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Beneath the Divine Tree. Within the bamboo forest.
The night was deep, the stars scarce, the silence absolute.
In this moment—the forest was as still as death itself.
Time froze.
Manji stood rooted in place, an All-Killing Ash Bone jutting grotesquely through his chest.
Ahead of him—the Chakra Fruit glowed, pulsing with radiant light.
The single most coveted treasure in the entire Naruto world.
It was right there—and yet Manji's attention was locked on the figure behind him.
It was the White Monkey King who broke the silence first—with a roar of pure, unbridled rage.
"YOU! Why?? Why would you hurt Manji?? Without him, that man would've fed you to the Ten-Tails—and you'd be NOTHING!"
His eyes blazed with fury as he glared at Kaguya, his voice shaking the air.
Kaguya's expression flickered—complex, conflicted—before freezing over into cold, impenetrable frost.
"Why…?"
Manji turned his head with agonizing effort, confusion and betrayal swirling in his gaze as he stared at Kaguya.
He couldn't understand. Wasn't pursuing happiness her entire reason for doing this?
Or—had the Chakra Fruit been her true objective from the very beginning?
"I'm sorry, Manji. I broke my promise."
"The Chakra Fruit—you can't have it."
Kaguya's voice was frigid steel, her eyes twin shards of ice.
Despite everything, Manji forced himself to stay calm. "Tell me why."
"Because my lover betrayed me. That man was planning to trade me to an enemy nation like a bargaining chip. So the only way I'll ever feel safe… is if the power is in my hands."
Kaguya's composure shattered—her expression twisting into something raw and frenzied.
It was obvious. The man she loved had turned on her, and it had broken something inside her completely.
Manji understood instantly. Exactly like the original story…
Internally, Manji was already cursing the Emperor of the Land of Ancestors six ways to Sunday.
Why did you have to betray her NOW of all times??
'You couldn't have waited literally one more hour?? I was RIGHT THERE!'
'But no—it had to be THIS exact moment!'
"Heh… heheh…"
Manji laughed.
"Hahaha… hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
It started as a dry chuckle—then grew into bitter amusement—and finally erupted into full-blown, unhinged laughter.
Both Kaguya and the White Monkey King froze, staring at him in stunned bewilderment.
"Manji—what's happening to you??"
The White Monkey King's voice trembled with worry.
Kaguya's expression shifted between suspicion and unease—half-expecting Manji to reveal some hidden trump card, half-wondering if the man had genuinely lost his mind.
"The prettier the woman, the bigger the lie—isn't that how it always goes?"
"And here I was—just a minute ago—wishing you happiness. Feeling sorry for you…"
Manji let out two hollow laughs, then shook his head with genuine wonder. "Turns out you're all real people—not scripted characters following a plot. Every single one of you thinks for yourselves, makes your own choices… This world really is full of remarkable souls…"
Kaguya regarded him with glacial indifference. An All-Killing Ash Bone through the chest—there was no surviving that.
"MANJI! Use the Toad Sage Talisman! HURRY!!!"
The White Monkey King's voice cracked with desperation.
"No need, White Monkey King. Get out of here."
Manji gave a weary, resigned smile.
His body was already crumbling—disintegrating into ash before his very eyes.
Before the White Monkey King could even react, Manji canceled the summoning—forcibly sending the old ape back to the Summoning Realm.
He knew the White Monkey King couldn't beat Kaguya. Staying here would only get him killed.
Manji collapsed to the ground—but his eyes still blazed with defiance.
"Even if it kills me—I'm getting one bite!"
With every last shred of strength left in his disintegrating body, Manji wrenched himself forward—jaws wide open—and bit into the Chakra Fruit.
In a single instant, he tore off a chunk.
Kaguya's eyes went wide with shock—she flash-stepped forward and snatched the remaining fruit away.
Manji chewed slowly, a faint, bittersweet smile on his crumbling face.
'Well… can't say I tasted much. Hard to enjoy a meal when your body's turning to dust…'
Kaguya looked down at what remained of Manji—ashes drifting in the night air—and felt something twist painfully in her chest. That last image—his smiling face, genuinely wishing her happiness—it haunted her.
Guilt pierced through the ice.
She could feel it. Manji's blessing had been real.
"I'm sorry, Manji. I'll make sure my children remember your name—and build a temple in your honor…"
"I won't forget you."
Kaguya whispered her solemn vow.
In truth, she had originally intended to keep Manji alive. But the risk of future complications was too great. To prevent the possibility of him turning against her someday, she'd chosen to eliminate him entirely.
Then—Kaguya's expression hardened into permafrost.
"POWER. I NEED POWER."
She devoured the remaining Chakra Fruit in a single bite.
A blinding white radiance erupted—
And with it, the Rabbit Goddess—Kaguya Ōtsutsuki—the Mother of All Chakra—was born!
The Rinne-Sharingan blazed to life on her forehead. She ascended into the sky.
She opened the gates of Yomotsu Hirasaka.
The Infinite Tsukuyomi—bathed the world in its light.
.....
Snow. Endless, blinding white.
A blizzard raged across a frozen wasteland.
From beneath the pristine snowbank—a hand slowly clawed its way to the surface.
Then—a man, completely naked, dragged himself out of the snow.
"…Where the hell did I end up?"
Manji stood bare in the freezing cold, scanning his surroundings.
"Hah… thank god. Thank god. Eternal immortality—it's the real deal."
He looked down at his body—fully intact, without a scratch—and murmured in quiet disbelief.
He'd always wondered about his immortality. Was it just an infinite lifespan—the "never aging" kind? Or was it the "literally cannot die no matter what" kind?
The System had no intelligence of its own. He couldn't ask it.
And he sure as hell wasn't going to test it by killing himself.
But now—thanks to Kaguya's betrayal—he finally had his answer.
This wasn't just eternal life. It was true resurrection. No matter what killed him, he came back.
"Summoning Technique!"
Manji focused—and a set of Mount Myōboku training clothes materialized onto his body.
"First things first—I need to figure out what's going on."
Manji launched himself skyward with a single leap.
His Sage perception was still fully operational. One sweeping glance told him everything he needed to know—the world was practically devoid of people.
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi… Kaguya's already cast it."
Manji let out a quiet sigh, his eyes flashing with cold steel. Kaguya Ōtsutsuki… yesterday's betrayal is a thorn I won't soon forget.
"But right now—patience. Kaguya's power is overwhelming. Charging in would be suicide."
He assessed the situation coolly. Going after Kaguya at his current level was no different from walking into a meat grinder.
His first move—return to Mount Myōboku and check on the situation there.
"Summoning Technique!"
.....
Back on Mount Myōboku.
The first thing that greeted him was a towering gravestone.
Manji's brow furrowed. He walked forward immediately.
"THE GRAVE OF MANJI"
"…Why is my name carved on a tombstone?"
Without wasting another second, Manji barged straight into the Grand Toad Hall—where he found White-Brow Toad, rhythmically tapping a wooden prayer block.
"MANJI?? You're ALIVE??"
White-Brow's face exploded with joy as he bounded toward Manji.
But almost instantly—suspicion crept in.
The White Monkey King had told him point-blank that Manji was dead. So was this really Manji—or an imposter?
"White-Brow... I'm home."
Manji read the doubt on his face and deliberately released his unique Sage energy signature.
The moment White-Brow sensed it, every trace of suspicion vanished—replaced by overwhelming, tearful relief.
"Little Manji! I thought that woman out there had killed you! How did you survive?? And that genjutsu blanketing the world—it didn't affect you?"
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