Chapter 622: The Line Has Been Formed
"How could it be that serious? No! I have to immediately send someone to notify the Hokage-sama!"
After hearing Dark Naruto's false military report, Shizune immediately prepared to go find the ANBU.
"Wait."
Naruto stopped Shizune.
"Absolutely not."
"Why?"
Shizune was confused.
'Why?'
'If I let you go, how am I supposed to carry out my plan?'
"First of all, there isn't enough time. Otsutsuki Isshiki could invade Konoha at any moment. By the time the Hokage-sama comes back, it'll be too late."
"We have to set up defensive measures first and make sure the village is safe. After that, we can think about reporting the situation."
Naruto raised one finger.
"That makes sense. As expected of the Hokage-sama's child. You really have a talent for this. You're much better at it than me."
Shizune nodded in sudden realization, clearly agreeing with him.
"Second, if you send someone to deliver the message, what is the Hokage supposed to do when she receives it? Retreat or stay?"
"If she retreats, that means voluntarily giving up victory in the war. If she doesn't retreat, then sending the message over will have been pointless."
"On the contrary, if the message gets through and the enemy troops currently engaged in battle find out about it, it might actually boost their morale. They'll know that we won't be able to hold out for much longer."
Naruto continued listing reasons why Shizune couldn't send anyone to notify Kushina.
"That makes sense. That makes sense."
Shizune nodded like a little chick, but she quickly realized something.
"If none of that works, then what are we supposed to do now?"
"With Dad and Mom gone, I'll protect Konoha!"
Naruto puffed out his chest and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window of the Hokage's office, looking up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.
'Damn, that was so cool. I'm fired up now.'
Shizune's eyes lit up, but her expression soon returned to normal.
"So, what exactly are we supposed to do?"
"Shizune-nee, notify all the villagers and tell everyone what's happening. We absolutely cannot hide this from everyone. We have to face this crisis together!"
"Then tell them that I, Uzumaki Naruto, can distribute the Nine-Tails' chakra among them. It may not guarantee their absolute safety, but to a certain extent, it can protect their lives."
"No one can face Otsutsuki Isshiki alone. We must work together, move forward hand in hand, and fight for Konoha!"
Naruto delivered an impassioned speech.
"Naruto, you mean you want to distribute the Nine-Tails' chakra among everyone to protect them? But if you do that, won't your own strength…"
Shizune immediately became worried.
"I already said that no one can fight Otsutsuki Isshiki alone. So why worry about the loss of my personal strength?"
Naruto looked utterly righteous.
"Don't say anything else, Shizune-nee. Have the villagers line up outside the village. I'll put shields on them!"
Ten minutes later.
Outside Konoha.
The villagers grumbled and cursed as they formed a long line.
"Damn fox! Making us come all the way outside the village to line up in this heat. Doesn't he know he could just come to our houses and do it himself?"
"Exactly! This fox really is the embodiment of sin. He's actually this lazy. He can clearly use Shadow Clones, and he could easily use them to distribute the chakra to each of us. Instead, he insists on making us line up. I think he's deliberately getting revenge on us!"
"Revenge? That's exactly it! Damn it, that fox is so vicious. We haven't bullied him for a few days, and he's already getting cocky and trying to take revenge on us!"
"Don't worry. Once he distributes the Nine-Tails' chakra to us and his strength weakens, we'll all attack together and give him a good beating!"
"Good. That's what we'll do!"
One person after another, the villagers declared the righteous judgment they were about to pass upon Naruto.
Then, following Naruto's instructions, the villagers lined up in a row and stretched out their right hands.
Naruto would soon run past them from one end of the line to the other, slapping everyone's hand. At the instant their hands touched, he would transfer chakra to them.
It was the fastest and most efficient method.
Now the villagers understood why they had been told to come outside and line up.
There was just one problem.
"Why are we facing the village while lining up? It feels like we're a bunch of country bumpkins visiting Konoha, waiting in line to enter the village."
The villagers were puzzled.
But they soon understood.
Facing the village while lining up meant that Naruto would have his back to the village.
As for why they had to do it this way, the reason was very simple.
After confirming that the villagers had properly formed the line, red Tailed Beast chakra began appearing around Naruto's body.
Before long, Naruto transformed into the golden fox-boy.
"Come on, hurry up."
"Why is he taking so long just to transform?"
"This little bastard is actually pretty hot."
The villagers were becoming impatient.
However, Naruto's transformation wasn't over yet.
Dark Naruto, having transformed into the golden fox-boy, crouched down on the ground. His body gradually twisted as a skeleton began emerging from his body.
"Naruto, what are you doing?"
The few villagers standing at the very front of the line immediately became alert.
"Of course, I'm giving you the purest and most concentrated Nine-Tails' chakra."
Naruto's voice had already become hoarse, almost like that of a beast.
But the villagers of Konoha still weren't afraid in the slightest.
"That's good. Hurry it up and stop wasting time. You think we don't have anything else to do? I still have laundry to wash at home."
"Exactly. Look at that disgusting appearance of yours. You don't look human at all. Crawling around on all fours like some wild dog."
Under the villagers' constant insults and impatient urging, Dark Naruto, who had partially transformed into the Tailed Beast, puffed out his cheeks like a toad.
The next moment, a destructive beam of light shot out from his mouth.
This was the unfinished stage of the Tailed Beast Bomb: the Mini Tailed Beast Bomb.
It was the technique Naruto had used against Orochimaru during the Tenchi Bridge battle in the original story.
Unlike the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb, this was pure chaotic chakra. It wasn't spherical either, but simply a concentrated blast.
Under the Mini Tailed Beast Bomb, the villagers standing in a line were instantly vaporized, leaving behind nothing but a long trench in the ground.
This was why they had been made to line up facing the village.
It made it convenient for Dark Naruto to fire the blast.
That way, the attack would be fired into the distance instead of destroying Konoha all over again.
Inside the mental space, Naruto witnessed this scene and jumped up and down in panic.
"No! I haven't even gained everyone's recognition yet! How can you kill everyone?!"
Naruto lay on the surface of the lake, watching his dark side instantly slaughter everyone. He immediately became frantic.
He had even completely forgotten that this was the Engraved Tsukuyomi world, not the real Shinobi World.
Obito, who had been secretly observing everything from a distance, was somewhat surprised when he saw this.
'Dark Naruto is actually so similar to me?'
In the previous world, he had once thought about wanting to gain everyone's recognition.
'Wouldn't it be enough to simply kill everyone else in Konoha and leave only the people who recognized me alive?'
He hadn't expected this Dark Naruto to possess such earth-shattering wisdom as well.
Wait.
Obito suddenly realized that things might not be that simple.
After Dark Naruto annihilated the row of villagers, logically speaking, he had just fired a concentrated Mini Tailed Beast Bomb.
Even if his strength hadn't weakened, there was no reason for it to suddenly increase for no reason, right?
Yet according to what Obito could sense and observe, Dark Naruto's power had actually increased.
(End of this chapter)