is not stupid, and worldly power is of little use.

If he really wanted to take charge and diligently run a small country, he would be in the dark. Moreover, he was still a Genin of Konoha, so it would be meaningless to seize control too early.

The egrets of the Kingdom of Birds, the Fenghua Xiaoxue of the Kingdom of Snow, the Queen of Loulan's mission that has not yet been triggered... The bloodline of the royal power is continued through the princess. If this is the case... then the role of the church comes in.

The problem now is to figure out the relationship between the Uzumaki clan and those strange forces. Although the Uzumaki clan is dying, their bloodline is immortal, and they will definitely find something special.

Thinking of this, Naruto felt that it was necessary to go to the Uzumaki clan's shrine. It was located in the Konoha Forest, quite a distance from the village.

"I'm going out for a bit." Naruto put on his clothes and bent down to change his shoes at the entrance. "You stay here and guard the house."

"Heh." Kyuubi huddled in the sofa and muttered, recalling the fear of having his soul dominated.

It was like that when the Shiki Fuujin was formed, and it was also like that when Naruto ordered it to devour the ninja at the root. The towering soul made one shudder.

Kyuubi had no doubts and equipped that guy with a white short sword...a white-haired evil spirit with a green face and fangs.

.......

Naruto excitedly left home and headed towards the outside of the village. But after a few steps, he saw a few people coming towards him, looking dusty and exhausted, as if they had just returned from a night trip.

"Hello, Mr. Asuma." Naruto smiled awkwardly and met Team 10.

"Hey, it's Naruto."

"Naruto!"

"came back?"

Asuma, who had just returned from a mission, watched as three disciples and a yellow-haired man got along well. He didn't push them any further, but instead lit a cigarette and watched with a smile.

"I heard you had an accident at sea." Shikamaru reached out and touched Naruto's hands and feet. "You're not hurt at all. It's a miracle."

"What could possibly happen to me? It's just a shipwreck." Naruto couldn't help but brag when he saw someone he knew, "If the ship wasn't in the deep sea, I would have returned long ago."

"You are not an ordinary guy. You even brought back the target of the mission." Shikamaru gently pushed Naruto's shoulder.

"That's right, why don't you ask me about my 100% mission completion rate? I'm known for that...Ah!! Ino! I'm still a patient!"

Ino pinched him hard and said angrily, "Don't get carried away. You're still showing off just because you've saved your life! You don't even look like a patient!"

"Forget it, forget it, Ino." Choji came out to mediate, "It's a miracle that Naruto came back. Maybe he really is injured."

"Chouji, don't be fooled by that guy. If you are really injured, you will not be able to be discharged from the hospital." Shikamaru added.

"Oh, that's good." Choji took a step back.

Ino grabbed Naruto, her eyebrows slightly frowned and her eyes narrowed.

"Where are you going?"

"I..." Naruto was a little stuck. He couldn't say that he wanted to go to the Uzumaki clan's cenotaph.

This thing was unlucky no matter how you looked at it, and it was somewhat taboo for those who frequently went on missions. He had no taboos, except for himself, who didn't believe in it and didn't mind dancing on graves before a mission.

Even though there was an accident during the last mission at sea, he still dared to go next time.

Just as Naruto was drafting a lie in his mind, Asuma beside him suddenly exhaled a puff of cigarette and spoke.

"Team 10 should be disbanded right now. I have something else to do. Shikamaru will go to the Hokage Building later to make a final report on this mission."

Ino was stunned and turned around to see the smile in Asuma's eyes.

"Yes." Zhu, Lu and Die responded.

After Asuma left, Shikamaru's shoulders slumped and he said dejectedly.

"It's me who's doing the mission report again!"

Choji looked away and said guiltily, "Shikamaru, I want to help, but you know the mission report I write will be rejected by Lady Tsunade."

Ino was still holding onto Naruto and she turned to look at Shikamaru and was about to speak, but Shikamaru spoke first.

"Never mind, I'll do it, Ino, we'll be leaving now."

After saying that, he pulled Shikamaru away.

Suddenly, Ino and Naruto were the only ones left on the road. Ino let go of Naruto and asked again.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm...going to the shrine."

"Shrine?" Ino frowned slightly and looked around. "Which shrine? What are you doing in a place like that?"

"Well... just take a look." Naruto said, "I found something outside, so I wanted to go take a look."

"wait for me."

"Huh?" Naruto was stunned.

"Oh what? I said wait and I'll go with you." Ino said.

Naruto's home was nearby, so Ino simply went to his place to wash up. Having traveled all night, Ino's face was full of fatigue, but she didn't care about anything else.

I soaked in the bathtub and almost fell asleep.

There were three knocks on the bathroom door.

"What for?" Ino asked unhappily.

"It's nothing, you look very tired, why don't you rest here, I..." Naruto suggested standing outside the bathroom door.

"No!" Ino refused flatly, "If you go there secretly, I will throw away the key and never care about you again."

"Um..." Naruto was at a loss for words, "I mean, it's getting late now, why not go tomorrow."

........

the next morning.

The shrine of the Uzumaki clan.

A vermilion torii gate stood tall, engraved with the symbol of the Uzumaki clan.

Naruto and Ino stood in the courtyard, looking up at the tattered eaves, then glancing at the shrine with half of its door missing. This place was even more desolate than he had imagined.

