"You're awake?"
When Gaara opened his eyes again, the person in his field of vision was a boy with short blue-white hair.
Although a smile hung on his face, Gaara sensed no warmth from him whatsoever.
That's because, just like the Fifth Raikage and the strange enemies he met earlier, he once again felt the fear of One-Tail.
It was afraid—trembling with fear.
Toneri spoke to himself, or perhaps to Gaara, "My name is Toneri. I'm the same age as you. This will be your home from now on."
"Your eyes?" Gaara stared blankly at the tomoe markings in his eyes.
"Oh, you can call me Toneri Uchiha," Toneri said with a grin.
Gaara maintained his cold expression, indifferent to his attitude and uninterested in getting to know him.
As if asking himself, or maybe asking the other, "Why am I still alive?"
"Why you're still alive? Because of that huge creature inside you. Why you've gone through so much pain? Also because of that thing."
"Poor Gaara, it affected your life."
"People don't hate you—they hate Shukaku."
"If that creature disappears, your life will return to normal."
"You were only dragged down by Shukaku. But I... I can help you get rid of him and let you live for yourself alone."
"You cannot choose your past, but you can decide your future."
Gaara stayed silent, as if mulling over his words.
Shukaku worried he might be misled by Toneri, immediately saying, "Kid, don't listen to his nonsense. This guy must be working with *that man*—he definitely has bad intentions."
"Gaara, want to see where you'll be living from now on?"
Toneri extended his hand in invitation.
Gaara didn't take the offered hand; he simply followed behind him.
"This place belongs only to you and me."
"Oh right, there's also a monster, but it was too troublesome, so I locked it up for now."
"And if you need anything, you can ask those girls over there. I will know about it too." Pointing toward the occasionally appearing puppets, Toneri explained.
Shukaku grumbled inwardly—this wasn't concern, clearly intimidation, letting Gaara know his every move would be watched.
Gaara remained quiet all along.
With his simple mind, he couldn't understand why Toneri didn't kill him.
Why keep him here instead?
Though puzzled, Gaara asked no curious questions.
He didn't care where this place was, nor did he care about Hiroki's or Toneri's identities.
He bore no deep love or hatred, felt no passion, held no real interests—he seemed long ago to have gone numb, quietly awaiting death.
Whether killing someone or doing something else, it all came down to sudden impulses. Aside from that, most of the time, he moved like a soulless corpse.
Even though the Shukaku inside kept pushing him toward a fight with Toneri, Gaara remained indifferent.
It didn't matter. He had absolutely no desire to return to Sunagakure, nor anywhere else he particularly wanted to go.
As for his nominal father and elder siblings, he felt absolutely no emotional attachment to them.
Life itself was not a blessing. Nor did he fear death.
With such a mindset, it was somewhat surprising that he got along well with the equally idle Toneri.
Since obtaining a stable Tenseigan, Toneri seemed to have nothing much to do. The Moon had gradually lost its importance, becoming more like a secret hideout or a place to imprison others.
Toneri wasn't against doing some research, but both his own mind and his companion's lacked sufficient knowledge. Expecting him to help was asking too much.
Other than flipping through ancient records left behind by the Otsutsuki Clan on the Moon, he really had nothing major going on.
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Hiroki also found himself facing a similar dilemma.
He wasn't sure what his next move should be.
Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, Hiroki began jotting down all the unfinished matters weighing on his mind.
Since they had already captured the One-Tail, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path would eventually need to be reclaimed as well.
Shimon Hiruko's experiments were progressing slowly—Hiroki felt contempt about it yet could offer little assistance.
Konoha's internal affairs didn't require his interference; even Tsunade didn't seem to care.
Except for Yugao, who lived outside the village—it looked rather difficult for her.
Beyond Konoha, the only things worth worrying about were Moryo and the Dragon Vein.
Moryo, especially its soul—if he absorbed it, would it replenish any mental energy?
As for the Dragon Vein…
Thinking about this mysterious existence, Hiroki recalled the original storyline.
Before officially becoming Hokage, Minato Namikaze once met the post-timeskip Naruto Uzumaki.
Would that event happen again?
Or perhaps—had it even occurred at all?
Nowadays, since Hinata and the others still had several years before graduating, unless Naruto and Jiraiya managed to reclaim Konoha in the future, having Naruto return here as a ninja was simply impossible. The story shown in the movie had now become a paradox.
Hiroki fell into thought.
Whoosh—the door slid open, letting cold wind blow inside. Snapping back to reality, Hiroki saw Karin and Kimimaro returning home together.
The bitter cold seemed to have gotten to them—they both had rosy cheeks from the chill.
Only then did Hiroki realize—it was almost another year gone.
Looking closer, he noticed they were still wearing their old clothes from before, merely adding an extra inner layer to keep warm.
Sighing inwardly, feeling slightly guilty about neglecting them, Hiroki asked, "How are you adapting to the Academy?"
They exchanged glances. Karin spoke first: "We've gotten pretty close with everyone. And guess what? Kimimaro's grades are practically tied with Lady Hinata."
Of course, there were some things Karin deliberately left out—for being three years older than his classmates, certain students weren't exactly fond of Kimimaro, believing his strength came solely from having trained longer.
Among them was represented by Kiba Inuzuka.
But Kimimaro possessed a gentle personality, choosing not to argue with those people, avoiding any conflicts.
"Let's go out and do some shopping together. These clothes you're wearing aren't warm enough at all," Hiroki said.
They hesitated for a moment, but Hiroki just grabbed them and dragged them outside.
Stepping into the busiest clothing store, after getting several autumn and winter outfits custom tailored for the two of them, Hiroki slipped a blue-and-white trench coat onto each.
In an instant, the previously somewhat timid-looking Kimimaro and his companion suddenly looked much more powerful.
"Great! That's perfect!" Hiroki exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Hey, you guys look pretty strong. Why not join my Evil God Cult?"
A haughty voice rang out as a figure flashed past and landed before them—Hidan with his signature pompadour suddenly popping up in front of the group.
Hiroki couldn't help lifting the corner of his mouth slightly. It looked like Hidan hadn't been doing too well in Konoha if he'd resorted to recruiting kids now.
"He's that weirdo Hinata and the others warned us about—not to get close to him," Karin muttered, scratching her face in annoyance.
Upon hearing this, Hidan flew into a rage. "That's why so few people take me seriously—someone's been spreading rumors about me!"
"Mr. Hidan, please don't harm the children of Konoha. That is not true youthfulness! Come on, let's run ten laps around Konoha together!"
Before the sentence even finished, a green blur quickly rushed over.
Might Guy came hurtling down from above with a ferocious straight-legged kick aimed right at Hidan's forehead.
This was their unique way of greeting each other—an interaction even Tsunade enjoyed watching.
Hidan barely dodged it, leaving a clear scrape across his forehead, while shouting nonstop.
"You bald bastard, keep your distance from me! Konoha never said anything against proselytizing!"
Hiroki couldn't help muttering in surprise—Hidan really was quicker on his feet than before.
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