Iillness of the night, Naruto y on his bed, hands resting behind his head as he stared bnkly at the ceiling.

  The journey from near-death to his rebirth as a youth still felt surreal to him, even though it was undeniably real.

  Thus, he he quiet of the night to refled synize his mind and body with reality.

  The faint sound of running water came from the shower door.

  Naruto’s thoughts stirred as he withdrew his left hand from beh the pillow, slowly l it to rest on his abdomen.

  *Sizzle!*

  The seal of the *Eight Trigrams Seal* appeared.

  “Yo, Kurama,” Naruto greeted. “You’ve finished going through the memories I brought back, haven’t you?”

  Those memories spanned nearly a tury—a colossal amount of information. It was no wohe ails ime to process it all.

  Kurama’s haughty voice echoed in his mind. “Hmph, so what?”

  Naruto remained calm. “Since you’ve seen it all, you should uand why I’ve done what I’ve done, right?”

  Kurama’s tone was as cold as ever. “So what?”

  Naruto’s voice stayed steady. “So, we go back to being ho with each other, like before?”

  Kurama’s voice deepened. “Ho with each other? Don’t ftter yourself. I don’t recall ever having that kind of retionship with you! And as for the one in your memories—he wasn’t me!”

  Naruto sat up abruptly. “Hey, that was clearly you!”

  “Silence!” Kurama roared. “I am the embodiment of malice! How could I ever bow to a brat like you? Let alone spout such seal nonsehat wasn’t me!”

  Naruto sighed helplessly. “Kurama, I know you like being trary, but you’re just deceiving yourself.”

  “Shut up!” Kurama barked, his voice rising. “Don’t call me by my name as if we’re close!”

  Inside Naruto’s spiritual realm, Kurama thrashed his tails angrily, his fury so intehat it seeped through the sealing formu.

  *Bang!*

  “Ow!” Naruto yelped as the back of his head hit the wooden bed frame.

  “Even if that was me,” Kurama snarled, “I don’t like the current you. I dislike you—no, I loathe you! I despise you so much it makes me sick!”

  “Kurama, I—” Naruto began, but Kurama cut him off, his voice filled with venom.

  “No matter your reasons, you are not Uzumaki Naruto! Get out of this body! I will never aowledge someone like you as Naruto—never, not in this lifetime!”

  *Whoosh!*

  The *Eight Trigrams Seal* faded, and Kurama fell silent once more. He had severed the chakra e.

  Naruto shook his head with a wry smile, uanding Kurama’s current attitude.

  After all, tailed beasts were living beings with emotions. They needed experieo grow.

  In his past life, Kurama had slowly opened his heart to Naruto, eventually even sacrifig himself willingly.

  But the Kurama of this timeline had yet to undergo that growth. Even after seeing Naruto’s memories and feeling his pain, it was too much to expect a sudden ge in perspective.

  Such a disparity in uanding couldn’t be bridged ht.

  Naruto murmured to himself, “But I believe the day we reect will e again.”

  From the room door, Konan’s voice called out, “Naruto, is something wrong? Were yuing with someone?”

  Naruto replied, “It’s nothing, Sister Konan. I just ran into an old friend.”

  “I see,” Konan responded knowingly.

  Thinking back to Kurama’s rea, Naruto couldn’t help but ask, “Sister Konan, are you helping me just because I showed you my memories?”

  There was a long silence before Konan replied, “We are both Jiraiya’s disciples, but from beginning to end, you have been the oo carry on his will. Even in your final moments, I could still see glimpses of Yahiko in you.”

  She paused before tinuing, “Those memories pyed a big part, yes, but they weren’t everything.”

  Naruto felt a sense of relief. “I uand now. That puts my mind at ease.”

  Konan’s voice softened. “Get some rest. The road ahead is long, and we must take it step by step.”

  Naruto closed his eyes. “Alright. Goodnight, Sister Konan.”

  The night passed without further i.

