Naruto : Cruel Rebirth

At dusk, in a quiet room in the Amegakure Village's tower, Konan opened her eyes, her hand gently placed on her forehead. Memories of last night before she fainted flooded her mind. 

After a moment, she reached out and pulled off the blanket, noticing that she had been changed into a clean white robe. 

Her orange eyes narrowed. "Last night, I remember Naruto was going to bring a woman to the village, but I stopped him. After that..." 

"Ha." After a deep breath, Konan sat up and began to fix her makeup. 

No woman dislikes makeup, and even cold-hearted Konan was no exception. She applied light purple eyeshadow, wore a blue paper flower as a hair ornament, and the lip piercing under her lip was a gift she had received on her coming-of-age day from Yahiko. 

Once her makeup was done, she got out of bed and began changing clothes. 

Rustle... The white robe was removed and neatly folded before being placed in the wardrobe. 

In front of the mirror, her beautiful figure was fully visible—her fair skin like spring snow, glowing with a sheen, and her taut abdomen, with a ring through her belly button, was a secret even Nagato didn't know. 

Rustle... 

She put on a fishnet backless top with a zipper, changed into tight, light purple pants, and then put on a black coat embroidered with red clouds and white borders. She tied the Amegakure forehead protector around her waist. 

This was her usual attire: practical for battle, while also showing the Akatsuki's cause and her identity as a Amegakure ninja. 

When she left the room, Naruto was already waiting for her in the hallway. 

Konan looked at Naruto's back and asked, "Did you not sleep all night?" 

Naruto nodded lightly and then turned to face her. "Sister Konan, last night, I'm sorry..." 

The apology came because he felt that making Konan stay with him and the shadow clones in the rain all night was the main reason she fell ill. 

Konan lowered her eyes and said softly, "It's fine, you didn't have to…" 

Naruto didn't think much of it and smiled. "Let's go get something to eat." 

In the back kitchen of the Amegakure Village, the food was ready, mostly to Naruto's liking. 

Konan, who usually ate light, vegetarian dishes, only had grilled fish as her source of meat. 

"I've received new information. Akatsuki is planning a series of big moves soon…" 

While eating, Naruto shared the information he had gathered from White Zetsu's mind with Konan. 

Konan's beautiful eyes sharpened. "They're going this far just to target you…" 

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, Obito is a strategist who became strong through experience. He knows how to manipulate people's hearts. I have to admit, his plan really hits the mark." 

"Also, we need to start building our own intelligence department." 

"Akatsuki has a lot of White Zetsu. They can be deployed all over the ninja world to gather all sorts of information…" 

Naruto's expression grew serious. "Honestly, the only reason I found out about this in advance was by luck. Otherwise, things could've gotten really bad…" 

"This can't keep happening. Sooner or later, we'll be on the defensive. We need to finish this quickly…" 

Konan put down her bowl and wiped her mouth with a napkin. With a serious expression, she said, "Leave this to me." 

Naruto asked, "Is there a problem?" 

Konan replied, "Amegakure also has backup ninjas separate from Akatsuki. I plan to gather them and pick the right ones." 

Naruto nodded. "Mm, if there's potential, we can train them and give them important roles." 

After the meal, Naruto and Konan went to the beach in Amegakure. Kisame was sitting on a coastal rock, shirtless, clearly having just come out of the water. 

"Good work, Kisame. I'll assist with the next steps." 

Naruto landed on the water's surface and formed hand seals. 

—Summoning Jutsu! 

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! White smoke swirled as various amphibious creatures appeared: crabs, squids, crocodiles, turtles, octopuses, jellyfish, and countless snakes… all summoned from the depths. 

Unlike in the Reincarnation Realm, these creatures were all embedded with large black rods, and their eyes reflected the power of Naruto's Rinnegan. 

The amplified summoning jutsu of the Animal Path retained their chaotic instincts and combat abilities, moving with Naruto's chakra… and they could even share his vision! 

Naruto specifically told Kisame, "When you're low on chakra underwater, you can use them to replenish it. Don't worry about my chakra loss!" 

"Got it, this will make things much easier…" 

Kisame stood up, merging with Samehada again, and dove into the water. 

Konan said, "The summoning beasts of the Rinnegan follow the user's chakra, so they can't be too far away. But depending on the situation, there are two modes of action. You can allocate chakra to them in advance, which eliminates the distance issue. However, once the chakra runs out, they stop." 

Naruto nodded. "I understand. They are technically dead, so let's go with the second mode for now." 

Naruto pressed his palms together and distributed chakra through the black rods to the various summoned beasts. 

When he was done, he waved his hand, and the creatures all entered the sea. 

Konan asked, "Are we going out?" 

Naruto replied, "Yeah, Akatsuki is making moves. We need to speed up here. Before Orochimaru returns, we have to finish what we didn't complete earlier." 

Konan stepped forward, and Naruto placed his left hand on her shoulder. Using the Flying Thunder God technique, he said, "Let's go, to Kumogakure Village." 

Whoosh! In an instant, they arrived at the foot of the Thunder Mountain in Kumogakure. 

But they didn't go up the mountain right away. Instead, Naruto headed to a nearby location. 

Naruto had read White Zetsu's mind earlier, and he now knew that Akatsuki had successfully hunted down the Eight-Tails, and that Killer Bee had met with an unfortunate fate. 

Killer Bee, in a way, was an old acquaintance of Naruto from his previous life, someone he had shared some happy moments with. 

The Thundercloud Gorge remained unchanged, but the carefree figure who once sang a ridiculous rap was gone. 

At the peak of Thundercloud Gorge, Naruto placed a paper flower down, removed his mask, and closed his eyes in mourning. 

"Uncle, Bee without a doubt, my return has changed the course of history, indirectly leading to your misfortune." 

"I truly feel regretful about this."

Naruto gazed at the drifting clouds in the sky, his expression somber and solemn. 

"Even though I experienced a hellish future, I can't afford to be naive and promise that I'll protect everyone this time..."

"I will keep moving forward, in my own way, steadfastly!"

"From now on, more people will fall because of me, whether directly or indirectly..." 

"I don't know if this is right, but this is the only thing I can do now!"

Naruto wasn't being heartless, but he had witnessed too many people die in front of him, like ants. He understood the strength of that clan, and being naive only led to more deaths...

Konan watched Naruto's back, knowing better than anyone else the heavy burden this weathered young man carried. 

At this moment, she sincerely wanted to witness and follow him to the very end!

After mourning, Naruto put his mask back on, restoring his cold, murderous aura. 

He spoke in a firm tone, "Notify Kumogakure, either prepare what I want or get ready for a full-scale battle. Tonight, at midnight, Light Akatsuki will pay them a visit!"

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