"Have you two decided yet?"
The Allied Shinobi Forces grew impatient as Hikari and Makoto continued their private discussion without reaching a conclusion.
"Alright, alright," Hikari waved her hand dismissively. "Don't rush us."
After relaying Orochimaru's final telepathic words, Makoto finally understood why Hikari had so casually suggested he agree to the army's outrageous demand.
In Hikari's eyes, the people trapped in this Limited Tsukuyomi World were even more pitiable than those in the original Shinobi World.
Makoto had once remarked that the original Shinobi World was entirely enslaved by Fate.
Its inhabitants were perpetually immersed in ancient prophecies, always waiting for a predestined savior to appear whenever faced with insurmountable challenges.
First came the prophecy of the "Blue-Eyed Boy who calls out the names of the Nine Tailed Beasts."
Because of this specific prophecy, anyone who actually tried to befriend the Tailed Beasts would eventually look in a mirror, realize they didn't have blue eyes, weren't a boy, or simply didn't know the beasts' names, and think: Oh well. I guess I'm not the chosen one.
They would simply give up.
Then there was the grand prophecy of peace and revolution for the Shinobi World, which essentially meant: Unless you're a direct disciple of Jiraiya, don't even bother trying to achieve world peace.
You'll never succeed.
Finally, there was Kashin Koji's Ten Directions ability from the future, which claimed to see all possible timelines.
In reality, it could never achieve this.
Because "all possible futures" are inherently infinite.
If Kashin Koji truly possessed such a power, his human brain would never be able to process them all.
For example, when young Boruto returned to Konoha, Kashin Koji's vision showed futures where Boruto was discovered and engaged in combat.
But he couldn't foresee the absurd future where Boruto learned Homelander's Crescent Moon Sky Piercer technique while standing on Hokage Rock.
In the realm of infinite futures, even the most improbable, ridiculous events are statistically guaranteed to have occurred somewhere.
Logically, there must be a timeline where Boruto uses the Crescent Moon Sky Piercer, and several cursed timelines where Boruto has children with Himawari, Hinata, Naruto, and the Nine-Tails itself.
Yet Kashin Koji saw none of these. In essence, he merely presented Boruto with a curated choice between a few predetermined branching paths, allowing him to select his so-called "fate."
It was exactly like playing a visual novel game with multiple endings, but absolutely no way to escape the fixed set of developer choices.
Compared to the original Shinobi World, the people trapped in this Limited Tsukuyomi World were far more tragic.
In the real Shinobi World, thanks to Makoto's chaotic influence, breaking free from Fate was entirely possible simply by violently refusing to believe in the Prophecy.
But the people of the Limited Tsukuyomi World couldn't achieve this freedom.
Even if Makoto killed all the Tailed Beasts, these people would still be passively drawn to new chakra anchor points by the universe's amplified "gravitational" physics.
They were exactly like a horde of video game NPCs programmed with automatic pathfinding and combat algorithms.
Would you actually get angry at lines of code?
It's like playing Pokémon Emerald: even as the Hoenn region teeters on the brink of absolute destruction from Groudon and Kyogre's apocalyptic clash, and you're frantically rushing to save the world... a random Swimmer NPC will still charge at you with an exclamation mark over his head, demanding a battle the moment you surf past him.
Would you really get mad at the NPC for that?
Besides, Hikari was the one who had physically created this Limited Tsukuyomi World in the first place using her ocular power.
In the end, she found herself questioning the morality of taking her frustrations out on her own cursed creations.
"We agree," Makoto said entirely expressionlessly to the massive army of women opposite him.
"Lead the way. Let's take care of the One-Tail first."
"Excellent!"
Slurp.
The Allied Shinobi Forces erupted in incredibly thirsty cheers, as if their ultimate victory was already assured.
...
"Come, let me introduce you. You probably know the others already. This is the Mizukage, Mei Terumi."
On the road to the Hidden Sand, Tsunade was brimming with enthusiasm, acting as their tour guide.
"Mm-hmm," Makoto nodded, keeping his distance.
Agreeing to temporarily join the Allied Shinobi Forces did have its tactical advantages.
At least they wouldn't have to make Hikari exhaust herself flying the Susanoo all over the Land of Water just to find the Hidden Mist for their final stop.
"You originally planned to capture the Hidden Mist's two Tailed Beasts last, probably because you were wary of their infamous Blood Mist policy, right?" Tsunade speculated, noticing Makoto's complete lack of reaction.
