Naruto: IHCS Ch. 144

Iwa camp.

The atmosphere was just as oppressive.

"Damn it! You didn't even figure out who the other side was?!"

An Iwa jonin roared in fury. In front of him stood several injured ninjas, their heads bowed.

"He wasn't willing to talk, and at the time we had no strength left. Later, he knocked us out..."

"I only saw that he seemed to be some black-haired kid..."

"His medical ninjutsu was really strong, and his eyes seemed to be blue?"

"..."

Just like in the Konoha camp, the Iwa ninjas were analyzing Shiratori's identity.

"No forehead protector? Black hair? Blue eyes?"

The commander of the Land of Grass front line, Kitsuchi, listened to the report, his rugged brows tightly furrowed.

There were far too many black-haired, blue-eyed ninjas in the shinobi world, so many they were countless. With only such vague physical traits, it was impossible to pinpoint anyone.

However, while there were many black-haired, blue-eyed ninjas, there were not many black-haired, blue-eyed youths who possessed such advanced medical ninjutsu.

"Keep investigating!" Kitsuchi ordered.

"Send more reconnaissance squads, focus on the edges of the battlefield. If that medical-nin shows up again, try to capture him alive!"

"If you can't take him alive, at least uncover his background!"

---

On the other side.

Shiratori knew nothing about the suspicion and attention from Iwa and Konoha. Even if he did know, he wouldn't care.

At the moment, he was sound asleep in a shabby inn room with Nagato and Aoki.

Afternoon came.

The blazing sunlight pierced through the clouds above the small town.

Inside, the air was turbid. Having woken up, they came to the town's only eatery in search of food. The three of them sat together at a creaky wooden table in the corner, eating the simple fare before them.

Shiratori sipped from a bowl of watery vegetable soup, almost devoid of oil, its taste bland as wax.

Eating something like this, what was the point of living?

He glanced at Aoki across the table. Aoki's face was still pale, shadows heavy beneath his eyes, as if he hadn't yet shaken off last night's horrors.

Then he looked at Nagato beside him.

Nagato's Rinnegan seemed even deeper than before. The aura of weakness that used to cling to him had faded somewhat.

Nagato chewed on the hard, dry bread. His red bangs hung low. Noticing Shiratori's gaze, he raised his head in confusion, looking at him.

"Shiratori?"

He smiled gently at him, asking with concern, "Rested well?"

Nagato nodded. "Mm."

Aoki's food was almost untouched.

His brows were tightly knit, his eyes drifting at times to the desolate street outside the window, at times sinking into deep thought.

They were the only customers in the eatery.

A heavy, numbing silence hung over everything.

Shiratori faintly sensed that Aoki wanted to say something, but he hesitated.

"War really is endless..."

Aoki suddenly let out a powerless groan.

Shiratori and Nagato both turned to him.

Nagato's Rinnegan was calm, but carried an invisible scrutiny.

Aoki didn't look at them. His hollow gaze remained fixed on the outside, as if speaking to the void itself:

"Scenes like yesterday... I've seen far too many."

"Iwa and Konoha, Suna and Konoha, Suna and Iwa, Konoha and Kumo..."

"Great nations, small nations... fighting again and again. Today you kill me, tomorrow I kill you..."

"Hatred is like weeds, burn down one patch, and with the next rain, it grows back wilder than before..."

He pressed his hands against his forehead, palms hiding his reddened eyes.

The battlefield from last night had fully awakened his painful memories.

"Comrades I was drinking with yesterday... today they're nothing but cold, mangled chunks of meat on the ground. That feeling is unbearable..."

His palms remained over his eyes.

But beneath that shadow, Shiratori and Nagato could see the bloodshot gaze swirling with torment.

Aoki's chest heaved violently a few times. He struggled to calm his breathing, his voice dropping lower, yet more suffocating:

"I've had enough, I really have..."

"I've had enough of this meaningless slaughter!"

"Fighting for protection is nothing but a joke! It's just an excuse they use to drive us onto the battlefield!"

"We think we're fighting to protect, but in reality we're fighting for other people's desires and profit."

"As long as people have desire, have profit, have hatred, war will never end! Never!"

His words fell like heavy stones into the suffocating air.

A long silence followed.

Nagato said nothing. He only looked at Shiratori.

Shiratori raised an eyebrow, studying the agitated Aoki. He guessed what would come next. He didn't know how long it took, but finally Nagato finished chewing the hard bread in his hand.

Aoki's harsh breathing gradually subsided.

He lowered his hands, revealing his face. He lifted his gaze, focusing intently on Shiratori. That look was incomparably complex.

There was pain, but also desperation, and hope.

"Shiratori."

Aoki's voice was hoarse.

He smiled back at him. "What is it?"

Aoki swallowed hard, speaking with difficulty:

"If... I mean if... there existed a way in this world, a way that wouldn't require sacrificing anyone, yet could truly bring eternal peace and happiness..."

"Would you be willing to try it?"

"..."

Bingo.

Shiratori looked at Aoki with a peculiar expression.

No doubt, Aoki had been brainwashed by Madara, or Black Zetsu.

Though he didn't know the exact details, Aoki had definitely been deceived.

But really... if Madara and Black Zetsu had sent Aoki to try brainwashing him, they were giving Aoki way too much credit.

