"Not from this world? What do you mean? Are you an alien or something—like Kaguya Ōtsutsuki?"
Uchiha Izumi teased Rokuro casually, but his expression remained deadly serious. Her smile faded, and a trace of tension crept into her eyes.
"Ever since I was a child, I've been having the same recurring dream," Rokuro said slowly. "In that dream, there are the Uchiha, there is Konoha, and there are the Five Great Ninja Villages—but there is no me. And no mother."
"Of course, my mother might still exist," he added after a pause. "It's just that she probably doesn't have a son like me in that world, so she never appears."
The more Izumi listened, the more confused she became.
"What do you mean? Are you saying that in your dream, there's another ninja world—exactly the same as this one—except without you?"
"More or less. In that world, many things happened that felt both familiar and distorted. At first, I thought it was nothing more than a dream and didn't take it seriously… until the night the Nine-Tails attacked."
Rokuro looked at Izumi gravely.
"The same time. The same place. The same birth of the Fourth Hokage's son. I had dreamed of that Nine-Tails incident countless times. So that year, I decided to test it—I secretly set up a formation in Konoha in advance, intending to collect the Nine-Tails' chakra."
"You already know the rest. That night, the Nine-Tails really did break free of its seal and rampage through the village."
Izumi swallowed hard.
"And after that? Was that the only thing that matched your dream?"
"After my intervention, many things changed—but many others remained the same. Even the things that changed followed the same underlying trajectory. If I hadn't interfered, they would have unfolded exactly as they did in my dream."
"For example… the destruction of the Uchiha clan."
"The destruction of the Uchiha?!" Izumi's voice sharpened. "In your dream, our clan was wiped out?"
Rokuro nodded slightly.
"Do you remember the situation our clan was in back when Uchiha Fugaku was in power?"
"Of course I do. Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō kept pressuring us. They used the Nine-Tails incident as an excuse to force us to relocate to the edge of the village, then deliberately incited hostility between the villagers and the Uchiha—making all of Konoha believe the Nine-Tails disaster was our clan's conspiracy."
Rokuro nodded again.
"In my dream, our situation only worsened. There was no sign of relief at all. The clan's resentment grew stronger and stronger, until it eventually reached the point of armed rebellion."
Izumi had lived through those years herself. She knew all too well that without Rokuro's intervention, that outcome was almost inevitable.
"As things spiraled further out of control," Rokuro continued, "Uchiha Shisui—that mentally stunted idealist—came up with a terrible idea. He went directly to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan, and claimed he would use Kotoamatsukami to control Uchiha Fugaku and stop the rebellion."
"What?!" Izumi exploded. "That idiot actually planned to do something like that? Is he brain-dead?!"
"Kotoamatsukami can forcibly alter a person's will," Rokuro said calmly, "but once the Uchiha had reached the point of armed uprising, do you really think controlling a single clan leader would have changed anything?"
"Unless he could control all the clan's high-ranking members—and every elite with a three-tomoe Sharingan—altering Fugaku alone would have been completely useless."
Izumi wasn't just a master of genjutsu. After years of warfare and experience, she had developed a deep understanding of politics.
She knew better than anyone that the wheel of history could not be turned by the will of one or two individuals.
As the saying goes: follow the tide and you live; go against it and you perish. Before the unstoppable flow of history, any attempt to resist alone was nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Rokuro sighed.
"That's why I said it was a terrible idea. Shisui may have been the original owner of Kotoamatsukami, but he didn't possess an Eternal Mangekyō. That technique consumes an enormous amount of ocular power, and after each use, it has an absurdly long cooldown."
"He simply didn't have the ability to control the entire clan. At most, he could control Fugaku alone."
Izumi had always looked down on Uchiha Shisui. And after witnessing the true face of the ninja world through countless battles, she regarded him as nothing more than a naïve fool with shallow thinking.
"So what happened? His plot was exposed, and he was captured by the clan?"
Rokuro chuckled.
"No. Reality was far more cruel—and far more ironic than that."
"On the very night he revealed Kotoamatsukami, Shimura Danzō ambushed him and stole one of his eyes. During the subsequent pursuit, Shisui was gravely wounded by Root."
"…That actually does sound like Danzō," Izumi muttered. "Once he learned how powerful Kotoamatsukami was, of course he'd want it for himself."