In the courtyard stood an abandoned well, a single beam of white sunlight shining through it, its surface filled with green algae. In front of the shrine lay overgrown weeds and broken rubble.

It was early spring, and fresh green plants grew on the dilapidated walls, as lush as if they had just been pulled out of the water. Perhaps because of the heavy rain in the forest, the ground was covered with moss.

Chapter 187 Twenty-seven Masks

"This place..." Ino, wearing a thin blue sweatshirt and a hood, looked back at the dark red torii gate, "How many years has it been since anyone has been here?"

Hearing this, Naruto thought back and realized that the last Uzumaki clan member in Konoha was probably Kushina.

"About ten years."

"Huh?" Ino shrank back. "It's only been a dozen years and it's become so desolate?"

"Is it possible that it was abandoned more than ten years ago?" Naruto couldn't help but correct him, "This is the shrine of the Uzumaki clan. No one has been here for a long time."

"Hmm? The Uzumaki clan?" Ino looked at Naruto.

"I just found out too." He smiled. "Although I have the same last name, that's all. I don't know anything else."

A broken water tank in the yard caught Ino's attention. She was about to walk over but was stopped by Naruto.

"Where?"

"There's a water tank over there." She pointed toward a corner of the rubble. "Something seems to be wrong."

"Don't wander around here." Naruto glanced at Ino with a complicated look, "That thing is not a water tank, take a closer look first."

"But that's clearly a water tank..." Ino was a little confused and turned around to look again.

There was no water tank in the weed-covered corner, only a pile of bones that could not be identified as human or animal. Around the pile of bones were a few strange purple flowers.

"Ah!" Ino was frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. It was actually an illusion. "Just now I clearly..."

"It's okay, just don't get close to there." Naruto pulled her and held the girl's hand. "It's not that dangerous here. Just follow me closely, and you'll be fine."

A dilapidated shrine, to put it bluntly, is just an empty grave. Naruto was not too nervous, as the only thing that mattered was the masks hanging in the shrine.

Gently kicking the door open, the shrine was empty, save for some fallen debris on the ground. The empty inner hall was so quiet that only the sound of their footsteps could be heard.

A gust of wind blew, making the broken door creak.

"Naruto, did you...did you hear that? It sounded like someone was laughing." Ino swallowed and kept looking behind her, as if something was following them.

"No." Naruto remained calm.

"It seems like you're crying again." Ino almost pressed her whole body against him, holding his hand tightly, "Naruto, should we leave here first?"

The girl's voice trembled slightly, and Naruto could feel Ino's grip on his hand gradually tightening. She was still whispering about backing off, her mumbling echoing faintly in the empty hall.

She suggested bringing Shikamaru and the others along, saying it might be safer with more people. Naruto just listened, his eyes fixed on the twenty-seven masks on the wall.

In response to Ino's mumbling, he occasionally nodded and said "hmm".

Some things can't be avoided, and now they're here. Whether he cries or laughs, he has the Uzumaki clan's inheritance in his grasp, even if the Sage of Six Paths comes, it won't help.

Twenty-seven evil ghost masks were hung on the wall, each one looking hideous, with the mask of death in the middle.

"Just stand here and don't move." Naruto suddenly said.

"Ah? Then what are you...what are you going to do?" Ino was a little scared. Thinking of the crying, her face suddenly turned pale. "Am I standing here alone?"

"I'm not going anywhere, I'm right here." Naruto let go of Ino's hand, looked around, and then picked up a long stick at the base of the wall.

Ino stood there obediently. An hour ago, she had thought she was following Naruto to a shrine to pray. Who knew... now she was a little panicked.

Things were developing in a strange direction, and she stood in the middle of the shrine's inner hall, trembling.

The door creaked again, this time even without a breeze. Ino saw footprints on the ground, and the masks on the wall stared at her sinisterly.

There is something wrong with this shrine!

The footprints stopped three meters away from Ino, and then went straight towards Naruto. Ino opened her mouth to remind him, but found that she couldn't speak.

Naruto seemed to be completely unaware that something was wrong with the surroundings. He stood under the wall of masks with a long stick he had picked up, poking and prodding at them, trying to poke the masks off.

Ino clearly saw that the footprints had walked behind Naruto. Her body was completely frozen, unable to move or speak, and she could only watch.

Suddenly, with a snap, a mask fell from the wall.

Naruto bent down to pick it up, and suddenly heard the sound of wind behind him, which made him feel a little strange. Ino watched Naruto turn his head suddenly, and he was already wearing the fallen demon mask on his face.

call!

All the sounds disappeared, and the shrine hall returned to silence.

Ino suddenly felt like she could move again and took a deep breath, as if she had never breathed before.

"Naruto, behind you!"

She was stunned again when she was halfway through her words. Because when Naruto turned around, there was no footprint in front of him, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.

"What's behind that?" Naruto took off his mask and asked in confusion.

"...No, nothing." Ino asked uneasily, "Can I come over to your side now? I'm a little scared."

"Come here, it's okay." He waved his hand, motioning Ino to come over.

After standing beside him, Ino finally breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look at the mask in his hand and asked.

"what is that?"

"It's just an ordinary mask." Naruto threw it into the sealed space.

Then he pointed to the twenty-six remaining masks on the wall and said, "Wait a moment. Once I take all these masks down, you can leave."

"it is good."