Naruto: The Abstract Strategist of the Akatsuki

Chapter 495 Unable to Look Directly at Paradise

"After we finished eating, we met Uncle Bi, who was preparing to leave the village to find a suitable candidate, and we chatted for a while."

Naruto provided an explanation.

"Uncle Bi said that he and Uncle Raikage had been to a place called Ghost Lantern Castle before, where they met Brother Bai Mo."

In the Ghost Lantern Castle, there is something called the Box of Elysium. Inside is a monster with incredible evasion abilities, making it impossible to hit.

If he had had my shortcut back then, even without entering Sage Mode, simply emptying his mind, he could have defeated that monster on his own.

Uncle Bi said it was a pity that in the end they didn't solve the monster problem, and they even had to ask Brother Bai Mo for help.

The Box of Bliss was also destroyed.

"By the way, Kakashi-sensei, do you know what the Box of Elysium is?"

Naruto, acting like a curious child, asked.

"I don't know. Judging from the name, it must be some kind of powerful ninja tool, right? Ninja tool... could it be the Six Paths Ninja Tool?"

Kakashi said he didn't know, but he had already figured it out.

It's no secret that the Hidden Cloud Village possesses the Six Paths Ninja Tools, so it's not surprising that the Hidden Cloud Village has other Six Paths Ninja Tools as well.

"So why is it called bliss? From Uncle Bi's description, this thing can't bring people any happiness, can it?"

Naruto scratched his head, puzzled.

"..."

Kakashi never expected that Naruto's dilemma would be this.

Perhaps this is the tragedy of being uncultured.

"Naruto, 'Gokuraku' is a term that actually refers to the Pure Land or the Land of Bliss."

Kakashi patiently explained.

"What are the Pure Land and the Land of Ultimate Bliss?"

Naruto continued scratching his head.

"...It's where people go after they die. People yearn to go to paradise after death, so..."

"I see!"

Hearing this, Naruto finally understood and interrupted Kakashi, "That's why they say 'death isn't scary, death is like a cool summer night,' right?"

"Uh, that makes sense."

Kakashi wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He didn't even break a sweat while eating noodles, but he almost broke out in a sweat while giving Naruto a lesson on academics.

"Is that so? So, Grandpa and Uncle Asma actually went to the Pure Land, the Land of Ultimate Bliss, after they died?"

Konohamaru's eyes widened.

"That's how it is in theory, but since the Third Hokage was reborn through the Impure World Reincarnation, he's not considered part of the Pure Land—oh right, the Impure World Reincarnation corresponds to the Pure Land."

Kakashi nodded.

He felt quite comfortable teaching Konohamaru academic subjects.

However, Kakashi was too happy too soon.

He forgot that Konohamaru had already received Naruto's legacy and was no longer restricted by his elders, making him a completely different person.

"The Pure Land is also the world of non-extreme sorrow. No wonder Lady Tsunade said that Grandpa always wanted to break free from the Impure World Reincarnation and return to the Pure Land. So that's the reason."

Konohamaru suddenly realized.

"..."

Kakashi was speechless.

It's obvious that the Third Hokage was so tormented by being treated like a tool and forced to work like crazy that he wanted to leave the ninja world and return to the Pure Land.

Putting everything else aside, Kakashi himself was also a victim, and he could very well understand Hiruzen Sarutobi's feelings.

However, Kakashi felt that he was still not quite there to understand Hiruzen Sarutobi's feelings.

After all, the body resurrected through Edo Tensei is tireless, and Kakashi really wanted to know what mental fatigue felt like when the body and mind were not tired.

"The World of Non-Extreme Sorrow? So that's how it is! So the ninja tools sold in that [Niu Zihao·Bottle-kun] shop weren't man-made, but were summoned from the World of Non-Extreme Sorrow?"

The perverted sage told me that my senior brother Nagato's Rinnegan could control the power of life and death, and that I seemed to have wronged him in some other time, but I can't remember exactly.

It seems that Senior Brother Nagato is also skilled in spirit summoning, and can even summon supernatural beasts like hellhounds.

In short, since his senior brother Nagato possessed the power of life and death and could communicate with the things of the dead, those ninja tools were actually summoned by Nagato from the world of non-extreme sorrow!

No wonder it's so expensive!

Naruto's analysis nearly made Kakashi's head explode while he was eating noodles.

Fortunately, Kakashi was eating noodles, which replenished his carbohydrates in time, allowing his brain to continue functioning.

"Naruto, what nonsense are you spouting? What do those two things have to do with each other? And please, just say 'Elysium,' not some other name!"

Kakashi scolded Naruto, saying that if things continued like this, Naruto would never be able to look at Elysium the same way again.

"It is bliss. You will indeed feel very happy when using 'bliss', and after using it, you will enter a state of emptying your mind."

So the way to counter the "Box of Bliss" that the old man mentioned is to use the "Bliss" ninja tool. That's so right, I'm starting to understand everything!

Naruto readily agreed and replaced "not extremely sad" with "extreme bliss," becoming more and more excited as he spoke.

"...Alright, Naruto, if you have any other thoughts, please continue."

Kakashi took a deep breath and finally gave in.

Instead of arguing with Naruto, we should record this part of Naruto's story, which can serve as material for his first original book.

Kakashi slurped up the last mouthful of noodles, put the bowl aside, took out a few tissues to wipe the table, put his notebook back on the table, and began to take notes.

"..."

"Naruto, why don't you say something?"

After Kakashi finished writing, he noticed that the room was quiet. He looked up at Naruto and saw that he was holding something in his mind.

"I can't think of anything... I... I need to find some inspiration."

Naruto felt very frustrated.

When Naruto was refuting Kakashi, he felt a surge of inspiration, but now that Kakashi agreed with him and wanted to hear what he had to say, Naruto felt his mind go blank.

so awkward.

Naruto dashed out in a flash, before Kakashi could stop him.

Seeing his older brother run out, Konohamaru told Kakashi and then chased after him.

Kakashi could only sigh helplessly and start rethinking his own storyline.

"It's a pity that Uncle Bee went to Turtle Island. If Uncle Bee were still here, we could ask him for detailed information about the Box of Paradise. Maybe then the wise Naruto Uzumaki could deduce something new."

Naruto walked along the streets of Kumogakure, sighing helplessly.

Killer Bee is looking for a suitable candidate to train in Sage Mode, and might even train on the spot after making a selection.

Nobody knows exactly when he'll be back.

"Huh? What's that?"

As Naruto walked, he reached the sparsely populated border of Kumogakure and saw a shop that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

He was familiar with such shops because he had often seen Jiraiya going in and out of them, and he and Konohamaru had also visited such places many times to review and learn new things in order to study and refine their Shitsureujutsu.

This is a bookstore, but it's different from the bookstores in Konoha.

Driven by curiosity, Naruto went over.

"Stop right there, how old are you?"

The security guard at the entrance raised his hand to stop Naruto.