Fear from the abyss.
A blood-soaked night.
"Fire Style Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Wind Style Great Breakthrough!"
The sharp howl of the wind rose violently.
The raging flames spread in an instant.
Fire, aided by wind, engulfed the entire settlement without mercy.
At this moment, it was no longer just an external scene of destruction.
The two youths who had personally created this "hellish landscape" had, both physically and spiritually, truly stepped into the cruel and dark world that ninjas belonged to.
'This… is the path we are going to walk.'
Staring at the raging inferno before him.
Watching as the cottages were completely swallowed and annihilated by flames.
Deep within Naruto's eyes, pale golden light and dark crimson intertwined faintly. His lips moved slightly as he whispered in a low voice, as though he wanted to engrave everything he was witnessing into the deepest part of his soul.
Beside him, Sasuke stood silently.
The blood-red color in his eyes had not yet faded, and at this moment it appeared especially sharp and intimidating in the reflection of the flames.
"Let's go."
A faint voice fell.
The two turned around and left immediately.
"Swish."
"Swish."
Not the slightest hesitation.
From entering this place to leaving it behind.
Less than an hour had passed.
Yet within this short span of time, Naruto and Sasuke had undergone a transformation that could only be described as rebirth.
And this transformation
Whether it would eventually guide them onto the right path, or drag them toward a wrong one
That answer could only be revealed in the future.
At this moment.
No one knew.
Or perhaps
Only that so-called "God of Fate" was silently watching everything unfold.
The soaring flames.
The dull red glow reflected across the night sky.
This scene naturally attracted the attention of Kakashi, who was stationed in the mountains not far away as a precautionary observer, as well as Sakura, who had been left behind under protection. When Kakashi's shadow clone dispersed and the information flowed back, his visible eye narrowed slightly.
"The mission… is complete."
Kakashi understood very clearly the true meaning of this C-rank mission.
And he also knew that Naruto and Sasuke understood it just as clearly.
After experiencing tonight.
Kakashi believed that those two would truly begin walking the path of a ninja.
Cruel?
Yes, it was cruel.
Unreasonable?
To some extent, it truly was.
Helpless?
There was definitely helplessness involved.
But these were unavoidable choices.
This world had never been peaceful.
The fighting of the ninja world had never truly ceased since ancient times.
Civilians being dragged in?
Innocent people being involved?
Don't joke.
In this world, such "common sense" simply didn't apply.
Never speak lightly of "kindness" or "friendship" among ninjas.
Those words were the most ironic of all.
And this cruelty wasn't limited to enemies.
Conflicts within the same village.
Betrayals between comrades.
Scenes far more brutal than tonight existed everywhere.
Anyone who sincerely believed that peace, friendship, and justice alone could govern this world
Was nothing more than a hopeless fool.
Mutual understanding?
A peaceful world built on goodwill?
Wasn't that just a sweet dream?
Kakashi understood the darkness of this world far too well.
He understood even more clearly what kind of existence a "ninja" truly was.
And that was exactly why
He had brought Team Seven to carry out such a C-rank mission tonight.
Kakashi believed that after this night, Naruto and Sasuke would grow in a completely different way. As for Haruno Sakura, that would have to be decided later. Kakashi had seen plenty of people who couldn't accept reality and eventually abandoned the path of a ninja. Such cases existed in all five great villages.
But Konoha, with its seemingly peaceful environment, created far too many illusions.
Which was why this kind of person appeared in even greater proportion here.
Kakashi wouldn't dwell on it.
Of course, he would still fulfill his duties as a mentor.
He would invest a certain amount of effort into teaching Sakura.
But if it truly didn't work
Then he would abandon her.
To put it bluntly, Team Seven was formed primarily because Kakashi was assigned to guide Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.
The former was the orphan of the Fourth Hokage and the current Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails more precisely, the host of half of the Nine-Tails.
The latter was the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan in the village, tied to Uchiha Itachi, a top-level secret and a triple agent known only to a handful of people.
In simple terms.
As long as these two were trained properly.
Everything else was secondary.
As for Haruno Sakura
If she could keep up, she stayed.
If she couldn't
Then it truly didn't matter.
That was how it had been in the original flow of events.
And in this life.
It was no different.
Naturally, these thoughts of Kakashi's were unknown to Team Seven.
Even if they knew.
Sakura would likely be shaken violently.
Sasuke's reaction was hard to predict.
As for Naruto
Especially a Naruto with memories of two lifetimes
Kakashi could never truly see through him.
Naruto understood the nature of this world more clearly than Kakashi ever could.
Before tonight, it had merely been knowledge.
A rational understanding.
But after personally experiencing everything that had happened
Naruto now understood it from the inside out.
This world was dark.
Cruel.
And fundamentally broken.
Peace could not exist under the current structure of this world.
As long as things remained the same.
True peace would never arrive.
Even the brief periods of tranquility seen in the original history weren't real peace.
They existed only because of overwhelming force.
Wasn't the so-called peace before the First Great Ninja War maintained solely because Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara stood at the peak, deterring the entire world?
Later, the five great villages "understanding each other," maintaining peace, and forming alliances
Wasn't that because Uchiha Madara existed as an overwhelming threat in the shadows?
Because that man could easily crush any single village?
And later still
Wasn't the fragile peace after the war only maintained because Naruto and Sasuke possessed terrifying absolute strength?
The remaining four villages simply couldn't resist them.
Add to that the emotional bonds formed from fighting side by side.
That was all.
Once those pillars disappeared
Once interests collided again.
And no external enemy existed to force unity
Another ninja war would inevitably erupt.
In simple terms.
As long as humans existed.
As long as interests existed.
Permanent peace was impossible.
Where there were people, there would always be conflict.
And in this world
Where multiple powers coexisted
Conflicting interests guaranteed war.
This truth applied to every world.
Humans were greedy.
Selfish.
Saints existed, yes.
In any era.
But how many were there?
One in ten thousand?
Most people only cared about themselves.
And in such a cruel world
A so-called "saint" would be swallowed whole.
Without leaving even a trace.
"This world is wrong."
"It needs to change."
"A fundamental change."
Naruto lifted his head and looked at the endless starry sky, speaking these words firmly in the depths of his heart.
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