That night, the moon shone brightly in the quiet sky, and the entire village of Konohagakure was peaceful.
Under the still night, Naruto, dressed in his usual casual clothes, rubbed his eyes and walked into the training field where he usually trained.
He yawned and looked sleepily at Sasuke, who was standing in the middle of the field.
"Sasuke, why did you drag me out here in the middle of the night? Couldn't you have just told me during the day?"
Sasuke's face was serious. "Because I forgot."
The real reason was that he had been too busy training while also trying to avoid Sakura, who kept trying to make him take her special Soldier Pills. With all that going on, it was already impressive that he even remembered.
As for calling Naruto out at night, that was simply because he was afraid he'd forget again by morning, so he figured he might as well say it now.
Naruto stopped rubbing his eyes and stared blankly at Sasuke.
"If this isn't something important, Sasuke, you're about to get beaten up."
Right now, Sasuke hadn't completed the evolution of his Rinnegan, so he wasn't a match for Naruto.
Sasuke knew that, but this matter was actually very important.
Before Naruto could ask, Sasuke took off his outer jacket. He wasn't wearing his usual ninja undershirt, so his upper body was bare—not that it mattered.
Turning around, he exposed his left arm and pointed to the area where his shoulder and arm connected.
"Here. I can feel something strange."
"Hmm?" Naruto blinked and leaned in for a closer look.
That's when he noticed a small black diamond-shaped mark on Sasuke's otherwise smooth skin. It was no bigger than a fingernail but gave off an eerie presence.
Naruto frowned. "Yeah... there's definitely something weird about it."
It felt strangely familiar, but he couldn't recall where he'd seen it before.
And for some reason, it felt like they had encountered this energy before.
Sasuke also frowned. "I can sense a massive power inside it, even stronger than what I feel from you right now. But I have no way to control it."
"Like the Curse Mark?" Naruto offered an example.
"Exactly." Sasuke nodded.
It was similar to a Curse Mark, but unlike Orochimaru's, which contained forced natural energy, this one didn't have anything to do with Sage Mode.
Instead, it was pure chakra—a very powerful chakra.
At that moment, Naruto's drowsiness vanished completely.
Golden light flickered in his eyes as the power of the Six Paths surged, allowing his enhanced perception to cover Sasuke's arm.
But the next second, Naruto frowned even deeper.
"That's some serious power."
Sasuke, who also possessed the Six Paths' power, could obviously sense it too—otherwise, he wouldn't have dragged Naruto out here in the middle of the night.
Placing his right hand over the mark, he spoke softly.
"Ever since we came back from Roran, I've felt like something was off with my body. It was like I could sense a power that didn't belong to me mixed within my own chakra.
A couple of days ago, I finally traced the source of that power.
It was this mark."
"I can say for sure that before we left the Sage of Six Paths era, this mark didn't exist." Sasuke looked up at Naruto with a serious expression. "The only time it could have been placed on me was during the period when we lost our memories."
"The Ryumyaku," Naruto said immediately.
"That's right." Sasuke nodded. "But the problem is, the only one of us who still remembers that time is Kurama."
This was the second reason Sasuke had urgently come to Naruto.
"I get what you're saying." Naruto understood Sasuke's thoughts right away. Without hesitation, he opened his mind, connected his chakra to Sasuke's, and pulled him into his inner world.
Inside Naruto's mind, Kurama was already fast asleep. Back when he was just a Tailed Beast, he never had this habit. But ever since gaining human memories, Kurama had unconsciously started staying up late and waking up late. His biological clock was a complete mess, but at night, he was usually asleep.
That much was certain.
As soon as Sasuke arrived in Naruto's mindscape, his eyes first landed on Kurama, who was lying in the distance. Only then did he notice the changes in the space.
Back then, Naruto's inner world had been a dark, underground chamber with ankle-deep water flowing through it. But now, it was completely dry, and the basement had vanished. All that remained was an endless, pitch-black night sky—nothing else.
"We need to wake Kurama up first."
Naruto took two steps forward, then suddenly leaped up to Kurama's ear. Taking a deep breath, he shouted loudly into the giant fox's ear—leaving Sasuke utterly bewildered.
"The Machine is dead! The Light of Synchronization has entered!"
"Holy crap! Celebrate worldwide!"
With a jolt, Kurama shot up like he had just risen from the grave. Then he froze in confusion. "Wait… What does this have to do with my Dragon Maid…?"
Sure, celebrating someone's downfall made sense if they had caused problems for everyone, but how was this related to the Dragon Maid he played with?
Wait a minute… Just how long ago was that?
Kurama's face darkened. "Naruto, if you wake me up like this again, don't expect me to talk to you before October releases."
Naruto jumped down from Kurama's shoulder, completely unconcerned. After all, he had no idea what that phrase even meant—he just remembered Kurama shouting it before.
Standing next to Sasuke, Naruto pointed at Sasuke's shoulder. "Kurama, do you know what this black mark on Sasuke's shoulder is? We can sense an incredibly strong power from it."
Sasuke cooperated by turning slightly to reveal his arm.
Kurama, still a little annoyed, froze when he heard this. Instinctively, he moved closer to take a good look. Then his brow furrowed. "Karma."
"Karma?" Sasuke asked, confused.
Kurama didn't answer right away. Instead, he carefully examined it, sensing the energy within. After a long pause, he finally raised his head, his expression serious.
"That's right. This is Karma. I can feel Urashiki's power inside it."
"Urashiki?" Sasuke murmured the name. It sounded oddly familiar.
Naruto, on the other hand, couldn't wait any longer. "Kurama, what exactly is Karma? And who is Urashiki?"
Kurama sat down, rubbed his chin, and then slowly explained. "When an Otsutsuki dies, they store their information in someone else using a special method. Normally, since they can't plan ahead, their Karma ends up on the person who killed them."
"This Karma contains all of that Otsutsuki's information—their memories, abilities, chakra, everything. In a way, the person carrying the Karma is like a Jinchuriki for an Otsutsuki."
That was probably the best way to put it. Karma was truly a bizarre thing.
"Jinchuriki?" Naruto immediately understood. "So you're saying Sasuke can use the Otsutsuki's power in the Karma to make himself stronger?"
Sasuke was intrigued. After all, every Otsutsuki he had encountered was powerful. He had long envied Naruto's Kurama.
"In theory, yes." Kurama nodded, but then his expression turned grim. "But there's another problem—Karma is basically a resurrection tool. Once the Otsutsuki inside it fully regenerates, they'll take over the body of the person carrying it, bringing themselves back to life."
Sasuke was stunned.
Naruto's face changed. "Sasuke will get possessed by that Otsutsuki?"
"That's one way to put it." Kurama nodded. "This is what makes the Otsutsuki so hard to kill. Thanks to Karma, they don't fear death, because they can always come back."
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