Chapter Text
On the battlefield of the Fourth Shinobi World War Madara Uchiha finally activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi when a blinding light, like the sun, suddenly appeared in the deep, inky darkness.
Sasuke Uchiha immediately realized something was wrong. He activated his Susanoo and sped towards Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Kakashi Hatake.
The massive Susanoo completely enveloped the four of them, blocking out the light of the Infinite Tsukuyomi and the outside world.
Sakura nervously tried to peek outside. "What's happening outside?"
Sasuke replied coldly. "Even if you knew, what could you do?"
Sakura shrank back, her expression somber. Even though she had diligently mastered the Hundred Healings Technique, was proficient in medical ninjutsu, and possessed superhuman strength, did Sasuke still consider her a useless burden?
Kakashi, unable to bear it any longer, spoke up in her defense, and Naruto also chimed in.
Sakura suppressed the bitterness and helplessness in her heart, shaking her head and trying to pull herself together. No matter what Sasuke said, if she proved herself more useful, would he finally see her efforts, her persistence, and understand her sacrifices and love for him?
But in a corner of the girl's unsuspecting heart, a small sense of disappointment and weariness silently sprouted and subtly grew.
The battle that followed was swift and fierce. They were dragged into the magma space by Kaguya. Just as Sasuke had said, she was indeed useless, only able to watch helplessly as she was about to fall into the scalding lava.
Beside her, she heard Naruto's cries for help, begging Sasuke to save him. Sakura looked up; Sasuke had caught Naruto with his Susanoo, coldly replying that he and Naruto were the most important people now, that their survival was their only hope. From beginning to end, he didn't look back at her even once, as if she were a speck of dust beneath his feet, insignificant.
Sakura, dazed, stared at the two figures in the distance, suddenly at a loss for words or thoughts. She felt weary, emotionally exhausted. Suddenly, a strong arm encircled her waist, stopping her fall.
Sakura looked up in surprise. It was Kakashi-sensei. He had tied the scroll to a kunai, which he threw and embedded itself deep into the rock wall.
Sakura watched as her loosened headband fell into the lava, instantly melting into a pool of molten steel. She shuddered violently. If it weren't for Kakashi-sensei, would she have been reduced to a bloody pulp?
But her relief was short-lived. The scroll ignited by the scorching air and snapped, sending them both plummeting. Sakura wanted to scream but couldn't. Yet, she noticed that even in this dire situation, Kakashi-sensei hadn't let go of her, his arm firmly around her waist, as if to say that even if they were to die together, he would stay with her until the very end. A sudden sense of peace settled over Sakura.
Naruto's Sage Mode ultimately saved them. Sakura glanced at Sasuke, but he remained unmoved, showing no reaction. He was indifferent to her two brushes with death, his impatience evident.
Sakura remained silent, a growing weariness and disappointment spreading through her.
The battle intensified, but Sasuke was sent to another dimension by Kaguya. To fight Kaguya and save the entire ninja world, they needed Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura and Uchiha Obito embarked on a journey to find him.
Although it was difficult, they eventually brought Sasuke back safely. She swayed, nearly fainting, when Sasuke caught her. This unexpected action made Sakura, exhausted and unable to hide her confusion, look at him. He remained expressionless, returning her gaze indifferently.
Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but Sasuke's hand pressed against her arm, corroded by the acidic world, causing her unbearable pain. This pain robbed her of the will to speak. She struggled to stand up and left Sasuke's embrace. In the gravity-defying world, she could barely stand, forced to watch Obito sacrifice himself, saving Kakashi before his death. Weren't their injuries worse than hers? Was she still the weakest? Sakura struggled to her feet, only to be crushed back down, her resentment and bitterness growing stronger.
Even though it was a battle between four people and Kaguya, she felt like a bystander. Even during Kaguya's latest attack, others had to come to her rescue. When she saw the Susanoo, Sakura was even astonished—Sasuke was actually willing to save her?
But when she was brought to the head of the Susanoo and saw Kakashi, whose eyes had miraculously returned to Sharingan, she felt no surprise whatsoever. It just felt logical; besides Kakashi-sensei, who else cared so much about her safety?
While it's normal for teammates to help and rescue each other, in Kakashi's team, she was always the first to be prioritized for protection. Kakashi paid extra attention to and protected her because she was a girl. Naruto's affection for her and his heroic complex compelled him to protect her, and Sasuke's condescending pity for the weak and his sense of duty to support his team also motivated him to protect her.
So, now, Sasuke has done nothing. Is it because he no longer considers her a member of his team, a comrade? Is he really not going to turn back?
Sakura suppressed these useless thoughts and tried to keep up with the pace of the battle. Finally, she saw an opportunity. She leaped high into the air and delivered a powerful blow to Kaguya's head, shouting...
"Don't underestimate me, we're both women!"
Kaguya's horn broke off, the severed piece piercing her hand, blood gushing out. For a moment, Sakura froze. Something flowed into her body, and she suddenly felt dizzy. Time seemed to stretch out to an unbelievable degree, a barrage of illusions washing over her, but Sakura couldn't understand a single one. Instead, the overwhelming amount of information overloaded her brain, causing excruciating pain.
Sakura groaned, involuntarily closing her eyes. She didn't see Kaguya's suddenly widened eyes, filled with shock and joy. At that moment, Naruto and Sasuke's hands simultaneously touched Kaguya's body in a sealing motion. But just as they thought they had succeeded, they realized nothing had happened.
"How is this possible?" Naruto exclaimed in surprise.
Kaguya's ever-present indifference suddenly softened into a smile. She reached out, one hand on each of Sasuke and Naruto's, gripping them tightly to prevent them from breaking free, and then propelled them into the sky.
Kakashi watched as Sakura Haruno collapsed as if she had lost consciousness. He quickly jumped up and caught her. Sakura's eyes were tightly closed, and she looked pained. Kakashi gently patted her face and called out anxiously.
"Sakura, what's wrong? Are you alright? Can you open your eyes?"
"Hehehehe."
Kaguya's laughter echoed from above. Kakashi hugged Sakura tightly, looking up warily. She didn't pursue them, but instead gazed at a point in the void, speaking indifferently, almost as if to herself.
"Unfilial son, Hagoromo, you've told enough stories, haven't you? It's time to return to your mother's side."
Kakashi's eyes widened. The next moment, he saw an old man with a goatee suddenly appear beside Kaguya. He seemed equally astonished.
Naruto, seeing this, immediately shouted, "Grandpa Six Paths!" Sasuke's eyes also widened slightly; he hadn't expected to see the Sage of Six Paths again.
Kakashi's eyes widened even more. This was the Sage of Six Paths? The progenitor of all ninjas?
The Sage of Six Paths seemed surprised that his mother possessed such abilities, especially after seeing that the Sun and Moon Seal had failed to work on Kaguya.
"Mother, why weren't you sealed?"
Kaguya's expression remained indifferent, her voice cold.
