64: Chapter 64 The Harvest of Faith and the End of an Old EraNaruto…
After Gaara shouted, the dust in the air seemed to stop floating.
Gaara lay on the ground, the warmth of his veins being filled with blood again causing him to feel momentarily disoriented.
He remembered the darkness, the excruciating pain of his soul being torn apart when Shukaku was removed, and the icy chill of falling into an abyss.
But now, all of that has disappeared.
Instead, there was a golden figure backlit in front of me.
The aversion to seeing monsters and the fear of seeing weapons were gone.
What came into his view at that moment was a sun that was very close at hand.
The lingering warmth of that domineering golden light still echoed in my chest.
This is neither medical ninjutsu nor a transfer of chakra.
This is bestowal.
A being of a higher status casually bestowed upon an ant of a lower status the authority called "life".
Gaara propped himself up.
The Sand Village ninjas around them maintained their original postures, but their faces, which had been twisted with despair, had completely frozen, replaced by a blank stare due to brain overload.
The dead are resurrected.
These four words represent an absolute taboo in the ninja world, a realm that only the legendary Sage of Six Paths could possibly touch.
And now, right before their eyes, in this canyon covered in yellow sand, a miracle has occurred.
Thump.
A dull thud of a knee hitting the ground broke the silence.
It wasn't because my legs were weak, nor because I was tired.
It was an instinctive reaction originating from the depths of the soul, a result of being utterly subdued by absolute power.
Immediately afterwards.
Thump.Thump.Thump.
It's like toppling the first domino.
First came the Jonin who was in charge of relaying the order, then the Anbu around him, and then the ordinary Chunin on the outer perimeter.
Even the elders who usually thought highly of themselves and were hostile towards Konoha were now kneeling with their foreheads pressed firmly to the ground.
There was no cheering.
There was no applause.
At this moment, any commotion is blasphemy against the divine.
Throughout the valley, hundreds of Sand Village elites, regardless of rank or age, all knelt before the blond-haired boy.
They no longer regarded him as a genin from an allied village, nor as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
This is a pilgrimage.
It is to offer the most humble and fervent reverence to a deity walking among humans.
[Ding!Faith collapse and reconstruction detected!]
[Ding!You have received 88,000 units of ultimate [Faith] from Gaara, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast!]
[Ding!You have acquired 65,000 Extreme [Madman] from the Captain of the Sand Village's Dark Side!]
[Ding!Received 120,000 Group [Submission] from the Sand Village Elders!]
[Ding!Received 5,600,000 Group [Awakening] from the people of Sunagakure!]
The numbers on the system panel refreshed wildly like an exploding fountain, the golden light almost overflowing from the retina.
Naruto stood in the center of the crowd, looking at the heads prostrate at his feet.
There was no savior-like compassion, nor any sense of accomplishment.
This feeling is like a farmer looking at his thriving chives in his field.
If you swing your hoe well, no corner is too big to dig down.
Since Sunagakure is already in disarray, he doesn't mind being the one to mold it back together.Of course, the shape he molds it into is up to him.
"Is this.the new era?"
An old sigh came from the side.
Chiyo did not kneel.
She leaned against a rock, her cloudy old eyes shining brightly at that moment.
She looked at Gaara, who had come back from the dead, and then at Naruto, who was being worshipped by everyone.
There is no need for reincarnation.
There's no need for one life to be exchanged for another.
There's not even a need for hand seals.
Simply reaching out can turn the tide of life and death.
Her puppetry skills, which she was so proud of her whole life and the forbidden art she had painstakingly studied for decades, were as laughable as children's toys in front of this boy.
But this did not make her feel disappointed.
On the contrary, an unprecedented sense of ease swept over my entire body.
Sunagakure has always struggled to survive in the cruel cracks of the ninja world.For the sake of the village, she has stained her hands with blood, and even went so far as to drive her own grandson to the brink of death.
She was too tired.
She was too afraid to die because she couldn't see a future for the village.
But now, she sees it.
Although this future does not belong to Sunagakure itself, it belongs to the blond boy in front of us.
But so what?
In this world where power reigns supreme, being able to rely on a true deity is an immense blessing.
"The future.is entrusted to you."
Chiyo's lips moved slightly as she uttered those words.
There were no tragic last words, nor any concern for his grandson.
She just felt her eyelids were very heavy.
The obsession that had sustained her until now dissipated, and with it, the life force within her had long since died out.
The old man's head slowly drooped down, resting against the cold rock, and never rose again.
But a relieved smile played on his lips.
"Grandma Chiyo!"
Sakura exclaimed in surprise and rushed over to check.
A few seconds later, the pink-haired girl turned her head, her eyes red-rimmed, but shook her head.
He did not die in battle.
It wasn't that I was exhausted.
He died of old age.
At this moment of divine intervention, the guardian deity of Sunagakure chose to end her long and turbulent life in the most peaceful moment.
Naruto didn't turn around, but glanced sideways at the gradually cooling old man's body.
"It can be considered a fairly decent end to this boring old era."
He felt nothing; the dead were indeed worthless, but the old man's death completed the final link in his harvest of Sunagakure's faith.
He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
*Smack*
The crisp sound echoed through the valley, interrupting everyone's sorrow.
