Chapter 69: Naraku Departs for Iron Country, Buries Resurrection Cocoon, and Reunites with Mifune
After Naraku left, an Oni-masked Root ninja walked up to Danzō: "Lord, we have safely escorted Uchiha Naraku away."
Danzō nodded. The previous fake smile had already vanished from his face.
He ordered his subordinate: "Closely monitor who Uchiha Naraku contacts during this period!" In his dark thoughts, Danzō mused: as long as Uchiha Naraku doesn't seek help from others, he—Danzō—could slowly drag Naraku into darkness step by step!
First using the fact that Naraku gave Teigu to an outsider as leverage, then giving him Hashirama cells, then other forbidden materials, and finally even Sharingan eyes. He would gradually turn Naraku into something like a wanton slut—utterly at his disposal!
Meanwhile, upon returning home, Naraku had no such complicated thoughts. To him, this was just an amusing little interlude in life. After a comfortable sleep, the next day he informed Uchiha Mikoto that he needed to go into seclusion for forging and must not be disturbed.
Back in the forging room, Naraku created several shadow clones to stay behind.
He himself used Dimension Square to instantly teleport 5 km away—this mark was one he had left earlier while rescuing Nawaki.
Naraku checked left and right—no one around. He also put on the mask he had prepared long ago.
Then he sprinted in one direction toward the Land of Iron.
It wasn't that he didn't want to use Dimension Square to travel faster—he was just a little worried that items marked with Dimension Square might be picked up by someone. Also, Mifune had been in quite a hurry back then.
Finally, the Land of Iron wasn't too far—with Naraku's speed, half a day was enough.
Under the dual enhancement of chakra and Haki, Naraku's physical body could now rival taijutsu specialists like Gai in terms of travel speed.
After half a day's travel, Naraku arrived in the Land of Iron. Looking at this nation almost perpetually covered in ice and snow, with very few ninjas, he showed a satisfied smile.
He planned to place the completed Resurrection Cocoon here in the Land of Iron.
The Land of Iron was vast, sparsely populated, constantly snowing, and lacked ninjas—especially after resisting Hanzo's invasion, it had steadily developed toward neutrality.
In terms of security, it was practically maxed out.
Now Naraku was torn between placing the Resurrection Cocoon in the sea near the Land of Iron or underground in the Land of Iron itself.
Both deep sea and underground were far more deserted.
Both had drawbacks. First, the sea: Naraku wasn't sure about the Resurrection Cocoon's density or durability. If it floated up easily in water, that would be bad. Being corroded by seawater also didn't sound good. Worst case—if some unlucky big fish swallowed it, that would be even worse.
Since Naraku had to consider how to safely emerge from the deep sea after revival, he couldn't bury it too deep.
Finally, even the sea didn't guarantee no one could reach and salvage it. This reminded Naraku of a certain "Cleopatra"—sleeping peacefully in the sea, only to be salvaged as a treasure.
Compared to that, underground had far fewer drawbacks. Anyone who's watched videos of people burying items (or friends who frequently bury corpses—cough!) knows the key points when burying things underground are:
How to eliminate your own scent.
How to eliminate the item's scent.
Finally, how to make the burial soil look identical to the surrounding soil.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Naraku decided to bury the Resurrection Cocoon underground. The unknowns in the sea were too many, while underground's biggest risk was only things like earthquakes or crustal movement. Since he would only bury it for a few years at most, there shouldn't be major displacement.
Naraku searched alone in the Land of Iron for half a day and finally found a truly deserted location. After making some preparations and masking his own scent, he used Earth Release to dive deep underground.
10m, 20m, 40m, 80m, 160m, 320m, 640m.
At this depth Naraku already felt considerable discomfort. He transferred the surrounding soil into his system space.
Then he began crafting the Resurrection Cocoon underground.
The method to make the Resurrection Cocoon was very simple. The only truly precious and rare item was the Gold-grade Reincarnation Worm.
Naraku looked at the Reincarnation Worm in his hand. He carefully placed it in his palm and examined every detail. The worm's body was golden-yellow, plump and chubby, reminding one of a cute, high-protein caterpillar.
But its ferocious fangs and sharp claws revealed a dignity and ferocity.
Naraku gently stroked the Reincarnation Worm's body, feeling the power hidden beneath its hard shell.
Naraku took a deep breath, cut his finger, and let blood drip onto the worm. The Reincarnation Worm seemed to sense the blood's aura—its originally still body began to tremble slightly. As the blood gradually seeped into its skin, its color became even more vivid and dazzling, as if endowed with life.
Naraku was secretly astonished. He could feel the Reincarnation Worm absorbing his blood and converting it into energy. This strange phenomenon filled him with curiosity about the worm.
Next, following the secret method, Naraku extracted his own soul power and slowly injected it into the worm's body. The Reincarnation Worm reacted violently—its body wriggled intensely, trying to break free from Naraku's control. However, Naraku gripped it tightly, not letting it escape.
When Naraku's soul power was fully integrated into the Reincarnation Worm, it suddenly stopped struggling and lay quietly in his palm. Naraku let out a sigh of relief—he knew he had successfully established a connection with the worm.
Then Naraku slowly placed the Reincarnation Worm on the ground. Once it touched the soil, the worm quickly turned earth-colored and began slowly growing larger.
It grew until it was the size of a soccer ball and stopped. Looking at this earth ball that was indistinguishable from the surrounding soil, Naraku felt a surge of security.
Just like this—if he didn't mark it himself and covered it with soil, even if he came back again, he probably couldn't find it—let alone anyone else.
But looking at such a small ball, Naraku found it hard to understand: if revival happened in something this size, how would a person emerge?
Could it be that after the soul transferred in, this earth ball would continue growing?
To be safe, Naraku could only cover it with soil from his system space.
Fortunately, the soil around the hole he made was relatively soft—otherwise he'd have to leave a flaw here.
After confirming there were no traces left, Naraku returned to the surface. Unfortunately, he didn't have a memory-erasing technique—otherwise he would definitely delete his own knowledge of the Resurrection Cocoon's location.
Back on land, Naraku once again went to the capital of the Land of Iron. Then he sensed the mark he had previously left on Mifune using Dimension Square.
In a single instant, Naraku appeared inside a house.
Afterward, Naraku rang the bell in the room and quietly waited for Mifune's arrival.
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