“Hagoromo, your chakra comes from me, all your ninjutsu knowledge originates from me, even the Ten-Tails Divine Tree was brought by me. Why do you think you understand the Ten-Tails, the sealing, and chakra better than me? I came into this world thinking I would find peace, but in the end, even my two children opposed me. I'm tired, weary of fighting. A thousand years of peace wouldn't be bad enough.”
The Sage of Six Paths couldn't accept this explanation. He pointed at Black Zetsu.
“Impossible. If that's the case, why did you leave Black Zetsu behind? Wasn't he a child you created before you were sealed away? Because you were unwilling to accept it and wanted to be resurrected, wasn't that right?”
Kaguya seemed to suddenly remember, bringing up Black Zetsu.
“Ah, Black Zetsu… he’s not a child I created. He’s an impurity, a seed planted in my heart by some being for surveillance purposes. I couldn’t let anyone know I was sealed away, so I forced him out. He doesn’t have a complete mind, but he implicitly agrees that I should continue to be active in the world, which is why he orchestrated this resurrection to save his mother.”
Black Zetsu was also bewildered. “Mother, what are you saying?”
But Kaguya didn’t answer him. Instead, she opened her third eye on her forehead—a Sharingan as red as blood. Black Zetsu suddenly screamed, as if he were being sucked into a vortex, directly into Kaguya’s third eye.
“Mother, what are you doing?” Hagoromo couldn’t understand Kaguya’s actions.
Naruto and Sasuke were also completely bewildered, struggling but not forgetting to watch the drama unfold.
Kaguya gave a vague reply. “Just letting this seed return to my body, to paralyze certain beings.”
“certain beings? What are those?” Hagoromo frowned, pressing for an answer.
Kaguya stopped answering and suddenly looked at Kakashi and Sakura, or rather, only Sakura.
She said calmly, "You just said, 'As a woman, don't underestimate me,' right? Well then, let me see if you can finally achieve your transformation."
"What?" Sakura was stunned. What was Kaguya talking about? What transformation?
The next moment, Kakashi felt his hand suddenly go empty. Looking down, he saw that Sakura was gone. Looking up again, he realized that Kaguya, Naruto, Sasuke, and even the Sage of Six Paths were all gone.
Clearly, Kaguya had suddenly shifted space, taking Naruto, Sasuke, and Hagoromo with her. She had taken Sakura with her, but for some reason, she had left Kakashi behind.
Kakashi quickly activated his Sharingan. Fortunately, Obito Uchiha's legacy remained; he could only try his best to track and sense Kaguya's location, but he couldn't detect any trace of her.
Kakashi tried several times to no avail. Looking at the empty, white world, he felt both worried and powerless. In frustration, he slammed his fist into the ground.
"Damn it!"
Meanwhile, Sakura and Kaguya reappeared in the real ninja world. Before Sakura could adjust to her surroundings, she heard Kaguya suddenly speak.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi."
Sakura instinctively looked up and saw Kaguya's third Sharingan glowing crimson.
Naruto cried out in alarm, "Sakura-chan, close your eyes!"
Sasuke struggled unwillingly, yelling at Kaguya, "Let me go!"
He then said irritably to Naruto, "What's the use of closing your eyes? Infinite Tsukuyomi can't be resisted by simply closing your eyes." Sakura was startled and quickly closed her eyes, but it was no use. She suddenly felt a wave of dizziness, followed by a pulling force that lifted her upwards.
Naruto and Sasuke struggled frantically, trying to help Sakura. The Sage of Six Paths also tried to intervene, but he felt completely bound, unable to use any chakra or Sage Techniques. He looked at Kaguya in shock.
"Mother, did you do this? You're so strong?"
Kaguya didn't even glance at him. She didn't even bother to confirm whether Sakura was completely under the Infinite Tsukuyomi before calmly addressing the Sage of Six Paths, Naruto, and Sasuke.
"Let's go. Let's leave this world." "
The Sage of Six Paths, Naruto, and Sasuke were all bewildered, but they had no chance to ask before they vanished completely along with Kaguya.
Sakura remained, still struggling against the Infinite Tsukuyomi, desperately cutting down branch after branch of the divine tree, but ultimately she was no match for it, wrapped in a large white cocoon, and slowly dragged up the tree.
In her last moments, she heard Kaguya's words and saw the vanished Naruto and Sasuke, but she could do nothing, and then she fell into a dreamlike state.
In the distance, on a desolate and silent battlefield, the four Hokage resurrected by Edo Tensei looked at each other blankly. The story of the Sage of Six Paths had been told only halfway before he suddenly disappeared.
"Hmm? Where did the Sage of Six Paths go? Did he suddenly become a Buddha? But he didn't even finish his story, did he?" The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, asked somewhat bewilderedly.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, immediately showed a mixture of anger and disbelief. "How is this possible!" "Brother, the Sage of Six Paths looked visibly shocked before he disappeared. Something's clearly wrong!"
"What should we do now? Is anyone still awake?" The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was filled with worry.
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, couldn't suppress his anxiety and worry.
"Where are Naruto and the others? Didn't the Sage of Six Paths say he entrusted the key to sealing Kaguya and breaking the Infinite Tsukuyomi to Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha? But we haven't seen them at all. The Sage of Six Paths only talked about the past, but didn't mention the current situation on the battlefield. Where are they fighting Kaguya now?" The four Hokage exchanged glances, all realizing the gravity of the situation. They split up to search, but after searching for most of the day, they found no one still conscious. Kaguya, Sasuke, Naruto, or even the Sage of Six Paths were nowhere to be found.
A day later, everyone grew impatient. Even Hashirama, who had opposed the Edo Tensei, no longer objected to Tobirama's suggestion to resurrect Madara Uchiha to understand what had happened afterward.
There were no survivors, but the White Zetsu remained, though they seemed to have perished with the world after it fell into the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He went into hibernation, and Tobirama casually grabbed a White Zetsu, using Edo Tensei to resurrect Madara Uchiha.
Returning to the world of the living in an Edo Tensei body, Madara Uchiha was no longer the spirited figure he once was. His ideals had been proven to be nothing more than a complete lie. Obito was his puppet, he was Black Zetsu's puppet, and Black Zetsu was nothing more than Kaguya's puppet. How pathetic and laughable.
Madara's rare somberness and dejection pained Hashirama, who was at a loss for words, unsure how to comfort him.
Madara remained silent for a long time, then asked with difficulty,
"Hashirama, was I wrong? I was foolish enough to be deceived, thinking I could create a world where there would be no losers."
Tobirama immediately scoffed. "With a mind as stubborn as yours, how could you possibly know you were wrong? I thought you would never admit you were wrong."
Madara looked at Tobirama grimly, "If you hadn't killed Izuna, I wouldn't have been seduced by Black Zetsu." "
Tobirama said matter-of-factly, "We're enemies. It's a fight to the death."
Even after all these years, the pain of losing his younger brother Izuna remained Madara's unspeakable Achilles' heel. Madara suddenly felt an urge to stab Tobirama to death with his black rods again.
Their chakra pressure clashed, their eyes glaring at each other. The Third Hokage and Minato watched them with some concern.
