Naruto: Naruto Hosted by the System

After receiving the body, the system walked out of the laboratory.

At this time, Kakashi was still practicing Purple Lightning. With Naruto's genjutsu assistance, the shadow of Purple Lightning could now be occasionally seen in the Lightning Release he released.

"Hmm? Naruto, did you see Orochimaru?" Kakashi, who was practicing his Purple Lightning technique, asked casually when he saw Naruto come out.

"I saw him." The system replied succinctly.

Orochimaru happened to come out at that moment and waved to Kakashi.

Upon seeing Orochimaru, Kakashi inexplicably felt a slight discomfort in his left eye and silently turned his head away.

Just then, the system spotted a sparrow in the tree in front of it, and in a flash, it grabbed it and killed it.

This time, the system did not use the soul retention technique, so the sparrow's soul quickly dissipated.

And then...

"Soul Grab Technique!"

The system reached out and grabbed at the air, and the sparrow's soul immediately reappeared before their eyes.

[This is my newly developed soul-capturing technique. If the target's soul has only recently dissipated, it can be retrieved from the Pure Land and then used in conjunction with a soul-retention technique to keep it there.]

Of course, there's currently no way to reuse this method, and it's impossible to keep the soul in the real world indefinitely.

After listening to the system's explanation, Naruto nodded thoughtfully.

I can't think of any potential uses for it right now, but it might come in handy in the future, and this can be considered another step on the road to becoming the Lord of the Pure Land.

Kakashi, who witnessed Naruto's actions, remained silent.

I have a feeling that even if Naruto really does bring his teacher's soul back to the real world to revive him in the future, he wouldn't be too surprised...

Orochimaru, who was standing nearby, was quite surprised to witness this amazing scene. He had seen Naruto use the Soul Retention Technique before when Naruto released the Reaper Death Seal.

Naruto used this method to temporarily keep his and the four Hokage's souls in the world, which attracted the Sage of Six Paths.

"Is this a ninjutsu that you developed before, Naruto-kun?"

"No, it was developed after I looked at the information just now."

Orochimaru was even more shocked upon hearing this. As a researcher himself, he knew all too well how difficult it was to develop ninjutsu.

Most scientists are considered commendable if they can develop a few new ninjutsu techniques in their lifetime.

Even someone as powerful as Orochimaru only developed the Orochimaru style of ninjutsu, or improved upon some ninjutsu techniques based on those of his predecessors.

And Naruto, he seems to come up with new ninjutsu every few days?!

Moreover, this new ninjutsu was developed on the spot after he reviewed the information he had compiled.

This goes beyond simply being described as having strong research capabilities; even if the Second Hokage, who developed many forbidden techniques, were alive today, he probably couldn't compare to Naruto.

Sasuke didn't understand the complexities involved. He just saw that Orochimaru hadn't developed any new ninjutsu in so many days, while Naruto had developed one so easily. He mocked Orochimaru, saying, "Are you really good at scientific research? That's your only value."

Orochimaru's lips twitched slightly: "Actually, I'm already a top expert in the field of scientific research. As for Naruto... he's an exception."

Naruto glanced at him and said irritably, "You know that, so why don't you hurry up and continue the experiment? If you can't produce results, I'll have Sasuke remove the Calamity Sun and just kill you."

Orochimaru could only smile wryly and go back to continue his experiments.

However, he still harbored a glimmer of hope deep down.

"Naruto-kun, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. If it's you, you'll definitely find a way to achieve immortality."

"At that time, I will obtain eternal life no matter what the cost!"

......

In the Land of Rain, in a hidden underground cave.

Several projections shimmering with strange colors appeared in the area, waiting for their leader to speak.

"The Three-Tails' chakra has been successfully captured," the projection with the Rinnegan announced.

"So you summoned us here to seal the Three-Tails? I didn't expect someone to succeed so quickly." One of the projections, a short-haired man carrying a giant three-bladed scythe, spoke impatiently.

"Tobi and Kisame are in charge of the Three-Tails, right? They're quick on their feet," the male projection with many stitches on his body sneered.

"If you hadn't always gone around to catch bounty targets, we would have captured a tailed beast long ago," the scythe-wielding man scolded.

"Start the sealing process." As soon as the Rinnegan projection spoke, the noisy group immediately shut up.

Inside the cave, there is a strangely shaped, enormous creature that looks like it is made of dead wood, with many protrusions on its back. Its name is the Gedo Statue!

Each person stood on one of the fingers of the Gedo Mazo, expending their chakra to activate the technique.

With everyone's combined efforts, the Gedo Mazo gradually opened its mouth, spitting out nine illusory dragons of various colors, which pounced on the Three-Tails' chakra in front of it.

The group of people who were activating the spell then realized something was wrong: "Why does the Three-Tails Jinchuriki look a bit unusual?"

"No, this isn't a person, it's a knife."

"Kisame, when did you turn your sword into a Jinchūriki?"

The shark-faced projection was speechless, unsure how to explain itself.

The ritual had already begun, and the group persisted in absorbing the Three-Tails' chakra into the Gedo Mazo.

The Rinnegan projection then spoke up, "That's exactly what I wanted to say. Tobi and Kisame didn't bring back the Three-Tails; they only absorbed some chakra through Samehada."

"Huh? Kisame, you can even lose a water battle?" the scythe projection mocked mercilessly.

