Wugou was extremely important to Ryuzetsu and Mui. To get him back, they had sacrificed almost everything. In the original story, Ryuzetsu dared to give her life for him, and Mui dared to attack the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki of Konoha.
Now, merely some external possessions could bring Wugou back. Was this request excessive? Not at all. After all, Naruto was the one who pulled him out, so what's wrong with asking for a few things in return?
It was just that demanding things while simultaneously letting him bleed was a bit hard for them to accept.
Looking at Wugou's blood on the ground and the kunai at his neck, the two frantically listed everything they had, conveniently explaining the uses of their ninjutsu.
Katon: Ghost Lantern,Ryūmyaku Reincarnation,Gōka Tenrō,Tenrō Kaken they had it all.
Naruto was very satisfied, especially with Ryūmyaku Reincarnation and Tenrō Kaken. However, it was still missing a versatile Transformation Jutsu from his ultimate request.
But on second thought, that made sense. He was asking for what they had, and the versatile one was not Mui's person; he merely knew him.
"If you're not satisfied with any of these, then all I have left is my position as the warden of Hozuki Castle." Mui kept his hands visible and still, his eyes fixed on Wugou, tears welling up within them.
"Hmm... that works too." Naruto thought for a moment and replied. Since the guards had mostly been replaced, why not replace Mui, the warden, as well?
"I'm afraid I cannot comply with that. It's not that I won't give it to you, but someone comes to inspect the prison every so often."
"No problem, I can use a Transformation Jutsu." Naruto saw an opening and quickly led the conversation. He slightly retracted the kunai and said, "But a Transformation Jutsu that disperses with a touch is quite troublesome."
"I know someone nicknamed 'Versatile Huashan'; his Transformation Jutsu is very special. I can contact him."
Now we're getting somewhere, Naruto thought approvingly. Then, he said to Ryuzetsu, "Alright, you come over first and help him treat his wound, then write down those ninjutsu."
As he spoke, he threw a blank scroll to Mui.
There were quite a few ninjutsu. With content and explanations, it took the two over an hour to finish writing.
After studying the ninjutsu for a while, Naruto put away the scroll, used Wugou as a shield, opened a teleportation gate beneath him, and two clones emerged from the cave behind him.
"You're a Konoha ninja, Jiraiya's student?!" Seeing the purple light, Mui instantly confirmed Naruto's identity.
"Looks like you know a lot." With everything settled, Naruto didn't mind revealing his identity. These two had to be sent away; it was related to a whole host of subsequent matters. "Less nonsense. If you want to see him, go with the clone. Don't move carelessly."
Mui didn't resist the clone's grip. He merely explained, "The Heavenly Prison cannot be too far from me. If I leave, all the prisoners inside the prison will die."
"First, use a clone to replace you. Once I learn Heavenly Prison, I'll transfer the authority." Naruto, of course, knew about this point. The prisoners who had been replaced were still soaking in the water.
"Good." Mui released a clone. From beginning to end, he never thought of making a move. His son had finally emerged, and he didn't want him to suffer any more harm.
The three of them teleported one after another to the prepared isolation cabin in the Land of Snow. Naruto placed Wugou on the bed and stepped back two paces.
Ryuzetsu and Mui almost simultaneously rushed towards Wugou, caressing and examining him.
Ryuzetsu untied her emerald green hair wrap, wiped away her tears, and placed it over Wugou's chest, listening to his heartbeat. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Why isn't he waking up?"
"I don't know. He's been like this ever since I pulled him out of the box." Naruto spread his hands. "But if you pay enough, I can help you call a medical expert to take a look."
Sakura and Tsunade were in the same lineage of being broke; they probably wouldn't mind earning this extra money.
"Thirty million ryo. You can have my clone take you to retrieve it, as long as my son can be cured." Mui calmed down, pushed open the window, surveyed the environment, vaguely guessed where they were, and knew how difficult it would be to find a good medical ninja here.
However, he didn't care about the money; he was just relieved that Naruto hadn't asked for money earlier.
"Alright." Naruto agreed. Ten minutes later, Sakura was teleported over.
Sakura's legs were trembling as she walked towards Wugou. Thirty million ryo what an astronomical figure!
If she completed this job, she could buy a house in Konoha, no longer having to listen to her mom nagging about her messy room, saying she was like a tomboy. Maybe she could even be with Sasuke... Hehehe...