Fortunately, Hashirama quickly intervened. He turned back to Tobirama, his voice slightly angry, and said,
"Tobirama, stop talking. Can you please understand how Madara feels right now?" "
Seeing his elder brother was angry, Tobirama immediately backed down, snorted coldly, and turned his head away, no longer provoking Madara.
Hashirama then turned back to comfort Madara.
"Uh, Madara, don't mind Tobirama's words. He just doesn't know how to talk properly. I know you're upset about being deceived, but you need to pull yourself together. Now is the time for you to correct your mistakes. We need your help. Speaking of which, I still don't know exactly what happened. After all, the Sage of Six Paths' explanation was vague. Before you get down, at least explain things clearly to me, otherwise how can I comfort you?"
Hashirama even pouted and complained at the end, leaving Madara speechless. Hashirama was still so naturally cunning. He composed himself and said helplessly,
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
"The battle situation, the final battle situation." "Tobirama, fearing his elder brother would drag Madara into another roundabout explanation, quickly prompted.
Madara gave Tobirama a cold look before beginning his explanation.
Minato concluded, "So, Black Zetsu betrayed you, you went from being the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki to having your body taken over by Kaguya, and after that you know nothing?"
"So this information isn't much more than what we knew before." Tobirama was somewhat dissatisfied, expecting more information to be revealed.
Madara was also annoyed, coldly saying, "That's all I know. If you're so capable, go and resurrect the Nine-Tails' assistant and some Uchiha brats, oh, and a silver-haired guy, a pink-haired little girl, or you can find Obito."
"Are you saying they're all dead? If so, the world is truly doomed!" "Minato finally couldn't hold back his anger.
Naruto was his son, Kakashi and Obito were his students. As the five who might be the last survivors to save the world, Madara Uchiha clearly didn't want them to be happy.
Madara crossed his arms, his arrogant yet cruel tone hitting the nail on the head.
"I'm just telling the truth. Kaguya's power is nowhere near my level. They can't even beat me, how could they possibly deal with Kaguya? Even the Sage of Six Paths, didn't you say he suddenly disappeared? Who knows if Kaguya did something?" "
Minato wanted to object, but deep down he knew Madara wasn't wrong. Their chances of survival were actually very slim; he was just clinging to hope until they were found.
Tobirama, always calm, although at odds with Madara, thought Madara's suggestion was good. Whether they were dead or not, they'd know after being resurrected. Hashirama hesitated, and Minato was conflicted, but in the end, both agreed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had no objections. Faced with the powerful Second Hokage Tobirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, and Hashirama Senju, who, though not powerful, held them firmly in his grasp, he felt like he was back to his student and subordinate days, only able to obey their orders.
Resurrection required cells. Naruto's blood was still on Minato's clothes, and Uchiha Sasuke..." Hashirama had also been injured, having been taken to the battlefield by Tobirama, so obtaining their cells wasn't difficult. Obito and Kakashi were similarly badly injured, and after some searching, their cells were collected. As for the pink-haired girl, Hashirama remembered she was his granddaughter Tsunade's student; Madara Uchiha had kindly provided the information, and he had given her a heart-wrenching experience, getting her blood on his clothes. He also collected her cells from his remaining half-corpse.
Facing the five White Zetsu corpses lying on the ground, Minato almost held his breath as Tobirama activated the Impure World Reincarnation. He didn't want to see Naruto actually resurrected. Fortunately, after a commotion, only Obito Uchiha was resurrected.
Minato almost immediately patted his chest, relieved, and exclaimed joyfully, "Great! Naruto isn't dead!" "
As for regretting Obito's death, Minato had long known that Obito harbored a death wish, fighting on with his crippled body only to atone for his sins. Now that he was dead, it was simply a fulfillment of his wish.
"Obito, you're the only one who died? You're really useless." Madara, after his initial surprise, immediately showed some disdain. Obito was, after all, someone he had personally trained; now that everyone else was still alive, only he was dead, and he felt like he had lost.
Obito was stunned for a moment before recognizing the Hokage and Madara Uchiha before him. Facing Madara's sarcastic remark, he frowned.
"Madara, how come you've been resurrected again? Are you still resentful and planning revenge against Black Zetsu and Kaguya?"
Madara, after hearing this, did indeed have such a plan.
"I really want to, but I don't know where Black Zetsu and Kaguya are. Do you know?"
"Yes, are Naruto and Kakashi alright?" "Minato asked anxiously.
After Obito recounted his death, he confirmed,
"It's normal that you can't find them. They're all in another dimension. Kaguya can travel between different worlds, and the battlefield is constantly changing. They might still be fighting. I can use Kamui to sense their location."
Hashirama excitedly patted Obito's shoulder.
"Ah, that's a great ability! It's rare to have a space-time ability in a Sharingan. That's wonderful! If we can find them, we can go help."
Tobirama still didn't have a good impression of this former enemy who had now reformed, and simply crossed his arms without comment.
A typical day of being ignored for Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Obito, now reanimated, no longer had chakra depletion issues, so he used his Sharingan with incredible speed. Almost immediately, he sensed someone in his Kamui dimension and quickly said,
"There are people in my Kamui dimension. It might be Kakashi and the others. I'll go bring them out." His figure slowly disappeared. Minato could only suppress his anxiety and wait. Hashirama and the others were quite patient. Soon, Obito reappeared, holding someone's hand—it was Kakashi.
Minato first called out happily, "Kakashi!" But seeing that no one else came out, his heart sank. "Naruto and the others..."
Obito quickly explained, "They're not in my Kamui dimension. Only Kakashi is here."
"What's wrong with your eyes?" Madara Uchiha noticed Kakashi's eyes first. He narrowed his eyes slightly and questioned, "I remember I already dug out Obito's eyes for you. Why do you still have Obito's eyes now? Both of them?"
Kakashi touched his eyes. He couldn't see his own face, but he could still use Obito's Sharingan. Otherwise, after being abandoned by Kaguya in that barren space, he wouldn't have been able to return to the Kamui dimension using Kamui, nor would he have encountered the resurrected Obito.
"But how did I get these eyes?" he said sincerely.
"I don't know how I got back either. I always thought it was Obito's spirit appearing after his death to help me."
After Obito's sudden realization, his high-school (JK) side resurfaced. Although he was definitely willing to help Kakashi, their years of grudge meant that even though he had reconciled with Kakashi in his heart, he still wouldn't mince words, speaking with a mixture of disdain and smugness.
"Hmph, you idiot Kakashi, you really can't do without me. My Sharingan is truly amazing."
Kakashi, with a deadpan expression, looked at Obito, who seemed to have regained some of his youthful energy, and replied helplessly.
"Yes, yes, I really have to thank your Sharingan. It was a huge help."
Tobirama interrupted the conversation, getting straight to the point.
"We can chat later. First, tell me why you're the only one here? Where are the others? Where's Kaguya?"
Kakashi explained what had happened last time to the others, and Tobirama frowned.
“So, Kaguya must have moved to another dimension, leaving you alone here? Why would she do that? And the Sakura she mentioned, is that her name, your subordinate?” Tobirama continued after Kakashi nodded in confirmation. “Why did Kaguya say she was looking forward to her transformation? What transformation?”