"Then what? Did Shisui flee back to the clan and trigger a full-scale war between the Uchiha and the Hokage faction?"
Rokuro shook his head.
"Here comes the most ironic part. While fleeing, Shisui ran into Uchiha Itachi. To prevent open conflict, he personally tore out his remaining eye and gave it to Itachi—then jumped into a river and committed suicide."
"What?! Suicide?! That lunatic was insane!" Izumi shouted. "If both sides were already headed toward war, what difference did his suicide make?! He should've gone back and warned the clan—at least then the Uchiha might've gained the initiative!"
"And Itachi?" she demanded. "He was so close to Shisui—didn't he think about avenging him by killing that old bastard Danzō?"
Rokuro shook his head again.
"Maybe Shisui used Kotoamatsukami on Itachi before he died. Or maybe Itachi had already been influenced by him for years and became a traitor himself."
"In any case, after witnessing Shisui's suicide, Itachi awakened the Mangekyō—but instead of seeking revenge, he helped cover up the attack. Two years later, he personally raised his blade and, together with Uchiha Obito, slaughtered the entire clan."
Izumi's eyes went wide in disbelief.
"The Uchiha were wiped out by Itachi? What about Fugaku and Mikoto? And Sasuke—was he killed too?"
"Fugaku and Mikoto both died by Itachi's hand, as did countless other clan members. Most of the Uchiha's elite were killed by Obito."
"And you…" Rokuro paused. "You also died that night, at Obito's hands."
"The only survivor was Sasuke. That was the result of a deal Itachi made with Hiruzen Sarutobi—he exterminated the entire Uchiha clan in exchange for sparing his younger brother."
"Damn it!" Izumi cursed violently.
Rokuro grinned.
"Oh, and by the way—since I didn't exist in that world, the person you fell for was Uchiha Itachi."
"What?!" Izumi exploded. "I'd fall for a beast who murdered his own parents? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I'd have to be blind!"
"There's nothing impossible about it," Rokuro said calmly. "In that world, Itachi saved your life during the Nine-Tails incident. And among the Uchiha of your generation, he was the most outstanding. It wouldn't have been strange at all."
Izumi couldn't deny that it made sense—but the impact of the clan's annihilation was too overwhelming. She had no energy to argue over something so trivial.
What truly terrified her was this:
When she mentally removed Rokuro from the equation and tried to project the Uchiha's trajectory… she realized that their annihilation was almost inevitable.
Even if Itachi hadn't done it—if armed conflict had erupted—the Uchiha would still have been wiped out.
Cold sweat drenched her palms, and a wave of weakness washed over her.
"So?" Rokuro asked softly. "Does it feel real now?"
Izumi nodded slowly.
"So everything you know—those secrets—came from that dream world? Including the truth behind the Nine-Tails incident… and the story of the Sage of Six Paths' family?"
"That's right. Obito's identity has already been confirmed in this world—that's one more piece of proof."
"So the truth about Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and the Sage of Six Paths is almost certainly real as well."
Uchiha Izumi pushed aside the fact that, in another world, she had been Itachi's lover—and had died at Obito's hands.
As one of the highest authorities within the Uchiha clan, Izumi had long since grown past quibbling over trivial matters.
"So what you're saying is—this impending great war exists because Obito deceived Nagato, Madara deceived Obito, and in the end, even Uchiha Madara himself—who believed he controlled everything—was nothing more than a pawn used by Black Zetsu?"
"That's correct. Which means that in the end, the enemies we must face aren't just Nagato, Obito, or Uchiha Madara, but the strongest existence in the shinobi world—the one known as the Progenitor of Chakra: Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. And the technique I mentioned earlier, Infinite Tsukuyomi, is precisely Kaguya's Rinnegan dōjutsu."
"Besides Infinite Tsukuyomi, she also possesses Yomotsu Hirasaka, All-Killing Ash Bones, Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, and other divine techniques. Her strongest move, however, should be the Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb—a terrifying attack capable of annihilating everything. Once it expands to its limit, no one can escape death. Even the entire shinobi world would be reduced to dust!"
Izumi carefully questioned him about the specifics of these divine techniques. The conclusion she reached was unsettling: every single one of them was overwhelmingly powerful, difficult to counter, and would require her to activate Dreamlike Reality to suppress them.
