Chapter 582: Hanabi Returns Home
The Land of Rain, Amegakure Village.
After discovering that the Sage of Six Paths had tried to "smuggle" himself in and dealing with him, Uchiha Hikari reported everything to Shiromo.
The two of them carefully rechecked all the data inside the Engraved Tsukuyomi. That was how they discovered Kakashi's plan to change Naruto.
Whether Hikari had found and eliminated the Sage of Six Paths too quickly, or whether Kakashi's original setup already perfectly matched the Sage's intentions, there wasn't the slightest trace that the Engraved Tsukuyomi had ever been altered by him.
After watching Naruto hesitate for a long time on the character creation screen before finally choosing the Uzumaki Menma template, Shiromo decided it was time to release Naruto's footage.
Naruto was different from Obito.
Obito, in order to escape the Engraved Tsukuyomi and complete his mission, had abandoned every last moral boundary. He had completely lost his mind. It was too dark and too easy to set a bad example for children.
Naruto's side was different. At most, it was just a little... inappropriate. Besides, children in the ninja world matured very early.
There weren't any regulations against that sort of thing in the ninja world anyway.
Otherwise, Kushina wouldn't have needed to talk about the Three Prohibitions of Shinobi while she was dying.
If Konoha really had such laws, Kushina could have simply said, "Naruto, don't break the law."
Besides, according to the "should paradox," the moment you think something should be done, it means you already understand that thing. Which also means you already should know it.
If someone were truly the pure embodiment of innocence, they wouldn't be affected by it at all.
Of course, to prevent Naruto from doing anything too eye-burning, Hikari once again added the automatic censorship feature to the footage, just in case.
Thus, everyone in Amegakure felt as though they had returned to that night when they had all watched the Limited Tsukuyomi together.
The Land of Snow produced all kinds of movies. Many of the stories had even been personally designed and selected by Shiromo, making them incredibly entertaining.
But everyone still felt that something was missing.
As expected, it was easy to go from a simple life to a luxurious one, but hard to go back again. After experiencing those bizarre and shocking stories, it had become difficult for everyone to enjoy ordinary plots anymore.
Especially the ninjas, whose strength had continued growing and whose horizons had broadened.
Now that the livestream version of Engraved Tsukuyomi: Naruto had appeared, everyone's enthusiasm was reignited.
The Limited Tsukuyomi had ultimately been just an illusionary world. No matter how closely it resembled reality, it was still fake.
But the current Engraved Tsukuyomi was different.
The Naruto inside was a real person.
One after another, everyone came to Hikari to collect their monitor tablets. Even those planning to watch with friends still took one for themselves.
After all, they couldn't stay together all the time.
If they needed to use the bathroom, take a bath, or do anything else, they still wouldn't miss the exciting parts.
"I remember we watched a movie called The Truman Show not long ago. Naruto kind of reminds me of the main character, Truman."
After Hanabi received the news and came to pick up her tablet, she said this to Shiromo.
"Not quite the same," Shiromo shook his head.
"Naruto knows this is an illusionary world. He even entered it willingly because he plans to do whatever he wants inside it."
"The only thing they have in common is that neither of them knows everyone can see every single thing they do."
"That's true."
Hanabi nodded.
"Now that I think about it, Naruto actually has it pretty good. He's not a prisoner. You could say he's the first person to fully experience the Engraved Tsukuyomi as a game."
"If you've got something else to say, just say it."
Shiromo had already noticed it.
Hanabi had gotten her tablet but still hadn't left, instead chatting about random things.
She obviously wanted something else.
"Hehe... You saw right through me."
Hanabi scratched her head awkwardly.
"I actually wanted to take one more."
"I want to send it to Konoha so my Nee-sama can watch it too."
"Uh... sure."
Shiromo took out another tablet and handed it to her.
For a moment, even Shiromo couldn't figure out what Hanabi was really planning.
Was she trying to help her sister Hinata...
Or trying to win her sister back?
With Hanabi's intelligence, it wouldn't be hard for her to guess that Naruto would definitely act without restraint inside the Engraved Tsukuyomi.
Besides, when Shiromo gave her the device, he had already explained that Konoha wanted to use this plan to change Naruto first in order to solve the bullying problem.
If Naruto really changed...
Would he still be Naruto?
Forget it.
Shiromo couldn't be bothered to think about it anymore.
After saying goodbye to Shiromo, Hanabi personally carried the tablet she had prepared for her sister Hinata and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to the Konoha she hadn't seen in a long time.
Konoha hadn't changed at all.
Although Tsunade had introduced reforms after becoming Hokage, they had targeted the Land of Fire as a whole.
After discovering that the closer a place was to Konoha, the more serious the bullying became and the more unreasonable the villagers acted, Tsunade simply left Konoha exactly as it was.
If she didn't improve these people's living conditions, they'd complain.
If she did improve them, they'd still complain.
Since she'd be criticized either way, she might as well leave everything unchanged.
"Where did this Byakugan monster come from—Aaaagh!"
Hanabi was walking along the street when someone behind her shouted an insult. At the same time, she heard something cutting through the air.
Reacting instinctively, she swung her hand back and unleashed a Eight Trigrams Air Palm, sending the stone flying back toward its owner.
Moreover, Hanabi's Gentle Fist had now reached the point where hardness and softness complemented each other. It was no longer a purely Gentle Fist style.
The attack instantly pierced straight through the arm of the child behind her, who had just been preparing to display his "Will of Bullying."
Ignoring the child's screams as he clutched his bleeding arm, Hanabi fell into confusion and worry.
There was actually a child openly shouting "Byakugan monster" in the streets of Konoha.
Had something happened while she was away?
Had the Hyuga Clan been wiped out just like the Uchiha Clan?
Otherwise...
Where had these people gotten the courage?
Filled with anxiety, Hanabi quickened her pace and hurried home.
To her surprise...
Everything at home was perfectly fine.
The moment she entered the courtyard, she saw her father, Hyuga Hiashi, peacefully drinking tea.
"Hanabi? Has the three-year period already ended?"
Hiashi froze when he saw Hanabi return.
Wasn't it supposed to feel like every day lasted a year?
Why did it suddenly feel like time had flown by?
Had three years really passed this quickly?
"No."
Hanabi shook her head.
"I'm just here to deliver something to Nee-sama."
"Oh, Father, something happened on my way back. I wanted to ask you about it."
She told him about the child calling her a "Byakugan monster."
"...Sigh. There's nothing we can do about it."
Instead of getting angry, Hiashi let out a helpless sigh.
"Actually, your sister experienced something similar before."
"Afterward, I sent people to demand an explanation."
"But the Third Hokage stepped in as a mediator, and the matter was brushed aside."
"Then, not long afterward, the Uchiha Clan started experiencing many similar incidents."
"And eventually, the Uchiha Clan was exterminated."
"So I've concluded this was absolutely a deliberate attempt by Konoha's higher-ups to provoke us."
"If we lost control because of it, they'd have evidence against us."
"..."
Hanabi opened her mouth.
She really wanted to tell her father that this was simply a bullying problem.
But then she remembered how he had previously gotten caught up in his own political schemes while playing games with the Third Hokage.
She immediately felt that saying anything would be pointless.
"Forget it. I'll go find Nee-sama."
Hanabi dashed off in a flash.
(End of this chapter)