Reflecting over the actions

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This chapter is edited by MoaningFrodo and FlickHero (Writer of Naruto Hikikaeru)

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Whoosh!

A colossal bird took off from the tower in a whoosh as it flapped away in the heavy rain.

Pain, who is in Yahiko's body, stared as Deidara ascended the clouds that loomed over the village.

"Nagato…" Konan stared at Yahiko.

"What is it Konan?" Yahiko asked.

"What was that crystal ball?" Konan asked.

"…" Yahiko remained silent for a moment as he reached out with his hand to catch a few raindrops.

He then brought his hand towards himself and stared at the raindrops that flowed over the surface of his hand.

Yahiko stared intently at the drop, his Rinnegan seemingly resembling the surface of the crystal ball that he handed over to Deidara.

"The ball is supposed to be a test run of Madara's plan," Yahiko said, "At this point, even I am unaware of what he has on his mind."

"A plan?" Konan asked.

Yahiko thought back to his conversation through one of the six Pains he had dispatched to the Hidden Mist.

…

"Madara…" The Pain of the Human Path called out as he entered the cave. The occupied body was formerly a ninja from the Hidden Waterfall killed by Jiraiya long ago.

"Nagato…huh?" The masked man stared at Human Path Pain.

"Deidara and Sasori failed in the assassination of Orochimaru," Pain explained.

"I know, Zetsu told me." The masked man said in a firm voice. (Check chapter 137).

Pain remained silent.

"Well, Orochimaru wouldn't have been a member if he was that easy to kill," The masked man suddenly said.

"…" Pain stared emotionlessly.

"Nagato, I have something that I want to test out," The masked man said as he got up.

"Hm…?" Pain's eyes followed the masked man into the darkness.

"Kamui." The man uttered.

Sh - !

Space opened up next to the masked man, following which he reached into it and pulled out a crystal ball.

"This is…" Pain stared at the ball.

"This is a prototype of the final plan," The masked man said.

"A prototype of the final plan?" Pain asked.

"Indeed," The masked man nodded as he handed over the ball.

"How am I supposed to execute this?" Pain asked.

"No, this is for Deidara to use. I want him to make up for his failure," The masked man said, following which he gave the instructions to activate the ball.

Pain nodded and collected the ball as he departed for the Hidden Rain village.

The events slowly passed until the present where Yahiko handed it over to Deidara.

Yahiko looked at Konan.

"The ball will immerse the person who is exposed to it to the person's closest possible ideal world," Yahiko explained as he walked into the room.

Konan followed behind.

"So his final plan is to bring an ideal world for everyone using a huge glass ball?" Konan asked.

"Who knows? It will be a long time until we are anywhere close to starting the initial stage of the plan," Yahiko explained as he stepped into the room with six pods.

Sh!

A pod opened up for Yahiko.

Konan stared silently as Yahiko stepped into the pod.

She knew that the pods were the only way to maintain their bodies in good condition for Nagato to control them.

Sh!

Another pod opened up as a person stepped out.

It was Pain of the Naraka Path.

"Nagato, you should rest for a while," Konan said.

"Mm." The Naraka Path Pain quietly nodded as he walked to the balcony and sat down on the floor with his eyes closed. However, only Nagato was aware if he was resting or not.

——————

Whoosh!

Naruto and his team landed on an empty spot in the forest.

"We'll camp here for the night," Naruto said.

"Mm!" The team nodded and started to set up their camps.

"Shino, Kiba." Naruto called, "Let's go get something to eat."

Shino and Kiba nodded, following which the trio went off in another direction to hunt and gather ingredients for dinner.

Kurenai looked at Hinata,

"Hinata, let's go gather some firewood," Kurenai said.

Hinata nodded silently and walked away with Kurenai, leaving Asuma and Karin behind to set up the rest of the camp.

…

Later that night.

Kurenai was in the tent with Karin and Hinata. Meanwhile, Asuma and the others were sleeping in their tent. However, Naruto was outside all alone as he stared at the fire that was lit up in front of him.

Naruto grabbed the firewood beside him and tossed it into the flame.

Whoosh! The flames rose up after ingesting a new raw material.

("It sure feels lonely,") Naruto thought as he looked towards the tent where Hinata and the others were sleeping.

Naruto thought of all the things he had done after coming back into this world.

("Shū,") Naruto called out.

("I'm here,") Shū spoke from within.

("Is the other timeline still flowing?") Naruto asked.

("I really can't answer that,") Shū said.

("HUH?") Naruto was shocked.

("My time laws are not high either, this was a law formation that was sent into motion once I encountered a danger,") Shū said.

