In the stillness of the night, Naruto lay on his bed, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling in deep thought.

The journey from near-death to his current rebirth still felt somewhat unreal to him, even though it had truly happened.

Thus, he needed the night to let his mind and body settle, to align with reality.

The faint sound of a shower could be heard from the next room.

Naruto's heart stirred. He withdrew his left hand from under the pillow and slowly moved it down to his abdomen.

Sizzle!

The Eight Trigrams Seal appeared.

Naruto asked, "Hey, Kurama, have you finished going through the memories I brought along?"

Those were nearly a century's worth of memories, an immense amount of information that the Nine-Tails needed time to digest.

Kurama's haughty voice responded, "Hmph, so what?"

Naruto calmly replied, "Since you've seen it all, you should understand why I did what I did, right?"

Kurama remained aloof, "So what?"

Naruto continued calmly, "So, can we be honest with each other like before?"

Kurama's voice turned stern, "Honest? I don't recall ever having that kind of relationship with you! As for the one in your memories, that wasn't me..."

Naruto sat up, "Hey, that was clearly you!"

Kurama roared, "Shut up!!! I am the embodiment of evil! How could I possibly bow down to a brat like you!? Even saying such sentimental words, that wasn't me!!!"

Naruto sighed, "Kurama, I know you like to be difficult, but you're just deceiving yourself..."

"Argh, stop calling me by my name, as if we're close...!!!"

In Naruto's mind, Kurama's tails lashed out violently, his anger even seeping through the sealing technique.

Thud!!!

"Ouch..." Naruto's head hit the bed frame, causing him pain.

"Even if that was me! I don't like the current you, not at all, I dislike you very much, to the point of extreme loathing!!"

"Kurama, I..." Naruto tried to explain, but Kurama cut him off, even making a vow.

"No matter what your reasons are, you are not Uzumaki Naruto!! Get out, get out of this body, I will never acknowledge you as Naruto, never, ever!!!"

Whoosh!

The Eight Trigrams Seal faded again, and Kurama fell silent, clearly having closed off the chakra pathway once more.

"..." Naruto shook his head helplessly, but he could understand Kurama's current attitude.

Tailed beasts were also creatures with emotions, and they needed experiences to grow.

In his previous life, Kurama had gradually opened up to Naruto, eventually even sacrificing himself willingly.

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The current Kurama had not yet undergone that growth, so even after seeing those memories and feeling Naruto's deep pain, he couldn't easily reach a consensus.

Such cognitive dissonance couldn't be resolved in a short time.

Naruto murmured to himself, "But I believe the day will come when we can be honest with each other again..."

The earlier noise had woken Konan, who called from the next room, "Naruto, what's wrong? Were you arguing with someone?"

Naruto replied, "Konan-sensei... I'm fine, I just met an old friend."

"I see..." Konan understood.

After seeing Kurama's attitude, Naruto couldn't help but ask, "Konan-sensei, are you helping me just because I showed you those memories?"

There was a long silence from the next room before Konan's voice came again, "We are both Jiraiya's disciples, but from beginning to end, only you have consistently followed Jiraiya's teachings. Even until your death, I could still see a glimpse of Yahiko in you..."

"Those memories do play a significant part, but they are not everything."

Naruto felt relieved, "I understand, that puts my mind at ease..."

Konan, understanding, said, "Sleep now, the road ahead is long, and we must take it step by step."

Naruto closed his eyes, "Alright, goodnight, Konan-sensei."

The night passed without further incident.

The next morning, Naruto, fully rested, had breakfast and then joined the others on the ninth floor of the tower.

They were there to discuss their future plans.

In the room, there were three chairs positioned in the east, south, and west. Naruto sat facing north, with a round table in front of him and a wooden box on it. From this vantage point, he could see the gloomy sky and rain outside the tower.

Konan stood behind Naruto.

Orochimaru sat in the east, arms crossed, a knowing smile on his lips.

Kisame sat in the west, his posture proper, with Samehada standing beside him.

"..." Naruto leaned forward, hands clasped, his chin resting on his knuckles, eyes deep in thought.

"Let's begin."

With a swift motion, Konan unfurled a map of the ninja world made of parchment on the back wall.

Boom!

Lightning flashed, illuminating her cold face, the lip piercings adding to her mature aura.

Naruto spoke methodically.

"Konoha, Suna, Kumo, Kiri, Iwa, supported by the economies of the Five Great Nations, have become the five major hidden villages dominating the ninja world..."

"Our first objective is to collect the secret techniques and Kekkei Genkai of these major villages..."

"Kekkei Genkai require bloodlines to support them, so we'll start with secret techniques!"

"Kumo's Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Iwa's Light and Heavy Rock Technique, Kiri's Silent Killing Technique, Suna's Puppet Technique, and... Konoha's Ino-Shika-Cho techniques are the powers I seek!"

In his previous life, the five major villages had friendly relations. As one of the Five Kage, Naruto could have easily obtained these techniques if he had wanted to, but he hadn't cared about them then, believing his own skills were sufficient...

It wasn't until he faced overwhelming enemies that Naruto realized the value of having a diverse set of techniques, especially those unique ones that could turn the tide of battle.

So in this life, Naruto intended to acquire these secret techniques first!

Orochimaru, running a hand through his hair, looked at the map and spoke in his deep, raspy voice, "We are in Amegakure, bordering Suna, Iwa, and Konoha. We should start with these three villages. If we narrow it down further, Konoha, with its Flying Thunder God Technique, and the relatively weaker Suna, should be our first targets..."

"I want to leave Konoha for last. As for Suna... the sandstorms make it difficult to traverse, and Iwa's Tsuchikage, Onoki, is a seasoned veteran. We might not fare well against him."

"Moreover, because Amegakure is situated at the junction of these three villages, we can't afford to clash with them first. They're too close and can send ninja to attack us at any time. We're currently too weak to withstand such assaults..."

Naruto stood up slowly, walked to the map, and circled Kumo's territory, drawing an arrow from Amegakure.

"Kumo has already shown hostility towards us. It's only a matter of time before conflict arises, so we might as well strike first..."

Naruto thought to himself: This will also divert the Raikage's hatred for Sasuke towards me...

Orochimaru chuckled, "It seems you've made up your mind. You really want that chakra mode, don't you, Naruto-kun..."

Naruto's eyes were resolute, "Yes... The Lightning Release Chakra Mode can enhance my reflexes, taijutsu, and defense to a new level. If combined with Sage Mode, and eventually Kurama's Chakra Mode, I might become so powerful that even I would be afraid..."

At this point, Kisame spoke up, "By the way, our organization doesn't have a name yet. Acting under Amegakure's name doesn't seem intimidating enough."

Naruto glanced at Konan, who was still wearing her Akatsuki cloak.

Turning back, Naruto declared firmly, "Our organization will still be called 'Akatsuki,' but to distinguish it from the other Akatsuki, we'll add the word 'Ming'!"

"Ming Akatsuki... Means Bright Akatsuki！" Konan's cold lips curved into a bright smile.

From this moment, Akatsuki had a clear distinction between light and dark!