Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Beginning of Darkness

Kakashi was taken away to have his Sharingan removed, leaving Naruto, Jiraiya, and Tsunade in heavy silence.

Naruto's expression was dark as he sat cross-legged, immediately beginning to attune himself to the nature transformation of wood release.

Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged glances and sighed. Naruto's heart was burdened with thoughts far too heavy for a youth his age to bear.

Tsunade said, "Naruto, Kakashi will be alright."

It was the only comfort she could offer. Kakashi was Naruto's teacher—just moments ago, he had been instructing Naruto on the Wood Dragon technique, and in the blink of an eye, he was captured. Who could bear such a blow? Naruto’s sullen face and the way he threw himself into training as if in defiance made it clear how much he was suffering.

Jiraiya scratched his head, unsure how to deal with the situation; saying nothing felt wrong, but he didn't know what to say.

At last, he said, "Naruto, one day we’ll defeat Orochimaru and save the villagers!"

Jiraiya had once believed that the Child of Prophecy, foretold by the Great Toad Sage, was Nagato with his Rinnegan. Now that Nagato was defeated, it could only be Naruto.

Though their relationship had never been formally declared, Jiraiya and Naruto already shared the true bond of master and student. In fact, Naruto had become the disciple of nearly every elder from the Hidden Leaf.

Everyone had placed their hopes—hopes they could not even name—on Naruto, the boy who carried the Nine-Tails within him.

Could the Hidden Leaf be rebuilt? Everyone knew the chances were almost nil.

Jiraiya didn’t know if rebuilding was possible, but he believed that with the combined efforts of the surviving elders, Naruto could be raised to bear the destiny of the prophesied child.

The future of the Hidden Leaf was uncertain, but the future of the shinobi world needed Naruto to change it.

Yet, in this moment, Naruto rejected the comfort of Tsunade and Jiraiya, even letting out a cold snort, his expression growing even more grim.

Among the survivors of the Hidden Leaf, who was the strongest? It was surely Tsunade and Jiraiya!

But these two had done nothing; they remained in the Sound Village, content to be used by Orochimaru.

Naruto could not comprehend why those with power would serve their enemy. Was it truly impossible to take revenge?

He knew that Tsunade and Jiraiya refrained from acting out of concern for the other survivors of the Hidden Leaf.

Did that mean, no matter how powerful he became, he would end up like them—powerless against Orochimaru?

If so, what was the point of his training?

He thought of Sasuke’s path to strength—severing bonds in exchange for power. Once, Naruto had scorned this.

But now, he was beginning to agree.

Only by being unbound and alone could one do as one wished.

Naruto realized his thoughts were growing darker, drifting further from the Will of Fire, but he could not find any fault in them.

He was not wrong.

Perhaps the Will of Fire itself was at fault.

Tsunade and Jiraiya saw that Naruto’s state was deteriorating and tried to speak again.

But Naruto replied coldly, "Enough. I’m going to train."

His heart was in turmoil.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were filled with guilt as well.

…

While Kakashi was being taken away for his eye, Obito was rushing toward the Sound Village at top speed.

Any delay could bring unforeseen change—he feared the Rinnegan would be relocated, and then there would be no recovering from the joke.

Orochimaru was not easy to deal with.

Face to face, Obito did not fear Orochimaru; he believed he could crush him. With his mastery of space-time, he had every right to claim the summit of the shinobi world.

But he was vexed by Orochimaru’s immortality.

According to White Zetsu, Orochimaru could not only resurrect through cursed seals, but even if his body was shattered into pieces, he could still recover.

The former meant Orochimaru could never truly die—kill him, and he would rise again.

The latter meant that Orochimaru could not be killed at all.

With these two abilities, he was nearly invincible.

With such powers, was there anyone left in the shinobi world who could deal with Orochimaru?

"Only the Eye of the Moon Plan!"

Obito was more convinced than ever of the plan’s necessity. Only the Eye of the Moon Plan could deal with someone like Orochimaru.

Not just Orochimaru—once the moonlight shone on everyone, no matter who they were, no matter how strong or weak, all would enter an absolute peace.

Everyone would live in the world their heart most desired, with everything they ever wanted. In that world, each person would be fulfilled.

Such a world was the most beautiful world.

Underground, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu were also traveling swiftly with Wood Release, White Zetsu carrying Madara Uchiha’s corpse.

"Hey, hey," White Zetsu said, "if we bring Madara back this way, do you think he’ll be angry?"

Black Zetsu snorted. "Nagato’s lost the Rinnegan, and Obito would never sacrifice himself to revive Madara, so Madara will understand."

After some thought, White Zetsu continued, "Do you think Orochimaru will accept Madara’s body? This is Madara Uchiha, after all!"

Black Zetsu snorted again. "Of course he’ll take it. Orochimaru even reanimated the First Hokage!"

If someone dared to reanimate the God of Shinobi, what was so strange about reanimating Madara Uchiha?

White Zetsu felt Black Zetsu’s analysis made sense.

…

After extracting Kakashi’s Sharingan, Orochimaru left, paying him no further mind.

He placed the eye in a glass jar to carry with him.

"Space-time techniques… I’ll wait for Obito," Orochimaru murmured.

Presently, he possessed the Sharingan, Byakugan, Blood Dragon Eyes, the Rinnegan, and the cells of the Senju, Uzumaki, and Taketori clans.

Once he thoroughly studied these, unraveled their connections, perhaps he could create a body rivaling that of the Sage of Six Paths!

And apart from the Eight-Tails, he had all the tailed beasts—even the shell of the Ten-Tails was in his possession.

With a bit more effort, forging the Divine Tree of the Ten-Tails was not impossible!

Once he understood the power of the Sage of Six Paths’ body, and then the Ten-Tails Divine Tree, creating Kaguya Otsutsuki would no longer be mere fantasy.

The more Orochimaru thought, the more excited he became. It was time for a serious push!

…

Meanwhile, the Four Kage Summit finally drew to a close. This protracted meeting set many policies for the future.

Amusingly, the summit had begun with bickering—Raikage A initially wanted to carve up the Land of Fire’s spoils for himself, but the agenda shifted again and again.

First, they persuaded Raikage A to agree to a united army.

Then they discussed how to deal with the Sound Village.

In the end, they learned of the Akatsuki attacking villages to gather tailed beasts.

So they turned their attention to countering the Akatsuki.

As one matter led to another, the talks dragged on, making this the longest summit in history.

Fortunately, it ended in success.

The Four Kage reached consensus and coordinated on economics, politics, culture, geography, and military affairs.

The Shinobi Allied Forces were born!

They declared to the world: the Fourth Great Ninja War had begun!

Almost simultaneously, the Akatsuki made their own announcement: the Fourth Great Ninja War had begun!

The much-watched Sound Village side did not disappoint, either.

They declared that the Sound Village would also participate in the Fourth Great Ninja War.