"Do you know why I proposed the peace agreement back then? As I said, I'm not someone who's bound by ideals or reputation. If I had wanted to invade, I wouldn't have let those things stop me."
Kazuki sighed lightly as he looked at Pakura.
"Back then, I had already uncovered the secret of the Ōtsutsuki clan and realized that the Sage of Six Paths—who once destroyed the shinobi world—was on the verge of resurrection. I intended to use my own body to seal him away."
"But all of you... made me hesitate. I thought, if I showed weakness on Konoha's behalf and you still signed the peace agreement, then it would prove that I didn't need to worry about being stabbed in the back while sealing the demon. In that case, I naturally wouldn't have launched a war."
"But all of you... truly disappointed me."
Pakura's eyes widened sharply.
"You... So that's what you were thinking all along!"
"But—why didn't you tell the entire shinobi world the truth? If the Ōtsutsuki clan really exists!"
Kazuki gave a slight smile.
"And do you think… the Kage of each village would actually believe me?"
Pakura drew a deep breath and nodded slowly.
"That's true. If you hadn't already become a legendary shinobi, I probably would've thought you'd gone mad—talking about the Sage of Six Paths and the Ōtsutsuki clan like that."
Kazuki nodded in return.
"And so, to prevent any of you from interfering with the sealing after my disappearance, I had no choice but to eliminate the warmongers within the Allied Shinobi Forces..."
"Back then, I thought—if you got in the way of me sealing the Sage of Six Paths, what would be released would be a demon capable of destroying the entire shinobi world. And the way the other villages tore up the peace agreement left me with no better options in the short term."
Kazuki sighed again, this time with helplessness.
"It's a difficult thing… I had no guarantee I could seal him. I had to control the extent of my actions, leave behind a spark—a handful of hope—so that even if I failed, there might still be a chance for resistance in the shinobi world..."
"That's also the answer to your question—why I didn't just wipe out the entire Allied Shinobi Forces."
"In my eyes, all of you are like rebellious children. I need to punish you—make you feel pain—but I can't kill you. Even though your greed and madness have made me lose faith in humanity on more than a few nights..."
"In the end, I still chose to save the shinobi world."
"Do you understand now, Pakura?" Kazuki asked softly.
Pakura stood stunned.
It was a long while before the Scorch Release user of Sunagakure finally nodded, her eyes fixed on Kazuki with deep, complicated emotion.
"So, you're not the demon of the shinobi world..."
"...You're its savior."
"A savior of the world?"
Kazuki let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. "That's far too generous... I'm not trying to save the world. I just want to protect the people close to me."
"I'm merely trying, along the way, to keep the shinobi world alive."
Pakura remained silent.
But… was that really true?
If Uchiha Kazuki truly wanted to avoid the catastrophe brought on by the Ōtsutsuki,
With his talent and Konoha's resources, would he really need to risk his life?
For someone like him, quietly carving out a safe corner of the world wouldn't have been difficult at all.
Amid the shock, Pakura began piecing things together and asked cautiously, "Then… what's your situation now?"
"If you've broken free from the seal, does that mean you defeated the evil Sage of Six Paths?"
"And that Ōtsutsuki you mentioned, the one who's taken control of several hidden villages—who exactly are they?"
Pakura pushed her mind to its limits. Though she was a seasoned jōnin, and once a strong contender to become the Fourth Kazekage…
In just a few minutes—
The worldview she had built over nearly thirty years, the sense of belonging she had cultivated, the unforgettable battlefield that claimed tens of thousands of lives—all of it collapsed and unraveled in an instant, reshaped into an abstract, barely comprehensible reality.
Betrayed by her fellow shinobi, now face-to-face with the so-called demon of the shinobi world—Uchiha Kazuki—and being forced to overturn her beliefs to tell herself that this 'demon' was actually a savior?
Her brain was about to short-circuit!
"…I didn't," Kazuki said. "The Sage of Six Paths is hiding in the Pure Land. I tried to seal him away, but instead… ended up sealing within myself the Ōtsutsuki who once vowed to protect the shinobi world."
A hint of awkwardness flickered in Kazuki's eyes. "You could say I… accidentally struck down a comrade? Her name is Kaguya. The Sage of Six Paths erased all traces of her existence, but in ancient times, she was revered as the Rabbit Goddess."
Pakura blinked. She didn't know why, but seeing the natural awkwardness in Kazuki's expression…
Somehow made the entire story about the Ōtsutsuki feel more real.
And this terrifying figure—whether demon or savior—suddenly seemed… more human.
So even Kazuki wasn't infallible?
He could make mistakes like anyone else… even something as basic as friendly fire, like a rookie genin.
