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Dead again?
The moment Sawara Kiri heard this result, this inexplicable thought was the first thing that popped into his mind.
He found that in the system and in others' mouths, he seemed to have never had a good outcome.
However, this outcome was only a momentary pause for him, but to others, it was a bolt from the blue.
"How is that possible?!"
Almost as soon as these words fell, Megumi couldn't help but speak, her voice urgent.
Unlike the countless future timelines that Sawara Kiri had experienced through the system's pre-calculations, this was her first time receiving concrete information from someone from the future.
However, for someone like her, who had long regarded Sawara Kiri as her inner pillar, this result was undoubtedly completely unacceptable.
Kakashi seemed to have anticipated this outcome, lowering his head somewhat helplessly, and continued, "The outcome is indeed so. And because of this result, up until now, within our time frame, the entire Ninja World has been suffering from turmoil, and the momentum that was originally developing has been completely interrupted."
"The only thing worth celebrating is that Lord Sawara left behind a sufficiently rich legacy for the Konoha Ninja before his death. Whether it's the full-domain barrier or the space-based Chakra cannon, they barely managed to protect Konoha's position as the Ninja World's strongest."
"However, outside the Land of Fire, in other regions, we were powerless."
"In fact, the Land of Water had already completely collapsed before then, and even Hidden Mist could not be rebuilt. Within the Land of Wind, a large-scale civil war had begun. Apart from us, only the Land of Earth's vitality remained relatively intact."
At this point, not only Kakashi, but also the three young Ninja behind him couldn't help but lower their heads slightly.
Namikaze Naruto couldn't help but sigh.
Konoha in their era was indeed strong enough, and before they began their missions, they had always been in a relatively peaceful environment.
But precisely because of this, after they started going abroad for missions and gradually saw the miserable state of the outside world, they couldn't help but sigh, and even grieve.
Just as Kakashi said, the turmoil in many small countries was so severe that they couldn't even meet basic food needs. The Land of Waves, which he had once visited, even experienced large-scale cannibalism. Only the areas within the Land of Fire were able to remain intact thanks to Konoha's power—even so, it was largely due to the large-scale logistics system established during the Lord Fifth's tenure.
Although he was now a First-Class Jonin and had experienced countless missions, Namikaze Naruto still couldn't help but feel emotional when recalling the scenes he had witnessed back then.
If it weren't for the efforts of this Lord, who looked about his age, could their country really still be as stable as it was now?
He was not born in a peaceful era, but in a sufficiently strong country.
For Namikaze Naruto, this feeling was extremely profound.
However, Sawara Kiri was not swayed by the few words from these future people. He frowned, as if he had caught some suspicious points, and asked, confused:
"Wait a minute."
"According to you, the version of me and Minato from that world all died in Konoha Year 51?"
"Did the me from that timeline never come to Roran?"
"How long did Konoha Village's state of preparedness last?"
"Given my personality, if I knew this news, I shouldn't have made no preparations at all."
Sawara Kiri had self-knowledge, especially when it came to self-preservation—in fact, he couldn't be blamed. Anyone who had experienced a childhood of undercover work would likely develop a strong desire to preserve their life after growing up successfully.
Unless his future self had truly become arrogant beyond measure.
"No, preparations were made."
Kakashi's voice interrupted his thoughts: "According to my impression, since Year 42, the entire village had been developing a secret technique. It wasn't until I became a Special First Class Jonin that I learned the ultimate trump card was a series of high-power Jutsu combining various special techniques such as Nuclear Release, Micro Release, and Space Release."
"However, those Jutsu required too much from the user, and their security clearance was also very high, so most Konoha high-ranking officials only understood a portion of them."
"This large-scale wartime research spanned the entire 40s. It's just that for some reason, after Year 49, you, Lord, gradually began to cut funding, until later, before the war, you restored the original economic development route."
"However, it was precisely because of those preparations back then that we were able to perish together with those of the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
"After that battle, the plates within the Land of Earth experienced large-scale collapses, and a narrow sea, over a thousand kilometers long, was opened up between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire."
"The large-scale climate changes only stabilized five years later."
"Eh!?"
Upon hearing this secret, not only the people around Sawara Kiri, but also Namikaze Naruto and Sasuke, widened their eyes.
"The narrow sea was left by that battle?"
"Is that something a human can do?!"
Clearly, even they were not privy to the various secrets of that era; the management of such related information was obviously very strict.
"Ocean..."
Orochimaru's golden snake eyes stared silently at Sawara Kiri, excitedly and subconsciously flicking his tongue, tracing a half-circle around the corner of his lips.
Sawara Kiri, how many more surprises can you bring me?
Such a level of power, perhaps even all the Tailed Beasts combined couldn't achieve it, could they?