Seeing Sakura still grinning foolishly after her examination, Mui frowned and asked, "Is she... reliable?"
"Don't worry, Tsunade's direct disciple." Naruto turned his head, unable to bear looking at him. Sakura, can't you have a little more ambition? It's just thirty million ryo, barely the cost of one of my outfits.
Complaining aside, Naruto understood Sakura's state. A teenage girl, utterly broke, suddenly finds out she can buy a house in Beijing by completing a single job—this reaction wasn't excessive.
"Cough, cough." Naruto coughed twice to bring Sakura back to reality.
Mui, like an ordinary old father waiting outside an operating room, grabbed Sakura's arm and asked eagerly, "How is it? Can he be cured?"
"Mental trauma, can be cured. Twice a week, probably three months." Sakura forcefully shook off Mui, swept her hair back, and spoke with full authority.
She had put a lot of effort into mental trauma. Sasuke would eventually face Itachi again. If he suffered the same kind of injury as last time, she hoped the first person he saw upon waking would be her.
Seeing their anxious eyes, Sakura thought for a moment and said, "If you find my master, at most..."
"She's the Hokage; she can't easily leave the village." Naruto casually found an excuse to interrupt her. Of course, this kind of thing should benefit my own people. That old hag didn't even bring me along for the last Chunin Exams, and you expect me to bring her money now? What about my little notebook, then?
"Alright, I'll go back and get the medicine first." Sakura looked at Naruto, almost teary-eyed.
Being assigned to Iruka-sensei's team back then was truly the best thing ever!
After sending the three of them to their secluded spot, Naruto teleported back to Hozuki Castle.
Sitting in the warden's office, Naruto spun a pen and mused.
He had somehow... inexplicably gained a whole city for free.
However, Naruto didn't want to stay long. Once he learned the Transformation Jutsu, he would find someone skilled in Fire Release to transfer the Heavenly Prison authority, then he could use Mui's identity to announce that the Box of Ultimate Bliss had been thrown into the sea, and then flee, taking responsibility.
Finally, he would declare to the outside world that he had found a box by the sea. As for how it drifted there, they could go ask the ocean.
Believe it or not, I believe it. If you disagree, come and take it back.
But before that, he needed to first gather the Hozuki fruits outside Hozuki Castle and research how to make candied haws for Hinata.
Oh, and he also needed to bring back the replaced people. He was the warden now; why would he replace his subordinates?
He sent a clone to gather the fruit and bring back the people. Naruto returned to Jiraiya's side, holding the mithril and researching how to melt it.
Watching Naruto, deeply engrossed in writing and drawing, Jiraiya wondered, "What's wrong with you? Why are you studying so seriously?"
That's not right. The guy who usually gets annoyed just by looking at books is working this hard?
"Promised someone something," Naruto replied, pen in mouth.
That's just how he was. If it was for himself, he'd just mess around and make it work, like the hook he used to pull Wugou. But if it was something he promised a friend, he'd wish he had two sets of Tianhe-1 supercomputers plus Jarvis.
He researched until 3 PM, coming up with four plans.
First, powder metallurgy: grinding two mithril ingots into powder to effectively lower the melting point. However, this required grinding it too fine, which was difficult.
Second, thermite: thermite could reach over three thousand degrees, capable of melting almost any metal. Naruto only knew the materials, not the proportions. And incorrect proportions could explode and kill people, but that was okay; he had clones. Nobel probably didn't even research as fast as he did.
Third, sunlight: using a large number of mirrors to reflect sunlight to a single point. As long as there were enough mirrors, the temperature could be adjusted at will.
The first three were all physical methods. If they all failed, Naruto still had ninja methods.
Putting away his draft paper, Naruto walked into Jiraiya's room and asked, "Old man, do you still have that scroll of black flames you sealed last time?"
Yes, Naruto planned to use Amaterasu for a great steelmaking. Legend said this flame burned everything, making it perfect for melting metal. This was the dream flame for countless metal processing plants in his previous life.
If that still didn't work, then Naruto could only grab Tenten and wait for a melting furnace to pop out of the shop.
In over ten years, the shop had only spat out one melting furnace. Naruto felt his yintang (space between eyebrows, signifying luck) was even blacker than Black Zetsu's.
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