Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 339 Conditions for Activating the Box

"You mean, you took some members of the Root organization, split up, rescued a caravan you encountered on the way, and also took down a group of dangerous individuals who had smuggled themselves into the country?"

The boy standing opposite him had a wandering gaze, remained silent, and only nodded.

"This dangerous element also carried two dangerous stones full of energy, which he used to master technology that even the mainland did not have. As a result, you let the ship that the dangerous element brought go and even provided cover for them. Oh, and you provided cover for them with the people of the Root."

The boy blinked and continued nodding.

"You should just be the Hokage! You always act first and ask questions later!"

A scroll flew out of his hand. The few rolls of paper, which were not very thick, flew with the force of a shuriken, grazing the boy's head and plunging into the wall behind him, even disappearing at least halfway into it.

"It was only a little over an hour from finding the ruins to finishing the fight. We were in such a rush that we didn't have time to think about it," the boy muttered to himself, trying to justify himself.

"You dare talk back!" The Hokage's disposable desk cracked again.

After receiving a severe scolding, Granny Tsunade still didn't do anything to him. Instead, she asked him if he had used the two stones he brought back.

"I don't need it," the boy, who had taken a direct hit from the mine, answered truthfully.

"It's good that it's useless. The energy in this thing is too crude. Healing is a delicate matter, and it can only relieve the immediate crisis. I need to study this thing further to see if it can be of any use." Tsunade was tired of scolding him, thinking to herself that this kid was so easy to manage when he was being easy to manage, but when he was being difficult, he did all sorts of things that were hard to hide, just like his unreliable master, making him a real headache. But the matter was already over, and even if she had reported it to him back then, her handling of it would probably have been no different from Naruto's.

Of course, mistakes must be punished, but the punishment should not be too obvious, lest someone with ulterior motives notice something amiss.

"By the way, will Root know about this?"

"Probably not, Brother Qugen didn't even mention this to Feng."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow and looked at the child in front of her with a curious yet suspicious gaze.

"What's wrong?" Naruto tilted his head, looking puzzled.

"I know about the Root's brainwashing techniques; they report everything to their superiors. How did you manage to get rid of the Root in just a few days?"

"Uh... I don't know." Naruto wasn't deliberately trying to guide anyone; he was just being himself. As for why he had so many comrades who shared joys and sorrows with him, it was because everyone's ultimate desire was the same.

Everyone wants a better future.

Leaving aside the fact that Naruto's work in Konoha has intensified, the immediate problem he needs to solve is the ticking time bomb buried in his mental space.

Fortunately, even though the rune was being eroded, it was still working properly. As long as Naruto remembered to keep an eye on the rune's condition and replenish its energy when it was about to disappear, that dark thing could sleep forever.

"The box has been retrieved. That sea was really tough; we had to use Sage Mode to get it out." Hashirama, always reliable in important matters, successfully brought back the Box of Elysium without alerting Hozuki Castle. This thing probably won't be going back there again.

Before Naruto returned, Tobirama had already questioned Fushimi and learned that the conditions for using this thing were extremely demanding. He asked with great concern, "Using the box requires consuming 35% of the ship's energy in a short period. I've checked, and only the circuitry of a Star Destroyer weapon in the power supply system can support this level of energy transmission. Losing energy is a minor issue; the problem is that this energy must be manually input into specific circuits. My brother has already tried it; he can only control it a little bit and can't help much at all."

"Uh...it's not just a little bit..." The disliked ninja god sprouted mushrooms for the first time in a long time.

Tobirama didn't even spare a glance, and continued to ask, "Where is the thing you said you wanted to seal? Let me see it first, maybe it can help."

Naruto was a little hesitant to tell the truth, but he couldn't find anything else to cover it up at this point, so he could only lower his head and say, "He is Kurama's new neighbor in my mental space."

The two seniors, who initially thought it was a minor matter, suddenly perked up. Tobirama even suggested finding a kaleidoscope to take a look before making a decision, since anything that directly barged into their souls was definitely not a good thing.

"Stop, stop, stop! Let me say something first!" Naruto quickly interrupted the two's barrage of questions. He couldn't handle this kind of concern. "I assure you, that thing is currently sitting quietly inside my body and has absolutely no chance of escaping. I can throw it out anytime, but I don't think anyone else can handle this thing."

"So you can handle it?" For the first time, Tobirama wanted to lose his temper with the child. This guy really didn't take himself seriously! He shouldn't have persuaded Izuna to go and guard the house today, otherwise he would have made Izuna dig out all of the child's secrets first.

And what was the result? Naruto replied with a serious expression, "Yes, only I can accept it."

Hashirama stopped his brother, who was about to explode, and realized that Naruto was speaking sincerely and was not just bravado.

Why did you come to this conclusion?

"That's a long story, I suggest you just ask Fumin directly, it'll be faster for me, I can't explain it clearly either." Naruto really couldn't explain such a long thing, when he read it himself it was just a few fragmented pieces, it was very difficult to put them together.

"Fu Ming, what kind of person can activate the Box of Bliss?"

The spaceship's auxiliary systems, which never go offline, immediately responded, "The Box of Elysium is a creation of the temple; only gods can use it properly. Other civilizations can only perform maintenance and similar tasks."

"God?" Tobirama was surprised to hear such a superstitious term in a spaceship filled with high technology.

"A temple? Is it some kind of organization?" Hashirama grasped the more important point, but unfortunately, when Naruto was there, the spaceship would only answer his question first.

Naruto, with an "I knew it" expression, asked again, "Does possessing a Source Core make one a 'god'?"

"In theory, that's true, but in practice, one still needs temple certification to obtain a 'divine name' and claim to be a god."

"Okay, I understand. You can talk to them about 'God' later."

Seeing Naruto answer so fluently, Tobirama had a bad feeling. "Naruto, what are you trying to do?"

Naruto smiled and turned around, cutting off a lock of his hair that had been unkempt for a month.

“You’ll understand when you know everything that I had to do this. Even if I ultimately fail, I will do everything in my power to destroy that thing.”

"Wait for me for one day."