Fear quickly turned into anger.
And anger turned into blame.
All fingers pointed—inevitably—at Konoha.
You created the monster.
You lost control.
Your "hero" became the butcher of the world!
Even after Tsunade awakened and resumed her position as Fifth Hokage—implementing the harshest countermeasures available—the situation continued to spiral beyond control.
Each day brought new reports of casualties.
The death toll of shinobi climbed without pause.
At last—
the worst outcome arrived.
Under Naruto's direct command—and the relentless advance of his White Zetsu army—the Fourth Great Ninja War erupted on a scale and with a brutality far exceeding any prior conflict.
This time, there was only one objective:
To purge the entire shinobi system.
The heavenly projection expanded into vast, harrowing scenes.
The Allied Shinobi Forces clashed against endless tides of White Zetsu across battlefields spanning continents.
Neji appeared frequently at the front lines.
Leading the Hyūga Clan's elite, he unleashed near-perfect Rotation and Eight Trigrams Palms, carving corridors through the pale onslaught.
His Byakugan discerned weaknesses with surgical precision.
His Gentle Fist struck with lethal accuracy.
For a time, the Hyūga forces stood as one of the few pillars capable of stabilizing the front.
Neji fulfilled his duty to Konoha.
He protected those behind him.
And perhaps, in doing so, he silently challenged the unseen figure orchestrating it all—
his former friend.
Yet personal strength meant little before a war that engulfed the world.
Then came the avalanche of despair:
The Five Kage—
all killed in battle.
Even Sasuke Uchiha—
gravely wounded.
One by one, the names of the shinobi world's greatest leaders and symbols of hope fell.
The Allied Forces' morale shattered.
Despair descended like a frozen night.
Neji listened to every word of the report.
Might Guy… dead?
The Five Kage… wiped out?
Sasuke… critically injured?
Naruto—
what are you trying to accomplish?
You've dragged the entire world into flames.
Destroyed teachers. Comrades.
Everything you once swore to protect.
Is this the "change" you chose?
The projection shifted.
A hidden corner among post-battle ruins.
Neji slipped into a half-collapsed cavern.
Inside, the air was dim and cold.
Sasuke sat against a stone wall, his black clothing torn and blood-soaked. Deep wounds marred his body. Though treated roughly, his chakra was unstable.
"Sasuke," Neji said hoarsely, stepping closer. "Naruto—what's happened to him? Where is he?"
"I lost."
Sasuke's voice was dry.
"I lost completely."
"With the Rinnegan… he's beyond comprehension. It's not just that he's fully mastered the Nine-Tails and the Rinnegan's power…"
A flicker of unease crossed his eyes.
"He's also using… Sakura's divine technique."
"Divine technique?" Neji's medical chakra faltered for an instant.
He had never heard that term before.
Sasuke did not elaborate.
Whether from exhaustion—or because he himself could not fully understand it.
"If no miracle appears," Sasuke murmured, closing his eyes, "we've already lost. Completely."
A miracle?
Neji felt bitterness rise in his throat.
Where would a miracle come from?
He was among the strongest of his generation.
His Byakugan and Gentle Fist had reached unprecedented heights.
Yet even he could not confidently face any one of the fallen Five Kage in direct combat.
Despair returned.
Then Sasuke's eyes snapped open again.
"Karin."
Neji blinked.
"Karin? The sensory ninja?"
He remembered her—the red-haired girl who followed Sasuke everywhere. Skilled in sensory perception and medical support.
Why mention her now?
Sasuke inhaled carefully, wincing.
"Her strength… is immense. I don't know how immense."
"But if there's anyone in this world who might be able to stop Naruto…"
He paused, as if testing the weight of his own belief.
"…it's probably Karin."
He did not mention Sakura—the other wielder of divine technique.
"What?!" Neji's shock was genuine.
A sensory-type medical ninja—
the only one capable of stopping a world-destroying Naruto?
It overturned everything he thought he knew.
"Where is she?" Neji pressed urgently.
Hope—thin as a thread—flickered.
Sasuke's answer shook it again.
"I don't know."
"She disappeared before the battle even began."
His brows furrowed faintly.
"I'm not even sure if she left voluntarily."
"Most of the time… I never truly understood her."
Silence filled the cavern.
Neither knew what to do next.
Then—
A voice echoed gently through the cave.
"I may be able to help."
It was old. Warm. Yet it carried a strange resonance that seemed to vibrate against the soul.
Both Sasuke and Neji jolted upright.
With their level of perception, neither had sensed anyone approach.
They turned sharply toward the entrance.
Floating cross-legged in midair was an elderly man.
Long white beard.
Two horn-like protrusions from his forehead.
Ancient white robes.
A black staff in hand.
A faint glow surrounded him.
His eyes were kind—and immeasurably deep.
"Who are you?!" Neji demanded, tension coiling in every muscle.
The old man's presence felt unfathomable.
The stranger first looked at Sasuke.
There was recognition in his gaze. And something like sorrow stretching across ages.
After a quiet sigh, he said:
"So many years… and you are still the same."
The words were simple.
Yet Sasuke's pupils constricted.
A tremor passed through him.
As though something buried deep in his bloodline had stirred.
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