Zero's figure melted into the shadows, moving like a ghost along the edge of the battlefield, setting up explosive tags and tripwires. Every one of his placements was incredibly precise, forming an invisible warning net.
White knelt on one knee, hands flying, as icy senbon needles pierced Naruto's neck and chest acupoints. With exquisite medical Ninjutsu, he guided the neural toxin that had invaded Naruto's body to slowly expel itself. His movements were focused and reverent, as if he were repairing a sacred work of art.
Sakura hugged the unconscious Sasuke, her body still trembling uncontrollably. She stared blankly at the bizarre scene before her.
These two people who had suddenly appeared—one wore a blank mask, his aura like that of a pure assassin; the other had a delicate face, but his methods were cold and efficient.
Who were they?
Why did they obey Naruto's commands?
"You…" Sakura's lips moved, and she finally squeezed out a few dry words, "Who exactly are you?"
White did not turn his head; his entire focus was on Naruto.
"By order of the Political Commissar, eliminate the threat," Zero appeared ghost-like on a nearby tree trunk, his voice like two stones grinding together, "Mission accomplished, threat has retreated."
Political Commissar?
That word again.
Sakura's mind was in a whirl. She was already accustomed to Naruto being associated with iron-bloodedness and authority, not the prank-loving Loser.
White finally completed the initial treatment. He let out a soft sigh and then turned his gaze to Sakura, and the Uchiha Sasuke in her arms, whose cursed mark on his neck was faintly visible.
"The Political Commissar's order is to 'recover the soldier,'" White's voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable resolve, "We must take him with us."
"No!" Sakura instinctively hugged Sasuke tighter. "Sasuke-kun is badly injured, and I don't know where you're taking him!"
"We won't harm him," White stood up, his tone still gentle, but Sakura could sense the coldness beneath that gentleness. "But you must understand, he has already been 'corrupted.' If not controlled, he will soon become something like a monster, or even worse."
Corruption? Purification?
These words, like heavy hammers, struck at Sakura's understanding.
She looked at the ominous black lines on Sasuke's neck, and a chill rose from her heart. She couldn't refute it, because her deepest fear was telling her that what this delicate young man said might be true.
Just then, Naruto's eye twitched.
His consciousness had not returned.
It was sinking, passing through darkness, through chaos, falling into a deeper sea of memories unrelated to the Nine-Tailed...
This was not a battlefield, there was no blood or roaring.
This was the Konoha Library, so quiet that only the rustling of turning pages could be heard.
Naruto, who had recently returned from that universe of steel and fire, sat at the most secluded wooden table. He was still wearing his faded orange jacket, but his posture was like a statue, straight and rigid.
Piled in front of him were not things like the will of fire or Ninjutsu scrolls.
Instead, there were ancient texts such as "Myth of the Ninja Creator God," "Legend of the Six Paths Sage," "Origin of the Bloodline Limit," and "Secret Records of Ancient Wars"—texts that most Ninja treated as bedtime stories or historical dust.
In his ice-blue eyes, there was no youthful curiosity, only an almost inorganic analysis and deconstruction.
Page after page of seemingly unrelated fragmented information was forcibly captured, dissected, and reassembled by him.
"Divine Tree..."
"Goddess of the Rabbit..."
"Chakra Fruit..."
"Six Paths Sage..."
"Indra and Ashura..."
In his perception, reshaped by "Imperial Truth," all of this was quickly translated into another cold, cruel, yet undeniably real language.
This was not a myth.
This was a chillingly clear "Alien Organism Invasion and Energy Contamination Report."
"Invading Species: Ōtsutsuki."
"Method of Invasion: Deploying a planetary-level parasitic unit codenamed 'Divine Tree' to absorb the planet's life energy."
"Conversion Product: A high-density energy aggregate codenamed 'Chakra Fruit.'"
"Contaminant: 'Chakra,' a bio-energy capable of mental interference and genetic modification, which fundamentally alters the evolutionary path of indigenous life, making them more aggressive, to facilitate the selection of stronger 'nutrients.'"
"Pioneer Unit: Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, tasked with guarding the 'nursery' and ensuring the 'fruit' matures."
"Unexpected Situation: The pioneer unit betrayed its clan, privately consumed the 'fruit,' and combined with indigenous life, producing hybrid offspring, leading to the widespread diffusion of the 'contaminant' among indigenous intelligent species."
The so-called Ninja history, the so-called Bloodline Limit, were merely various deformities produced after indigenous life was contaminated by foreign genes.
And the Nine-Tailed within him was the largest fragment of that vast contaminant source after being forcibly divided.
Naruto's fingertips lightly traced the portrait of the "Six Paths Sage" on the page.
In his mind, another grander, more tragic history uncontrollably surfaced.
That was the bloody tragedy remembered by every human in the Warhammer 40K universe—the Horus Heresy.
Horus Lupercal, the Warmaster most trusted by the Emperor, the most glorious Primarch, the brightest morning star of the Human Imperium.
He heard the whispers of the Chaos Gods from the Warp.
He believed the lies about a "tyrant father" and a "hypocritical empire."
Then, he raised the banner of rebellion, leading nine Space Marine Legions, and spread war across the entire galaxy.
The Emperor's most powerful children tore each other apart.
The Human Imperium crumbled, plunging into ten thousand years of endless darkness and war.
Naruto slowly closed his eyes.
"The strongest son, corrupted by an extra-dimensional evil god, betrayed the Emperor..."
He redirected his gaze back to the scroll in front of him.
"The Six Paths Sage's two most outstanding sons, Indra and Ashura, began a thousand-year struggle for power and ideals..."
The startling similarity sent a shiver down his spine.
The Ōtsutsuki (alien race) sowed Chakra (the contaminant), the struggle between Indra and Ashura (fratricide after contamination), and the cycle of "hatred" that continues to this day.
This was not a coincidence.
This was a tragedy inscribed in the laws of the universe, destined to play out.
A more terrifying thought, like the sharpest ice pick, fiercely stabbed into the core of his mind.
Since the Ōtsutsuki clan were the sowers, the "farmers."
Then, the farmers would sooner or later return to inspect their "farms" and harvest their "crops."
This world, his home, Konoha Village... in the eyes of those high-and-mighty alien races, it was not a civilization worthy of respect at all.
It was just a fenced-off nursery.
A colony waiting to be harvested.
A farm that could be completely wiped out at any moment by a higher level of violence...
"...Farmers."
A very soft, almost inaudible mumble escaped Naruto's pale lips.
White, who was about to carry him on his back, suddenly froze.
He lowered his head and saw Naruto's eyeballs spinning violently beneath his tightly closed eyelids.
On that face, which was always covered with cold determination, for the first time, a hint of... fear appeared.
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