“Transformation, huh? I feel like this is key. Could it be related to Kaguya's future actions?” Minato pondered, resting his chin on his hand, glancing at Kakashi.
“And you said even the Sage of Six Paths was surprised the seal failed. I feel like what the Sage of Six Paths told us might not be the whole truth.”
Kakashi was also worried about Sakura, but after learning that Tobirama's attempt at Edo Tensei hadn't successfully resurrected Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke, he was temporarily relieved.
Then, the old question returned: Where are Kaguya, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura?
Hashirama, Tobirama, Minato, and Hiruzen Sarutobi resumed their large-scale search of the real ninja world, attempting to find them. Meanwhile, Madara, Obito, and Kakashi used their Sharingan to search other dimensions for traces of them.
Three days passed without results. A week passed. Despite Madara, Obito, and Kakashi searching numerous other dimensions, even venturing into them, they still found no trace of Kaguya and the others.
Ten days later, during a brief routine rest, Tobirama spoke with a grave expression.
"Stop looking for Kaguya and the others for now. We have more important things to do."
"What? What's more important than finding Naruto and Sakura?" Kakashi, secretly taking a sip of milk, asked. Everyone else was dead and didn't need to eat, but he was alive and couldn't escape the need to eat.
"Release the Infinite Tsukuyomi," Tobirama declared firmly.
Kakashi paused, "But the key to breaking the Infinite Tsukuyomi lies with Naruto and Sasuke. They are the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura; only they can break the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
Tobirama frowned. "So far, there's no sign of them, but I'm afraid those trapped inside can't wait any longer. Even if we don't give up searching for them, it must be done simultaneously with breaking the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
"Can't wait? What do you mean?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, startled.
Tobirama Senju glanced at Madara Uchiha and Minato Namikaze, and said... “Madara and the Fourth Hokage should have noticed by now, right? Those trapped in the cocoons aren't simply caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi; the God Tree is continuously draining their chakra. Chakra isn't infinitely generated. You all know what happens when it's completely drained. From my observations these past two days, I've discovered that it's not just ninjas trapped in the God Tree's cocoons, but also ordinary people and various creatures. Two days ago, I noticed that the cocoon that once contained a rat had disappeared. I initially thought I was mistaken, but after paying closer attention, I realized that those small creatures with very little chakra were completely absorbed by the God Tree after all their chakra was drained. In other words, they all died.”
Minato nodded heavily. He and Tobirama discovered this around the same time, and he had planned to bring it up today, but Tobirama spoke first.
Madara Uchiha remained silent. The mistake he had made was growing ever larger. He wanted to make amends, but didn't know how, because he didn't know how to break free from the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Seeing Madara's expression, Hashirama immediately understood that Tobirama was telling the truth. His expression was unusually serious. "Is this true? Then we can't afford to waste any more time; we must break the Infinite Tsukuyomi as soon as possible."
Kakashi's expression was also grim. He was busy searching the alternate dimension and hadn't paid attention to what was happening in the real world.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was old and less perceptive than before, and hadn't noticed anything amiss, but that didn't stop him from realizing the gravity of the situation.
Tobirama continued, picking up where Kakashi left off.
"You said only the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura could break the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but we also have reincarnations of Indra and Ashura here, don't we?"
Kakashi paused, then everyone's gaze turned to Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. Indeed, they were also reincarnations of Indra and Ashura.
"Sigh, me?" Hashirama belatedly pointed to himself, then asked Madara with a troubled expression. "But I don't know how to do it! Madara, do you know?"
Madara rolled his eyes. "If I knew, would I keep it to myself?"
Finally, the group split into two teams. Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, as potential releasers of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, worked together to research how to break it. Tobirama Senju, a sealing master and inventor of ninjutsu, assisted them. Kakashi Hatake, the last person to see Naruto and Sasuke and to have closely observed the seals on their hands, joined in the recollection, hoping to provide some direction.
Minato Namikaze, while also proficient in sealing techniques, knew techniques from Kushina and Jiraiya, overlapping with Tobirama's. His presence wouldn't make a difference. Obito Uchiha, the second-best among them, was naturally useless at this point. Hiruzen Sarutobi, old and frail, was no longer as sharp-witted as before. Therefore, the three continued searching for Naruto and the others.
Another week passed, and neither side made any progress. They still couldn't find any trace of Kaguya and Naruto. Tobirama, Hashirama, and Madara had deduced the sequence several times, trying various hand gestures and unsealing methods. Kakashi confirmed that the methods were almost identical to those he had seen on Naruto and Sasuke, but none of them worked.
Tobirama rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on from hitting a roadblock.
"Although it's Infinite Tsukuyomi, it's still a type of genjutsu, isn't it? If we only consider the unsealing method, are we overlooking something? We need someone more proficient in genjutsu to participate in the research."
Obito Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake simultaneously thought of one person.
"Speaking of the strongest genjutsu user, it should be Itachi Uchiha, right?" Kakashi suggested first.
"Yes, one of his Sharingan awakening abilities is Tsukuyomi. Although it differs from Infinite Tsukuyomi by two words, it's still Tsukuyomi, isn't it?" Obito Uchiha said with certainty.
Neither of them understood Shisui's Kotoamatsukami; it was a secret known only to Itachi and Danzo.
"Tsukuyomi and Infinite Tsukuyomi are quite different, you know," Madara muttered, speechless. But the matter of breaking the Infinite Tsukuyomi was completely at a standstill, leaving them with no choice but to try anything.
If the Infinite Tsukuyomi couldn't be broken, the world would be utterly destroyed, so no one considered whether it would disturb the peace of the dead. After finding Itachi's cells, Tobirama activated the Impure World Reincarnation again, bringing Itachi back to the world of the living.
Itachi opened his eyes, looking at the four Hokage before him. Before he could even react with surprise, he saw Madara and Obito. He assumed the war wasn't over and immediately became wary. But then Kakashi stepped forward and began explaining the whole situation.
Upon learning of Sasuke's disappearance, even the brother-obsessed Itachi Uchiha was thrown into turmoil. The Infinite Tsukuyomi was something he could research, but shouldn't finding Sasuke and the others be the more important priority?
"It's been almost a month. To be honest, I don't think they're still alive."
Noticing Itachi's agitated expression, Tobirama Senju waved him off, continuing, "I didn't say they were dead, because the Edo Tensei can't be released—that's the most conclusive evidence. However, we don't know where Kaguya took them."
Obito Uchiha chimed in.
"We've searched all six of Kaguya's original dimensions. They're not there. However, my Sharingan and Madara's Rinnegan have detected many more other dimensions behind the original dimensions. We've searched nearly a hundred, but still no trace of them."
"You're giving up just because you can't find them? Don't tell me you're not planning to continue?" Itachi, now slightly calmer, questioned him with composure.
Madara Uchiha stood with his arms crossed, his tone rude and arrogant.