Seeing the look in her eyes—conflicted but somewhat relieved—Kazuki turned away slightly, his voice lowering.
"You have to understand… all the stuff about the Sage of Six Paths and the Ōtsutsuki clan, I had to piece it together from the Uchiha Stone Tablet and the ancient texts of the Three Great Sage Regions. Just figuring out the rough outline was already a challenge…"
"And the Sage went so far as to erase Kaguya's entire existence…"
Pakura looked at Kazuki as he spoke to her in a soft, almost reassuring tone, and a strange feeling welled up in her chest.
Was this Uchiha… actually good-looking?
He was even a little cute!
Despite Kazuki's overwhelming fame across the shinobi world, as someone from another village, Pakura had never really taken the time to study his face carefully…
She only knew his general appearance and build.
Why?
Because no one dared to make eye contact with Kazuki!
To raise your head and look directly at him on the battlefield—if his gaze happened to fall on you—wouldn't that basically mean you were already dead?
But now, in this moment, Kazuki looked just like a neighborhood boy next door—someone who sincerely wanted to help, but had accidentally made a mistake. Bathed in sunlight, there was an honest, aggrieved look on his face…
"…I get it, I get it…"
Pakura chuckled softly without realizing it. "I'm not saying you messed up, oh great demon of the shinobi world…"
"It's just… I've never seen this side of you before. It'll take me a bit to get used to it."
Kazuki could only shake his head helplessly.
Meanwhile, deep within Kazuki's body, Kaguya was giving Pakura a very dangerous look.
What was wrong with this woman?
The way she was looking at Kazuki was seriously starting to irritate her. She'd only just slipped into her new role as the Rabbit Goddess, protector of the shinobi world… and she was already starting to think like the progenitor of chakra again…
Even if saving the shinobi world required it, did they really need this one particular kunoichi?
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just eliminate this strange-eyed nuisance altogether!
Kaguya, however, merely entertained the thought. To avoid giving Kazuki a bad impression, the Rabbit Goddess stared hard at Pakura, carefully memorizing her facial features and chakra signature before muttering internally: "There's still plenty of time."
Kazuki, meanwhile, shifted the conversation back on track.
"Let's set these side notes aside for now… Pakura, as I mentioned earlier, the Sage of Six Paths stole Kaguya's legacy as the guardian of the shinobi world. He rewrote history, casting himself as the revered savior while secretly hiding away in the Pure Land…"
"And that Pure Land… is the most critical threat of all."
Kazuki's tone grew heavy. "Originally, I brought in the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, as my ally. His soul had escaped the Pure Land fairly early, before the Sage of Six Paths noticed my actions. At that time, Tobirama likely hadn't been marked by any of the Sage's traps."
"But later, he used the Impure World Reincarnation technique. The timing of that was after I sealed myself away… Tobirama meant well—he wanted to summon the powerful shinobi of the past to help me suppress the Sage. But what he didn't realize was that the Pure Land is the Sage of Six Paths' stronghold."
"If I were to reunite with Tobirama and the others now, all those reanimated bodies returning from the Pure Land might become vessels for the Sage to project his power. He could devour the Kaguya sealed within me—and ultimately transform into an unstoppable, apocalyptic form."
Pakura straightened her expression, suddenly serious.
That… was exactly the question she had been holding in.
Why didn't Kazuki regroup with Konoha's strongest and fight the Sage together?
So this was the reason!
"And as for the Ōtsutsuki controlling the Allied Shinobi Forces—his name is Isshiki," Kazuki said quietly. "His goal is also to devour Kaguya, but he doesn't belong to the same faction as the Sage."
"In this scenario, where Kaguya's power doesn't dominate, the only countermeasure I could come up with… is to make these two Ōtsutsuki fight each other over me—over her."
"If I can make that happen, I might find the opportunity to eliminate them both in one blow. That… is the final turning point for the shinobi world."
Pakura took a deep breath.
Kazuki—a bright and sunny boy next door?
Sure, when she had let go of her fear of death and shared playful banter with him, he had felt that way.
But when the blades were drawn—he was still the undefeated demon of the shinobi world.
Even now, with both his strength and initiative at a clear disadvantage, being relentlessly hunted…
He still found a path to break the deadlock.
And for the first time, as someone who now stood more or less on the same side, Pakura finally understood—
What it felt like to fight alongside Kazuki.
She thought for a long while.
Then, at last, Pakura said seriously, "I still don't really understand why you're telling me all this—an ordinary jōnin who can't do much—these ancient secrets about the Sage and the gods…"
"But if there's anything I can do… just say the word."
"After all, I am a part of this world. You can't expect the so-called 'demon' of the shinobi world to carry the entire burden of saving it alone, right?"
She smiled, sharp and spirited.
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