"Did you hear? The Illusion Academy's project succeeded. They already produced dozens of prototype virtual helmets and are preparing for internal testing."
"Internal testing? What are you talking about? Isn't that thing just a machine-generated illusion? Who would be dumb enough to volunteer for that?"
"Idiot, it's not an illusion. It's a virtual fantasy world. I heard it feels insanely real and unbelievably fun."
"Where'd you hear that from? Since when are illusions fun? Aren't they just things that mess with your mind?"
"One of my friends works security at Konoha Heavenly Prison. He saw it himself. The legendary Otsutsuki Kaguya—the mother of the Sage of Six Paths—refused to participate at first. But after trying it once, she never rejected another test again. In the end, she treated the prototype virtual helmet like treasure and spent every day immersed in the virtual world. She was so addicted she even forgot to eat."
"Wait… Otsutsuki Kaguya? The monster sealed inside the moon? Even she got hooked on illusions?"
"I'm not wasting time talking to you. I'm going to apply for a beta slot before they run out."
At some point, rumors began spreading among Konoha's Jōnin.
The Illusion Academy, founded by Uchiha Itachi, had officially completed the Infinite Tsukuyomi Project.
The next phase would be closed beta testing of the virtual helmets.
Within Konoha, the Infinite Tsukuyomi Project wasn't considered low-level information. At minimum, Chūnin-level ninjas had no access to it.
But at the same time, it wasn't classified at the highest level either.
Jōnin-level ninjas were allowed to know about the project.
As a result, many people became extremely interested.
Over the years, while researching illusions, Itachi had frequently allowed ninjas to enter experimental illusion spaces where they could fight freely without restraint.
Anyone who experienced the thrill of reckless combat inside those illusion trials never forgot the feeling afterward.
Now, after comparing those earlier trial barriers to the Infinite Tsukuyomi Project, many Konoha Jōnin realized this new system was likely something far beyond imagination.
So the moment the project was announced complete—
The entire village exploded with excitement.
A virtual world created entirely by machines?
Just thinking about it made people's blood boil.
"What's this?"
"A virtual helmet?"
"It connects directly to Konoha's central network for virtual-life experiences?"
Uchiha Madara opened the package delivered to him and took out the silver-white helmet inside.
He carefully read the manual several times, completely baffled.
His old friend Senju Hashirama was currently away attending the Ninja World Conference.
Madara had gone too—
But after only a few days of endless arguing during meetings, he got annoyed and returned directly to Konoha.
That was simply his personality.
Originally, Madara truly desired peace.
But his temper was too extreme, too impatient, and he always pushed things to the absolute limit.
Over time, he drifted farther and farther from Hashirama until he eventually became the hidden mastermind behind the ninja world's chaos.
To be honest—
If Infinite Tsukuyomi was truly considered the ultimate path to peace, then either Madara's IQ had dropped to zero…
Or the Uchiha Clan really did have a genetic brain problem.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi…"
The moment he saw those words on the instruction manual, Madara's expression changed completely.
His eyes instantly sharpened.
That cursed plan—
He had already abandoned it long ago.
Yet now another version of it had appeared here.
"So this is the virtual helmet Naruto-kun mentioned?"
"It lets people enter virtual worlds and experience different lives…"
"And it even recreates Naruto-kun's childhood…"
Hinata examined the helmet curiously, eager to try it immediately.
As someone closest to Naruto, she naturally paid special attention to anything he personally valued.
Especially after hearing that the virtual world recreated the histories of parallel ninja worlds—including Naruto's entire life from childhood onward—
Her interest immediately skyrocketed.
Unlike the tragic relationships in many other worlds, her relationship with Naruto in this reality had always progressed naturally and smoothly.
There were almost no twists or heartbreak.
Everything between them had been incredibly sweet.
Yet—
When she thought carefully about it, there was still a tiny sense of regret.
She wanted to see how she and Naruto had interacted in those other worlds.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi…"
"So this is the pressure-release system Naruto mentioned for the future ninja world…"
"The first storyline is parallel-world ninja history?"
"The Uchiha massacre… Itachi…"
Uchiha Sasuke held the helmet silently for a long time before finally placing it on his head.
The current Sasuke was calm, rational, and mature.
He possessed enough willpower to face the life of another version of himself.
"Father, this virtual helmet was personally sent by Lord Hokage."
"It activates through consciousness synchronization."
"You can move freely inside a fantasy world."
"It's supposed to be very beneficial mentally."
Sarutobi Hiruzen blinked slowly as the helmet settled onto his head.
Not only did the Third Hokage receive one—
Shimura Danzō, Orochimaru, Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, and even Obito and Black Zetsu inside Heavenly Prison all received virtual helmets.
Nagato, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Senju Hashirama, and Senju Tobirama at the Ninja World Conference also received them.
One after another, everyone followed the instructions and began trying this unprecedented invention.
"Preparing consciousness link to virtual space."
"Enter?"
"Connection beginning…"
"Signal stable."
"Connection confirmed."
"Welcome to the Virtual Ninja World."
Clusters of white light appeared throughout the endless starry universe of the virtual space.
Countless glowing planets floated throughout the cosmos like an infinite sea of worlds.
Each user appeared on a floating platform several dozen meters wide.
As the white lights appeared, beautiful fairy-like guides flew over to help each newcomer.
Name selection.
Character creation.
Appearance customization.
As time passed, one strange-looking avatar after another appeared throughout the starry platforms.
Some looked majestic.
Others looked ridiculous.
Madara didn't bother customizing anything at all.
He simply used his real appearance directly.
Then he looked toward one of the glowing planets nearby.
