"Cult Leader-sama!"
"This world is full of filth, we must launch a holy war..."
"This is the only way to purify all the heretics!"
Kankuro stood respectfully beside Naruto and whispered fervently.
Even though Naruto had become the Kazekage, he refused to address him by that title.
When the big believers nearby heard this, they raised their arms high, and shouted towards Naruto like a tsunami.
"We must cleanse this world of all heretics!"
"The world belongs to us, the Mechanicus!"
Naruto lay sprawled on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling, his spirit utterly broken.
He was really going to be driven crazy by this group of people.
At the beginning, he just wanted to change the trend of the muscular men in Sunagakure!
Why did it turn out like this!?
'I shouldn't have taken out that book on the Mechanicus' doctrine.'
'Now, this group of fanatical Shinobi, despite having no actual technology, had somehow developed Chakra-controlled puppetry into a full-blown machine cult.'
What makes Naruto speechless the most is...
These people are actually still being affectionate and caring for the puppets while shouting, 'The machine spirit is pleased!'.
Naruto had tried to explain that there was no such thing as a machine spirit.
But Kankuro just nodded sagely and said, "I have attained enlightenment."
"Chakra is the machine spirit..."
Anyway, it's utterly ridiculous.
The main point is, it is completely unscientific.
And seeing Temari of all people enthusiastically chanting about machine spirits, Naruto knew that Sunagakure was already beyond saving.
If Sunagakure had truly become the Cult Mechanicus that Naruto is familiar with, it might not have been so bad.
However…
The current Sunagakure's Mechanicus seems to be addicted to cybernetic modification, and nothing can stop them.
Not only do they modify themselves, they wanted to drag the entire Shinobi World into it.
Naruto didn't want to defeat the Otsutsuki Clan, only to find that there wasn't a single normal human left on the planet.
In addition, while Sunagakure's cybernetic tech was only slightly more advanced and they had a few more gadgets, all of it was still based on the original Chakra-controlled Puppet Technique.
Without a complete foundational system, developing into a true Cult Mechanicus...
Naruto doubted it was possible.
And the most critical issue...
The failure rate of this group of people is surprisingly high!
Just look at the Ten Thousand Crawler Puppet, which broke down over a dozen times a day.
While the overall strength of Sunagakure has increased a lot, they still lacked high-end combat power at all.
With these misfits, they could at best compete with Sakura, who is good at Scientific Ninja Tools.
And they wanted to 'purify all heretics'...
Right now, Naruto just wanted to purify Kankuro!
Naruto waved his hand to signal the group to leave. At this time, he's really missing the normal Konoha Village.
At least the people there were sane. At least he could talk to them.
'I'm so tired...'
'Shikamaru, hurry up and take your wife away.'
'If you don't take her away, your wife will soon lose her mind completely.'
'And Pain, you should also come and start your plan quickly. If you don't come soon, the Shinobi World will be doomed.'
Naruto finally understood...
After all his efforts, Sunagakure was beyond saving.
Tap, tap, tap…
At this time, several footsteps were heard outside the door.
Naruto subconsciously cursed, "I already said I wanted to be alone!"
"Stop bothering me!!"
Creak…
As the door opened, Jiraiya and Team 10 walked in.
They had different expressions and complicated thoughts.
Originally, everyone thought that Naruto had caused all this on purpose...
But now, it seemed Naruto was just as overwhelmed.
Jiraiya looked at Naruto and he didn't start scolding him like he usually would.
Instead, he walked over to the couch and sat down quietly beside him.
Seeing this scene, Shikamaru quickly ushered the others outside.
The master and disciple remained silent for about 3 minutes, and the atmosphere began to become a little strange.
Naruto is very annoyed now and can't stand to hear the white-haired old man scolding, otherwise, he will really explode.
Finally, it was Jiraiya who spoke to break the silence.
"How have you been lately?"
"Fine."
Naruto muttered, and the awkwardness returned.
To be honest, Jiraiya felt quite uncomfortable.
'If only I had kept a better eye on this kid...'
'Maybe none of this would have happened.'
In a way, Sunagakure's current state was partly his fault.
Jiraiya patted Naruto's shoulder, smiled, and said, "Let's go."
"Let's go home."
Naruto looked up at Jiraiya's weathered face and was in a daze for a long time.