The sandy ground not far away suddenly rose up.
The enormous tree roots parted like giant pythons, revealing what lay inside.
The wooden clone dragged out a figure that was bound hand and foot.
Sasori of the Red Sand.
At this moment, Scorpion had long lost the arrogant and domineering attitude he once had.
His true form—the core cylinder—was filled with black rods that suppressed chakra, making him look like a pile of discarded parts carelessly tossed on the ground.
He saw it.
Even while trapped within the Tree Realm, he sensed the immense, terrifying life energy emanating from the outside world.
At this moment, looking at the living Gaara and the peacefully deceased Chiyo, a crack appeared on Sasori's puppet face that would never age.
"This is what you call.power?"
Scorpion's voice had a hoarse, mechanical quality to it.
He sought eternity.
In pursuit of eternity, he transformed himself into a puppet, abandoning human emotions, and even killed the strongest Third Kazekage.
He believed that as long as the body did not decay, it would be eternal.
But now, someone is telling him that true eternity is not about becoming an inanimate object, but about controlling life and death at will.
He lost.
They lost completely, leaving not even a trace.
Naruto walked up to Sasori and looked down at the former genius.
"You lost."
Just three simple words.
Scorpion gave a bitter laugh.
"Yes, we lost."
He struggled to turn his eyes toward Chiyo's corpse.
In the end, the old woman still won against him.
She found a true backer and gave Sunagakure a way out.
"You have to accept the consequences of your bet."
"Scorpion said in a low voice."
"Bridge between Heaven and Earth".
"Ten days from now, I will meet with Orochimaru's spy there."
The intelligence was released.
This is his final value.
Scorpion stared at the vibrant green light, a hint of self-mockery flashing across his expressionless puppet face.
"So that's how it is.The physical body may decay, but the power to control life and death is truly eternal?"
Scorpion's voice lowered, carrying an emptiness like that of a shattered dream.
"My art, in the face of miracles, is indeed just an outdated toy."
Click.
It is not simply despair, but a feeling of "If I hear the truth in the morning, I can die content in the evening" after seeing the ultimate answer.
He shattered his sole life core on his own.
Since I have already been denied, and since eternity is just a joke, then this broken shell has no reason to exist.
The pile of parts had completely lost their vitality and were scattered all over the ground.
[Ding!You have obtained 45,000 units of the ultimate [Self-Destruction] from Sasori of the Red Sand!]
[Ding!Side quest "The Puppeteer's End" has been completed, rewards are being calculated.]
far away.
Behind a rock wall a few kilometers away.
Deidara clutched his severed right arm tightly, his mechanical eye contracting wildly.
He witnessed the entire process.
Even from this distance, the soaring golden beam of light and the suffocating life force sent a shiver down his spine.
"What is that."
Deidara gritted his teeth, cold sweat soaking through his black robe with red cloud patterns on the back.
Create life?
Reversing death?
What's this?
His explosion was an art of the moment, a fleeting moment of brilliance.
But what that guy showed was eternity.
True, indestructible, and even capable of returning from death—eternity.
Faced with such power, his C3, and even C4 Garuda, seemed so pale and powerless.
It's like lighting a match in front of the sun.
"Damn it!Damn it!Damn it!Ugh!"
Deidara growled, the panic of his collapsing faith driving him to the brink of madness.
We can't stay here.
It will be swallowed up.
They will be completely assimilated by that light, leaving not even a trace.
He suddenly pulled a lump of clay from his ninja tool bag and stuffed it into his mouth.
boom!
A clay clone in the distance was detonated, sending a huge plume of smoke and dust into the air.
Taking advantage of the moment when everyone's attention was drawn, Deidara summoned an owl, which then scurried into the clouds and fled in the opposite direction without looking back.
Even if he loses an arm, even if he runs out of chakra, he will still escape.
Stay as far away from that golden monster as possible.
In the valley.
The aftershocks of the explosion did not cause much of a disturbance.
Because everyone's attention was focused on the figure that slowly stood up.
Gaara stood up.
He pushed away Temari and Kankuro, who were trying to help him.
Her short red hair was disheveled in the wind, and beneath her signature dark circles, her emerald green eyes were brighter than ever before.
He walked step by step toward Naruto.
Each step was firm and steady, as if confirming the fact that he was still alive.
The kneeling Sand Village ninjas instinctively made way for them.
Naruto stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the red-haired boy who was half a head shorter than him.
There was no empty "welcome back" talk.
He is waiting.
Wait for the ripe fruit to fall into the basket on its own.
Gaara stopped, raised his hand, and pressed it tightly against his powerfully beating heart through his clothes.
Thump, thump, thump.
The voice was so clear that every throb reminded him of who had pulled him back from hell to earth.
He raised his head, and his eyes, which had previously held only killing intent and loneliness, now reflected only that golden figure.
It's no longer an equal gaze, but an admiration.
Gaara slowly raised his right hand and placed it on his heart.
It was beating powerfully there, and in every pump of blood flowed the strength bestowed by the boy before me.
He bypassed all the elders and disregarded the so-called village diplomatic etiquette.
In this momentous occasion, the Fifth Kazekage, who had just been resurrected, uttered a statement in an almost solemn tone, one that was enough to completely shatter the entire ninja world's order.
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