  ---

  The m, Naruto woke refreshed. After breakfast, he and the athered on the ninth floor of the tower.

  This was where they would discuss their pns for the future.

  Three chairs were arranged in the southeast, southwest, and northwest ers. Naruto sat in the southern chair, fag north. Before him was a round table with a wooden box pced on it. From this vantage point, he could see the gloomy sky and endless rain outside the tower.

  Konan stood behind Naruto.

  Orochimaru sat in the eastern chair, arms crossed, a knowing smile pying on his lips.

  Kisame occupied the western chair, sitting upright with *Samehada* propped beside him.

  Naruto leaned forward, hands csped together, his resting on his knuckles, his gaze steady.

  “Let’s begin.”

  *Swish!* Konan moved her hand, and a part map of the shinobi world unfurled on the wall behind her.

  *Boom!*

  Lightning fshed, illuminating her cold expression. The pierg lip stud she wore only added to her mature aura.

  Naruto spoke methodically. “Konoha, Suna, Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa—these five great hidden vilges domihe shinobi world, supported by the eies of the Five Great Nations and their ied jutsu.”

  “Our first objective is to gather the secret teiques and kekkei genkai of these vilges.”

  “Kekkei genkai rely on bloodlines, so we’ll start with secret teiques first.”

  “Kumo’s Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Iwa’s Light-Weight and Heavy-Weight Rock Teiques, Kiri’s assassination teiques, Suna’s puppet teiques, and Konoha’s Ino-Shika-Chō teiques—these are the powers I aim to acquire.”

  In his past life, the five great vilges had cooperated in harmony. As the lin of the Five Kage, Naruto could have easily obtaihese teiques, but he hadn’t cared for them at the time. He had believed the jutsu he already knew were suffit.

  It wasn’t until he faced overwhelming ehat he realized the value of versatility. Ueiques oftehe key t the tide.

  This time, Naruto inteo cim those teiques for himself.

  Orochimaru ran a hand through his hair, resting his on his palm as he studied the map. His deep, raspy voice broke the silence. “Amegakure borders Suna, Iwa, and Konoha. We should prioritize these three vilges. If we narrow it down further, Konoha—with its Flying Raijin markers—and the weaker Suna should be our first targets.”

  Naruto shook his head. “I want to leave Konoha for st. As for Suna, the sandstorms make it difficult to traverse. Iwa’s Tsuchikage, ōnoki, is a battle-hardened veteran. We might not gain much there either.”

  “Besides, Amegakure’s proximity to these three vilges means we ’t afford to provoke them right away. If we do, they could send shinobi to attack us at any time. We’re too weak to withstand that.”

  Naruto rose from his seat and approached the map. Taking a pen, he circled Kumo’s territory and drew an arrow pointing from Amegakure to Kumo.

  “Kumo has already shown hostility toward us. flict is iable, so we might as well strike first.”

  Naruto thought to himself, *This will also redirect the Raikage’s grudge against Sasuke toward me.*

  Orochimaru chuckled. “It seems you’ve made up your mind. Are you that eager for the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Naruto-kun?”

  Naruto’s gaze was resolute. “Yes. The Lightning Release Chakra Mode will enhance my reflexes, taijutsu, and defeo a whole new level. bined with Sage Mode—aually Kurama Chakra Mode—it might even bee a power so great it terrifies me.”

  At that moment, Kisame spoke up. “By the way, anizatio have a . Ag uhe name of Amegakure doesn’t seem intimidating enough.”

  Naruto g Konan, who still wore her Akatsuki cloak adorned with red clouds.

  Turning baaruto decred firmly, “anization will still be called Akatsuki. We walk in darkness but strive for the light. To distinguish ourselves from the other Akatsuki, we’ll add the word ‘Dawn.’”

  “Dawn Akatsuki?” Konan’s cold expression softened into a faint smile.

  From this moment onward, Akatsuki was reborn, its path divided into light and shadow.