“You have no idea! It’s not that we don’t want to search, but the number of alternate dimensions we need to find is an unbelievable astronomical number! Each alternate dimension radiates out to six additional dimensions in all directions, and each of these radiates out to six more. Some of these don’t even seem like alternate dimensions; they’re independent worlds, vast in scope no less than our own. Although most of these worlds are deserted, and some are so dangerous that entering means certain death, we can exclude them from the search. But without more precise search criteria to eliminate those impossible worlds, we probably wouldn’t be able to find them all before the God Tree completely absorbs everyone who enters them.”
Itachi Uchiha fell silent. A simple mental calculation told him Madara was right. Cube upon cube, and cube upon cube, and so on, it’s infinite. No wonder they used Edo Tensei to bring themselves out; the chance of breaking the Infinite Tsukuyomi was much greater than finding Sasuke and the others, without a better method of filtering and locating them.
Itachi Uchiha concluded.
"I'll work with you on the Infinite Tsukuyomi research, but Sasuke and I are brothers. Is there a bloodline tracking ninjutsu that could help pinpoint their location?"
Minato Namikaze and Tobirama Senju exchanged a glance, then Minato spoke.
"Actually, the Second Hokage and I have been considering developing this ninjutsu. Naruto is my son, and we're direct blood relatives. However, the Second Hokage has been preoccupied with researching the Infinite Tsukuyomi, so progress on this ninjutsu hasn't been fast. But with you joining the Infinite Tsukuyomi research, we should be able to dedicate more time to researching bloodline tracking ninjutsu. We already have some leads."
Itachi Uchiha nodded. For Sasuke's sake, he, Hashirama, and Kakashi devoted themselves to the research of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Minato and Tobirama also accelerated the development of bloodline-tracking ninjutsu. Obito continued searching for Naruto and the others in alternate dimensions. Madara mostly used his Rinnegan to search for them, only attempting to break the Infinite Tsukuyomi with Hashirama when necessary.
As for Hiruzen Sarutobi, although he was known as the professor of ninjutsu, he wasn't proficient in inventions or capable of searching alternate dimensions. His task was to patrol the world, search for usable resources, record the condition of those enveloped by the God Tree, and how many lives had been drained of chakra and died, thus reminding others how much time they had left.
Another slow, agonizing week passed. Two things happened during this week.
First, the alternate dimension that Madara and Obito were searching for was getting further and further away from their current world, gradually reaching a point where a round trip within a day was simply impossible. As the distance increased, it was foreseeable that their travel time might eventually change from days to weeks, then to months, and finally even years—provided the God Tree hadn't killed everyone trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
This news was bad for everyone; it meant their hopes of finding Naruto and Sasuke were dwindling, forcing Minato and Tobirama to accelerate the development of bloodline tracking ninjutsu.
Second, even with Itachi's involvement, there was still little progress in breaking the Infinite Tsukuyomi. As Madara had said, the Infinite Tsukuyomi and Tsukuyomi were completely different things.
Itachi considered whether Shisui's Kotoamatsukami could break the Infinite Tsukuyomi, given that Kotoamatsukami is said to permanently and completely alter the will of others. However, he later dismissed the idea. Aside from the question of whether such will alteration could free someone from the Infinite Tsukuyomi, its effect likely couldn't extend globally; a single village would probably be the limit. Furthermore, he couldn't find Shisui's body or obtain his cells to resurrect him using Edo Tensei.
Then, Itachi and Tobirama considered that the Infinite Tsukuyomi was activated by Madara's eyes, but these eyes weren't actually his own; they belonged to his younger brother, Izuna. Therefore, fundamentally, it was Izuna who activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Since Izuna wasn't the reincarnation of Indra, wouldn't Madara only be considered the true Indra if he retrieved his own eyes?
Madara's own eyes had already been buried with Izuna. Even after being resurrected through Edo Tensei, the eyes Madara used were still Izuna's. To be precise, his Rinnegan was formed by the combination of Izuna's eyes and Hashirama's cells. If Madara could retrieve his own eyes, evolve them into the Rinnegan, and then unseal it, wouldn't he be able to succeed? But to do this, he would need to resurrect Uchiha Izuna through Edo Tensei and then switch eyes with him.
Upon hearing this idea, Madara immediately flew into a rage. He crossed his arms, his gaze sharp.
"I disagree! I don't believe Izuna is the key to breaking the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He's been dead for almost a hundred years! Isn't it going too far to blame this on someone who's been dead for so long? How useless are we to disturb the peace of the dead?"
Tobirama, also with his arms crossed, scoffed.
"Except for Kakashi, everyone here is dead, yet we're still here striving to save the world. In the end, isn't all of this your doing?!"
Madara's brows furrowed, his gaze icy. "I will take responsibility for my mistakes, but this has nothing to do with Izuna. He shouldn't have to bear this. I disagree!"
Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi were at a loss for words. Kakashi sighed, Obito remained silent, and Hashirama looked at Madara, then at Tobirama, his expression conflicted, clearly unsure of what to do.
Itachi Uchiha remained silent. If Madara disagreed, no one would know where Izuna was. He could understand Madara's feelings, but every sliver of possibility held a sliver of hope, and he wanted to give up but was unwilling to.
Tobirama raised an eyebrow, and just when everyone thought he was about to explode, he took a deep breath, suddenly bowed deeply, and apologized profusely.
“Yes, I killed Izuna. I don’t regret killing him, but Izuna’s death was the catalyst for all of this. I admit it’s my original sin, and I won’t shirk this responsibility. If I could, I would do anything to appease you and Izuna. However, I hope you can, for the sake of this world, allow Izuna to be resurrected using the Impure World Reincarnation technique. Perhaps he still isn’t the final answer, but it’s one of the few remaining hopes.”
Madara stared at Tobirama in shock. This was the first time he had bowed his head, the first time he had admitted his sins. He was at a loss for words.
Minato and Kakashi looked at the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, with unspoken emotions. Hashirama’s heart was also filled with mixed feelings.
During the Warring States period, the Senju and Uchiha were opposing factions, each serving their own master. Frankly, no one can say that Tobirama Senju was wrong to kill Izuna Uchiha. Later, when Konoha was established, all his measures against the Uchiha were for the stability of Konoha. His policies may be misused by later generations, but his original intention was definitely not to target or exclude the Uchiha.
Throughout his life, Tobirama Senju lived up to his reputation, never failing his family and country.
Now, he was willing to shoulder his responsibilities once more for Konoha, for the ninja world, and for this world. Although Itachi was an Uchiha, he deeply understood the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
He too bowed, pleading with Madara Uchiha. "Lord Madara, I beg you as well."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, on the other hand, looked ashamed. When the Second Hokage was alive, the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha wasn't nearly so tense and irreparable. It was his leniency towards Danzo and his inaction towards the Uchiha that led to this tragedy. Now, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, was forced to bear the stigma and blame.
He was too ashamed to face them, so he could only step forward, bowing deeply. "No, it's all my fault. The Uchiha clan massacre, Itachi bearing the names of murderer and traitor, Obito initiating the Fourth Shinobi World War—it's all my incompetence, my weakness, that led to this situation."
