In Naruto's Tsukuyomi world, he was the son of the Fourth Hokage from birth, with a happy and complete family. The Nine-Tails was even passed down to him without incident, making him a perfect Jinchuriki.
In Sasuke's world, Itachi Uchiha never massacred the clan. He too had a happy family, the Uchiha clan was never targeted, and he lived a peaceful life with his relatives...
As time passed, they all realized the falseness of the world. However, as long as they wished it, this happy life could continue forever.
Yet, both Naruto and Sasuke chose to awaken themselves.
Amidst the ruins of Tokyo City, Naruto climbed up from the ground. He saw countless roots emerging from beneath, connecting to every single person like a dense spiderweb.
"You're awake." Greeting him were an expressionless Sasuke and a Gojo Satoru who could no longer smile.
"What in the world happened here?" Naruto knew nothing of the Infinite Tsukuyomi or The All-Evil of this World. All he knew was that he had a beautiful dream, but reality needed him more than the dream did.
"Long story short," Sasuke said, looking at Naruto, "this world is about to be destroyed."
"That's too short, hey?!" the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki snapped back!
"To put it simply, Cursed Energy gained sentience and wants to destroy humanity. Then Uchiha Obito activated a genjutsu to pull everyone into an illusory world to carry out a mass euthanasia."
Kakashi had also broken free from the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Because The All-Evil of this World was interfering with its power, most of the stronger individuals could escape the Infinite Tsukuyomi if they wanted to awaken.
The term 'euthanasia' was an incredibly apt summary. For humanity, abandoning all of reality to indulge in illusion would only end in extinction.
But what was the point of choosing to wake up?
After learning from Gojo Satoru about the opponent they had to face and what The All-Evil of this World truly was, Naruto too fell silent.
Gojo Satoru had anticipated this. He glanced around; apart from himself, everyone who had woken up was from another world. Against the power of Cursed Energy itself, sorcerers were utterly powerless.
However, his own plan was a huge gamble to begin with. A few more people wouldn't make much of a difference.
Gojo Satoru clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention, and then spoke.
"I've thought of many countermeasures, and in the end, I found we only have one option."
"The All-Evil of this World is the power of negative emotions. Hitting it with a sufficiently powerful surge of positive emotions might produce an unexpected effect."
Whether the positive emotions erased its will or balanced it out so it was no longer purely evil, it would be their victory.
Kakashi and the others quickly understood the principle of the plan. It sounded plausible, but how were they to gather enough 'goodwill'?
"[Proposal] I have an idea."
A voice that was both strange and familiar suddenly spoke up, but her identity could be determined from her unique verbal tic—the ever-elusive Schwarzer.
"What idea?" Gojo Satoru didn't ask her what this was all about, or about the situation with The All-Evil of this World and the Culling Game. None of that was important right now.
He only knew that Schwarzer was their one and only lifeline.
In response to Gojo Satoru's question, Schwarzer smiled faintly.
Seeing that expression on her face, everyone present felt a chill run down their spine.
...
...
Meanwhile, Uchiha Obito was ejected from the genjutsu world. Kakashi's awakening had kicked him out of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
He looked at the red moon in the sky. His long-held wish had been fulfilled, so why couldn't he feel any happiness?
His experience within the Infinite Tsukuyomi had sobered him up considerably, making him less extreme.
In reality, that was Hanami's 'Enlightened One' buff affecting him. Plus, he now wielded the power of the Six Paths, not just the power of the Uchiha, so he naturally wasn't as crazed as before.
"The plan has already succeeded, so why do I feel... regret?"
Obito felt lost. The Infinite Tsukuyomi had always been his pillar of spiritual support. Now, he felt an immense emptiness and was even beginning to doubt whether the Infinite Tsukuyomi was the right thing to do.
"Because what you seek is a better world, not a fake one."
"In the Shinobi World, a world where you kill or are killed, even a false sense of beauty is precious. But this is no longer the Shinobi World."
Schwarzer made a rare personal appearance. The best way to deal with an extremist is to leave them alone until they experience enough to have their own awakening.
She knew this was the perfect opportunity to turn Obito's way of thinking around. It was a pity she hadn't brought Naruto with her; his persuasive abilities would have had a much higher success rate.
"No matter how beautiful a fake world is, it's still fake. This relatively peaceful world never needed the Infinite Tsukuyomi from the start."
"This is the difference between worlds, and the difference in your perspective. From the very beginning, you were just a pawn deceived by Uchiha Madara."
A pawn? Obito thought of what he had seen in Kakashi's world. He had confronted his own feelings for Kakashi, and because of that, had noticed many details.
Now, with Schwarzer's prompting, Obito quickly figured it all out.
"You mean, this was all Uchiha Madara's conspiracy?"
From the very beginning, Uchiha Madara's goal was never the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Just like Schwarzer, no one but him cared about the Infinite Tsukuyomi; it was merely his own wishful thinking.
What they truly sought was what lay behind the Infinite Tsukuyomi: the power of the Divine Tree, the power of the Chakra Fruit, the power of the Sage of the Six Paths...
Obito recalled the bustling cities he had seen before. This world and the Shinobi World were indeed different.
"Want to play a game? I've been preparing for this moment for a long time."
Schwarzer's cheerful voice interrupted his thoughts, and he subconsciously nodded in agreement.
"What game?"
"A game called Hope."
With a wave of her small hand, a massive projection appeared in the sky, showing Gojo Satoru and the other three.
Her plans had started to deviate since the Culling Game began. The appearance of The All-Evil of this World had shattered her script, but in a sense, it had also given her a better one.
The principle of the Celestial Being organization was to act as an 'armed intervention,' forcibly maintaining peace between two sides by presenting a stronger, common enemy.
Originally, Uchiha Obito was also positioned as the boss. After he was defeated, she would suddenly switch sides, then give Gojo Satoru a chance to 'redeem' her, and end it like that.
After all, she had been laying the groundwork for her identity and goals for so long, revealing all the clues to the solution. And she was also curious whether 'protagonists' like Naruto could unleash the power of a miracle when faced with her as an enemy.
Having experienced Naruto's persuasive abilities firsthand, she longed for that kind of redemption through persuasion. She finally understood the thinking of a certain E-vo; human emotions were just too interesting, so he decided not to destroy the Earth.
But everything was different after The All-Evil of this World appeared. Unlike her script, this was now a true doomsday crisis. If they couldn't summon enough courage and hope, they would be destroyed by The All-Evil of this World.
What kind of surprise would they give her under such pressure?
I'm very curious...
Schwarzer's soul flame began to burn without her noticing. She didn't even realize her emotions were becoming richer, to the point that her robotic verbal tic had vanished.
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