However, how powerful must his enemies have been to require this guy to go to such an extent?
Although they were discussing a matter that endangered the safety of the entire world, Orochimaru was more interested in the power that could achieve such god-like might.
If one had to say, perhaps only the legendary Sage of Six Paths could wield such great power?
Among those present, only Sawara Kiri maintained a calm expression, showing no excessive emotion at his future self reaching such a level.
Instead, he continued to ask, "Aside from Ninjutsu? For example, Sealing Technique, weapons, or the development of special Kekkei Genkai, and even ultra-large-scale Summoning Beasts, did none of those appear?"
Kakashi was startled by the question and frowned, recalling carefully for a while.
As Sakumo's successor, and also one of the highest-ranking individuals in his timeline, the information he could access was clearly all of Konoha's.
However, after much thought, Kakashi still shook his head slightly: "Aside from the large-scale adjustments in Nuclear Release and Space Release, the later Lord Fifth did not develop anything more."
"This might be the pinnacle of human capability."
His tone carried a hint of comfort, yet also helplessness.
Although the Lord Fifth was exceptionally talented and developed powerful Jutsu like "Limitless" at a very young age, he might also have had many other unrealized inspirations.
However, since such things happened in the future, it most likely means that the Lord Fifth's later experiments all failed, with only those few paths succeeding.
Although in his own opinion, it was already unbelievably impressive, this Lord still seemed very dissatisfied with his future self.
Kakashi smiled bitterly to himself. This was probably a realm that mediocre talents like him could not comprehend.
However, a slow smile began to appear on Sawara Kiri's face.
So that's how it is.
Even though the information obtained from Kakashi was limited, Sawara Kiri keenly noticed one point.
Whether it was Nuclear Release, Micro Release, or other miscellaneous Ninjutsu, they were all essentially existing Kekkei Genkai techniques in the Ninja World developed according to his original knowledge system.
This was completely inconsistent with his current conditions.
Clearly, the Sawara Kiri from that timeline was merely a copy that extended from his existing conditions, but without the system's blessing.
Since that was the case, there was nothing to fear.
He pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "By the way, you just said that funding started to be cut after Year 49... What was that about?"
Kakashi thought for a moment, then said, "It should be because it became unaffordable."
"At that time, I hadn't yet been promoted to Special First Class Jonin, so I didn't have much information. I only remember that not long after graduating from the academy, one day the overall military budget suddenly dropped, as if all vigilance had been completely relaxed."
"As for the specific reason, I do not know."
"Perhaps only the high-ranking officials who personally experienced that era would know."
He said, sighing inwardly.
Sawara Kiri, on the other hand, nodded as if it were obvious. It would be strange if every high-ranking official recorded all information from that era; some things simply cannot be put on paper. Even the people involved might only be able to guess, let alone a young man like Kakashi who only entered the upper echelons more than a decade later.
He mused, his expression deliberately growing more solemn, and calmly said:
"If what you say is true, then it might indeed be somewhat dangerous."
"Those Ōtsutsuki Clan members on the other side most likely also possess the ability to traverse time and space."
"According to my usual practice, after experiencing the Ryumakyu incident, I would likely remain on high alert until the relevant time node appeared before I could relax some of my vigilance."
"It's clear that for the me on your timeline, the opponent's appearance was most likely in the 1940s—and besides that, the opponent should not have been just one person, but an entire group."
"The reason military spending plummeted so much was probably because one or two of their members were eliminated, most likely their strongest, which gave the me of that era confidence."
"Additionally, the enemy's strength and related intelligence that the me on that timeline knew should also have some discrepancies with what you are saying now."
"Given these various discrepancies, it's not surprising to die at their hands."
Upon hearing this, Kakashi's expression suddenly froze, and he looked at him in astonishment.
It was as if he hadn't expected this adult to accept his death so easily, and to deduce so much information based on his limited input.
It was as if he didn't care about his own life or death at all.
In reality, Sawara Kiri was not as relaxed as Kakashi imagined. He had merely accepted the reality that 'the me without a system' had died at the hands of the Ōtsutsuki.
It seemed he still needed to work harder to gain more Heart Nodes.
Thinking this, he looked up towards Uchiha Megumi.
Megumi was staring at him intently, her face full of worry.
"Don't worry, I'll figure something out."
Seeing her anxious expression, Sawara Kiri instead revealed a relaxed smile.
"Mhm."
Uchiha Megumi nodded emphatically.
Then, Sawara Kiri turned his head and suddenly looked at Orochimaru, asking, "Orochimaru-sama, if I wanted to establish a systematic project that could transcend and observe various worldlines, using the Ryumakyu as its energy and information base, would it be possible to complete?"