"But… "
"If I don't fix this Cult Mechanicus, the Shinobi World will really be doomed..."
Jiraiya: "..."
Naruto's words instantly silenced him.
All the emotions he had carefully built up were shattered in an instant.
'Fix it?!'
'Did this kid really have no self-awareness at all?!'
'If you could fix it, it wouldn't have gotten this bad in the first place!'
'Why is this kid so stubborn!?'
Jiraiya sighed deeply, then grabbed Naruto by the collar and started to lift him up.
However, seeing his teacher about to take action, Naruto instinctively grabbed onto the couch.
Jiraiya pulled several times but failed to lift the boy up.
This time, Jiraiya really lost his temper.
"You damn brat! What are you still doing here!?"
"If you leave, someone will naturally solve the problems here!"
Naruto immediately fired back.
"No way!"
"Without me, Sunagakure's Cult Mechanicus will spread..."
"And the Shinobi World will be destroyed soon!"
Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's legs and tried dragging him out, but the boy was so strong that Jiraiya couldn't pull him away at all.
Bang…
Just as the master and the disciple were wrestling, the door was sent flying past them with a loud crash.
Turning their heads to look at the door, they saw Tsunade had already appeared in the room with Hinata, Neji, Hiashi and the others.
"UZUMAKI! NARUTO!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!"
"Are you and Sakura trying to destroy the Shinobi World!?"
"Right now! Immediately! You're coming home with me!"
"And we're going to have a long talk when we get back!"
"And you, Jiraiya!"
Tsunade was like an enraged lion at this moment, her neck flushed red as she started to scold the two of them.
However, she still gave the master and disciple some face and did not start beating them directly here.
Naruto had been keeping his head down, taking the scolding, but then he caught a key detail in Tsunade's words.
'Me and Sakura??'
'Huh??'
'Did Sakura-Bro do it too?'
Naruto shrank his head and looked at his wife among the crowd, then looked at Tsunade, feeling really curious.
"That…"
"Wasn't Sakura in the Land of Snow?"
"What did she do?"
"Hmph!"
Tsunade ignored Naruto and waved her hand dismissively, as if to say, 'We're leaving now'.
But Hinata, who hadn't seen Naruto in so long, quickly stepped forward and whispered to him in a tiny voice.
"Sakura started something called the 'Scientific Truth Society' in the Land of Snow."
"Apparently... it seems to be a cult as well."
Naruto: "???"
'What the hell?!'
'Sakura-Bro went that far too?!'
'She actually created a Scientific Truth Society.'
Naruto was confused and disdainful at the same time.
'There was no way those backwater folks in the Land of Snow could build a complete scientific system in just a month!'
Naruto didn't even have to think that the Scientific Truth Society that Sakura had to be just as messed up as his Mechanicus, otherwise, it wouldn't be called a cult.
As the group walked out of the Kazekage Building, Naruto saw mechanical parts scattered all over the ground.
The believers, who were originally on guard, were now lying on the ground wailing.
"Cult Leader!! You can't leave us!!"
"You relics of the old era!"
"Let go of our Cult Leader!"
The muscular man lay sprawled on the ground, glaring at Tsunade with venomous hatred as if she were some heinous demoness.
"Heretics!!"
"Damn heretics!"
"We will purge every last one of you..."
Bang…
A few well-placed kicks from Tsunade later, the area finally fell silent.
Glancing disdainfully at the unconscious Sunagakure's Shinobi on the ground, Tsunade smiled contemptuously.
"Cult Mechanicus?"
"Hmph!"
"How dare you call this a mere Puppet Technique a 'cult'?"
She glanced at Naruto, who was still standing there in a daze, then looked at Jiraiya and said coldly, "Jiraiya, once this matter is dealt with, take Naruto to Mount Myoboku."
"Let him practice the Senjutsu… he needs his temper tempered."
Jiraiya certainly had no objection. Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but saw Tsunade dangled a scroll.
"As long as you don't cause any trouble, I will give you the Impure World Reincarnation after you finish learning the Senjutsu."
"DEAL!!"
Hearing this, Naruto agreed on the spot.
'Good, good, good!'
'Kakashi, just wait for death!'
Right now, all Naruto cared about was resurrecting his mom and teaching that white-haired slacker a lesson.
As for the so-called 'Shinobi World's crisis'...
He doesn't care!