Chapter 604: You Realized Absolutely Nothing

“I… I was wrong?”

Naruto stopped in his tracks after hearing Obito’s story, his expression suddenly lost.

“I meant well, but… I still ended up doing something wrong!”

His attempt at tailing Tsunade and Obito was effectively over.

Before long, the two had disappeared completely from sight, while Naruto remained rooted to the spot, lost in thought.

For the viewers outside, however, that hardly mattered.

Their goal had never been to see just how bizarre Engraved Tsukuyomi’s storyline could become.

They wanted to change Naruto.

Kakashi, of course, might have disagreed with that priority.

Still, everyone else was delighted by Naruto’s current state.

“Yes! That’s it, Naruto!”

Seeing Naruto muttering to himself on the verge of some profound realization, Kushina leaned forward expectantly.

“Come on, figure it out already!”

Kushina had heard plenty of sayings from Makoto that sounded full of deep wisdom.

Things like:

Blind kindness only makes you an accomplice to evil.

The Buddha may forgive him. My job is simply to send him to meet the Buddha.

Show a compassionate heart through ruthless means.

If you repay resentment with kindness, then what do you repay kindness with?

Kushina always felt those sayings made perfect sense.

Unfortunately, she could never use them on Naruto.

His education level was so terrible that he was practically illiterate. Trying to lecture him with lofty principles was like playing music to a cow.

None of it would land.

But now, through Engraved Tsukuyomi, Naruto had finally reached an insight all by himself.

How could Kushina not be excited?

How could she not be moved?

“I was wrong…”

Naruto dropped to his knees.

“Completely wrong!”

His face filled with regret.

“If neutering can extend lifespan, then that means doing that other thing must consume lifespan!”

Kushina’s expectant smile froze.

Naruto clutched his head.

“I spread the Sage Mode shortcut throughout the entire shinobi world and encouraged everyone to learn it!”

“That means I basically shortened the lifespan of the whole shinobi world!”

“I really did something terrible while trying to help…”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“What do I do?!”

Naruto knelt there bitterly repenting for reducing the average life expectancy of the shinobi world.

Outside, Kushina’s face went completely blank.

“…That’s what you regretted?”

Naruto had already traveled almost all the way around the shinobi world.

He had reached the Land of Water, the final major stop.

The Sage Mode propagation project was nearly complete.

Was he supposed to go back now and tell everyone not to use Sage Mode anymore?

Obviously not.

Even setting everything else aside, if everyone lacked the strength Sage Mode provided, then when the Ōtsutsuki eventually invaded, having a theoretically longer lifespan wouldn’t matter.

They wouldn’t live long enough to enjoy it.

Ordinary people caught anywhere near battles capable of tearing apart mountains and reshaping landscapes could be crippled by nothing more than the aftermath.

Thinking about that reminded Naruto of Konohamaru.

When Konohamaru had first begun learning Sage Mode, Kakashi had warned him out of concern that he was still young and that abusing such a shortcut too early might interfere with his future physical development.

Konohamaru had clenched his fists and answered without hesitation.

If he didn’t gain power, then when the Ōtsutsuki arrived, there would be no future for him to worry about.

He and everyone he cared about would simply become helpless prey.

So Konohamaru had chosen to take the risk.

Remembering that made Naruto feel slightly better.

Some of his fighting spirit returned.

He looked into the distance.

By now, Tsunade and the masked man were long gone.

With no way to continue following them, Naruto could only return to the village.

His motivation had recovered somewhat, but he still had no idea what he should actually do.

Then he thought of Makoto.

Sure, this was only the Engraved Tsukuyomi version of Makoto.

But what if?

What if this Makoto could still become some kind of mentor and give Naruto the confidence he needed?

Naruto went to find him and explained the dilemma.

What was the right thing to do in a situation like this?

If Naruto told everyone the truth—that the Sage Mode shortcut might reduce their lifespan—and allowed them to choose freely, what if many people became afraid and stopped training?

Then, if those people died when the Ōtsutsuki invaded, whose responsibility would that be?

