Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 317: Takigakure Ninja Fushen

She slept like never before, so soundly that she woke up naturally, without even the usually mischievous Chongming disturbing her peaceful sleep with his piercing insect chirping... Wait, where's Chongming?!

From as far back as she could remember, Chongming had been inside her body. That big guy looked intimidating, but he was actually quite playful and often scared her to tears when she was still young. As she grew older, she had no friends to make, so she could only confide in the big bug, treating him as her confidant. As they talked, she discovered that Chongming was actually a tough-talking but soft-hearted guy who would clumsily try to distract her when she was down. Gradually, they became best friends who could talk about anything and developed some harmless little habits.

For example, Chongming particularly likes to use his cries as an alarm clock to wake up, claiming it increases the resistance of the human Jinchūriki, so that when he uses this move on the battlefield, his fragile human vessel and the enemy will fall into a coma, which would be embarrassing for him.

She knew that Chongming was just asking for trouble and wanted to tease her, but she couldn't beat him and wasn't sure she could bring herself to do it, so she kept this little tacit understanding.

But now, her attempt to enter the consciousness space is thwarted. Although Chongming is still there, their consciousness and chakra are basically separated.

Right, before she lost consciousness, she saw the man who had used the special seal on her. Could it be that she'd been hit by that kind of seal again? But that doesn't make sense. That seal only prevented her from using chakra; using it felt like her whole body was being burned by fire, and Chongming had been yelling at her to stop. But now? Why can't she even hear Chongming's voice anymore?

"Open your eyes when you wake up, it's safe here."

It was an unfamiliar voice, sounding young and gentle... without any malice.

Sensing malice from subtle clues seems to be an ability possessed by every Jinchuriki. She could discern goodwill from a young voice, and it wasn't surprising that the other party could detect she was awake—an essential skill for ninjas. The place sounded rather busy, and there was a smell of disinfectant in the air; it seemed to be... a hospital? That person was very close to her, and she had no room to escape. She couldn't contact Chongming either... It seemed she had no other choice.

So, she did a quick, decisive somersault, trying to assume a defensive stance towards the direction of the sound, but her impulsive action resulted in her being confronted by a blue curtain; the person wasn't even sitting where they could see her.

This state didn't completely lower the girl's guard, but it did make her a little less nervous. She looked at her neatly arranged hospital gown and resisted the urge to lift it up to check the seal on her abdomen.

"Excuse me, where is this place?"

"Konoha's Central Hospital," the voice replied. "While you were unconscious, Hozuki Castle caused quite a commotion. I happen to be a sensory ninja, and I noticed the anomaly across the sea, so I rushed over immediately. For your safety, I brought you to Konoha as soon as possible. Please forgive me."

She was somewhat bewildered, because geographically speaking, Takigakure was clearly closer to her, yet the other party had taken her to an unfamiliar ninja village, Konoha, the strongest of the Five Great Nations, instead of the more nearby one. She had a slight worry about the possibility that she had been kidnapped, but the person's voice really didn't sound like a bad guy, and she always trusted her intuition.

"So, I've really been kidnapped to Ghost Lantern Castle? That place that's supposedly incredibly scary, the one that eats people?"

“I don’t know the details of your kidnapping, but I did find you there. Ghost Lantern Castle isn’t actually that scary. As long as you don’t do anything bad, you won’t have a chance to go back.”

It seems she really does owe them a life. Who knows what those people wanted from kidnapping her? She felt like her chakra was being drained, and she thought she was going to die...

To express her gratitude, she needed to see her benefactor clearly, so she didn't hesitate to lift the curtain and see the blond boy sitting in another corner of the ward. Her blue eyes then moved away from the pen and paper in the boy's hand, and his gentle smile broke down the barrier between them.

"Hello, Fu, I'm Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha."

Naruto Uzumaki—this is undoubtedly the most resounding name in the ninja world recently. The successor of the Flying Thunder God Technique, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, a Jonin whose ninja career lasted only a little over a year... Even Fu, who was imprisoned in the ninja village, had heard rumors like these. After all, the movements of Konoha always affected the ninja world, and even they, who loved peace, had to pay attention.

The Flying Thunder God Technique was already legendary during the Second Hokage's time, and by the Fourth Hokage's era, it had been so popular that just hearing its name was enough to make enemies stop fighting and flee. Now that the Flying Thunder God Technique has reappeared, while other countries marvel at the geniuses that Konoha has produced, they are also frantically spreading the terrifying power of the Flying Thunder God Technique to their own people. Fu was naturally forced to learn it, so it's no wonder that she's in Konoha.

"Nice to meet you, I am Fu, the Takigakure ninja!"

"You're Naruto Uzumaki? You're even smaller than I imagined!" Fu quickly switched into social terrorist mode, bridging the gap between them without any hesitation. "They say you're a perfect Jinchuriki, just like Killer Bee. I've wanted to meet you for a long time, but my master won't let me go out."

“He’s right. You can get kidnapped even if you don’t leave the house.”

"It was an accident! I was just careless; I didn't expect there to be poison that could knock me out," the little girl explained stubbornly. Only when she mentioned poison did she remember her forgotten friend, and she suddenly became anxious. "By the way, where's Chongming? Why can't I hear his voice anymore?"

"I'm sorry." This was the second time the boy had apologized, even though he was the one who saved the person.

“This is the heart of Konoha. Although Takigakure is on good terms with Konoha, they haven’t signed an alliance agreement. Theoretically speaking, bringing you back here is against the rules and irresponsible to the safety of the people of Konoha. So, they specifically sent me here to ‘keep an eye on’ you, in order to ‘make amends’.”

"While you are active in Konoha, Chongming must be kept well sealed away, and not a single trace of it can be leaked." The boy smiled helplessly. "These are the exact words of those old geezers."

As a Jinchuriki herself, Fu understood the boy's difficulties, and she knew that those so-called "old guys" would definitely not call their friend Chongming by his name. But Naruto, who was also a Jinchuriki, took care of her feelings, and that was enough.

"Don't worry, your friend is probably too exhausted and hasn't woken up yet. Once he wakes up, you'll naturally hear his voice, but you'll have to wait a while before you can see him."

“I understand,” Fu said understandingly, then asked, “Can I leave the hospital? I feel fine now, and I don’t need to take up a room…”

“Of course you can. You can move around anywhere until your master comes to the border to pick you up, as long as you don’t leave my perception range.”