"Don't worry, the new Mizukage has completely abolished the Blood Mist policy! The Hidden Mist is now open to the world again!"
"Blood Mist?" Hikari turned curiously to Mei Terumi.
She wondered if the Hidden Mist in this bizarre world also had a brutal, student-killing Blood Mist policy.
Honestly, in this timeline filled with completely twisted individuals, the Mist's traditional policy of forcing kids to murder each other almost seemed refreshingly normal by comparison.
"Ah, the little one doesn't know about the Blood Mist? That's understandable, considering our village has been deeply isolated for over a decade," Mei Terumi sighed softly, preparing to explain.
"Let me enlighten you."
"W-wait a minute!" Hikari suddenly panicked, realizing something was horribly off in the woman's tone.
Is she about to introduce another completely bizarre cursed lore?!
"It's alright," Mei Terumi smiled gently, thinking Hikari was just worried about offending her.
"This will all come to light sooner or later. I don't care about the village's dark past anymore."
Mei Terumi sighed and continued her explanation.
In this world, the "blood" in the Blood Mist Policy had a much, much deeper meaning.
The Hidden Mist was extremely xenophobic toward outsiders, yet within its own ranks, the unity and harmony bordered on the absolutely pathological.
In the early days of the Hidden Mist, a standard six-person ninja team could mathematically form fifteen different pairings.
And absolutely every possible combination within a squad had actively experienced intense romantic and physical relationships.
Even the Genin ninja exams had been heavily modified to reflect this culture: graduation strictly required successfully "conquering" a teammate.
The Demon Zabuza, in his prime, was absolutely terrifying under these rules.
Perhaps the reincarnation of a great god of fertility, Zabuza famously graduated from the ninja academy by systematically "conquering" every single classmate who took the exam with him!
Even more chilling, under the Blood Mist Policy, the Hidden Mist placed immense, obsessive value on Bloodline Limits.
Ninjas with Bloodline Limits were highly revered as possessing superior genetics.
The village relentlessly pressured them to marry and breed, actively dispatching elite shinobi to personally "assist" Bloodline Limit clans in aggressively procreating to ensure the traits survived.
"This is the true history of the Bloody Mist Village," Mei Terumi sighed heavily, then turned her sultry gaze directly to Makoto.
"Because of this oppressive culture, I've developed a severe psychological aversion to marriage. I'm absolutely terrified of the concept now."
"So," Mei Terumi smiled sweetly, "after we help you gracefully capture the Three-Tails and Six-Tails... I will happily have children with you, but I absolutely will not marry you."
"..."
Makoto stared blankly at the sand.
He never expected things to turn out this way.
The famous marriage fanatic of the real world had actually become a traumatized marriage-phobe.
But honestly, judging by the horrifying description, the Bloody Mist Village in this world actually seemed like one of the most "normal" villages they had encountered so far.
At least they kept it strictly human-to-human.
...
"We're here," Temari, who was leading the procession, suddenly stopped.
"Here? Where the hell is Shukaku?" Kurotsuchi asked from her hovering wheelchair, looking around the empty desert for any sign of a giant tanuki.
"Gaara's fragile mind was completely warped by our father's daily abuse. To permanently prevent him from harming the innocent villagers, I've securely pinned him under the mountain," Temari explained coldly.
She walked over to a small, artificial pyramid-shaped rock mountain sitting just outside the Hidden Sand's walls and pointed to a specific opening at the base.
'Good grief,' Makoto thought, rubbing his temples as he realized the geometry of the prison.
Gaara's been pinned face-down under the mountain... with his ass sticking out of the opening.
'How much must Temari actually hate Gaara to do something like this to her own brother?'
This was a world where absolutely everyone coveted the Tailed Beasts' "exquisite" forms.
Gaara's ass had already been brutally blasted open by Exploding Tags earlier in his life.
In the short time he had been pinned here completely defenseless, he might have already been...
"Ah! Lady Temari! I'm so sorry! I'll leave immediately!"
Kankuro suddenly panicked, emerging from the opening in the rock.
He frantically pulled up his pants as he awkwardly backed away from his trapped brother.
Hikari violently clenched her fists, her Sharingan spinning.
If she hadn't already verbally pledged a fake allegiance to the Allied Shinobi Forces, she would have summoned her Susanoo and slaughtered them all right now.
This universe is utterly disgusting!