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 80: Half-Truths
After talking for a few more minutes, Kakashi said that he had to leave for a bit.
No doubt, their sensei was going to inform the Hokage about his findings.
"Ah! You must be thirsty. I'll go get you something to drink," Sakura said with a cheerful smile.
Naruto watched as the girl went out and closed the door.
He then got closer to the bed and stared at Sasuke with a knowing look.
"What?..." The black-haired boy did not feel comfortable being glanced at like that.
"Did you at least tell Kakashi the truth, or did you also lie to him?" Naruto asked.
Finally, Sasuke showed a change in his expression. His eyes opened widely for a second before he contained his reaction.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You weren't attacked last night…you let that Orochimaru put that thing on your neck…I was just wondering what he offered you in order to convince you, that's all."
Sasuke reacted by covering the seal on his neck and putting the bandages back in place.
His narrow eyes moved to look directly at Naruto.
"You know nothing!"
"I know you didn't put up a fight. Other than the seal, you only have a few scratches. And I know that his true objective for infiltrating the exams was you. But he didn't want to kidnap you or kill you, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting on that bed right now. So I think he wanted to recruit you. Did he make you an enticing offer?"
Naruto saw how much Sasuke was struggling to prevent his face from showing emotions, but he was failing at it quite badly.
"Shut up!" Sasuke was beginning to lose his temper.
"That's fine, you don't have to tell me. I can already take a guess…" From what he knew about Orochimaru, he seemed to be like many demonic cultivators Naruto had met in the past...those who would do anything to acquire more power, no matter how immoral their actions were.
If he was interested in Sasuke, it was definitely for his own benefit.
Whatever promises he made to the boy would likely have been filled with nothing but half-truths and dressed lies.
But Naruto had no intention of telling this to Sasuke. Whatever that boy did with his life, it was not his business.
"I'll just say one thing before I leave…if you think your poor acting has deceived Kakashi, then you're really underestimating him," Naruto said before turning around.
"Get out!" Sasuke lost his calm.
As Naruto was about to open the door, Sakura came running.
"Ah, Naruto!" She almost dropped the drink in her hands. "Wait…you're leaving already?"
"Yes…I have other things to do. Take good care of our teammate, would you?"
Sakura smiled. "Of course!" she exclaimed with joy. Now she had Sasuke all to herself.
Naruto left the room without giving Sasuke another glance. His interest in this matter was minimal, at least for the moment.
One day, he would definitely repay Orochimaru for attacking him…but that was for the distant future.
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Naruto arrived at the forest located behind the Hokage statues. He looked for a good spot next to a tree and sat down, leaving his bag next to him.
"Okay…let's begin." Not wanting to waste one more second, he closed his eyes and activated his Cosmic Assimilation cultivation technique.
His chakra began to circulate through his pathways while at the same time reinforcing every muscle and bone in his body.
He was already very close to the peak of the Body Forging Stage, but this was just the beginning.
Only after one reached the Qi Refining Stage would one have the right to call themselves a cultivator.
After all, it was possible to enter the Body Forging Stage without even using any cultivation technique. There were many martial artists who achieved this by merely working their bodies through physical training alone while subconsciously using their inner Qi to reinforce it further.
Naruto couldn't help but be impressed with the speed of this mysterious technique he received.
It's only been around two months since he was forced to begin his cultivation from rock bottom, and he was already so close to his first breakthrough.
And it's not just speed, but the intensity of his improvements is also much more potent than during his previous life.
After all, he was not just using his own Qi to reinforce himself but also the demonic chakra coming from the Kyubi.
The fox's chakra was being purified and permanently injected into his system, where it would later be used to enhance him.
Naruto entered his mind palace while meditating. This allowed him to have better control over the procedure.
The place was still mostly empty, with just his pool of chakra at the center and the Golden Scripture floating above it.
Small crevices were connected to this pool. They took some of the chakra from it and sent it everywhere in his body. These were his chakra veins.
There was also a very different one that carried a red-looking substance and went into the main pool. But before it arrived, its color began to change to a pure white one.
This was the Kyubi's chakra…
'I wonder if the fox even knows about this?' Naruto thought.
This system had already been in place before he began his cultivation. This was done by the seal that his father created.
Naruto had merely improved upon it. Now the demon's chakra is purified before fusing with his own, instead of remaining as an external force.
Of course, the amount he was taking right now was negligible, so it would not be strange if the demon had not noticed.
Naruto doubted the Kyubi would be willing to cooperate with him if he ever discovered that he was slowly being eaten away by the one serving as his container.
And of course…he had no intent of ever informing him of that fact.
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