And among them, Infinite Tsukuyomi was the natural nemesis of her Dreamlike Reality.
Just imagining Dreamlike Reality being shattered by Infinite Tsukuyomi—forcing her to face techniques like All-Killing Ash Bones and Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack head-on—was enough to make Izumi feel like retreating.
"Rokuro… do we really have to let Ōtsutsuki Kaguya resurrect?" Izumi asked hesitantly.
"From your explanation, the Kaguya you saw in your dream felt like she lost on purpose. If it were me wielding Kaguya's power and divine techniques, Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't last more than a few moves."
"Even if killing them wasn't necessary to reclaim chakra, I could cripple Sasuke first—render him unable to use Susanoo—then finish Naruto with Infinite Tsukuyomi. The Naruto in your dream was strong, with Six Paths chakra and the power of all nine tailed beasts backing him…"
"But without the Rinnegan, he can't resist Six Paths–level genjutsu. In other words, once Sasuke is taken out, Naruto can be killed through Infinite Tsukuyomi, and harvesting both of their chakra would be effortless."
As a genjutsu grandmaster, Izumi's understanding of Six Paths–level illusions was likely second only to Ōtsutsuki Kaguya herself.
Uchiha Rokuro nodded slightly.
"That's true. Six Paths Naruto does have a weakness. If Kaguya focused on that, Naruto wouldn't stand a chance. But look at it from another angle—if Ōtsutsuki Kaguya truly exists in reality, then it means other Ōtsutsuki exist as well."
"If we don't seize Kaguya's power now, then when other Ōtsutsuki descend, what will we use to oppose them?"
"Don't forget—Ōtsutsuki roam the universe planting God Trees, harvesting planetary energy to create Chakra Fruits. They usually operate in pairs. Which means if others arrive, the most likely scenario is two at once. At that point, we'd be facing two beings on Kaguya's level simultaneously."
Izumi ran a hand through her hair. Compared to that, facing a resurrected Ōtsutsuki Kaguya might actually be the easiest battle.
After all, she had been sealed away for over a thousand years—her mind unstable, her power fragmented, and she would be alone.
By all measures, she was the most manageable Ōtsutsuki they could possibly face.
This was an opportunity they absolutely could not afford to miss.
"Then… we'll go all in!"
Rokuro smiled faintly, choosing not to tell Izumi that Ōtsutsuki before consuming Chakra Fruits weren't necessarily that terrifying—and might not even be stronger than them in their current state.
At the very least, beings like Isshiki or Momoshiki, as depicted in non-canon records, were nowhere near Kaguya's level.
Of course, within the Ōtsutsuki clan, there were certainly individuals even stronger than Kaguya.
Which was precisely why they couldn't afford to let her go.
Not just Kaguya—if Isshiki or Momoshiki existed as well, then one would be exterminated, two would be wiped out together.
"If that's the case, what's the next step?" Izumi asked.
"First, familiarize yourself with your Rinnegan—at the very least, reach the point where you can activate and deactivate it at will. Then deal with Nagato and Obito. You can kill them both if necessary, but don't sever Black Zetsu's plan to resurrect his 'mother.'"
"If my prediction is correct, with Black Zetsu's cautious and calculating nature, he would never place all his hopes on Nagato and Obito alone. The person he truly trusts is still Uchiha Madara."
"Madara… revived through Edo Tensei?" Izumi recalled the plot Rokuro had just described.
"Most likely. I tried contacting Orochimaru earlier via summoning technique and got no response. Something probably went wrong again. And someone capable of killing Orochimaru—even with an Eternal Mangekyō—would likely be only Edo Madara."
Rokuro turned to look at Izumi.
"With your current strength, even Edo Madara—or a fully revived Madara who's reclaimed his Rinnegan—might not be your match. But you must stay vigilant. No carelessness."
"During this time, I'll be forging a brand-new set of Six Paths ninja tools, designed specifically to counter Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
"I understand."
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
The Allied Shinobi Forces finished assembling and launched their assault toward the hiding place of the one hundred thousand White Zetsu.
Meanwhile, after prolonged effort, Obito and Nagato finally succeeded in sealing the One-Tail through Eight-Tails into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
The Fourth Great Ninja War officially began.
END OF CHAPTER
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