If the real Makoto had been asked that question, his answer would probably have been simple:

Not my problem.

Giving them one fair warning was already more than enough.

If they refused to train afterward and died because of it, were they really going to come back and morally blackmail him from beyond the grave?

But Naruto didn’t even need anyone else to morally blackmail him.

He would do it to himself first.

“Give civilization to the years, rather than merely giving years to civilization.”

Makoto spoke calmly.

“People are much the same.”

“The value of a life isn’t determined by how long it lasts, but by whether it was lived fully and without regret.”

“If living as long as possible were the only goal, then some old turtle sitting motionless in a pond would be living the greatest life imaginable.”

Naruto listened intently.

“As for whether you should tell everyone the truth…”

Makoto looked at him.

“That depends on how much responsibility you’re willing to carry.”

“If you’re prepared to bear the consequences, then you can follow Uchiha Itachi’s example.”

“Even if everyone misunderstands you, continue carrying out the justice you believe in.”

Naruto’s blood immediately began to boil.

What a speech!

What a conviction!

Then—

He realized something was wrong.

The Uchiha of Engraved Tsukuyomi were supposedly born kindhearted and were practically incarnations of justice.

So what kind of justice had Uchiha Itachi been carrying out when he helped wipe out the Uchiha clan?

Naruto opened his mouth to ask.

Then stopped.

This world’s Makoto had some kind of suspicious relationship with Kushina.

Maybe his standpoint was naturally biased, which was why he considered Itachi righteous.

“You want to ask how Itachi could slaughter the naturally kindhearted Uchiha clan and still be considered correct, right?”

Naruto froze.

Makoto continued before he could answer.

“The reason is actually simple.”

“Kushina’s rules may be harsh, but people can still live under harsh rules.”

“People can also live under lenient rules.”

“What a society truly cannot endure is having no stable rules at all—constant chaos where today’s command is overturned tomorrow.”

Naruto listened quietly.

“You already know that the Uchiha never actually wanted to become Hokage.”

“They were naturally kind and righteous, yes.”

“But they refused to shoulder responsibility.”

“They preferred wearing masks and acting as vigilantes, yet they couldn’t even properly carry out the Military Police Force’s ordinary duties.”

Makoto shook his head.

“When the Fourth Hokage was being selected, most people in the village had already been disqualified because Namikaze Minato had placed Flying Raijin marks on them.”

“Uchiha Fugaku was one of the few who had remained untouched.”

“He could have competed.”

“But he voluntarily withdrew.”

Makoto’s expression became serious.

“People like that are the most dangerous.”

“They oppose you simply for the sake of opposing you.”

“But when you ask them to propose an actual solution, they have nothing.”

“All they can say is that your answer is wrong.”

“Naruto.”

Makoto looked directly at him.

“Whatever you do, don’t become that kind of person.”

Naruto fell into thought.

At that exact moment, the system interface that had remained silent ever since he entered Engraved Tsukuyomi finally reacted.

Naruto quickly made an excuse about needing the bathroom and hurried into the supermarket restroom.

Once the door was locked, he opened the interface.

Several lines of text appeared.

[Mission Prerequisite: Choose one.]

[1. Preserve only yourself.]

[2. Help everyone under heaven.]

Naruto blinked.

“This sounds kind of like what Makoto just told me…”

Then, without hesitation—

He selected option two.

Immediately, new text appeared.

[Special Ability Acquired: You can now judge a person’s Bullying Value by the color of the name displayed above their head.]

[For “Preserve Only Yourself,” Bullying Value is determined by how much that person bullies you personally.]

[For “Help Everyone Under Heaven,” Bullying Value is determined by the total amount that person has bullied others.]

[Main Quest — Phase One Activated: Based on Bullying Value, administer appropriate punishment to at least ten individuals.]

Naruto stared.

‘Whoa.’

The system had started forcibly guiding him.

Outside Engraved Tsukuyomi, the viewers saw the new quest appear—

And collectively froze.