"Because we met that man, the Fifth Hokage of Konoha."

The suture projection sneered, "Hidan, shouldn't you at least pay some attention to outside intelligence? I've gathered so much."

"Aren't all of those related to bounty targets? Why should I care about them?"

"Quiet." The Rinnegan projection once again silenced their argument.

"Jue, tell them the intelligence you've gathered."

All eyes turned to the projection of the pitcher plant on the head.

"The story begins a few months ago with the joint Chunin Exams held in Konoha. At that time, Naruto Uzumaki was not yet the Fifth Hokage, but he defeated and captured the One-Tailed Jinchuriki. The Third Hokage also perished together with Orochimaru with his assistance."

"Afterwards, Naruto Uzumaki became the Fifth Hokage and personally went to Sunagakure to exchange supplies for prisoners."

The scythe projection then interjected, "Oh, I remember that, because those two traitors ran to Sunagakure around that time."

The pitcher plant projection ignored him and continued, "Back then, the Cloud Village sent people to attack the envoy's party, but they were captured by Naruto Uzumaki instead. They demanded that the Cloud Village exchange supplies for prisoners, just like the Sand Village did."

"But the Fourth Raikage couldn't swallow this insult, so he pretended to make an exchange, but actually led his men to ambush Naruto Uzumaki."

"He failed, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't have run into him later." The shark-face projection had already guessed the outcome.

The pitcher plant projection nodded and said slowly, "That's right, it failed. The Fourth Raikage, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and the elite force of the Cloud Village, including dozens of Jonin, all attacked together, but they still failed."

"What?! Does that mean he defeated an entire country single-handedly?" The suture projection was taken aback. He knew that Konoha had won in the end, but he hadn't expected the victory to be so decisive.

This record reminded him of that man.

"The final result was the death of the Fourth Raikage, and the Hidden Cloud Village provided compensation to Naruto Uzumaki."

"Then, in Kirigakure, Tobi and Kisame, who were on their way to capture the Three-Tails, ran into Naruto Uzumaki. A battle ensued, and Tobi and Kisame were no match for him. In the end, they only managed to bring back some of the Three-Tails' chakra."

"Furthermore, according to intelligence, although the current Fifth Mizukage is Zabuza Momochi, the actual person in power behind the scenes is Naruto Uzumaki."

"In other words, four of the five great nations have already been touched by Naruto Uzumaki."

After hearing about Naruto's achievements, everyone fell silent for a moment.

"What is his purpose in doing this? To unify the ninja world?" The suture projection broke the silence.

"Perhaps."

The pitcher plant projection surveyed its surroundings and then dropped another bombshell: "But we've also learned that Naruto Uzumaki is collecting the chakra of the tailed beasts."

"What? Isn't that taking our jobs away from us?"

"The conditions he proposed to Sunagakure and Kumogakure all included Tailed Beast chakra, and he also collected a lot of Three-Tails chakra in Kirigakure this time," the pitcher plant projection added.

"Didn't Itachi and Kisame fight Naruto in Konoha before? Was he this strong back then?" the stitched projection asked.

Uchiha Itachi, who had remained silent until he was mentioned, finally spoke up: "He's very strong. Even my Mangekyou Sharingan was ineffective against him."

"So what mission will you assign us next? Capture Naruto Uzumaki? After all, he's also the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Taking the Tailed Beast Chakra from him will save us a lot of trouble." The scythe projection was somewhat eager to try.

The Rinnegan projection then spoke up, "It's alright. Even if he collects all the tailed beast chakra, it will only make things easier for us."

"He's already this strong now, what if he gets even stronger in the future?"

"Hmph, challenging a god is foolish." The Rinnegan projection scoffed at this.

"However, the Nine-Tails' chakra will have to be collected sooner or later. Kakuzu, Hidan, you two will deal with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

"Us?" The suture projection froze.

"I don't expect you to win, but since you're the immortal duo, you should at least gather some intelligence or steal some tailed beast chakra from him," the Rinnegan projection commanded in an unyielding tone.

Although reluctant, the suture projection had no choice but to accept the order, as it was given personally by the leader.

"That's it, meeting adjourned."

The projections of everyone gradually disappeared.

Within the Land of Fire, two figures dressed in black robes with red cloud patterns slowly opened their eyes.

"Since the leader has given the order, Kakuzu, stop dawdling around collecting bounties and let's hurry to Konoha." The man wielding the giant three-edged scythe was beaming with excitement.

"Hidan, you don't actually think you can take down the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, do you? That terrifying strength reminds me of that former God of Shinobi." The man with many stitches on his body said.

"Kakuzu, you're not scared, are you?"

"How could that be? I'm someone who fought against the God of Shinobi and came back unscathed. No matter how strong the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is, he can't possibly be stronger than Hashirama Senju, right? No matter how high your talent is, it still takes time to realize it."

"Isn't that it? I can't wait to offer him to the evil god."

Hidan kept muttering things like "evil god" and "sacrifice," which Kakuzu found utterly tiresome.

"Alright, alright, let's leave that monk in the temple in the Land of Fire aside and go find out where the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is."

"Oh? Kakuzu, you're actually willing to drop the bounty? That's rare indeed."

"Shut up, or if you keep making noise, next time your head will fall off and we won't sew it back up."

......