"I told you... no one escapes!"
That chilling voice echoed in her ears, and Tsunade's face instantly turned pale. It wasn't coming from behind her—it was as if it were whispering directly into her eardrums.
Yet the people around her didn't seem to notice anything. Tsunade took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm. She couldn't afford to show even the slightest sign of weakness. She was the backbone of this group—if she lost it, they'd all fall apart.
For years, the shinobi of Konoha had been living in an illusion, deluding themselves into thinking they were still the number one village in the shinobi world. They had no proof to support that claim, and no one dared to poke holes in the lie. Even when others trampled them underfoot, they'd stubbornly spout slogans like "for peace" or "for the greater good," masking cowardice as "tolerance."
When facing someone reasonable, Konoha would act tough. But when faced with someone who was tough, Konoha would try to be reasonable. Kumogakure had long since figured out this trait of Konoha's leadership—and that's how they managed to pressure the Hyuga clan into sacrificing Hizashi.
Now, reality had come crashing down. They'd encountered someone like Sasuke—hard-fisted, unreasonable, and absolutely ruthless—and the shinobi of Konoha were finally forced to wake from their dream. No more delusions. Just a bitter life soaked in blood.
That title, "strongest in the shinobi world"? That was ancient history.
Tsunade's thoughts spiraled. She had witnessed Konoha's peak as a child—and now she was witnessing its downfall. When and how had things gotten so bad? She couldn't even say.
The group trudged back to their temporary base with heavy hearts. Sarutobi Hiruzen still insisted on calling it "New Konoha," but... a lie was a lie. No matter how you dressed it up, it was still self-deception.
From a distance, black smoke curled ominously over the so-called New Konoha, and Tsunade's heart sank with a terrible sense of foreboding.
Her instincts were right.
The streets were littered with severed limbs. Flames devoured houses and trees. It looked like no one had survived.
"H-How could this happen...?" a shinobi dropped to his knees in despair. After witnessing Hiruzen's death, now he had to come home to find his family slaughtered. He was completely broken.
"It was Orochimaru," Tsunade growled through gritted teeth. She knew his combat style too well—those traces of snake-style ninjutsu were unmistakable.
"There's residual Tailed Beast chakra in the air," another ninja reported grimly. "Something might've happened to the Nine-Tails."
Tsunade clenched her fists tight enough to crack bone. That bastard Orochimaru... had come to hit them where it hurt most!
After a thorough search, they confirmed that Naruto was missing. Tsunade immediately assumed Orochimaru had taken advantage of their absence to abduct him. Maybe Naruto had resisted, maybe even gone berserk—but ultimately, he'd still lost to Orochimaru.
Was that really what happened?
...Well, Tsunade wasn't entirely wrong. Just... a few details were off.
Orochimaru had always been loyal only to his own ideals. The moment he heard that Konoha's remnants were preparing to attack the City of Peace, he instantly realized this was his opportunity.
He didn't care who won or lost. He only wanted one thing: the reincarnated chakra of the Sage's sons. That had become his obsession ever since a mysterious, unnamed informant told him the hidden truth of the shinobi world.
Under normal circumstances, there was no way he could have snatched Naruto from under the watch of Hiruzen and Jiraiya. But now? With Konoha's forces drawn away? The timing couldn't have been better.
Orochimaru wasn't particularly bloodthirsty. But when he infiltrated New Konoha... most of the people were already dead.
Naruto had snapped.
With his usual tongue and a bit of help from the allure of Indra's chakra, Orochimaru managed to pacify Naruto and uncover what had happened.
Naruto was convinced that everyone around him was fake—monsters in disguise—and that he alone was real. After enduring that kind of psychological torment for so long, he finally exploded. The Nine-Tails had been only too eager to join in the chaos, and together they laid waste to New Konoha.
Naruto even showed Orochimaru a blank journal...
What could Orochimaru say? He played along, carefully coaxing Naruto like a child.
The shinobi world was filled with mysteries and unexplainable horrors. Orochimaru knew when to rein in his curiosity. He had sensed the approach of something disastrous. Before it arrived, what he needed most... was the power to survive.
So he took Naruto with him.
Thanks to previous research on Jinchūriki and careful observation along the way, Orochimaru had formed a reasonably clear picture of Naruto's personality—and of the influence of Asura's chakra.
Naruto's "no matter how badly others hurt me, I'll always forgive them" attitude wasn't exactly rare or unique.
When it appeared in a single person, it seemed odd. But when it appeared across a whole population... it almost made sense.
In Naruto, Orochimaru saw the reflection of the Fire Country's common folk—ordinary civilians who, no matter how badly they were treated, no matter how cruel or corrupt their leaders were, would ultimately choose to forgive. They'd stubbornly cling to hope like overharvested crops waiting for spring, even making excuses for their abusers.
Some truly loved the Fire Country. Others simply accepted reality: no matter how bad it got, their own homeland was still better than being mistreated elsewhere. No one wanted to emigrate to a place like Kumogakure, where they'd only suffer worse.
Just like Naruto. No matter how badly Konoha treated him, he'd never go to Kumogakure—because things would be even worse there. So "forgiveness" became the only path forward.
And yet... Naruto was different.
He didn't just forgive others. He also forgave himself.
After wiping out what was left of New Konoha, he was only depressed for a short while. Then he bounced right back, as cheerful and thick-skinned as ever. It was as if all the negative emotions had been swept away. He forgot how others had wronged him—and also forgot how he had wronged others.
"He forgets hatred as easily as he forgets kindness," Orochimaru thought, that old proverb flashing through his mind.
...
Eventually, Orochimaru brought Naruto back to his base in the Land of Rice Fields.
Guren, Yakushi Kabuto, Hōzuki Suigetsu, and the rest of his subordinates were there. Naruto blended in quickly, and somehow, they all accepted him with little resistance.
Watching this, Orochimaru licked his lips with unconcealed excitement.
In the days that followed, Naruto's life was full—training, or getting examined by all sorts of bizarre machines.
Orochimaru didn't train him directly—he simply let Naruto grow at his own pace.
In terms of strength, Naruto had made little progress. With Konoha and Mount Myōboku destroyed, Jiraiya hadn't had time to teach him much. And before that, Naruto had spent so long trapped in fear of "monsters" that he'd basically been stagnating.
Guren's Crystal Release techniques routinely crushed him in sparring, forcing him to unleash the Nine-Tails just to keep up.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+60 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo