In the blink of an eye, two days had passed since Shinju and Naruto arrived on Turtle Island.
The scenery here was beautiful, filled with rare and exotic creatures—it was practically a vacation paradise. Shinju had been having a great time these past few days.
Naruto, on the other hand, who was usually all smiles and carefree, seemed unusually troubled.
"Alright, we'll start your Tailed Beast Control training tomorrow. There's no need to rush," Shinju said gently, glancing toward Naruto.
Naruto nodded. "I know, I know... but I really want to get stronger as soon as possible."
"Who knows? By the time we finish training here, the war might still be going on."
"When that happens, we'll return to the battlefield stronger than ever—and we'll definitely shine in this war! ୧⍢⃝୨"
Hearing that, Shinju suddenly remembered the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.
Though the Sage had spoken in vague riddles, one thing was clear—he didn't want Shinju to take part in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Apparently, his participation could bring about some kind of... serious consequence.
"What kind of consequence could it be?" Shinju murmured under his breath.
Naruto, puzzled, tilted his head. "Shinju, what are you mumbling about? You sound weird."
So Shinju recounted everything that had happened during his visit to Mount Myōboku.
When he finished, Naruto was stunned. (✘Д✘๑)
After thinking for a bit, Naruto offered his opinion.
"If you ask me, you should listen to the Sage. The Great Toad Sage's been around for thousands of years—he wouldn't lie to us."
Shinju nodded. "Doesn't matter anyway. I wasn't planning to join the war in the first place. ╮(๑•́ ₃•̀๑)╭"
"With all five nations forming a ninja alliance, taking down the Akatsuki shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Naruto grinned. "You bet! (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)✧︎"
...
Meanwhile, inside Killer B's quarters at the Kumogakure Turtle Island base...
Killer B had taken off his sunglasses, his hair a complete mess, looking utterly defeated. "Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to make these rhymes work?"
"If I can't come up with good lyrics, what am I gonna do?!"
...
The next day.
Shinju, Naruto, and Guy followed the Kumogakure ninja Motoi to a certain waterfall.
"So this is the 'Falls of Truth' that Killer B mentioned? It doesn't look any different from a regular waterfall," Naruto said, tilting his head curiously.
Before he could say anything else, a disheveled Killer B stumbled out from the nearby trees.
"Yo yo, young man, don't be naive! Never doubt the power of the Falls of Truth—here, you'll see your true self!"
Seeing Killer B's current state, Shinju was stunned. Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
He looked like... a total vagrant!
"You should probably go get some sleep first. You look like you're about to collapse," Shinju said with genuine concern.
But Killer B waved him off stubbornly.
"I'm Killer B-sama of Kumogakure! A little sleep deprivation—two, three days tops—ain't gonna kill me!"
Since he insisted, Shinju didn't argue further.
The training began shortly after.
Killer B could tell Naruto's thirst for power, so he had him sit down on a rock in front of the waterfall.
"Just sit here and face the waterfall."
Naruto followed the instructions, crossing his legs atop the flattest rock beneath the cascade.
A moment later, Shinju noticed Naruto's expression start to change—twisting into something strange.
From Naruto's perspective...
After he sat down facing the waterfall, a figure stepped out from behind the shimmering curtain of water—another Uzumaki Naruto!
Aside from the eyes, the two looked almost identical.
This new Naruto's pupils were crimson red—in contrast to Naruto's usual blue eyes, they radiated a more sinister, alluring darkness.
The red-eyed Naruto spoke first. "People in the village are pretty annoying, aren't they?"
"They used to ignore you, despise you. But now that you've gotten stronger, they act all friendly."
"And then there's Shinju."
"He used to be a dead last like you—so why did he become so strong? Why is he the hero? Why did Tsunade-sama choose him to be Hokage, but not you?"
The real Naruto's face tightened.
"Who the hell are you? Why do you look exactly like me? I didn't use Shadow Clone Jutsu! Ծ‸ Ծ"
Red-Eyed Naruto smirked. "You already know the answer, don't you?"
"I'm the hatred and darkness buried deep in your heart. Because this is the Falls of Truth, I can appear before you."
"In other words, I'm the real you."
"Everything I just said? Those are your true thoughts, straight from your heart."
"And one more thing—since I control your negative emotions, the Nine-Tails likes me better. ( •̀∀•́ )"
Naruto knew it was true—the Nine-Tails was the embodiment of hatred. If he gave in to those dark emotions, the beast would merge with that negativity and eventually take over his consciousness entirely.
He couldn't let that happen!
"Then I'll just have to defeat you right here!"
With determination blazing in his eyes, Naruto shouted and charged.
Soon, the real Naruto and the red-eyed Naruto clashed fiercely...
Beside the waterfall, Shinju watched Naruto's expression shifting wildly. Worried, he muttered,
"What's going on? Don't tell me this waterfall's hitting him with some kind of mental attack? (꒪⌓꒪)"
Killer B, who had been dozing off, jolted awake. Trying to maintain his cool senior image, he nodded sagely.
"You could say that. Right now, Naruto's fighting against another version of himself... you'll get it once you sit on that rock yourself! ´◡`"
After saying that, Killer B turned to glance at Shinju.
He wondered how long this kid would take to finish the training. There's no way he'd complete it faster than a genius like me, right? (ﾉ∇︎〃)
While the two were chatting, Guy suddenly shouted, "He opened his eyes!"
Under the waterfall, Naruto opened his eyes wearily.
His battle with the red-eyed version had gone nowhere—they shared the same strength and instincts, making it impossible to determine a winner.
As Naruto stepped off the rock, Shinju came over immediately.
"How'd it go? You were only sitting there for about ten minutes. Why do you look so exhausted? (‧_‧?)"
Naruto sighed bitterly. "You'll understand once you try it yourself, Shinju."
As he said that, he couldn't help but imagine—if two Shinju fought each other, what kind of battle would that be?
It would probably be an epic clash for the ages! ≧∇≦
After Naruto stepped down, Shinju took his place on the stone.
Killer B and the Kumogakure ninjas around him all leaned back, eager to watch the show.
Killer B grinned. "So, how long do you think it'll take Shinju to complete this training?"
A Kumogakure ninja quickly flattered him.
"No matter how fast he is, there's no way he'll be faster than you, Killer B-sama! ( ´▽` )"
Killer B was quite pleased with that answer, smirking proudly.
"The stronger and more troubled a person is, the harder it is for them to face their true self. Only the pure-hearted can accept it easily... Heh, Shinju's a great kid, but he's too strong. (●´∇｀●)"
Just as Killer B finished speaking—
Shinju, seated on the rock, opened his eyes!