Chapter 112: There Is Only One Truth
[Blurred memories are normal. You do not belong to this era. The future has changed, and you, and those companions of yours, are about to disappear.
Even though I was supposed to gradually recover my power as the Kāma unsealed, yet now I'm slowly losing my perception of space and time…
Kid, your earlier idea was correct. Go find the Rinnegan. He exists in this era. Although if the final outcome isn't changed, he will still disappear, for now he's the one least affected.]
Momoshiki kept rambling inside Boruto's mind.
Over the past few days, he had practically turned into a chatterbox.
It was clear that the Ōtsutsuki were not fearless in the face of death.
On the contrary, creating Kāma for resurrection, planting God Trees, refining pills to extend their lives, the Ōtsutsuki clan was the one that feared death the most.
"Sasuke-san should be following behind us."
Boruto could tell that Momoshiki was only trying to prevent his own disappearance, but there was no helping it. Right now, the two of them were ants tied to the same rope.
And it wasn't just the two of them, there were also all those family members and friends in the future.
To save the entire future world, he had no choice but to cooperate with Momoshiki.
"…But how do we explain this to Sasuke-san?"
Boruto's face was full of hesitation.
[Idiot. With his abilities, he must have already noticed something's wrong. How do you explain it? You say it directly!]
[As for how to make him show up? That's easy. Kid, leave it to me. I'll take the blame for you! Hmph!]
Momoshiki's tone was gradually drifting in a certain fox-like direction.
That was just how it was when two sides shared a common enemy and faced life and death together.
If Madara and Obito hadn't tried to capture the Nine-Tails back then, Naruto and the Nine-Tails would never have achieved a breakthrough in their relationship.
As for Momoshiki's method, it was very simple: make a move again. This time, he would deliberately expose himself, forcing Sasuke to appear in front of Jiraiya to protect Boruto.
Boruto [Momoshiki Manifestation] silently arrived in Sarutobi Asuma's room.
Momoshiki floated in midair. Looking down as if he was looking at an ant, he raised a knife he had conveniently taken from the innkeeper's room, and stabbed it toward Asuma.
'Bang.'
The "Asuma" who had been sleeping instantly turned into a puff of smoke and vanished.
"What?"
Momoshiki was shocked.
The Ōtsutsuki nemesis, Shadow Clone, had once again played its role.
"Hah!!!"
Asuma's real body appeared behind Momoshiki, a chakra blade in his hand infused with sharp Wind Release chakra, and punched forward in a full-force attack.
In fact, when Asuma realized that the news of his father's death had been delivered personally by Jiraiya, he had already sensed that something was off.
Especially since the details were postponed until the next day, this alone showed how complicated the situation was.
So Asuma had deliberately remained on high alert.
He hadn't expected that an enemy attack would actually come.
"Heh. Another monkey."
Momoshiki disdainfully raised his hand and caught Asuma's chakra blade.
The Wind Release chakra on it was absorbed by Takamimusubinokami. Momoshiki then returned the favor, sending the wind blades back at double the power.
'Slash!'
'Thud.'
Asuma was cut cleanly in half at the waist and collapsed onto the floor.
Others rushed over after hearing the commotion. All they saw was a room split in two, and Asuma's body severed into two pieces, already lifeless.
A chakra blade, his own, was still embedded in Asuma's throat, while his hand had traced a single character on the floor: "He."
It seemed to be the final clue he left behind.
"What happened?"
Konohamaru rubbed his eyes as he arrived last.
"Go back to sleep. We'll tell you tomorrow."
Jiraiya stood firmly in front of Konohamaru, his expression stern, and gave Naruto a meaningful look.
Naruto nodded, laughed it off, and dragged Konohamaru back to their room.
Shikamaru stood there, staring at the scene inside the room, his whole body trembling.
He couldn't suppress his emotions at all. He desperately wanted to scream, to cry.
But he clearly understood why Jiraiya had just had Naruto take Konohamaru away. Right now, he couldn't do that. He had to endure it, otherwise, Konohamaru would definitely notice something was wrong.
"Shikamaru, calm down. Right now, our top priority is to find the culprit."
Jiraiya patted Shikamaru on the shoulder.
Shikamaru slapped himself hard, then took a deep breath.
"That's right, Jiraiya-sama."
After that, Shikamaru walked in and began examining the scene.
Jiraiya stood at the doorway instead, looking down the dark, unfathomable corridor behind him, not interfering.
"The fatal wound was caused by Asuma's own Wind Release… Could it be that?"
After checking everything, Shikamaru arrived at a conclusion.
"What do you mean?"
Jiraiya asked.
"Our mission target this time, the Jashin cult. It's said that they have a forbidden technique that reflects the damage they receive back onto their enemy."
"Asuma was holding his chakra blade in his other hand. He clearly launched an attack, yet the injuries on his body were caused by his own Wind Release. This is completely…"
Shikamaru clenched his fists as he analyzed.
"Your analysis isn't bad, but unless the innkeeper himself is a follower of the Jashin cult, it doesn't hold."
Jiraiya calmly dismissed Shikamaru's conclusion.
"Why?"
Shikamaru didn't understand.
"Because I set up a sensory barrier outside the inn. If any outsider intruded, I would have noticed immediately. But from night until now, the barrier hasn't been triggered even once."
Jiraiya sighed, gazing somewhat dejectedly at the moonlight outside through the wall that had been split open by Wind Release chakra.
His earlier judgment had been far too hasty.
And the result of that single misjudgment was Asuma's death.
"Jiraiya-sama, are you saying…"
Shikamaru stood up shakily, shock written all over his face.
"There is only one truth. There was no external enemy at all. The killer is among us."
Jiraiya's gaze returned to the corridor.
The commotion here had been so loud that even Konohamaru had woken up and run over earlier.
The innkeeper had come once as well, only to be sent away by him.
And yet Boruto, why hadn't he shown up even now?
"And that 'he' written on the floor. I haven't introduced that person to you before, so Asuma didn't know who he was. That's why he could only use that character."
Jiraiya took out a sealing scroll from behind him and stepped forward, handing it to Shikamaru.
"..."
Shikamaru accepted it, sealed Asuma's body, and then handed the scroll back to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya summoned a toad and had it carry the scroll back to Konoha.
After that, the two of them sat down weakly in the room where the murder had occurred, remaining silent through the entire night.
Jiraiya gradually came to understand everything.
Once he realized who the killer was, he felt deeply confused. But no matter how unreasonable it seemed, there was now only one possible answer.
At the same time, Jiraiya understood that the root of all this lay in Tsunade not keeping the agreement they had made back then.
In truth, when Tsunade had first brought this matter up with him and Sarutobi Hiruzen, Jiraiya had already felt it wasn't necessary.
His understanding of Shiromo mainly came from their conversation on top of the Four Violet Flames Formation, as well as Naruto's descriptions.
In short, Jiraiya believed that Shiromo was someone who could be trusted.
But Tsunade was the Hokage. If she wanted to be cautious and think one step further, Jiraiya couldn't really argue against it.
Now, however, Jiraiya felt a trace of regret.
Regret that he hadn't tried harder to persuade Tsunade back then.
(End of this chapter)