("Shū, you said you know laws and many other things, but in the end, you were still defeated by Sasuke,") Naruto said.

("…") Shū remained silent.

("Don't you think you ought to explain yourself,") Naruto asked.

("Hehe, you are right, Naruto. I deliberately let myself get injured,") Shū said.

("I see…") Naruto sighed.

Naruto was not surprised.

He had in fact suspected of Shū doing this ever since the bridge incident happened.

("So, is there a motive behind this?") Naruto asked.

("Naruto, I will be honest with you here. I do have plans for you, but now is not the right time,") Shū said.

Naruto frowned.

The events that happened so far were no joke; every bit was as real as it could be.

Many things had changed ever since he had arrived. This was no longer a mere change of events, but an entirely different timeline.

("Naruto,") Shū called out.

("Yeah?") Naruto said.

("How do plan to have the entire world reunite?") Shū asked.

("What do you mean?") Naruto asked.

("In the previous timeline, the Akatsuki had taken away Jinchūrikis and killed them in the process of extracting it. They also destroyed other villages in the process, which is why all the ninjas were united against them. But if you were to save all jinchūrikis, what will Akatsuki do? How will they react?" If they were to start a war, how will the other villages willingly cooperate? Will they be as united as they were in the previous timeline?") Shū asked.

Naruto was silent.

What Shū said was right.

There was a cause for the villages to unite, but if the very existence of the truth that held the unity didn't exist, will the villages ever join hands?

Naruto thought deeply.

("This does not affect me much, but it affects your life, which is why I told you this. After all, what I care about is your existence, not the others.") Shū said.

("Unlike you, everyone is important to me,") Naruto said.

("And that's why I find you interesting,") Shū smiled.

A few moments passed in silence before Naruto threw in another firewood at the fire.

Soon, sounds of footsteps echoed. Naruto turned back.

"Shino, huh?" Naruto looked at Shino who approached from behind.

"Naruto," Shino called out, soon sitting beside Naruto by the fire.

"You should've slept a bit more. There's still a few minutes left before my watch is over, ya know…" Naruto said.

"…" Shino stared at Naruto silently as he thought back to everything he had witnessed about Naruto being involved in strange situations. Including how he had currently become a jōnin.

Shino knew that Naruto was strong, but he also knew something was up.

"Naruto," Shino called out.

"I know what you are here for Shino. Unfortunately, I can't explain to anyone about it right now," Naruto said as he thought back to how Shino had approached him during Sasuke's battle against Gaara.

"I see… " Shino sighed.

A few more moments passed in silence.

Naruto looked at Shino as he thought back to how he taught the students in the academy.

"To think this guy could be a great teacher like Iruka-sensei…" Naruto thought.

A few minutes later, Naruto got up.

"Shino," Naruto called out.

"What is it?" Shino asked in a low voice.

Naruto looked at Shino, "Although I cannot say anything about myself, I can tell you one thing."

"…" Shino stared silently.

"Train hard. Train extremely hard," Naruto said.

"I see…" Shino nodded.

Among the current Genins, other than Shikamaru, Neji and Shino were the next closest that could be relied upon. This was why Naruto knew that even if he could not explain, this short hint could push Shino to train seriously.

Naruto walked with a smile on his face to the tent where Asuma and Kiba were sleeping. This smile was because he knew that there had been one more team that has been pushed into training.

Gai sensei's entire team was pushed around due to Naruto's team being developed.

Shikamaru and Asuma would do their part in pushing their team now that they knew a bit of Naruto's past.

Now that Hinata and Kurenai knew, they would also be pushing the team into training. However, with the addition of Shino, he would personally ensure that Kiba will train effectively to improve along with the others.

Now, all that was left for Naruto was to find new ways for Lee, Neji, Hinata, and Tenten to improve since Sakura was being taken care of Tsunade. Meanwhile, Sasuke would naturally spend every free moment he had to improve himself.

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The Next Morning,

Hidden Cloud Village.

The Raikage stood up after reading the paper in his hands.

("This isn't good,") Darui sighed upon seeing the expression on Ay's face.

"What is it, Raikage-sama?" C asked.

Ay smacked his fist onto the table which smashed it to smithereens.

"The son of the Yellow Flash has emerged," Ay said.

"Well, he should only be a twelve or thirteen-year-old kid," C said.

"Hmph, if that were all, it would have been fine," Ay said as he threw the paper at C's face.

C immediately grabbed it mid-air and started to read it.

"Huh?" C stared at the paper in shock.

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" C shouted in disbelief.

"How can the kid's speed surpass his?" C couldn't believe this.

Darui looked at Ay, only to see his face slowly change from that of terror to a smirk.

"Hehe..."