Iruka's headless body remained kneeling on the ground, blood spurting wildly from the severed neck. His head rolled across the dirt, spinning again and again until it stopped right in front of Naruto. That faint, lingering smile was still frozen on his lips.
Naruto's face shifted between sickly green and deathly pale. The woman he loved, Hinata, had just killed his teacher, Iruka-sensei, with her own hands right in front of him. This reality felt no different from hell itself.
His throat rattled with harsh, broken gasps as his chest rose and fell violently. The hyperventilation tore at his lungs, the pain sharp and suffocating. Then, out of nowhere, a strange sound escaped him. A shrill, twisted laugh squeezed out of his throat like something inhuman. It started faint, then grew louder, harsher, until it turned into full-blown hysterical laughter that echoed madly through the air.
Blood surged up his throat. He coughed violently, vomiting a mouthful of blood mixed with bile. His pupils lost focus, his head drooped, and his body went limp as he collapsed unconscious.
Isshiki pressed his palm downward. The Binding Bone Wood withdrew from Naruto's body and sank back into the ground. Without sparing Naruto another glance, nor even acknowledging the shattered survivors of Konoha, he turned away as if everything before him had already lost its value.
"Tenki, Kawaki is yours."
After speaking, Isshiki stepped through a spatial portal and vanished. His remaining lifespan was too short; every second mattered now.
Tenki extended her pale fingers. With a casual flick, a black claw mark etched itself onto Naruto's back. Then she turned toward the six newly created Divine Tree beings. Through silent mental communication, she assigned each of them a name.
Divine Tree Sai, the Deva Path, was named Shō. Divine Tree Yamanaka Ino, the Human Path, was named Mei. Divine Tree Nara Temari, the Asura Path, was named Rai. Divine Tree Kazamatsuri Moegi, the Animal Path, was named Kō. Divine Tree Yuhi Kurenai, the Preta Path, was named En. Divine Tree Uzuki Yugao, the Naraka Path, was named Shin.
Sai stepped forward and hoisted Kawaki over his shoulder. Tenki raised her hand again. A spherical distortion formed in the air, space twisting inward as it swallowed all eight of them. The sphere shrank rapidly, then disappeared, leaving nothing behind.
The suffocating pressure that had filled the battlefield finally vanished. But the darkness it left behind remained, heavy and suffocating in the hearts of every survivor.
In just three days, the population had plummeted from twenty thousand to two thousand. Nearly all combat power above the rank of jonin had been wiped out. Those who survived had already lost their spirit. The backbone that upheld the Will of Fire had been completely broken.
A hollow laugh echoed in the dead silence. "Honestly… it would've been better if we had stayed trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Even if we turned into White Zetsu, at least we would've died in a peaceful dream instead of living like this, trapped in hell."
The words struck a chord with many.
"We were wrong about Uchiha Obito."
"That's right. He was the one who truly thought for everyone."
"Obito-sama was the real savior of this world."
"And Naruto? He's nothing but an empty idealist."
"He makes promises so easily, then forgets them just as quickly!"
"If he couldn't do it, he shouldn't have promised anything in the first place!"
"He gave us hope, only to crush it again and again!"
"Hashirama-sama may have been naive, but at least he knew his limits!"
"Naruto's strength doesn't match his ideals!"
"I'm done believing in him!"
"Let him go live with his tailed beast friends!"
"He shouldn't be our Hokage anymore!"
"I'd rather have Danzo come back than let Naruto keep ruining us!"
"At least Danzo killed dozens or hundreds. Naruto gets thousands killed!"
"…Damn fox."
Hidden deep within a forest, inside the eye of a camouflaged artificial creature, a prosthetic lens transmitted everything it saw across vast distances. The footage fed directly into the scientific lenses worn by Amado in a secret base.
"Konoha is finished… completely useless now," Amado muttered, his voice trembling slightly. "Isshiki fused with the Ten-Tails… that power is simply monstrous."