Obito didn't harbor such deep resentment towards Tobirama Senju. After all, he wasn't good at history and didn't know that many policies were drafted by the Second Hokage but later went astray. His initial hatred was directed at the Konoha leadership, including the Third Hokage, Danzo, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado. Later, he even unreasonably hated the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, for not providing timely assistance, and Kakashi, who personally killed Rin. Therefore, the Second Hokage's apology didn't affect Obito much, but the Third Hokage's apology gave him a surreal feeling, as if he were finally hearing his enemy admit their mistakes.
Hashirama looked at Madara, lost in memories. Why did they establish Konoha? It was all to protect his younger brother and his clan. But before Konoha was even founded, Izuna, whom Madara most wanted to protect, was gone forever. This was an eternal void in Madara's heart, causing their differences to grow ever wider, culminating in the final battle at the Valley of the End.
Hashirama could only say helplessly, "Madara, I won't force you. This was all your decision, but if Izuna could truly see all this, I don't think he would want the world to end like this."
Madara fell silent, turned, took a step back, and disappeared. After that, no one disturbed him. The next day, Madara returned, carrying a small jar. He handed it to Hashirama and said in a deep voice, "Inside are Izuna's cells."
Hashirama held the jar, first stunned, then overjoyed. Tears welled in his eyes as he hugged Madara, thanking him profusely. Madara struggled a few times but couldn't break free, so he could only frown and turn his head away.
Hashirama quickly handed the cells to Tobirama, and that afternoon, they resurrected Izuna using the Impure World Reincarnation technique.
Looking at the person before them, Itachi Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake, who knew Sasuke quite well, were both greatly shocked. Hiruzen, Minato, and Obito were also quite surprised. Except for being slightly older, Izuna Uchiha was practically a grown-up replica of Sasuke, or rather, Sasuke resembled him.
"This, Sasuke, I mean, are you a direct descendant of Izuna Uchiha?" Kakashi whispered to Itachi, covering his mouth.
Itachi snapped out of his shock, thought for a moment, and then shook his head firmly.
"No, the family genealogy records that Madara Uchiha and Izuna Uchiha never married and left no descendants. After their deaths, the one closest to the main family bloodline, Hikaru Uchiha, succeeded to the position of head of the family. His father and Madara Uchiha and Izuna Uchiha's father were brothers. We are Hikaru Uchiha's direct descendants. Actually, we can be considered as having risen through the ranks from the branch family."
Kakashi said in a low voice, embarrassed. "This bloodline inheritance is truly terrifying. They're so alike! Considering the relationship, they're practically beyond the fifth degree of kinship, aren't they?"
Madara, however, paid no attention to what Kakashi and Itachi were saying. Nearly a hundred years had passed, and he suddenly felt a pang of homesickness. Watching Uchiha Izuna's eyes slowly clear, he remained flustered, finally managing to call out his brother's name with difficulty.
"Izuna."
Uchiha Izuna was completely jolted awake by the call. He looked up and exclaimed excitedly.
"Madara-nii!"
The next moment, he suddenly realized something was wrong, a look of confusion appearing on his face.
"Hmm? Madara-nii, you seem to have aged a bit? Wait, shouldn't I be dead already?"
Finally remembering that he should have died from his injuries long ago, Uchiha Izuna looked around and became even more agitated.
"Tobirama Senju? Hashirama Senju? What are you doing here!"
He looked around at the horrifying scene of the Divine Tree covered in large white cocoons swaying in the wind, and the desolate, ruined land, and was completely bewildered.
"Where is this? Is this the Pure Land? Is this what the Pure Land looks like? Can this bring peace to the dead?"
Madara Uchiha quickly calmed his brother, explaining carefully.
"Calm down, Izuna. This isn't the Pure Land. This is the real world. You and I were both resurrected after death by the Impure World Reincarnation technique. Almost a hundred years have passed since you died. I was quite old when I died, but after being resurrected, I'm in my early thirties for some reason. I was only 26 when you died. Compared to then, I'm a bit older, aren't I?"
Izuna Uchiha's first reaction upon hearing this was disbelief.
"Madara, you're dead too? You said almost a hundred years have passed? How is that possible?"
After receiving Madara's second nod of confirmation, Izuna finally accepted reality and began to question.
"Impure World Reincarnation? What kind of ninjutsu is that? It can actually summon the dead back to the mortal world?"
"It was created by Tobirama Senju..." Madara was interrupted by Izuna before he could finish speaking.
He glared at Tobirama with wariness and anger.
"Tobirama Senju! It really was you. Only you could create such an evil ninjutsu. So, Madara and I were summoned by you? What are you trying to do? Let me tell you, even in death, I will never be used by you!"
Izuna immediately stepped in front of Madara. Madara felt a pang of warmth and nostalgia; so many years had passed, yet Izuna remained unchanged.
Tobirama watched as Izuna continued his fierce rivalry, just as he had during the Warring States period, their positions seemingly irreconcilable. While he felt nostalgia, the tacit understanding forged through years of conflict was deeply ingrained. Without hesitation, he scoffed in rebuttal.
"So what if I summoned you? Besides, you're dead, not blind. Didn't you see I'm also a reanimated form?"
Izuna then took a closer look and realized that not only were the Senju brothers reanimated, but several other unfamiliar people were also reanimated. Two of them were from his own Uchiha clan, though he had never seen them before. He recognized all the Sharingan users in his clan. Could these two be Uchiha from over a hundred years after his death?
Izuna also noticed the only living person present, Hatake Kakashi. He was even more confused. This living person wasn't Senju or Uchiha. The other old man and the blond handsome man weren't Senju or Uchiha either. When did the Senju and Uchiha get involved with outsiders?
Izuna could only turn to his older brother for answers. "Madara, what exactly happened?"
"It's a long story, Izuna," Madara said in a deep voice, slowly explaining the events of the past century. He didn't hide his schemes, his mistakes, or how he had been deceived by Black Zetsu and Kaguya. He also didn't conceal the many changes and secrets that had shaped Konoha over the years.
The story was too long, too bizarre and unbelievable. The changes in the world order over the past century were completely beyond Izuna's comprehension, especially considering he was living in the Warring States period.
He couldn't imagine a day when people didn't live as clans, but rather as villages, with several clans and large numbers of ordinary people living together in settlements. His brother and Hashirama's dreams had actually come true.
He also couldn't imagine that while the existence of the hidden villages had indeed ended the war between the Senju and Uchiha, it had also ignited an even larger war between hidden villages.
Unbelievable that a hundred years later, the Uchiha clan would be completely wiped out, leaving only a lone heir who supposedly resembled him. This infuriated Izuna. Aside from Madara, the prosperity and survival of his clan was paramount to him. Hearing that the perpetrator of the massacre was none other than the Uchiha made him almost laugh with rage. He unleashed a torrent of sarcastic remarks and insults upon the group.
"Without Konoha, the Uchiha existed for over a thousand years. With Konoha, they perished? Didn't you establish Konoha to prevent further deaths?"
Hashirama immediately lowered his head. Tobirama wanted to retort but couldn't. Madara wore a pained expression.