"Hokage Ninja…"
"Founding of Konoha…"
"The Valley of the End…"
"First Great Ninja War…"
"Second Great Ninja War…"
"Third Great Ninja War…"
"And…"
As Madara focused on the glowing planet, streams of text appeared before him.
He quickly understood the system.
This virtual world contained the complete history of the ninja world.
Or more accurately—
A simulated projection of its history.
The text only displayed major historical events.
If someone wanted to experience more detailed stories, they could select exact time periods and enter them directly.
"Let's see what kind of nonsense this is."
Madara sneered before opening one of the timelines.
Although illusions could recreate realistic environments, trying to simulate over sixty years of ninja history in perfect detail was absurd.
No one possessed that level of mental power.
So Madara naturally looked down on the entire system.
"The Fourth Great Ninja War?"
"Yakushi Kabuto?"
"Who the hell is this guy?"
"He actually used Impure World Reincarnation to bring me back?"
Madara entered the timeline for the Fourth Great Ninja War.
The moment he touched it—
The giant glowing planet swallowed him whole.
When he reappeared, he stood directly on the battlefield of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Madara remained calm while observing the battlefield.
Yakushi Kabuto's Edo Tensei army.
The assembled Allied Shinobi Forces.
The endless White Zetsu.
The resurrected legendary ninjas fighting everywhere.
At first, Madara merely watched casually.
But then—
He saw himself appear.
He watched his virtual self single-handedly sweep through the Allied Shinobi Forces and dominate the battlefield completely.
A satisfied smile immediately appeared on his face.
"Hah."
"This illusion actually did a pretty good job."
"If my original plan succeeded, I probably would've fought exactly like this."
"Oh?"
"Might Guy actually kicked through Tengai Shinsei?"
"Not bad."
"But he definitely can't stop the second meteor."
Madara folded his arms proudly.
"So this was your plan all along, Madara?"
Senju Hashirama had coincidentally entered the exact same timeline.
Watching Madara dominate the battlefield, Hashirama sighed deeply.
Then he saw Might Guy open the Eight Gates and nearly kick Six Paths Madara into oblivion with one overwhelmingly heroic strike.
Hashirama couldn't help admiring the younger generation's fiery spirit.
But then—
He saw Black Zetsu betray Madara from behind.
He watched Kaguya emerge directly from Madara's body.
Hashirama's eyes instantly widened in fury.
He nearly charged forward to smash Kaguya into pieces himself.
"Impossible!"
"There's no way I'd fall for something this stupid!"
"This story is complete nonsense!"
"As the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, my power would've multiplied dozens—hundreds of times over!"
"There's absolutely no way someone could sneak attack me that easily!"
"Even if I got stabbed, I would recover in seconds!"
"This is plot armor garbage!"
"When Kaguya needed to appear, the story just killed me off!"
Madara exploded with rage.
He absolutely refused to believe the Madara in this story was truly himself.
Deidara exploded too.
"DAMN YOU, UCHIHA SASUKE!"
"How could I possibly get forced into self-destruction by you?!"
"And still fail to kill you afterward?!"
"That's ridiculous!"
"I refuse to believe this is real!"
"See? Illusions are fake after all!"
Deidara screamed furiously—
Yet strangely, there was also a trace of satisfaction in his eyes.
The Sasuke inside this story was actually weak enough to struggle against him evenly.
That alone felt amazing.
In reality—
Sasuke could beat Deidara like an adult bullying a child.
Especially now that Deidara lived in Heavenly Prison while Sasuke frequently handled prison-related work.
So seeing story-Sasuke barely survive his self-destruction attack gave Deidara enormous emotional satisfaction.
It felt incredible.
Different people watched different scenes.
Everyone reacted differently.
Kakuzu was furious about how easily he died.
Sasori remained silent after seeing himself defeated by Chiyo and Sakura.
Hidan cursed endlessly over his death scene.
"So this was my ending?"
"I destroyed Konoha with Shinra Tensei…"
"And then Naruto talked me out of hatred?"
"And I used Rinne Rebirth to revive everyone?"
Nagato looked disappointed.
If the real ninja world had not already begun moving toward true peace—
Nagato might've hated this version of himself.
He respected Naruto in reality.
But the Naruto in this story?
Nagato couldn't respect him at all.
Someone who claimed to understand pain despite not even having the answer himself…
How could that possibly convince a man consumed by hatred?
The transformation felt far too abrupt.
"Is this really parallel ninja history?"
"How could the President ever have been such a naive idiot?"
"This is completely unreasonable."
"If the President were truly this childish, there's no way the ninja world would've unified successfully."
"This story was definitely heavily revised."
"The President was severely weakened."
Nagato finally created a logical explanation for himself.
Only then did he calm down.
"This Naruto is way too naive."
"He only cared about chasing Sasuke back."
"Impulsive. Reckless. Irrational."
"And I actually accepted him as my student?"
"That's unbelievable."
"Hm?"
"So I died at Nagato's hands?"
"Though… according to the story timeline, if Naruto wasn't such a monster in reality, I probably really would've investigated Akatsuki…"
Jiraiya scratched his head while sighing emotionally.
He didn't feel hatred toward Nagato at all.
Instead—
He only felt sadness for his former students.
He never expected the three children he once taught would suffer so much after he left them.
Especially Nagato.
Of course, Jiraiya only treated it as a story.
In reality, Nagato had already joined the Red Sun Society long ago.
Akatsuki had been destroyed before things reached that point.
Yahiko had also been resurrected by Naruto and now peacefully managed Rain Village affairs.
Everyone was alive.
Everyone was fine.
And for Jiraiya—
That was enough.
A warm and gentle smile slowly appeared on his face.
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