Chapter 304: The Return of The Legend

Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 304: The Return of The Legend

Ino and Naruto stood on that field, watching in silence as his father's soul disappeared into particles of light.

"Is he now going to the Pure Land?" Ino asked. " At least, that's what people often say."

"Pure Land, Yellow River, Purgatory… mortals have come up with many names for it. It doesn't matter what you call it. It's just a place of transition where souls go until they are purified and sent back to some mortal world."

Ino looked at him. "Do you know this because of your past life's memories?"

Naruto returned the stare and noticed something in her eyes. "Kind of… but that's not what you want to know."

"I mean…" Ino muttered.

"You want to know if remembering all my past lives has turned me into a different person," Naruto stated.

Ino stood silent for a moment. "Did it?"

Naruto shook his head. "It gave me some valuable insight… but no, I don't believe it changed me. After all, I already had memories about the longest one of all my lifetimes."

Ino looked very relieved to hear him say that. "So you weren't a cultivator in your other lives?"

"Not really, not like my last one."

"So what were you doing then?" Ino asked.

"In my first life, I was a sheep herder and the others… I was all kinds of farmer or craftsman."

Ino stared at him in shock. "You worked with sheep?…" She had to try hard to contain her laughter.

"Okay, that's enough questions." Naruto rolled his eyes. "You need to go back to the village. I have to spend some time in my cultivation cave."

"You should come to the hospital and let us do a proper check-up," Ino told him.

"My body is fine. But I need to stabilize my cultivation. I've taken in a lot of chakra from those Bijuus but haven't had the time to set everything properly. I also need to process the Yin part of the Kyubi… it's a massive amount of chakra, it may even get me close to the last stage already."

"But you just broke through this one," Ino said.

"I know… if those old cultivators from my previous world, who spent centuries trying to get this far, could hear what I just said… they'd spew blood until they died."

"Spew blood? Why would they do that?" Ino looked confused.

"Oh, it's just a way of… nevermind."

"So, how long are you going to stay in the cave?" Ino asked.

"I'm not sure, but it will be a while… there is much I have to do. Cultivation is akin to building a tall tower, and I just added several new floors in a matter of minutes. I need to make sure the foundation is solid or the whole thing could collapse on me."

"I think I understand."

"Don't worry, when I come out, we can go to those hot springs you wanted to visit," Naruto told her.

"You haven't forgotten about it!" Ino exclaimed.

"Of course not." Naruto grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer.

"I bet we will have a lot of fun." Ino licked her lips in a suggestive manner.

"Looking forward to that."

The two of them kissed passionately for a while, and Naruto jumped onto his flying summon.

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A long distance away from Konoha, in between the borders of the Waterfall Village, there is a massive forest called the Green Death.

Very few dare to venture inside, as the creatures who populate this forest are some of the deadliest in the entire continent.

Near the end of the forest, there is a mountain range, called the Mountain Graveyard.

There is a cave hidden somewhere in these mountains. A cave that belongs to a certain legendary ninja, who was now making his way toward it… after having returned to the realm of the living.

Madara Uchiha stood on a large rock and examined his surroundings with narrow eyes. "Something is different here…" he muttered.

Coming back to life by the hands of Kabuto, who used the Impure World Reincarnation, was not part of his plan.

He was supposed to be resurrected via the Rinnegan… that's why he had left it with Nagato, along with some very specific instructions for Zetsu and Obito to follow.

But when he returned to life, he found himself staring at an army and discovered that he was resurrected by some boy who had somehow learned that forbidden jutsu created by Tobirama.

"That bastard…" This just made him angrier. The Senju had been dead for decades, and they were still ruining his plans somehow.

Now that his soul had been pulled from the Pure World, it would be impossible for him to be reborn in the way he wanted.

Madara glanced down at himself. He was able to remove all the control seals that Kabuto had placed on his body and escape from his control.

But now he was trapped in this flawed puppet…

Madara hadn't had the time to perform enough tests, but he had estimated that he only had access to around sixty to seventy percent of the strength he had during his prime.

And he wasn't sure if this was going to be enough to complete his plan, unless he could get his Rinnegan back, as well as Hashirama cells.

There was much he had to do now, but first… he had to find them.

"Zetsu!" Madara shouted as he went inside his cave.

"Zetsu! Come out!" He had already detected things being different outside. But they were also different inside.

"Obito!… Damn it… where are my things?" His cave was not just different. Most of his belongings were missing.

"Did someone raid my cave?..." That seemed impossible. Thieves would not dare to venture this far into the forest, and the cave itself would be extremely difficult to find for those who were unaware of its existence.

Madara's mind was starting to go through all the possible scenarios that could have occurred.

It's not like he hadn't considered that Obito could betray him, but that also should be impossible, unless he found a way to remove the cursed mark he had placed on the boy. As for Black Zetsu… the creature was an extension of his own will, so betrayal was not possible either.

He was about to shout again, when he sensed someone's presence.

"Lord Madara… you have returned." A black humanoid figure emerged from the ground.

"Zetsu…" Madara turned around to look at him. "Finally… you have much to explain."

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