Chapter 254: The Village of the Bloody Mist
"Have you finished discussing it yet?"
Seeing Shiromo and Uchiha Hikari whispering for so long without any response, the Allied Shinobi Forces grew impatient and began urging them.
"All right, all right."
Uchiha Hikari waved her hand, signaling them not to rush.
After she finished relaying Orochimaru's final remarks, Shiromo finally understood why Hikari had so casually suggested agreeing to the condition.
Because, in her eyes, the people of this Limited Tsukuyomi world were even more pitiful than those of the original shinobi world.
Shiromo had once said that the original shinobi world was filled with slaves of destiny.
Everyone lived immersed in [prophecies]. Whenever they encountered problems they couldn't solve, they simply waited for some savior to appear.
First came the prophecy of the "blue-eyed boy who calls out the names of the Nine Tailed Beasts." Because of that prophecy, whenever someone considered befriending a Tailed Beast, they would suddenly think, "Wait… I don't have blue eyes. I'm not a boy. I don't even know the Tailed Beasts' names. Never mind, I'm clearly not the chosen one."
Then came the prophecy about bringing revolution and peace to the shinobi world. Its implication was obvious: aside from Jiraiya's disciple, no one else should even bother striving for peace. You simply weren't capable.
Finally, there was Kashin Koji's Ten Directions, supposedly able to observe all possible futures, which, in truth, was fundamentally impossible.
Because "all futures" were infinite by nature. If Kashin Koji could truly see everything, he would never finish seeing them.
Take a simple example.
When the older Boruto returned to Konoha, Kashin Koji could foresee Boruto being discovered and engaging in battle.
But he could not see the future where Boruto stood atop the Hokage Rock practicing Final Getsuga Tenshō like some discount superhero.
For infinite futures, even the most minuscule probability would still inevitably exist somewhere.
By that logic, there must be a world where Boruto uses Final Getsuga Tenshō, and there must also be worlds where Boruto ends up having children with Himawari, Hinata, Naruto, or even the Nine-Tails.
Yet Kashin Koji saw none of them.
In the end, he merely selected from a handful of predetermined branches, presenting Boruto with what appeared to be "destiny."
Like a visual novel game such as The Invisible Guardian, multiple endings exist, but you can never escape the fixed choices.
And compared to the original shinobi world, the people of this Limited Tsukuyomi world were even more tragic.
In reality, under Shiromo's influence, one could break free from destiny simply by refusing to believe in prophecy.
But the people here could not.
Even if all the Tailed Beasts vanished, they would still be passively drawn toward new anchor points, like NPCs running on automatic pathfinding and auto-combat routines.
Would you get angry at NPCs?
It was like playing Pokémon Emerald. Even when the Hoenn disasters were tearing the world apart and you were on a quest to save everything, an NPC would still rush at you with an exclamation mark the moment you surfed past.
Would you resent the NPC for that?
Besides, Uchiha Hikari herself had created this Limited Tsukuyomi world.
By the end of it all, she was starting to feel a faint urge to reflect on her own actions.
"We agree. Lead the way. Let's deal with the One-Tail first."
Shiromo spoke expressionlessly.
"That's wonderful!"
"Slurp."
The Allied Shinobi Forces erupted into cheers, as though victory had already been secured.
"Come, let me introduce you. You should already know the others. This is the Mizukage, Terumi Mei."
On the road to the Sunagakure Village, [Tsunade] was unusually enthusiastic.
"Oh."
Shiromo nodded.
Agreeing to the Allied Forces did have some advantages.
At the very least, they wouldn't have to search the entire Land of Water with Susanoo flying everywhere when it came time for Kirigakure.
"You originally planned to capture Kirigakure's two Tailed Beasts last. That must have been because of the Bloody Mist Policy, right?"
"No worries. The Bloody Mist Policy has already been abolished by this new Mizukage. Kirigakure has reopened to the outside world!"
Seeing Shiromo's lack of reaction, [Tsunade] attempted conversation.
"Bloody Mist?"
Uchiha Hikari turned curiously toward Terumi Mei.
What intrigued her was that even this world's Kirigakure had such a policy.
In a shinobi world overflowing with perversion, Kirigakure's supposed "Bloody Mist maniacs" somehow sounded almost… normal.
"Young lady, you've never heard of the Bloody Mist? That's understandable. Our village was isolated for over a decade. Sigh… I'll explain."
[Terumi Mei] sighed.
"W-Wait a second!"
Uchiha Hikari suddenly sensed danger.
Was another bizarre world-setting about to be revealed?
"It's fine. These matters were bound to come to light eventually. I'm not ashamed of the village's dark past."
Mistaking Hikari's reaction for concern, Terumi Mei smiled and continued.
As it turned out, the "blood" in this world's Bloody Mist Policy carried an entirely different meaning.
Kirigakure was extremely xenophobic toward outsiders.
Internally, however, the village was united to an almost pathological degree.
In the early days, a six-person ninja squad meant fifteen possible pairings.
Every single pairing had experienced romance.
Even the ninja graduation exams had been altered, one had to successfully "capture the heart" of a teammate to graduate.
As for the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi…
He was utterly terrifying.
Possibly the reincarnation of some divine entity, Zabuza graduated from the academy after successfully romancing every single classmate present at the exam.
Even more extreme was Kirigakure's obsession with bloodline limits.
Those possessing kekkei genkai were revered as superior bloodlines.
The village relentlessly pressured them into marriage, dispatching elite ninja specifically to assist bloodline clans in producing offspring.
"That is the Village of the Bloody Mist."
[Terumi Mei] sighed again, then looked at Shiromo.
"Because of this, I've developed psychological trauma from constant marriage pressure. I now suffer from a fear of marriage."
"So after assisting you in capturing the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, I can bear children with you."
"But I absolutely will not marry you."
"..."
Shiromo hadn't expected that twist.
Marriage fanatic had somehow become afraid of marriage.
Still, judging purely from the description, this world's Bloody Mist Village might genuinely have been the most normal of them all.
"We're here."
[Temari], walking ahead, stopped.
"We're here? Where's Shukaku?"
Wheelchair-bound [Kurotsuchi] looked around, searching.
"Gaara's mind was shattered after what our father did to him. To prevent him from harming the villagers, I sealed him beneath the mountain."
[Temari] walked toward a small pyramid-shaped rocky hill outside the Sunagakure Village and pointed ahead.
It's quite the sight.
Gaara, rear end facing outward, was pinned beneath the mountain.
How deep must Temari's resentment have run to do something like this?
This was a world where everyone coveted the Tailed Beasts' alluring forms.
Gaara had already been torn apart by explosive tags.
After the brief time they had been away, who knew what might have already happened to him…
"Ah, Sister! I'm sorry! I'll leave immediately!"
Kankurō suddenly stumbled backward in panic, hurriedly pulling up his pants.
"..."
Uchiha Hikari's fists clenched.
If they hadn't already agreed to cooperate with the Allied Forces, if he weren't technically an ally, she would have attacked on the spot.
This was utterly revolting.
(End of this chapter)