Izuna then looked at Itachi and Obito, sneering.
"What, have you been brainwashed by Tobirama Senju and Konoha? The Uchiha and Konoha have a conflict, isn't that an act of injustice by the higher-ups? Instead of striving for fair treatment and benefits for your clan, you're thinking of wiping out your own people first?
We Uchiha are truly fortunate to have two of you! You think you're righteous, that you love the village, killing your own family for outsiders? Don't be ridiculous. Someone who doesn't even love their own family and relatives, who can so ruthlessly kill them, why should anyone believe they would love outsiders? Protecting one's own family is human nature! You actually think it's right to do something that violates basic humanity? You're afraid of starting a war and more people dying? Then why should it be all the Uchiha who deserve to die? What wrong did those women, children, and the elderly do? What right do you have to decide their lives?!"
Uchiha Itachi was filled with regret and pain, while Izuna continued to berate Obito.
"As for you, what did the Uchiha ever do to you? You're willing to die for a woman? If you had truly overthrown Konoha and slaughtered all the village's leaders, I might have respected you! But what did you do? You wiped out the Uchiha clan, the people who raised you and had absolutely no connection to the death of that woman! Madara might have orchestrated it, but that was a problem with Konoha's system. You didn't address the root of the problem; you only resorted to impotent rage targeting unrelated people. Even your final war couldn't be carried out consistently. What have you been doing for the past 18 years? You couldn't understand it until now? Your mind is so weak!"
Obito knew he was wrong, but being criticized by Izuna for his inability to maintain consistency, he was momentarily stunned.
Tobirama had been letting Izuna berate him because he also disapproved of Itachi's actions. Hashirama and Hiruzen acknowledged the Will of Fire, but the Will of Fire is not one-sided tyranny and power, nor is it about crushing and dominating another's will. Especially, how do you distinguish whether the Will of Fire is mixed with any personal agenda?
But Tobirama disagreed with Izuna's last few words to Obito, frowning as he interrupted.
"What, you still think Obito shouldn't have ended the war?"
Izuna retorted irritably.
"I didn't say he was right to start the war. I just think he's so immature and weak-willed. He overturned something he'd planned for 18 years so easily, and he even believed in the Infinite Tsukuyomi! As long as humans exist, there will always be conflict, there will always be selfishness. That's what makes us human! Nothing is immutable; we always need to adapt to the times. If the system is flawed, we reform it; if people have problems, we address them. To question the world over a trivial matter, to think the world is unreasonable and shouldn't exist—is that what an immature child does?!"
Obito was speechless, unable to lift his head.
Tobirama chuckled. "Hmph, Izuna, sometimes it's a real shame we're enemies, when our ideals are so similar."
Unlike the idealist Hashirama and the equally idealistic Madara, Izuna was more like Tobirama—a realist, a rationalist. Perhaps it was because they both had similar older brothers. Izuna had indeed always been Tobirama's equal. If it weren't for the lack of information that led to his carelessness and death by the Flying Thunder God Technique, he could have accomplished so much more. If Konoha had both of them, none of this would have happened. Izuna would have assisted Madara and restrained Tobirama's power, creating a greater balance between the Uchiha and Senju factions.
Tobirama now genuinely regretted killing Izuna.
Madara secretly felt a little guilty. Although Izuna hadn't said anything, he knew Izuna just couldn't bear to scold him, because creating a world without losers was a completely unrealistic idea.
Minato and Kakashi hadn't expected Izuna Uchiha to be this kind of person. He was completely different from Sasuke—more rational, more mature, and more in line with the thinking of a competent politician and leader.
After Izuna finished his rant, he finally felt relieved after hearing so many ridiculous stories over the past century. He truly hadn't expected that without his help and support, Madara would still be able to create something as catastrophic as the end of the world. Faced with this ultimate mess, what could Izuna do? He could only roll up his sleeves and get to work.
Madara and Izuna then exchanged their eyes. Izuna's eyes, which had become the Rinnegan, returned to their original owners. Not being the reincarnation of Indra, he couldn't control this powerful force, and his Rinnegan was downgraded to the Mangekyou Sharingan. Madara, on the other hand, regained his nearly blinded Mangekyou Sharingan and began his journey to awaken it once more.
Izuna knew it was his own eyes that had activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi targeting the entire world, and he became quite interested in studying them. Limbo was also a power of his eyes, and now it naturally became Izuna's power as well.
Madara Uchiha didn't have the Rinnegan yet, so Tobirama put aside the Infinite Tsukuyomi and focused all his efforts on conquering the Bloodline Tracking ninjutsu with Minato.
Three days later, the Bloodline Tracking ninjutsu was finally successful, and Minato and Itachi couldn't wait to use it.
Two blood lines appeared out of thin air and then disappeared into the void. Everyone's spirits lifted. Had it succeeded? Obito, with Itachi, and Kakashi, with Minato, tried to trace the blood lines back to the past.
The four first appeared in the icy world of the Origin Sphere. After passing through this icy land, they entered a desolate world. The blood lines again disappeared into the void. The two continued forward, passing through ten alternate dimensions or worlds. Upon entering the next world, Obito and Kakashi's expressions suddenly froze.
"What's wrong?" Minato asked, then immediately fell silent.
Itachi's expression was also grave, staring at the familiar, primordial world of ice and snow.
This wasn't just a similar world; it was the very primordial world. Kakashi had even crossed this world only to return to their own.
"How is this possible?" Obito Uchiha refused to believe it and tried again, seemingly traversing worlds without repeating himself, only to return to the icy world once more.
Minato wanted to suggest another possibility, and he smiled wryly. "Or perhaps they are in this world?"
The others remained silent, but they began to carefully search every inch of this world. Naturally, they returned disappointed.
When the four returned to the real world and told the others about the day's events, Tobirama was also completely baffled.
"Why did this happen? It shouldn't be like this."
He and Minato carefully examined the bloodstain tracking ninjutsu again, but still couldn't find anything wrong. They could only hope to try again tomorrow.
The next day, Minato and Itachi tried the Bloodline Ninjutsu again. This time, the bloodline led to a completely different magma world in the Origin Sphere space than the day before. Minato and Itachi found it unbelievable, but they still traveled through it again with Obito and Kakashi, only to return to the magma world they had initially entered.
On the third day, the starting point became the gravity world of the Origin Sphere space. This time, Madara Uchiha, who had finally successfully evolved his Rinnegan again, led Itachi and Minato alone to search for the person. The Rinnegan's power was higher than the Mangekyou Sharingan, so perhaps they could find something amiss.
And indeed, Madara Uchiha noticed something. After reaching a certain critical point, the trajectory of the bloodline suddenly and inexplicably deviated, returning to its original path. Minato and Itachi were very excited about this discovery, and Minato immediately began to deduce how this deviation occurred.
Of course, this wouldn't yield results quickly. Tobirama later joined in the deduction, and another week passed without any progress.
On this day, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was inspecting the situation across the land, brought even worse news: ordinary people's bodies were beginning to give way, and even the ninjas' bodies were steadily deteriorating. It wasn't just a matter of chakra being absorbed; their basic bodily needs were collapsing.