Upon hearing his words, everyone present was bewildered, completely unable to imagine what a product capable of observing various worldlines would look like.
Only Orochimaru, the moment he heard this idea, had his golden snake eyes practically burst forth with dazzling light.
He calmly looked at Kakashi and the others who had traveled to this time node, then smiled at Sawara Kiri:
"Of course it's possible."
Having received this answer, Sawara Kiri turned to the group of future people and said, "Kakashi, did Konoha in that world ever establish an experimental project named 'Chaldea' or 'Humanity's Continued Existence Guarantee Organization'? If it's just the name, I should still have it in the archives."
The moment Kakashi heard this, it was as if he had thought of something, and his entire being seemed to be invigorated with an unprecedented sharpness. He said solemnly:
"Never."
A sunny smile gradually appeared on Sawara Kiri's face, and he said gently:
"Then, let us begin to change history from now on."
"Yes!"
Kakashi was suddenly invigorated.
Just as the Konoha group was about to begin their actions.
On the other side.
A burly, tall man with a thick, heavy beard, carrying a red-haired woman, was rapidly moving through the underground passages of the Thousand Tower.
Following him were only dozens of humanoid metal puppets.
At this moment, the burly man's expression was barely calm, but the sense of panic seemed to be practically seeping from the depths of his eyes.
'How could this be?'
'How could they appear at this time node?'
'Damn it!'
'This is completely different from the time the lords told me, and I even have to start the plan early.'
Anrokuzan, no, to be precise, the Sunagakure's top rogue Jonin, Mukade, was rapidly pondering in his mind, gnashing his teeth with resentment.
It had been two years since he fled from Konoha in the 63rd year to this timeline, following the instructions of those lords.
For these two full years, he had diligently played the role of 'Anrokuzan,' assisting Queen Sēramu and constantly seeking an opportunity to strip her of control over the Ryumakyu.
According to the time given to him by the lords, he should have at least four more years to prepare, until that time when the damned Sawara Kiri would appear here—by then, he would be beyond salvation.
However, the other party's actions underwent a large-scale change, forcing him to immediately alter his plan and abduct Queen Sēramu to the core of the Ryumakyu.
What was even more distressing was that the future people, who were expected to appear, also changed their time of appearance!
What exactly was going on?!
If they were present, how much information would that bastard Sawara Kiri gain, and how was he supposed to save the Land of Wind?
The intense chaos made his mind feel heavy.
As a traitor to humanity, a servant of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, the only thing supporting his actions now was the promise that those lords would leave the Land of Wind as a human preserve after conquering the world, and that he himself would become a vessel for a god.
If Sawara Kiri and his group were allowed to develop, leading to a war even larger in scale than the original timeline, then whether this area could be preserved would become an unknown.
Only one thing was certain—as humans, they absolutely could not defeat higher-level 'gods.'
Even Sawara Kiri, the pinnacle of humanity, absolutely could not do it.
He was the one truly enduring humiliation and bearing a heavy burden to save the world!
Driven by this sense of mission, even if he had to grit his teeth, Mukade had to execute the plan immediately.
Soon, the path ahead was quickly passed at high speed.
Mukade's figure suddenly appeared in the center of a seemingly desolate, pitch-black area.
He first threw Queen Sēramu to the ground, then formed hand signs according to the jutsu given by the Ōtsutsuki lords.
"Hmph!"
The next moment, his palm immediately pressed against the queen's abdomen and lifted sharply.
Immediately following, a massive amount of Chakra was continuously poured into the ground through his hand and body.
Beneath the originally desolate-looking area, a vast, intricate network of Sealing Technique patterns had been laid out at some unknown time, directly connected to the underground Ryumakyu.
As the Ryumakyu energy was activated, the formation suddenly glowed with an unusual light, rapidly surging through Mukade's body and into the countless discarded puppet limbs in front of him.
Almost instantly, these countless discarded puppets connected to each other under the activation of the Ryumakyu Chakra, assembling at an incredibly fast, almost imperceptible speed into a giant statue of unimaginable size.
Seeing this colossal statue, Mukade felt a sense of relief and murmured, "This thing should be able to buy us some time."
Then, he looked up and shouted at the giant statue in front of him:
"Go!"
"Eliminate Sawara Kiri!"
As his voice fell, a red glow flashed in the eyes of the giant statue.
Before it could make any move, Mukade had already picked up the queen again and immediately dashed towards the next location.
That was the core field of the entire Ryumakyu system.
As a future person, no one knew better than him what kind of power Sawara Kiri could unleash.
To deal with a monster capable of rivaling gods, there was only one thing he could do.
—Inside Mukade's backpack, a fruit resembling a stone lay quietly.
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