Chapter 160: Aftermath

Everyone finished the meal with heavy hearts, left deeply unsettled by the enigmatic affairs of the Ghost clan.

Naruto threw one arm around Sasuke’s shoulder while patting his own slightly protruding belly with the other hand. “I’m so full,” he declared.

Sasuke was still blind, a crimson cloth bound tightly around his eyes and tied at the back of his head. Though his eyes were concealed, one could easily imagine him rolling them in annoyance as he turned his head away. “Idiot,” he muttered.

Naruto tightened his grip around Sasuke’s neck, pouting as he replied, “What’s wrong with being an idiot? Aren’t you friends with an idiot anyway?”

He stroked his rounded stomach again, his eyes crinkling into happy crescents. “I feel so happy.”

As their group strolled down the avenue, many passersby scurried away as if fleeing in terror, while others rushed toward them with fanatical adoration. Most of them were their devoted fans.

At that moment, a female fan of Sasuke caught Naruto’s final words, and her heart skipped a beat.

That softly rounded belly… The arm draped so familiarly around Sasuke’s neck… And that beaming, bliss-filled smile… Oh, heavens!

Instead of feeling sorrowful, they were instantly electrified, their eyes sparkling as they darted back and forth between Sasuke and Naruto.

That kind of relationship… That kind of relationship…

How thrilling!

Noticing the frenzied gazes of the surrounding fans, Naruto asked, “Sasuke, why are they getting so excited?”

Sasuke replied indifferently, “They’re excited simply because they see us.”

Naruto pressed on, “Then why are their faces all flushed?”

“Flushed faces?”

Sasuke paused to think. “Usually, it’s a struggle just to catch a glimpse of even one of us. Now not only have they seen all three, but they’ve even laid eyes on Itachi-兄. For fans, that’s triple the happiness. Blushing is perfectly normal.”

Naruto looked doubtful. “Is that so?”

It sounded sort of logical.

Deciding to dwell on it no longer, he cheerfully waved and greeted the fans. He soon noticed that the tighter he hugged Sasuke and the closer he pressed against him, the more ecstatic the fans became. Taking full advantage of this, he simply scrambled onto Sasuke’s back, securing his position with Wood Release techniques.

Suddenly burdened with a rider, Sasuke turned his head and frowned. “What are you doing?”

Naruto replied lazily, “My legs are too tired to walk. Give me a piggyback ride for a bit.”

“Idiot.” Though he muttered the insult, Sasuke didn’t shake Naruto off, continuing forward with him clinging to his back.

This entire spectacle played out before the fans, driving the crowd completely wild.

“Did you see that? Did you see that? SasuNaru is totally showing off their affection!”

“There is no bond finer than this!”

“They are such a perfect match.”

One fan even managed to snap a photo of Sasuke frowning as he spoke to the man on his back, captioning it with: *Naruto is carrying a little baby, so Sasuke ordered him onto his back out of fear that walking would tire him out! I have witnessed true love right here!*

The online fan communities erupted into a frenzy. They even had a baby together!

What an absolute bombshell of gossip!

Watching Naruto gently stroke his rounded belly with that beaming, blissful expression, they genuinely couldn’t tell what was real and what was fiction anymore.

Was this all just playful banter, or was it the absolute truth?

***

Having no inkling of the elaborate scenarios spinning in the fans' imaginations, Sasuke and Naruto followed quite cheerfully behind Orochimaru and the others, returning to the planet they had arrived in.

Uchiha Itachi piloted the planet once more, setting a course for the Dark Domain.

The Dark Domain was a realm of perpetual gloom where no light could escape the gravitational pull of the dark planets. Even those of immense power risked being sucked into these shadowy spheres and crushed to death.

However, this posed no problem for Orochimaru’s party; Uchiha Itachi’s strength was formidable enough to roam the Dark Domain unhindered.

Even while piloting an entire planet, this remained true.

“Found it!” Yakushi Kabuto exclaimed abruptly, having busied himself the moment they returned.

He had been using a communication gas-orb to search for information regarding the "Ghost clan." The orb had been provided by Orochimaru, and its performance was top-tier across the entire universe.

The gazes of Uchiha Itachi and the others instantly converged on him.

“What’s the situation? Lord Orochimaru has been acting all secretive—can we actually glean anything from this thing?” Sasuke asked.

Kabuto expanded the communication gas-orb, projecting a holographic image into the air. It offered a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view with no blind spots, visible to everyone present.

“The Ghost clan, a mutated branch of the Undead. They possess the ability to possess living hosts, thereby controlling the host’s body, absorbing their memories, and living on in their stead.

The higher-tier the ghost, the more powerful the target they can possess.”

Uchiha Itachi scanned downward quickly. Further down was information regarding the political affiliations and background of the Ghost clan.

“The Ghost clan belongs to the faction of the Sage of Six Paths. Because their abilities are heavily countered by the Kurosawa clan, they became a vassal race to the Kurosawa…”

Reading this to himself, Uchiha Itachi thought, *Could this be connected to the Kurosawa clan?*

To his knowledge, the Ghost clan was not listed among the vassal races of the Kurosawa, nor had he ever heard of their name before; the clan possessed virtually no widespread renown.

It seemed highly probable that the Ghost clan was a hidden force operated in secret by the Kurosawa.

That was why they had remained unknown to him.

After reading through all the data, apart from detailing the Ghost clan's abilities and factional allegiance, the rest of the information proved largely useless.

Kabuto put away the communication gas-orb, causing the projection in the air to vanish. “The information I retrieved is classified; its credibility is very high.”

Uchiha Itachi nodded. “It seems the Ghost clan’s invitation is very likely tied to the Kurosawa clan.”

Everyone present was well aware of the hostile relations between Uchiha Itachi and the Kurosawa clan.

Come to think of it, Kurosawa Shosho had met his end at Uchiha Itachi’s hands. And Kurosawa Yusho, Shosho’s older brother, had certainly known about this development for some time, yet he had made not a single move in all these recent days.

This behavior was entirely uncharacteristic of a brother who deeply cherished his sibling.

Kabuto observed, “The forces behind this matter are likely linked to the Kurosawa clan. We will simply have to wait until we meet the Ghost clan to verify it.”

***

Lacking physical forms, the Ghost clan consisted entirely of spiritual entities, making them ideally suited for survival within the Dark Domain.

Because the immense gravitational pull of the dark realm had very little effect on them, they possessed extraordinary agility here.

Ordinary races were simply no match for them.

The primary planet of the Ghost clan, known as Ghost Planet, was the only luminous dark sphere in the entire Dark Domain.

The planet’s core had been artificially altered, causing the entire world to emit a deep, chilling ghost-green radiance, matching the appearance of the Ghost folk themselves.

When unpossessing any host, the members of the Ghost clan appeared as human figures glowing entirely in a ghostly green light.

After traveling for several days, they finally arrived outside the main planet of the Ghost clan. Uchiha Itachi parked the planet off to the side, while he, Orochimaru, and the others took to the void, soaring toward the Ghost homeworld.

Ghost Planet was surprisingly desolate. Among the dense cluster of ghost-green architecture covering the entire world, not a single living soul could be seen, as if every trace of life on the planet had simply vanished.

It had turned into a dead world.

Orochimaru and his companions maintained expressionless faces, navigating according to the sudden appearance of aerial arrows pointing the way. Before long, they arrived before a massive palace on the main planet.

Pushing open the heavy palace doors, they stepped inside. There, seated regally upon the throne, the ruler of the Ghost clan gazed down at Orochimaru and the others.

“You’ve finally arrived,” he spoke.