More than two months had passed since the Infinite Tsukuyomi began. Those caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi were no longer facing the problem of their chakra being drained by the Divine Tree; how could they survive inside their cocoons without food or water?
Tobirama had previously researched this issue and discovered that, seemingly to prevent premature death, the Divine Tree was maintaining everyone's basic physiological needs. After all, only by keeping people alive could a continuous supply of chakra be provided until the body's cells reached their limit and could no longer produce new chakra. Tobirama and Minato had roughly calculated that this could theoretically last for several years.
But for some reason, this supply had recently begun to decrease drastically, no longer nourishing everyone like a farm, but rather entering an accelerated, destructive mode.
No one knew why this transformation had occurred, but they all knew that if no action was taken, the world's destruction was imminent. However, neither the Infinite Tsukuyomi nor the search for people yielded any progress. Finally, Kakashi offered a suggestion: since the Divine Tree wasn't providing nourishment, why not provide it themselves? The Divine Tree's cocoon wasn't completely indestructible; it could be re-entangled if damaged, but the time in between would be enough for them to infuse nourishment into the living.
Of course, while this suggestion was feasible, no one immediately agreed. There were simply too many people; they couldn't all do it. It involved a matter of priorities. Furthermore, if they actively infused nourishment into people, they wouldn't have time for anything else, even using clones, which had their limits.
Seeing no one speak, Kakashi continued to ponder the various conditions required for this method.
“We need someone proficient in medicine and nutrition. Ordinary feeding seems unlikely; direct intravenous injection would be best, eliminating the excretion problem. If the Fifth Hokage and Sakura were here, they could handle that. Also, ideally, there would be a simple method to administer injections to many people simultaneously, rather than one by one. Semi-automated and mechanized would be best.”
Kakashi Hatake chuckled wryly, rubbing his face. “Heh, I guess I'm daydreaming. Oh well, never mind.”
Itachi suddenly spoke up. “Wait, if it's someone proficient in medicine and capable of semi-automated and mechanized procedures, I've thought of someone.”
Obito knew who Itachi was referring to and immediately named him. “Are you talking about Sasori of the Red Sand?”
Minato felt the name sounded familiar; he vaguely remembered.
"Are you talking about Sasori of the Red Sand from Sunagakure? I know him. He's from my generation, I think only four years younger than me. Although we've never fought, he's a genius, incredibly skilled with poisons. Many died at his hands in the early stages of the Third Shinobi World War, and his puppetry techniques are unparalleled."
"The Fourth Hokage is right," Itachi nodded, then added, even thoughtfully detailing feasible plans.
“Sasori is a poison expert, also proficient in anatomy and medicine. He's a puppet master, capable of precisely controlling hundreds of puppets in battle. If it's a repetitive, standardized action like intravenous injection, I think Sasori could probably control thousands of puppets simultaneously without a problem. Furthermore, he's a master of mechanical modification; he even modified his own body into a puppet, yet he remains alive and his chakra usage isn't affected at all. If he could create a puppet mechanism that can automatically feed people, placing them inside would save a lot of manpower. Even if it can't save everyone, I think this is the best we can do.”
Upon hearing this, everyone felt there was no better method. As for Sasori's own wishes, well, they were ignored again. Compared to the life and death of the entire world, individual wishes were insignificant. Even if one didn't want to, they would be forced to. Besides, no one believed anyone could remain completely indifferent when truly witnessing their world's destruction.
When Sasori realized he had been resurrected by Edo Tensei, he was extremely unhappy. His usually lazy, indifferent tone was now extremely sarcastic. “Is this never going to end? Without the Impure World Reincarnation, you can't fight?”
Upon seeing the desolate, deathly silent world, like something out of a horror movie, and the group of Impure World Reincarnated individuals before him, Sasori fell silent again, sensing that the reality might not be as he thought.
Sure enough, after hearing the situation, Sasori felt even more overwhelmed, but he couldn't stand idly by. Although he spoke coldly, his hands deftly prepared a batch of basic nutritional medicines that very day and assembled a puppet device connected to five or six automatic IV tubing.
“Why should I do hard labor after I'm dead? Entrusting the hope of saving the world to a bunch of dead people, that's what truly makes this world hopeless.”
Minato smiled slightly as he applied the Thunder God Mark to Sasori's puppet, facilitating its later transport around the world.
“Don't say that, it's just that the capable are always given more work.”
As the only living person at the moment, Kakashi felt ashamed. "Hmm~, it's a pity I'm really not good at medicine or puppetry, otherwise I would definitely save the world myself."
"Heh, White Fang's son is quite good at escaping, you're the only one who survived." Sasori had absolutely no liking for Kakashi, the son of White Fang, who killed his parents, and he asked indifferently.
"By the way, what about that pink-haired girl? She's your subordinate, right? She was also affected by the Infinite Tsukuyomi? Where is she? I could personally inject her, as a sign of respect for the opponent who killed me. If she's dead, even better; if she's resurrected using Edo Tensei, at least I can save the effort of preparing the medicine."
Kakashi broke out in a cold sweat again. Was this person hoping for Sakura's well-being or not? Kakashi explained.
"Sakura isn't dead, nor is she affected by the Infinite Tsukuyomi. I don't know where she is now, but she was most likely taken away by Kaguya along with Naruto and Sasuke."
Due to the information gap, Kakashi could only give the wrong answer.
Sasori frowned slightly upon hearing this, but said nothing more.
People have varying degrees of closeness and differences in ability. When it comes to allocating nutritional supplies and intravenous injections, it becomes a choice between saving ninjas first or ordinary civilians first.
Hashirama, Itachi, and Hiruzen all wanted to save civilians first. While the ninjas could hold out for a while longer, many ordinary people were already in grave danger and would die immediately if left untreated.
However, Tobirama, Madara, and Izuna advocated saving the ninjas first, as they were fewer in number and concentrated near the battlefield, making rescue more efficient.
Kakashi, Obito, and Minato didn't have a clear preference, but secretly they probably still preferred saving the ninjas first.
Finally, Sasori's words revealed the cruel reality.
“I’m just one person. Even though I’m a reanimated ninja, I don’t need rest, sleep, food, or water, one person’s abilities are still limited. I can only prepare this much nutrient solution a day. Giving one person a solution doesn’t mean I shouldn’t continue preparing more. Besides, I need to make injection puppets, and then control these puppets to inject others. 24 hours a day, you can calculate how much I can do. The Allied Shinobi Forces have about 80,000 soldiers; we could manage to cover them all if we grit our teeth. But ordinary civilians are thousands, even tens of thousands of times that number. We can’t save them all. Since we’re destined to abandon the vast majority of ordinary people, what’s the point of saving them first? Selecting those on the verge of death to save is a complete waste of time!”
Hashirama and Hiruzen were speechless. Itachi knew he was being naive; lives shouldn’t be compared in terms of value. But in this situation, he had no choice but to abandon those seemingly worthless ordinary people.
In the end, they tacitly began the operation to save the ninjas first.