Chapter 278: Naruto Uzumaki: Who's the Guy with the Straw Hat?
But—
That sly old fox Hiruzen Sarutobi would never let any of this filth stick to him.
In the past, it was Danzo Shimura, and now it was Choza Akimichi trying to dig up dirt on him—but pinning anything on Sarutobi was no easy feat.
"That bastard Orochimaru, I'll never forgive him!"
Naruto Uzumaki's brows furrowed tightly.
Just hearing the name filled him with disgust.
It was Orochimaru who orchestrated the Collapse of Konoha, slandering the Third Hokage in public and colluding with the Daimyō of the Land of Fire to drive them out to the edge of the world.
Sasuke sighed inwardly and gently reminded him, "Naruto, your father is stationed in the capital of the Land of Hot Water. If you get the chance, you should go see him."
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had been treated more like a diplomatic figure—permitted to mingle among the nobility of the Hot Water Nation, but given few chances to return to Konoha.
With his sharp intuition, Minato had likely sensed the Third's distancing and suppression long ago. But for Naruto's sake, he hadn't chosen to confront it.
If Naruto could spend more time with his father, maybe it would help him shake off the Third's brainwashing—just a little.
"I understand, Sasuke. Once our clan territory is built, I'll report to Grandpa Third and head to the capital of the Land of Hot Water."
When Minato was mentioned, Naruto's eyes lit up with excitement.
He'd grown up lacking familial love—what he longed for most now was just that. Once he saved enough revival coin fragments, he was determined to bring his mother back and reunite the family.
In his quest log—
Was a task he'd accepted from [Queen Skadi]: "Construct the Clan Territory."
It was a complex mission.
First, he had to find the elusive Queen Skadi, then steadily complete her tasks to build trust and favor.
Only then would she allow the clan territory to be constructed within Belmar's borders.
Once the territory was established—
They could transfer their old-world clan to Arad, reactivating buildings like the [Resurrection Altar], which would boost their daily revive count.
In essence, it would be the Konoha Clan's base of operations on the Arad Continent.
Just like Queen Skadi, other native rulers of Arad included [Empress Aska] of Pandemonium and [Helron V] of the Dros Empire.
To build a base, players had to continually complete quests issued by these regional leaders to earn their approval.
For example—
Hidden Mist and the Land of Snow had both chosen to settle in Bantu territory, leveraging the environmental advantages that suited their playstyle.
Whoever could establish a foothold the fastest would gain access to the richest resources in the new world.
All the factions from the ninja world understood this clearly—
Which was why they constantly disrupted one another, preventing enemies from successfully building their bases.
Just like moments ago—
All the materials Naruto had painstakingly gathered had been destroyed by players from the Fire Empire, slowing the mission's progress considerably.
"Naruto, what happened?"
Fresh from monster hunting, Tsunade and Jiraiya returned to Konoha's crude camp, their backpacks stuffed with materials.
Upon seeing the mess and sensing residual enemy presence, they frowned deeply.
"It was the Fire Empire players."
"Again?"
Tsunade was furious but also helpless.
Unlike the ninja villages, the Fire Empire had undergone complete military reform, transforming the former Land of Fire into the ninja world's first true military empire.
Their Reward Point farming and player numbers were absurdly high—
Capable of matching multiple ninja villages in battle without falling behind.
At its current stage, Konoha was no match for them.
After a moment of silence, Tsunade said, "Naruto, head to the nearby town and exchange our monster remains for construction materials. We'll relocate our camp."
Staying put would only risk further ambushes.
Fortunately, before a base is completed, it exists as a medal-like energy core that can be moved at any time.
"Got it."
Naruto nodded, hoisted his massive golden greatsword, and sprinted toward the distant town.
The Principality of Belmar was vast—
But most areas had been corrupted and turned into wastelands, making it extremely tricky to use them for clan territory.
The game had strict rules:
You couldn't build in places with severe corruption or overly powerful monsters nearby—it would put the clan in danger.
And the few towns that hadn't been corrupted weren't available for player settlement.
This was one of the game's core rules.
When players first arrived in Arad, Fang Yi had implemented these laws—players were forbidden from attacking native NPCs or violating rules set by the original inhabitants.
This world was already on the brink—
If the last surviving towns fell, the entire world might be swallowed by corruption. Restoring it would become far more difficult.
That's why—
Fang Yi strictly forbade players from harming the natives. Without that rule, the players might've butchered them all before the corruption even got the chance.
These remaining towns served as safe zones and supply hubs—designed to improve gameplay and protect the last flames of life.
"HAHAHAHA! An isekai adventure! I want otherworldly food!"
"I wanna drink!"
"Gold! The treasure of another world must be super collectible!"
"There must be sick people here who need healing, right?"
"Fascinating... I want to study the history of Arad!"
In the northernmost city of Belmar, Marl City—
Naruto had just reached the gates when he spotted a strange group.
Leading them was a boy around his own age wearing a straw hat, holding a simple bug-catching net—clearly made from a tree branch outside town.
Behind him came a green-haired swordsman, a beautiful woman with orange hair, a man in a suit smoking a cigarette, and a bookish woman carrying a tome.
And most shockingly—a talking reindeer?
"A summoning beast? It feels unfamiliar... Are they players from one of the small ninja villages?"
But before he could wonder further, they started arguing with the gate guards.
The orange-haired beauty was furious, clutching her wallet like a miser and shouting, "Five Reward Points just to enter the city?! Are we the pirates here, or are you?! This is robbery!"
"These are merchant rules in the game. You have to follow them," said the guard calmly.
Naruto, about to enter himself, feared they might get into a fight with the guards and stepped forward to explain, "If you break the rules, you'll be banned from the city for a while—it's really inconvenient."
Back when ninja players had first broken the rules and attacked the guards—
They'd been locked out of towns, unable to accept quests, and their Reward Point farming slowed to a crawl.
They couldn't even resupply properly—had to rely on random potions from the game's virtual store while hunting monsters.
But most crucially—
The Arad game map, being the second-tier public map after the beginner zone, came with a brutal rule: [Death Penalty].
If you died—
You didn't just lose EXP and Reward Points. There was also a chance you'd drop equipment, skills, and other items on your person.
The only way to protect against this was to buy a [Life Lock]—a rule-based item sold by town NPCs, limited to one purchase per week.
If you couldn't enter a town, you couldn't buy a Life Lock.
Which meant—
A single death could cost you thousands—or even tens of thousands—of Reward Points.
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