She lowered her head in thought while pacing slowly in front of Kakashi, like a professor in a lecture hall. Her posture was elegant and unhurried. At last, she stopped and fixed her gaze on Naruto Uzumaki.
"I think the divergence appeared during the Second Shinobi World War, when you faced the Ryoma of people like Nawaki and Kato Dan."
Naruto Uzumaki's pupils contracted. Seeing the change in his eyes, Da Sheji nodded lightly. "It seems I guessed correctly."
"The Ryoma of your companions made you realize the fragility of your own life. Coupled with your hunger for unknown power, you chose a shortcut driven by fear."
"You chose to plunder the lives of others, to seize their bodies, to conduct forbidden experiments. You treated life as material that could be endlessly dismantled, replaced, and consumed."
"You understood the meaning of 'life' as nothing more than physical immortality or the transfer of consciousness, indulging in breaking ethics, rules, and natural boundaries."
At this point, Da Sheji smiled faintly, part self mockery and part pity. "How interesting," she murmured. "Having also experienced pain and Ryoma, I instead came to understand the value of life."
"I did not try to stand above life out of fear. Instead, I developed reverence and care for it. I understand the meaning of life as its breadth, not its length."
She looked up at Naruto Uzumaki, whose expression was growing darker, and asked herself aloud, "And you. What did you gain?"
"An unstable form of life, rejection risks avoided through ugly means, a polluted soul, and… eternal loneliness and contempt?"
"And I."
She raised a hand and pointed to herself as she continued. "I chose to understand life and revere life. I treated difficulties as opportunities to drive theoretical revolutions, not excuses to cross moral lines."
"No human experiments. No living sacrifices. I used intellect to solve problems that once required the sacrifice of life."
"I stand here young, healthy, and stable, with life at its most perfect state. No price, no side effects. What I possess is knowledge, and knowledge is power."
Da Sheji's gaze swept over Naruto Uzumaki's body forcibly fused with rock, as if inspecting a failed experiment. She shook her head. "Look at what you have become."
"I guess you betrayed your teacher, abandoned your companions, and cast aside your students."
"And I, guided by ethics and universal values, used medical Ninjutsu to treat war, greatly reducing the death rate of Ninja."
"I improved and popularized methods of refining Chakra, allowing ordinary people to safely and effectively master Chakra. This greatly increased productivity and quality of life."
"I developed weapons that made every great nation wary and guided the final signing of the peace accords of the Shinobi World."
"I am recognized by history as the greatest scientist of the Shinobi World. All my research is transparent, public, ethical, and serves the people and peace."
"I am the director of the Konoha Academy of Sciences and a lifetime recipient of the highest scientific honor in the Shinobi World. History remembers me as a saint who changed an era and a reformer to whom all Zetsu return."
"My teacher sees me as a treasure of Konoha. Jiraiya wrote of me as a guiding light for the Shinobi World. Tsunade is my most reliable ally, and my students carry on my ideals."
With that, Da Sheji stepped forward and looked at Naruto Uzumaki's iron hard, twisted face within the Rock Colossus. Her voice was gentle but carried undeniable force. "So, do you understand now?"
"You spent half your life, stained with blood and infamy, abandoning and betraying everything to pursue immortality, power, achievement, and knowledge."
"I achieved it."
She spoke each word clearly. "And I achieved it more perfectly, more grandly, more cleanly, and in a way better remembered by history and loved by all."
"My very existence and everything I possess now prove how foolish, short sighted, and incompetent you are."
"The path you chose is completely wrong."
…
Naruto Uzumaki's face twitched uncontrollably, and his breathing grew heavy and hoarse. The reason he had pursued immortality was that he believed his limited lifespan was not enough to grasp more truth. Yet the existence of the woman before him denied everything he had ever believed.
He could not understand the power she displayed, yet she could see through him at a glance. His mind churned in turmoil as he struggled to regain control.
"Do you think this is enough to make me 'Jidu'?" Naruto Uzumaki asked coldly, forcing his emotions down.
"Is it?" Da Sheji smiled faintly. "Can you still tell whether you are fearing Ryoma or seeking truth?"
Hearing this, Naruto Uzumaki could not help but think about the answer. The first answer that surfaced made his expression slowly stiffen.
"Stop deceiving yourself," Da Sheji said with a light laugh. "Seeking truth, exploring the unknown. You want immortality and power because you are afraid of dying."
Her voice was like a cold scalpel, precisely cutting into the deepest fear in Naruto Uzumaki's heart. "You are afraid of dying suddenly like Nawaki. You are afraid that everything you sacrificed will end in nothing but Ryoma. You are afraid that you will still be despised after death."
"You are terrified. Like a drowning man clutching at straw, you tried everything to stay alive, plundering whatever you could."
"You wanted to prove to everyone, especially to your teacher, that your bloodstained choice was not wrong."
"You…"
"Enough!"
Naruto Uzumaki finally roared, cutting her off. "I have had enough!"
His breathing was ragged, bloodshot lines filling his golden slit pupils. He stared at that maddeningly calm figure, his voice distorted by humiliation and Wrath. "You are just an illusion, a twisted illusion summoned by that damned blade. You know nothing. Why should I listen to your noise?"
He snapped his head around, his gaze locking onto Ryoma and Kurotsuchi in the distance, who were fighting Obito among the stone soldiers. kacha! kacha!
He raised the remaining stone arm of the damaged Rock Colossus high once more. This time, the target was no longer Da Sheji but Kurotsuchi and Ryoma.
Boom.
The massive arm smashed down with violent fury, forcing the two to abandon Obito and retreat in a disheveled leap. Obito turned toward the barrier with a trace of shock, locking onto the female face so similar to Naruto Uzumaki yet utterly different in presence.
"Switch!" Naruto Uzumaki barked, his voice squeezed through clenched teeth. "I am sick of that woman. You deal with her."
"No," Obito refused flatly.
He glanced at Naruto Uzumaki's dark, twisted expression and added, "At least your 'mirror' does not look like it has much combat ability."
His eyes flicked to the Jidu in Kakashi's hand, and a hint of wariness flashed through them. Kamui space might pierce that woman's defense, but if Kakashi used that cursed blade on him and summoned his own "mirror" again, he did not want to see that damned "Obito" ever again.
"Damn it!"
Naruto Uzumaki instantly understood Obito's concern, and a suffocating anger surged up. He whipped his head toward Kakashi and snarled, "What a disgusting fellow!"
"You…" Da Sheji opened her mouth as if to speak again.
"Shut up!"
Enraged and humiliated, Naruto Uzumaki cut her off like a snake whose tail had been stepped on. He poured even more violent power into the remaining arm of the Rock Colossus and smashed it down at the barrier once again without restraint.
Boom!