Demon Child Karin.
This was no longer simple impersonation or slander.
This was calculated, malicious framing of the highest order.
It was meant to nail him to the pillar of historical disgrace—forever condemned, forever unable to clear his name.
"Whoever is behind this… what do you want?!"
"What do you gain from ruining me?!"
"Or is your true target the entire shinobi system—and I'm merely the first sacrifice pushed forward to absorb the hatred?!"
The Sage of Six Paths raged.
Yet at the peak of his fury, he forced himself into a sliver of calm.
He realized that the hidden manipulator's methods, power, and objectives far exceeded his original estimates.
Not only could the mastermind fabricate an indistinguishable projection—
They could replicate even his spiritual aura to publicly frame him.
This was not something achievable through the chakra system.
It might not even belong to any known power within this world.
For the first time in a thousand years—
The Sage felt true crisis overshadow his anger.
Inside the Projection
"Naruto."
Sasuke's voice was hoarse, yet clear—stripped of confusion, leaving behind only stubborn resolve.
"I don't know whether what you said is true. I don't know whether the path you've chosen is right or wrong."
He raised his head. His dim yet unyielding Six-Tomoe Rinnegan met Naruto's gaze.
"But there are things I must protect."
His eyes seemed to pierce through space itself—toward the hidden facility where he had painstakingly reconstructed a distorted yet hopeful "new Uchiha Clan."
It was his obsession.
His answer to Itachi's past.
His warped vision of rebirth.
No matter what, he would not allow anyone—not even Naruto—to destroy it.
Neji stood at Sasuke's side. Though pale and unsteady, clarity had returned to his eyes.
He glanced at Sasuke, understanding the unspoken meaning, then turned to Naruto.
"Naruto… I have my friends. My comrades. My clansmen."
"There are people who have shown me kindness. People I owe."
"I cannot accept destroying everything to achieve your so-called 'purification' or 'truth'—no matter how righteous it sounds."
Their choice had nothing to do with grand conspiracies or whether the Sage of Six Paths was saint or devil.
Their choice was rooted in something far simpler—
The instinct to protect what they cherished.
Even if that protection appeared small, shortsighted, or even foolish within Naruto's "greater perspective."
Naruto looked at them.
For the first time, the familiar cold mockery on his face faded—replaced by something heavier.
Disappointment.
Sorrow.
And loneliness.
"…Sigh."
He exhaled deeply.
"Your vision… is still too small."
"You only see what's in front of you. Clinging to your little patch of bonds and responsibilities… shackled by emotions that may have been preset for you."
He shook his head, as though lamenting that two weapons with divine potential had chosen the path of ordinary steel.
"You've truly disappointed me."
Sasuke and Neji did not argue.
They did not waver.
They simply stared at Naruto like men facing a world-ending beast.
Words had run out.
Logic had been exhausted.
"So," Sasuke stepped forward. The motion tugged at his wounds, forcing a grunt of pain—but his aura did not falter.
"Are you declaring war?"
A final confirmation.
A final ultimatum.
Naruto tilted his head, a faint smile returning to his lips. Gone was the earlier emotional weight.
What remained was cold calculation.
"War?"
His gaze swept over their battered states.
"Even without using chakra… I still have the advantage."
It was true.
His body, strengthened by Divine Techniques, had long surpassed ordinary limits. Even without actively channeling chakra, he could overwhelm the gravely wounded Sasuke and the near-exhausted Neji.
"If that's how it is…" Sasuke inhaled deeply, drawing in pain and resolve alike. His eyes sharpened, tinged with something bordering on madness.
"Then we'll have to gamble."
His gaze flicked deliberately toward the ground beneath them.
"Even if that means…"
"Releasing something… monstrous."
A naked threat.
If the three of them erupted into another high-intensity battle, the immense chakra consumption and leakage might become the final straw that shattered the seal.
Neji immediately grasped Sasuke's intent. Forcing himself upright, he added:
"Naruto. If we die here… no one will be left to stop you."
"In that case…"
"Better to bet everything."
"Our lives. And that monster."
He locked eyes with Naruto, whose expression had darkened instantly.
"Naruto… you wouldn't want that monster getting out… would you?"
An eye for an eye.
Earlier, Naruto had weaponized their fear of invasion and their instinct to protect the shinobi world.
Now, Sasuke and Neji turned the same logic against him—leveraging his concern that the monster's release would disrupt his "purification" plan.
It was the final card in a hopeless game.
A mutual destruction threat.
Naruto's face darkened like a storm-laden sky.
Kill them?
The monster might break free—disrupting everything, plunging the situation into unpredictable danger.
Spare them?
Leave behind ideological enemies and potential threats.
Every option carried uncertainty.
The crater fell into suffocating silence.
Who would break it first?
Who would make the final decision?
Across the shinobi world, countless hearts pounded in unison.
And then—
"Whoa!"
A bright, lively voice—tinged with undisguised curiosity and excitement—rang out suddenly within the crater.
Like a pebble dropped into a frozen lake, it shattered the tension at its breaking point.
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