Trees Chapter 348 Sasuke Wants To Thank Xiao Yan

At night, Naruto's team sat around the campfire.

The women went off to prepare dinner, while Naruto and Sasuke cracked open some beers.

"Ahhh...!"

"Good stuff!"

After drinking half a bottle, Sasuke was slightly tipsy.

He had tried sake and strong liquor before, but their harsh flavors were hard to stomach.

If anything truly tasted good, it was the ice-cold beer Naruto had brought out.

"Naruto..."

"Do you think the real Xiao Yan might actually be inside that Space-Time Rift?"

Earlier, when Naruto had talked about the power of the Shinigami, he mentioned that there were many worlds beyond theirs… like the ones Shino had encountered.

That got Sasuke thinking: what if the novel he once read was actually someone's autobiography...

Xiao Yan!

If he really existed, Sasuke wanted to meet him.

Honestly, the reason he had gained his current strength without losing himself to vengeance was largely thanks to that man.

He owed Xiao Yan a proper thank-you.

"Maybe... or maybe not."

Naruto scratched his cheek, unsure himself.

Before all this, if Sasuke had said something like that, Naruto would’ve called him out for being a Chunibyou.

But now...

The worlds within the Space-Time Rift had made even Naruto question whether Xiao Yan, the one Sasuke spoke of, might actually exist somewhere out there.

"It’d be great if I could meet him..."

Sasuke finished his beer, crushed the can, leaned back, and gazed wistfully at the starry sky.

Naruto, however, couldn’t help but rain on his parade.

"Don’t get your hopes up..."

"If we went to another world, we’d probably be labeled 'Outer Realm Demons' or something."

"Then we’d have the entire world hunting us down."

Naruto wasn’t entirely wrong.

After all...

Other worlds had suffered quite a bit thanks to Shino’s mess.

Before, they might’ve been welcoming to travelers from other dimensions, but after the whole ‘Zerg invasion’ incident...

Naruto is 100% certain that other worlds would be extremely hostile toward outsiders appearing in their realm.

"That’s a bit much, isn’t it?"

"We’re not out to destroy the world or anything."

Sasuke scoffed, first expressing doubt, then mocking Naruto’s pessimism.

"Hey!"

"If that’s how you’re going to be..."

"Let me tell you a story about 'Reincarnators' so you understand just how badly things can go when outsiders show up."

Seeing that Sasuke wasn’t taking this seriously, Naruto decided to educate him on the horrors of the ‘Main God’ and its Reincarnators. (T/N: Main God and Reincarnators is a usual trope in Chinese’s Fanfiction Novels.)

"Imagine if Reincarnators appeared in our world…"

"Wait, hold on."

Before Naruto could even start the story, Sasuke cut him off.

"Who the hell would come to our crappy world?"

As much as Sasuke hated to admit it, their world was a mess.

Threats of destruction popped up every other day.

Naruto’s ‘beloved’ son, the Jashin Boruto, was growing stronger by the minute.

And after all the past disasters...

Sasuke still held onto his old dream of finding a new world to live in.

But if someone actually came to their world...

He wouldn’t mind swapping places with them.

After all, he felt happy just thinking about a world without Jashin, cults, and bugs.

Naruto, annoyed by Sasuke’s dismissive attitude, flicked a small pebble at him.

"That’s not the point!"

"These Reincarnators are like locusts, and each one is terrifyingly strong."

"If they show up..."

"All our family, lovers, and friends will be in danger."

"Anything useful to them..."

"Will just become fuel for their next world."

Sure enough, as soon as Naruto said this, Sasuke’s mind began racing through the possibilities.

After just a few thoughts, Sasuke couldn’t hold back his fury.

"Damn it!!"

"Are these bastards completely shameless?!"

"If they dare touch my family, I’ll go to their world and destroy it myself!!"

He was so worked up that his expression turned deadly serious.

"Naruto..."

"When the time comes, let’s send Shino and your son to deal with them!"

Naruto facepalmed and gave Sasuke a thumbs-up.

‘When it comes to being ruthless, you really take the crown.’

Naruto’s warning had definitely left an impression on Sasuke.

Maybe too much of one.

Now, all Sasuke could think about were those Reincarnators.

To the point where he was already running simulations in his head.

A few minutes later, Sasuke suddenly turned to Naruto and asked, "Naruto... if those Reincarnators showed up in our world..."

"What would they go after first?"

"And how the hell do we even spot them?"

The topic was actually pretty interesting, making Sasuke genuinely start thinking about it.

Naruto rested his chin on one hand, took a couple of sips of beer, and countered with a question first.

"What do you think is the strongest power in our world?"

Sasuke reacted quickly, and the moment Naruto mentioned their world’s strongest power, he blurted out without thinking.

"Heavenly Flames?"

"Are you out of your mind?!"

Naruto couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed an empty beer can nearby and hurled it at Sasuke.

‘Heavenly Flames, Heavenly Flames!!’

‘How old are you? Why are you still obsessing over that stuff?!’

Sasuke dodged nimbly, but his expression was full of confusion.

"I’m serious! Think about it properly!"

Naruto gritted his teeth, cursed at Sasuke a few times, then pointed at his own eyes, giving him a hint.

"Eyes..."

"Huh?"

"Sharingan, Byakugan, Rinnegan?"

Seeing Naruto’s approving look, Sasuke continued, "And also..."

"Biju?"

As he was speaking, he suddenly jumped up.

"Damn it!"

"Doesn’t that mean they’d come straight for us?!"

By his logic, he had both the Sharingan and Rinnegan, while Naruto already had five of the Biju inside him.

Add in Hinata, who was also part of their team...

That meant if Reincarnators ever showed up, the first people they’d target would be the two of them.

"Have you finally realized it?"

Naruto gave his good brother a thumbs-up, praising his sharp deduction.

But Sasuke was now filled with a sense of urgency, worrying about what they should do if Reincarnators really came for them.

"Naruto, what are their defining traits?"

"Traits, huh..."

Naruto scratched his chin, trying to recall the characteristics of these people.

"They probably all wear the same kind of equipment."

"Like bracelets, collars, stuff like that."

"Oh, right..."

"Personality-wise... maybe because they can travel across worlds, they look down on us 'natives' completely."

"And they act all high and mighty, most of them arrogant and full of themselves."

At this point, Naruto flashed Sasuke a grin.

"But don’t worry, Reincarnators might not even exist."

Sasuke nodded, silently memorizing these traits.

Meanwhile, inside the seal space, the Biju, particularly Kurama, had been listening in.

‘Want to capture this Immortal Emperor?!’

‘It depends on whether this Immortal Emperor will hit them or not.’

But when he heard that some of these Reincarnators might possess cultivation techniques from the immortal world, Kurama immediately felt a sense of crisis.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

"Enough playing around!!"

"Right now! Immediately!"

"All of you… start cultivating!!"

Kurama cut off his siblings’ playtime, cracking his whip as he roared at them.

Shukaku flinched at the sound of the whip and immediately dropped his phone, sitting cross-legged to begin training.

The other Biju sighed but followed suit, knowing better than to argue.

"But what if..."

"We could capture that 'Main God' and study it instead?"

Just then, Sakura's voice suddenly spoke up from behind them, making both Naruto and Sasuke jump in surprise.

Sasuke: “!!!”

Naruto: “!!!”