Naruto naturally had no idea about Kisame's inner turmoil. To him, Kisame seemed nothing like his decisive and efficient self from the original story, and everything he did now felt annoyingly slow and hesitant.
He couldn't help but urge impatiently, "Stop dawdling and hurry up!"
Hearing this, Kisame shuddered with fear. It was the first time he'd been this scared. In the past, fear was an emotion he'd never even considered. Who would've thought that one day he'd be so terrified of a single person?
"I'm on it! Right away!" Kisame didn't dare delay any further. Swinging his Samehada, he began digging another hole.
When Naruto saw that the new pit was once again only one meter wide and one and a half meters deep, he nodded in sudden realization, "No wonder you're digging such a small hole."
"Huh?"
Cold sweat dripped down Kisame's forehead. He wondered if Naruto caught onto his little scheme.
Naruto said with certainty, "You're mocking me for being short, aren't you? Looks like someone needs a good beating."
"No, not at all!" Kisame waved his hands frantically, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that his real intentions hadn't been discovered.
Bang!
Several hours had already been wasted, and as the sun was setting, Naruto finally ran out of patience.
He quickly formed hand seals, and with a puff of white smoke, a shadow clone appeared beside him.
After burying the shadow clone in the soil, Naruto waved his hand and said, "My shadow clone will handle the experiment here. Let's go find an inn to stay at."
As a Shinobi, sleeping outdoors is the norm. But Naruto is not a Shinobi. Since he got the sign-in system, he has become a traveler who travels everywhere.
Unless it was a planned camping trip, he absolutely refused to sleep outdoors.
"Well, let's go with this one."
Walking out of the woods, there was a hot spring hotel not far away. Naruto made the decision without hesitation, and neither Kisame nor Itachi had any objections.
After checking in, the trio went to their respective rooms.
Naruto had just laid down on the futon and stretched his arms when the system prompt echoed in his mind.
At the same time, his shadow clone dispersed and its experience returned to him.
[It is detected that the host has stayed in the soil for one hour. Sign-in successful. Reward: Subterranean Voyage!]
[Subterranean Voyage: Also known as the Underground Shark Technique, allows the user to freely move and fight while underground, enabling sneak attacks on surface enemies.]
"Ah, this…"
For a moment, Naruto didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
First, he'd been rewarded with the ability to fly with the Sky Dance Technique. Now, he'd acquired the Subterranean Voyage to burrow underground. He could literally fly in the sky and burrow underground… he was simply unstoppable.
Combine that with his Transformation Technique, and if he had the kinton, he'd practically be the Monkey King himself.
"Too bad I don't have the Eight-Trigram Furnace of the Supreme Elder. If I did, I might be able to forge an indestructible body and gain fiery golden eyes." Naruto sighed. (T/N: In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong obtained indestructible body and fiery golden eyes after being trapped inside the Eight-Trigram Furnace.)
"Huh? Wait a minute!"
Suddenly, an idea struck him, and Naruto sat up abruptly.
What was the Eight-Trigram Furnace known for? The Samadhi True Fire.
While the Samadhi True Fire was a rarity, Fire Release Ninjutsu in the Naruto World were also formidable. Among them, Amaterasu, the inextinguishable black flames, was legendary.
And the only user of Amaterasu was his servant, Uchiha Itachi.
'If I could find a way to withstand Amaterasu, I could sign in while surrounded by it. The reward would undoubtedly be incredible.'
The more he thought about it, the more excited Naruto became.
He couldn't help but ask the system, "System, where can I sign in to get a fire-resistant reward? The kind that can withstand Amaterasu?"
[Friendly Reminder: Host has already graduated from the Starter Village, Konoha and is now a seasoned host. The system's beginner assistance has been removed.]
"What?!"
Naruto found the mystery of unknown rewards from the sign-in system entertaining, akin to opening a gacha. Thus, he rarely asked the system what he might receive from sign-ins.
Precisely because there is a guide that he is not in a hurry to look for it.
However, now that he discovered those inquiries were part of the beginner's help, he realized the system had turned his future sign-ins into a complete guessing game.
The gacha experience the system granted him was now a true blind gamble, and Naruto couldn't find joy in it anymore.
After all, using cheats was about style and skill… having none felt like sheer incompetence.
"Ugh, let's just find Kisame," Naruto sighed. He got up and decided to look for Kisame.
The dramatic shift in his mood, from excited to utterly disheartened, left him feeling miserable. This was the perfect time to vent his frustrations, and Kisame would serve as the ideal outlet.
As luck would have it, Kisame's room was directly below Naruto's. So without hesitation, Naruto activated his Subterranean Voyage and burrowed straight into Kisame's room.
When Kisame saw Naruto's head suddenly emerge from the ceiling, he jolted upright in shock, springing off his futon.
Seeing Kisame's comical reaction, Naruto couldn't help but burst into laughter, and his mood instantly improved a lot.
"Do you need something, Naruto-kun?" Kisame asked, still slightly bewildered.
After Naruto flipped gracefully through the air, he sat down on the futon. Feeling much better, he decided there was no need to take his frustrations out on Kisame, so he said, "It's you who seems to have something on your mind. Spit it out… what's bothering you?"
Logically speaking, many Shinobi can see through objects, so how could a powerful Shinobi like Kisame be startled by such a simple trick? And looking at Kisame's troubled expression, it was clear that something was wrong.
"This..." Kisame hesitated, silent for a few moments before failing to form a coherent reply.
Seeing this, Naruto suggested, "We're at a hot spring inn, so how about we talk it out while soaking in the hot spring?"
Having been covered in dirt from earlier experiments, Naruto wanted a good soak anyway.
Not only that, when he was in Konoha, he kept peeping... cough, training, so he never soaked in a hot spring for more than an hour.
This was the perfect opportunity: Kisame had something to discuss, and Naruto could sign in while enjoying the hot spring. It's a win-win scenario.
Every opportunity, however small, counted for Naruto, and he wouldn't miss a chance to sign in.
Since this was about Kisame's issue, Naruto didn't bring Itachi along. If it turned out to be something sensitive, Kisame might hold back if Itachi were present, defeating the purpose of their talk.
When the two arrived at the hot spring, several men were already soaking inside. But before Naruto could shoo them away, they caught sight of Kisame's menacing face, his well-built frame, and the aura of bloodlust he exuded. Without a word, they quickly fled the hot spring.
"Kisame, you're a natural!"
Naruto couldn't help but laugh.
There was no denying it… Kisame looked every bit the part of a gang leader or villain.
Ordinary people, following the principle of avoiding trouble, would instinctively steer clear of someone like Kisame.
"Please don't tease me, Naruto-kun," Kisame said with a wave of his hand.
At one point, Kisame had thought of himself as the top of the criminal underworld. But ever since meeting Naruto, he understood what true power and dominance looked like.
Naruto's overwhelming strength left Kisame completely subservient. Even Naruto's casual movements filled him with immense pressure, making him overthink and scare himself half to death.
By now, Kisame was acutely aware of his position in the pecking order. In front of Naruto, he was nothing more than a stinky underling...