In a lake deep within the forest,
Karin crouched in front of a grave, crying.
Naruto helped her cremate her mother and buried her in a quiet place where birds could be heard singing.
For a moment, he even thought about reviving her later using Samsara of Heavenly Life with the Rinnegan.
But after thinking about everything she had gone through, he realized that some lives were not worth repeating.
In this ninja world, sometimes death was a form of release.
"Kurama... I'm going to destroy this ninja world."
Sitting by the lake, Naruto casually threw stones into the water, creating ripples as he muttered quietly.
Whenever his emotions reached their limit over the past seven years, he would always talk like this to Kurama.
In his previous life, he had only been an ordinary writer.
Seven years of isolation, exclusion, and bullying had filled his heart with suppressed violence.
Inside the seal, Kurama lay lazily in his cage and replied in a mocking tone:
"Aren't all humans like that?"
Naruto's face was still stained red by the Nine-Tails' chakra. His skin was slowly healing, but only half of his face had returned to normal, making him look like a walking corpse.
"That's not it," Naruto laughed softly. "Humans need belief."
When he first came to this world, he didn't understand his future.
Was he meant to become the so-called protagonist, pushed forward by fate?
Was everything—being Asura's reincarnation, being the Nine-Tails jinchuriki—just to make him struggle step by step against a tragic destiny like in the original story?
And in the end… sacrifice himself for a foolish child?
He rejected that.
So he could only struggle in this cruel world, doing everything he could to grow stronger.
But when he truly stepped into his first real mission, he finally understood the cruelty of this world.
He saw the twisted result of what ninjas had become.
All the emotions he had suppressed for years finally exploded.
"Ninja shouldn't exist in this world."
"This world should be ruled by a god who sets the rules."
Power only fuels human desire and leads to endless war.
Absolute power…
is the only path to true peace.
This world doesn't have the kind of forbidden technique Nagato dreamed of.
But it can create immortal gods.
And he…
will sit on that one and only throne.
Naruto repeated again with a low laugh:
"Hehe… I'm going to destroy the ninja world."
This time, Kurama didn't respond. He simply lay down and closed his eyes.
Naruto couldn't help but complain:
"You should train sometimes too. Extract more chakra. Our enemies aren't normal… you could deal with them easily."
In theory, even a Tailed Beast could "train."
Just like how Orochimaru once used chakra taken from the Eight-Tails.
Kurama had also gathered energy desperately during battles before.
But now he only sneered:
"You should worry about making yourself stronger first. Even my current chakra is already too much for your body to handle."
Naruto rolled his eyes as his skin continued to sting.
This was his first time using chakra to accelerate cell regeneration.
Clearly, the Nine-Tails' chakra wasn't real medical ninjutsu.
It was far inferior to Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal or Hashirama's natural regeneration.
He looked at the sun-shaped mark on his palm.
The Yang chakra wouldn't last long, and after using it once, he realized he couldn't activate it again.
In the end, Naruto could only blame himself for being too young and not fully developed yet.
After all, even Hashirama couldn't use Wood Style as a child.
Feeling his body slowly recovering, Naruto looked back at the grave by the river.
Karin had already cried herself unconscious.
Naruto stood up and shook his head.
He realized he needed to give this unfortunate girl a new home.
He picked up the sleeping Karin and walked toward Yamato.
Because of his emotional outburst earlier, he had completely destroyed the Kusagakure camp.
Naruto glanced at the ointments and soldier pills in his ninja pouch and twitched his lips.
"...This should… probably… help a little."
But when he returned, he saw several ANBU already there, performing emergency treatment on Yamato.
When Inuzuka Hana and Uchiha Izumi saw Naruto return, they rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
"That's great! You're safe!"
Naruto struggled to push them away, creating some distance.
As long as he was alive, nothing else mattered.
Looking at the two girls, his mood improved slightly.
The Shadow Clone that had been observing everything dispelled itself and transferred all the information to him.
It turned out the Third Hokage wasn't as relaxed as he appeared.
He had already sent ANBU to respond.
Inuzuka Hana and Uchiha Izumi had run into Kakashi's team while escaping and were brought back.
They had also found Yamato, severely injured and unconscious.
Naruto's Shadow Clone had worried that ANBU might investigate the Kusagakure camp and expose his Sharingan, so it had hidden the evidence in advance.
Watching the ANBU busy with their work, a cold smile appeared on Naruto's face.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi… just wait."
"This night of destruction… is the true beginning of your nightmare."
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