Pain. She could even see through the thick veil of oblivion into which he had been plunged. Naruto's eyelids were fluttering, his consciousness was desperately trying to surface, but his body, poisoned with anesthetics, remained paralyzed. Nearby, on the next operating table, Uchiha Sasuke was struggling in agony. His screams, full of curses, echoed in the sterile white room.
Several masked figures were leaning over him. In their hands shone chakra scalpels, thin, deadly-sharp blades of light. With icy professionalism, they dissected his flesh, carving intricate patterns of sealing techniques on the living tissue. Sasuke was conscious. He felt everything.
The voices of the Shinobi medics sounded calm and detached, as if they were discussing fixing a broken puppet.
"The pulse is unstable. Increase the sedative dose, but don't jam the nerve endings."
"The vessel must remain conscious. This is the methodology. Otherwise, the seal will go awry."
"Be patient, Uchiha. It's for the safety of the village. You don't want to die without seeing your precious Yue, do you?"
The last sentence sounded like a sophisticated mockery, cold and indifferent. In their speeches, Sasuke was not a person, but an object, a "vessel."
"Brutes... Yue will destroy you all..." rasped Sasuke, writhing in impotent rage. But his efforts were in vain. He could not awaken the Sharingan — there was only darkness in the empty eye sockets. He was deprived of his eyesight beforehand to prevent Mangekye from waking up. Now he was blind and helpless.
And around them, in glass capsules and on nearby tables, lay others.… Those whom the Konoha ninja called "savages", captured in the forests of the Land of Fire. They honed this very technique, bringing it to perfection. Their lives were just consumables on the way to creating the barrier that was now being implanted in Sasuke. How many of them died in agony so that Shinobi doctors could learn to operate on a living, feeling heart?
Naruto stood like an invisible shadow in the middle of this hell. He looked at what was happening, and his world, built on faith and friendship, was bursting at the seams. It can't be true. It doesn't exist. It's a nightmare caused by illness.
Fragments of someone else's conversation surfaced in his mind:
"...what if he asks about Uchiha? He'll make a fuss..."
"...so many days without consciousness, we need to come up with an explanation..."
"... let's say he ran away, it's not the first time. This fool will believe in anything..."
"...haha..."
That quiet, contemptuous laugh pierced Naruto more painfully than any kunai.
So that's it…
Sasuke… He didn't escape. He was... murdered. Tsunade… Jiraiya… All of you…
The Will of Fire... that's what it is... the price for the "welfare of the village." Comrades... haha…
I was just a fool.
Naruto soundlessly sank to his knees, holding his head in his hands. His body was shaking, even though he couldn't feel it. His world was falling apart.
"No... that's not true… It's just a dream..." he whispered into the void. "Because of Sasuke... because of the low sugar."… I'm sleeping. Wake up. WAKE UP!
He shook his head frantically, trying to break the spell with his willpower.
And at that moment, the world around him began to swim, dissolving into a gray haze. Naruto found himself in a familiar dank dungeon, in front of a huge cage. Two blood-red eyes full of ancient malice stared at him from the darkness.
"This is not a dream, boy," the voice rumbled, shaking the very core of his being.
Naruto raised his head, stunned. "Who are you...?"
"You still don't get it? The beast slowly leaned forward, and its giant fox—like face emerged from the shadows. "I'm the power they've been draining out of you. I'm the reason you're still alive."
"No," I said.… Not happening… Are you in my body? Granny Tsunade… A perverted hermit... they would say! This is a dream! The village is not like that! The Will of Fire!..
"HA HA HA HA HA!"
The Nine-Tails' deep, thunderous laughter hit his ears, full of venomous mockery at his naivety.
"What are you laughing at?!" roared Naruto, jumping to his feet.
"I'm laughing at your blindness, boy! —Even now, after seeing everything with your own eyes, you're still lying to yourself!" Don't you want to see Konoha's darkness?"
"This is not a dream. This is reality! That village you believed in is an illusion! She never existed! Now tell me, how long are you going to cling to this lie?!"
"Sasuke didn't escape! He's dead! He was thrown into this pit by the very people who swore friendship to him and talked about the Will of Fire! Here she is, your vaunted Konoha! Here they are, your comrades!"
"LOOK!"
The Nine-Tails roared, and the laboratory appeared before Naruto's eyes again — Sasuke's tortured body, the cold eyes of the masked executioners, their indifferent voices.
— Noooooo…
Naruto collapsed to his knees. His faith, his hope, his whole world, all turned to ashes.
So that's what it is... the Will of Fire.