You know, there are 15 chapters ahead on Patreon, and I have 20 chapters written that are even ahead of Patreon but not uploaded yet.
And even so, the protagonist is still in this world, looking at it now, I think I overdid it a little hahaš .
What can I say, this world is a fusion of several others, so it has quite a few subplots, although each one is very short, and from time to time it interweaves the Naruto storyline, and I really like Naruto.
In retrospect, I can see why quite a few Patreons have been leaving lately.
In short, the message I wanted to send is that a fairly long world is coming, with quite a lot of Naruto episodes, so if you do not like that, I recommend leaving for a month or two and then coming back.
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Kushina was walking through the village after turning in a simple D rank mission.
"Kushina, how did your mission go?" Minato asked, suddenly appearing behind her.
"Minato," Kushina spoke almost expressionless, already accustomed to Minato's sudden appearances. "I did fine, of course."
Minato saw her expression and frowned. "Kushina, I know it was hard, but you have to get over it. I will always be here for you, both me and the village. Since that incident four years ago, you haven't been the same."
"I'm fine, just tired," she replied, not wanting to continue the topic.
"Do you want me to walk you home?"
"It's not necessary," she answered, walking away on her own.
Minato watched her leave and sighed. Four years ago, he thought that incident, when he saved her, would bring them closer, but contrary to his expectations, not only did it fail to do so, but since then Kushina seemed to have built an invisible wall, not only between them, but between herself and the entire village.
Something that had even worried the Third Hokage.
Kushina, of course, knew about this, but she did not have time to think about it, especially not today.
"Hatake, you're a disgrace."
"You're not worthy of being a ninja of Konoha."
"Give me back my son, monster."
"I wish you had died along with your entire squad."
Kushina stopped, watching as a group of villagers continued insulting a house, shouting and writing horrible things on the walls, while throwing trash at it with hatred.
"Why do they treat him like this? He's a hero. Less than a week ago they were praising him and saying he would be the next Hokage," Kushina murmured, watching the scene with sadness.
[You know why, because of him the village suffered great losses]
"But he only saved his comrades."
[And why would that matter? A ninja is a tool for the village. He must simply complete the mission, not be guided by emotions]
"That's nonsense. Who would willingly become a tool?"
[All of you. All ninjas become tools on purpose. And when they try to step out of their role, this is the result]
"I don't want this. I don't want to live in a world where people can't live freely," Kushina declared.
[Haha, how funny]
"W what's so funny?"
[You're not the only one who thinks that way. It seems Hatake has also grown tired of living in such a world]
"You mean...?" Kushina opened her eyes in horror as she understood the implications.
[Tonight, Kushina. I have shown you the darkness of this world, the maneuvers of Hiruzen, Root, the life of a civilian, the class differences between villages and within them, the undeserved power of the Daimyo.
I waited for your decision for four years, Kushina]
[But if even after seeing the darkness right in front of you, like the situation of Hatake Sakumo, you still cannot decide, then I will leave]
"W what? You can't leave. I... I understand. I'll decide tonight," Kushina finally said.
After years of talking with the person behind the screen, Kushina had grown attached, even though she had never seen them. The main reason for this was, of course, that she knew the other person would not deceive her, not because she trusted him, but because for years he had shown her the world as it truly was, even knowing secrets of the great villages and the ninja world. Kushina does not believe Kaito would not lie to her because she trusts him, she believes it because someone with his knowledge is not a nobody and would not need to deceive her to get what he wants.
---
Sunset in Konoha. The twilight illuminated the village in orange hues, creating a beautiful view.
But Kushina was not enjoying it. Instead, she wore a look of despair, as if her last hopes had been cut away, while tears streamed down her face.
She could only watch in horror at the man who had just taken his own life in his room with his own sword.
For several minutes, Kushina cried uncontrollably, screaming and releasing everything she had held inside for four years.
For four entire years, while learning about the darkness of Konoha and the ninja world in general, Kushina clung to small hopes, that the light was greater than the darkness.
Kushina was not foolish enough to believe the world was perfect. Even so, she held onto the idea that there were enough good things to justify those few bad ones.