He tried to light a cigarette to calm himself, but his fingers trembled uncontrollably. The lighter refused to spark. At that moment, Ao reached out, igniting a small flame at his fingertip to light the cigarette for him.
Amado inhaled deeply, greedily drawing the smoke into his lungs until they were saturated. He exhaled slowly, letting the tension bleed out of his body. His pores relaxed, and his usual composure returned as he leaned back into the sofa, staring at the ceiling.
Only after the cigarette had burned down completely, its toxins fully absorbed into his system, did he regain his usual calm demeanor. He turned to the man sitting across from him and allowed a rare smile to surface.
"Ao, at the critical moment, you were the one I could rely on. I never imagined that saving you on a whim back then would end up being the key to escaping Isshiki."
Ao replied calmly, "Amado-san, you saved me from Uchiha Akira. You gave me a second life. There's no way I would abandon you."
Amado's tone grew serious. "We've completely fallen out with Isshiki now. He won't let us go. For the next two days, he'll search the entire world for us and hunt us down."
He paused, then asked, "Tell me honestly, Ao. Are you afraid?"
Ao answered without hesitation. "Of course I am. Isshiki is a monster from another dimension. I've already died once, so I'm no longer afraid of death itself. What I fear is what lies beyond death… something even more terrifying and unknown."
Amado nodded. "After my modifications, your combat ability is on par with Delta. And among all my creations, you're the only one with spacetime abilities."
He continued, "Delta is different. She's stubborn and will only obey Jigen and Isshiki. Unless they're completely gone, she's nothing but trouble. So I've put her into sleep mode."
Ao's expression didn't change, but he understood perfectly. If he disobeyed, he could be shut down just as easily.
"So," Ao said, "what do you need me to do?"
Amado lit another cigarette. "I need you to investigate a hidden base for me."
Ao narrowed his eyes. "What exactly am I looking for?"
After a moment of silence, Amado revealed, "I created two cyborgs. They were too powerful—far stronger than Jigen—so he ordered them disposed of. Their abilities… are extremely dangerous. I don't know the current state of that facility, so I can't go there myself."
"You want me to scout it first," Ao concluded.
"That's right. It's risky. If something goes wrong, you won't make it back."
Ao nodded. "What are their abilities?"
"Daemon," Amado said. "He reflects killing intent. Any attack born from your intent to kill him will be reflected back onto you."
Ao frowned slightly. "Then just suppress the killing intent."
"His physical abilities—speed, reflexes—are on par with Isshiki."
"…I see. And the other one?"
Amado exhaled a stream of smoke before answering. "Eida. Her ability is charm. Anyone who sees her will fall in love with her—man, woman, child, it doesn't matter. No one can resist it."
"No exceptions?"
"Except for Otsutsuki, and her blood relatives."
Ao gave a faint smile. "So if that base is out of control, I'll just end up completely under her influence."
"With a smart man like you, I don't need to explain much," Amado said. "Ao, I truly hope you return safely. You and Koji are the only ones I can rely on now. But Koji isn't suited for combat."
Ao stood up. "No need to say more. Input the coordinates into my eye."
After Ao left, Amado used a remote to open a hidden barrier door that even the Byakugan couldn't detect. Inside, Koji sat before advanced monitoring equipment.
"Well?" Amado asked.
"When you mentioned that name," Koji replied, "Ao's heart rate spiked significantly."
"…As expected," Amado muttered, his eyes darkening.
Koji frowned. "You suspect Ao?"
Amado shook his head slowly. "I'm not suspicious of Ao. I'm suspicious of Uchiha Akira."
Koji's eyes widened in surprise.
Amado continued, "I believe that encounter between Akira and Ao was staged. A calculated move to insert Ao into the inner circle… to place him by my side."
He paused, then added, "Now I've confirmed it. Uchiha Akira's goal is…"
He crushed the cigarette into the ashtray, a calculating glint flashing in his eyes.
"So I gave Ao a fake set of coordinates."
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