Chapter 289 : Investigating The Truth About Sora

But Riku frowned. "Did you notice something off about the Nine Tails inside that guy’s body?"

Kurama, who had been lying down in Naruto’s subconscious, suddenly stood up, his expression turning serious.

Riku’s words made Kurama uneasy, because he had sensed the same thing from the Nine Tails’ chakra within Sora’s body.

Logically speaking, the Nine Tails’ chakra in Sora’s body shouldn’t be complete. That shouldn’t be possible.

At most, it should be a partial transformation—just a Tailed Beast Cloak at best.

But that chakra... it was as if it were the complete Nine Tails.

Kurama contacted Riku via chakra and said, "I can sense the power of the Rinnegan from it. Could it be the leader of the Akatsuki?"

Riku nodded. "That’s what I’m afraid of. Otherwise, with Sora’s physical capabilities, there’s no way he could fully transform into the Nine Tails."

Kurama’s expression grew even grimmer. If the Akatsuki had already turned their attention toward Konoha, then the next Tailed Beast they would target was undoubtedly Naruto.

And right now, Naruto still hadn’t fully grasped his power.

Kurama furrowed his brow. Against the Akatsuki’s members, Naruto might not stand a chance.

Especially since the Akatsuki’s members all possessed bizarre and unpredictable abilities.

Riku paused in thought before saying, "Naruto will be staying in the village for now. You should help him master your power. I’ll head out and investigate during this time."

Kurama blinked in surprise and asked, "You’re going to investigate? Aren’t you worried they’ll attack Konoha while you’re gone?"

Riku smiled faintly. "No. Unless their leader comes personally, they won’t dare attack Konoha. If they try, it’ll end in disaster—for them."

While the Akatsuki had plenty of powerful members, after all these years, they still hadn’t dared to attack one of the Five Great Ninja Villages directly. These villages weren’t just about elite shinobi.

Each of the Five Great Nations had at least seven or eight thousand shinobi.

Without the strength of someone like Uchiha Madara or Hashirama Senju, who would dare invade a hidden village and massacre its people?

If a village could be destroyed that easily by a single Kage-level opponent, the entire shinobi system would’ve collapsed long ago.

Kurama nodded, though he remained uneasy.

From his perspective, once Riku left the village, the Akatsuki would inevitably attack. At that point, Naruto—without full access to Kurama’s power—might not be able to handle them.

And Konoha’s remaining high-level shinobi—Tsunade, Kakashi, and Yamato—were too limited in what they could do.

Tsunade could probably hold her own against another Kage-level ninja, but Kakashi and Yamato weren’t on that level.

During the fight against Kakuzu, Kakashi and Shikamaru had been completely overwhelmed.

If Naruto and Yamato hadn’t arrived when they did—and if Kakuzu hadn’t been careless—even with all four of them combined, they might still have lost.

Kakuzu was definitely Kage-level, and his elemental ninjutsu was far more powerful than most shinobi.

While he wasn’t quite on Riku’s level, his strength outclassed Kakashi’s elemental attacks entirely.

So if the Akatsuki launched an assault on Konoha, it would indeed be a serious threat.

But Riku was also well aware that the Akatsuki were collecting Tailed Beasts in numerical order—from Two-Tails through Eight-Tails.

The Gedo Statue required the beasts to be sealed in order, so Nine Tails would be the last.

That meant the Akatsuki were currently targeting the Two-Tails.

Riku, however, was extremely curious about the Rinnegan power within Sora’s body. He needed to uncover what was going on.

As for Sora’s transformation, even Danzō didn’t seem to know the truth behind it.

Someone had clearly tampered with the chakra within the Nine Tails fragment.

After everything had settled down, Riku submitted a request to Tsunade to investigate the source of the Rinnegan within Sora’s body.

Because he didn’t believe that power originated from Nagato.

He suspected that other members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan might have appeared earlier than expected. At their level, Riku couldn’t afford to be careless.

Those beings could genuinely rival his strength.

And in the future, with the evolution of the ninja world, some individuals would possess Rinnegans capable of even manipulating time—traveling into the past.

Riku had to be prepared for that possibility.

If this Rinnegan had truly been from Nagato, Riku wouldn’t need to leave the village to find out more.

But it clearly wasn’t.

Nagato’s Rinnegan wasn’t capable of this.

In the Hokage’s office, Tsunade looked at Riku with a serious expression. "You’re saying... there’s someone else in the ninja world with a Rinnegan?"

The news was difficult for Tsunade to believe—it was simply too terrifying.

One Rinnegan user like Nagato was already enough to shake the world. If there were more...

Then Konoha would be in serious danger.

Riku and Tsunade stood by the window. Riku could feel the worry in her heart and spoke calmly, "I’ll find out the truth. And if there really is another Rinnegan user—I’ll kill them."

Tsunade gripped his hand without saying a word, simply gazing at him deeply.

Riku smiled, pulled his hand free, and gently patted her on the shoulder. "Wait for me to come back."

Tsunade nodded.

In the blink of an eye, Riku vanished from the Hokage’s office.

Staring at the spot where he had disappeared, Tsunade clenched her fists.

She realized that, right now, she was a burden to him.

Facing a fully transformed Nine Tails like Sora, she had no means to resist.

In truth, Konoha itself had become a burden to Riku.

And the threats they now faced... were even more terrifying than the past Great Ninja Wars.

The enemies were stronger. And far more hidden.

In the past wars, though brutal and bloody, they had been fought openly between the major villages.

But now?

Now, there were individuals who could destroy an entire hidden village single-handedly.

Apart from Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju, no shinobi had ever done such a thing.

The Second Hokage hadn’t. The Fourth Hokage hadn’t. And the Third Hokage? Not a chance.

As for the other villages’ Kage? None of them could challenge an entire village alone.

But now, there were at least two who could—Riku and Nagato.

And now, another person with a Rinnegan had emerged from the shadows.

Maybe even more than one.

And this new person clearly harbored a grudge against Konoha.

That was what made it so terrifying.

When Riku left Konoha this time, he didn’t take anyone with him.

He already knew that his enemy was unlike any he’d faced before. Taking others along would only hold him back.

Especially since the opponent wielded a Rinnegan—one far more powerful than Nagato’s.

Because Nagato hadn’t awakened the Rinnegan himself. He could only use the basic abilities, and many of the bloodline techniques inherent to the Rinnegan were beyond his reach.

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