But the more she learned, the more she understood that the darkness only served to maintain a few people, those who took advantage of the light by force, stealing it from everyone else.
After crying, she wiped her tears, and a look of determination appeared in her eyes.
"This was done by the Hokage, right? It's impossible for civilians to learn the details of a top secret mission. And even if they did, they wouldn't understand what its failure implies. It's clear that someone orchestrated all of this. Hatake was gaining influence, many were praising him as the next Hokage. For Hiruzen, who is still young, that threatened his position, didn't it?"
[Very smart. That's right. Most likely Hatake himself realized this, and that is why he took his own life. Not only was he hated by the village he protected his entire life, but he also realized that both the Will of Fire that always drove him and those who preached it were lies and deception]
"Ha" Kushina let out a bitter laugh and said the words Kaito had waited years to hear. "Fine. I'll cooperate with you.
Let's destroy this ninja world."
Outside the screen, Kaito received a message from his own system.
[Character Number 1 has accepted the collaboration. Unlocking permissions. Unlocking mission]
"Since she can no longer use chakra, then this will happen" Kaito muttered, preparing to act.
---
Hokage Office.
At that moment, the four leaders of Konoha were gathered.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage.
Danzo Shimura, advisor and director of Root, also called the darkness of Konoha.
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, both advisors to the Hokage.
"Hiruzen, you went too far. The White Fang of Konoha is a valuable asset. He will realize what happened. If he were to defect, it would be a great loss for the village," Danzo said with a barely concealed smile.
Although he said this, he was not actually upset. On the contrary, this kind of cunning and shameless strategy was exactly the kind of action he would normally take, so he was even somewhat proud of what his old friend had done.
Of course, his satisfaction had another, deeper reason. As someone with ambitions of becoming Hokage, Hatake Sakumo's rapid rise was a major obstacle. He had already been thinking about how to get rid of him, but unexpectedly, Hiruzen acted first.
Hiruzen knew perfectly well what his old friend was thinking, but on the surface, he acted normally.
"Sakumo is not the type of person who would defect. He is a ninja with samurai roots, who values honor above all else. He would never do something so disgraceful as betraying his village."
As he spoke, he smoked his pipe and exhaled smoke, not caring about the others in the room.
Hearing Hiruzen speak about honor, both advisors thought the same thing.
'Who are you to talk about honor?'
But both benefited from their current positions thanks to that very personality, so they only praised him out loud.
Suddenly, the four of them turned as they felt an enormous amount of extremely malicious chakra.
"ROAAAAR!"
Following the roar, a voice filled with rage echoed.
"CURSED HUMANS. YOU DARE IMPRISON AND SEAL ME? NOW I AM FREE, AND I WILL KILL YOU ALL!."
"The Nine Tails? Did it break the seal?" they all understood instantly.
"Hiruzen, I told you that girl was weak. She can't withstand the Nine Tails. You should have handed her over to Root years ago. We would already have a perfect tool without the risk of losing control," Danzo snapped.
"Danzo, now is not the time to argue. If the Nine Tails is not controlled, the entire village could be destroyed. We must deal with this now," Hiruzen replied.
"Hiruzen is right. Call all ANBU," one of the advisors added.
Without saying anything else, the four disappeared toward where the Nine Tails had appeared.
When they arrived, they found something strange.
In front of the Nine Tails stood a man dressed in black, wearing clothes completely out of place for the era, his hands in his pockets, calmly talking to the beast.
Despite the strangeness of the situation, the ninjas who arrived, trained to only follow orders and never doubt, attacked without hesitation.
"Be careful. It's a completely unleashed Nine Tails. Try to use attacks to restrain it, not to harm it," Hiruzen warned.
As he approached, he saw Kushina unconscious nearby. There was no trace of the seal inside her, and the Nine Tails felt more powerful than ever.
Then something even stranger happened.
All the ninjas attacking, including ANBU and Uchiha, stopped in midair, defying the laws of physics.
Danzo, observing carefully from the shadows, realized what was happening and analyzed the situation calmly before speaking.
"It's because of that man. Deal with him" Danzo shouted.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)