Of course, aside from overestimating Aoki, they were also clearly underestimating his intelligence.

Shiratori showed the expression most fitting for the situation.

He froze.

His eyes were filled with astonishment and confusion.

Nagato suddenly raised his head, his Rinnegan sharply locking on Aoki, carrying within it a faint but unmistakable wariness.

"No need to sacrifice anyone?"

"Eternal peace and happiness?"

Shiratori repeated the words that came out of Aoki's mouth, words that sounded like pure fantasy, with his brows slightly furrowed.

"How could there possibly be such a method?"

He looked at Aoki with suspicion.

Even Akatsuki, with all their resolve, could not guarantee that the road toward peace would be without sacrifices.

Nagato frowned. The corpses and blood on the battlefield from last night were still fresh in his memory. This utopia-like proposal felt completely unreal.

"There is!"

Aoki's tone suddenly grew urgent. He nodded vigorously, repeating with certainty:

"There is."

Leaning forward, Aoki lowered his voice.

"I once saw fragments of an ancient text."

"It mentioned a technique, one so powerful, so unimaginable, it could only be described as a 'god's power'!"

His eyes shimmered faintly with excitement.

"..."

An ancient text?

Shiratori mocked silently, though outwardly he still wore a half-doubtful expression.

"This technique supposedly connects to the moon, projecting an unimaginably powerful chakra onto its surface, and then..."

Aoki paused, staring intently at Shiratori, before solemnly continuing, word by word:

"...and then, through the moon, cover the entire earth with the light of this technique!"

"..."

Shiratori glanced at Nagato, and caught a fleeting trace of killing intent in his eyes. Rubbing his own eyes, he wondered if he had imagined it.

Nagato wanted to kill someone?

Aoki?

Since when did Nagato's way of solving problems become this violent?

But Aoki kept speaking.

"Anyone who sees that moonlight..."

His eyes flashed with intoxication, his whole demeanor like someone drunk, as if lost in a dream.

"Anyone who sees that moonlight, all their desires and thoughts of war, hatred, and conflict will be completely purified, replaced entirely by an overwhelming yearning for happiness and peace."

"From that moment on, there will be no more strife, no more slaughter in this world."

"Everyone will attain true, eternal peace!"

When he finished, silence fell over the table.

Shiratori stared at him.

This guy's been fooled badly.

An illusion was an illusion, what "purification"?

Just how much had Madara and Black Zetsu tricked Aoki into believing?

Luckily, he had the script.

No matter how hard Madara and Zetsu tried, they could never imagine that he was the man who held the script in his hands!

Under Aoki's expectant gaze, he slowly shook his head. Though his voice was soft, it carried an unshakable firmness.

"No, Aoki. This... this is nothing more than genjutsu."

"Using overwhelming force to forcibly twist everyone's will, erasing all strife and negativity, leaving only so-called peace and happiness?"

His brows knitted tighter, his voice rising with emotion.

"How is that any different from being controlled puppets?"

"That kind of world may look beautiful, but in truth it's nothing but a lifeless wasteland."

"Without genuine emotions, without the freedom of choice, what meaning does that kind of happiness have?"

Nagato looked at Shiratori, and the frown on his face began to ease.

[Faith detected: Nagato +3000 points]
[Energy transferred to Suguru]
[Development progress: 75.6%]

"That is not true peace!"

He raised his voice.

"That is nothing but eternal hypnosis forced upon the entire world by the strongest violence! It's fake! It's self-deception!"

Locking eyes with Aoki's stunned expression, he spoke each word firmly, "What I want is not a dream woven by illusions. I want people to truly, from the depths of their hearts, understand the cruelty and foolishness of war. To learn to understand, to forgive, and to communicate. To use their own will and wisdom to break the chains of hatred, and build, with their own hands, real peace!"

[Faith detected: Nagato +2000 points]
[Energy transferred to Suguru]
[Development progress: 75.8%]

"Even if it takes a very, very long time. Even if the process is unbearably difficult. Even if countless sacrifices are made along the way..."

His gaze was unwavering.

"I will still persist! Because that is the only true change, not replacing one form of coercion with another!"

Aoki opened his mouth, wanting to refute.

He wanted to say, "You're too naive," or "Human nature will never change." But when he looked into Shiratori's eyes, the words stuck in his throat, unable to escape.

Aoki's emotions were in turmoil.

He felt a wave of irritation and despair, as if watching a foolish child reject a shortcut to paradise, insisting instead on walking a thorn-filled, muddy road.

But at the same time, the uncompromising pursuit of truth in his words shook Aoki's soul.

He fell silent, his gaze turning complicated as he looked out the window.

It didn't matter. He had time.

One day, Shiratori would understand him. He had yet to experience the pain of absolute loss. When that day came, he would choose, just like him, the bloodless, sacrifice-free path.

Nagato looked at Shiratori, his Rinnegan glimmering with light. He believed in Shiratori. He always would.

Shiratori squinted at Aoki.

Based on Madara and Zetsu's slick combo routine with Obito, the next step would be to target his close ones.

His close ones?

Jiraiya, Nagato, Yahiko, Konan... maybe even Hanzō.

Nagato was out of the question, Madara wouldn't kill him.

Jiraiya and Hanzō were also too troublesome to deal with.

Not even Madara himself could take them down in his current state.

That only left Yahiko and Konan.