"Yumeko is still hiding in the shadows, and now there's another transmigrator who wants to 'correct history.'"
"Will these two run into each other?"
The light screen trembled slightly, and the image split into two.
On one side was Senju Akira planning the future inside the stone chamber. On the other side, in a remote town far away, Yumeko, wearing a greenwood mask, leaned against the back of a chair and silently looked at the night outside the window.
Arisu looked at these two completely different "variables" and slowly narrowed his eyes.
"I still have to deal with Senju Akira. A transmigrator without a system is the easiest to handle. What's more, this is an era so far in the past that even if Senju Akira revealed the original Naruto story, it would be impossible for it to be passed down to the later generations."
Arisu closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then decided to act immediately.
———
[Late At Night]
At the Ninshu headquarters, the lights in a secluded stone house had long since gone out.
Sarutobi sat alone on the bed, his brows tightly furrowed, completely unable to sleep.
Senju Akira's words in the meeting hall during the day kept echoing in his mind.
Bring the Uchiha back into the fold?
Too idealistic... And too dangerous.
The descendants of Indra were proud, stubborn, and worshipped strength. Over the years, they had long since grown estranged from the Ninshu.
Trying to win them over by force would at best accomplish nothing, and at worst invite disaster, or even cause the pro-war and pro-peace factions within the sect to completely turn against each other.
But he was only a minor elder from a commoner background. His position was low, and his influence was limited.
During the day, he could only suppress his objections in his heart. He had not even dared to say a single harsh word.
Just then...
The air in the room suddenly became still.
It was not ordinary silence, but a dead silence as if it had been completely suppressed by an invisible force.
The insects outside, the wind, and the footsteps of the disciples patrolling in the distance all disappeared without a trace.
"What!?"
Sarutobi suddenly opened his eyes.
A figure was standing in the very center of the room, though he had no idea when it had appeared.
The man stood with his hands behind his back. There was not the slightest trace of chakra around him, yet the entire stone house seemed as though all its air had been drained away.
Moonlight seeped in through the cracks in the window, but somehow refracted around him, leaving his face forever covered in a faint shadow and impossible to see clearly.
Only his eyes were visible, calm and deep, as if they could see through time itself.
Sarutobi's hand instantly reached for the kunai at his waist, but his throat could not produce a sound.
The other party had not even released any killing intent, yet he could clearly feel that... in this person's eyes, he was no different from an ant.
"Don't be nervous."
The man spoke. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached his ears, carrying a distant quality beyond the mortal world.
"I didn't come to kill you.", Arisu spoke calmly.
Sarutobi gritted his teeth and forced himself to ask, "...Who are you?"
Arisu did not answer immediately.
He slowly walked to the window, his back facing Sarutobi, and looked at the waning moon in the night sky, his tone calm.
"History has its own predetermined course."
"The conflict between Indra and Asura's ideals was meant to continue. Their descendants were meant to clash and temper themselves against each other in opposition, eventually giving rise to someone in the distant future who could truly bring an end to the chaos."
"But someone wants to interrupt this causal line ahead of time."
Sarutobi's heart jolted, and he could not understand what this person was talking about.
Arisu slightly turned his head. The moonlight barely illuminated half of his profile. His voice remained calm, but now carried an indescribable sense of pressure.
"Senju Akira wants to bring the Uchiha back into the Ninshu."
"He thinks he is protecting peace and fulfilling Asura's unfinished wish."
"But he doesn't know that if the Uchiha and Senju forcibly unite in this era, and the Sharingan and Sage Body combine too early, that power which should only mature hundreds of years from now will lose control ahead of time."
"At that time, the shinobi world will no longer be a chaotic era of division and opposition... it will become a battlefield completely rewritten by an existence far beyond human understanding."
Sarutobi's breath caught.
Arisu turned around, and those deep eyes looked directly at him for the first time.
"You've already vaguely sensed it yourself, haven't you?"
"Akira's plan is too idealistic and too impatient. He thinks he can erase the hatred left behind by Indra through bloodline and words. But once hatred has been planted, it can't be erased with four words like 'connecting people's hearts.'"
"True peace has never meant forcibly tying everyone under the same banner."
"It means allowing two completely different paths to compete and restrain each other over a long period of time, until someone truly has the right to put an end to everything."
Arisu took a step forward and explained these principles to Sarutobi.
Although he was not sure whether Sarutobi in this timeline was the same as the one from his previous life.
At least, this person was not too twisted.
The pressure in the room seemed to suddenly grow heavier. Sarutobi felt his chest tighten, and cold sweat ran down his back.
He had already confirmed it. This person was simply a god.
Everything he felt, even his subconscious, was telling him that this person was extraordinary.
"I can give you a choice."
"Continue remaining silent, watching him push his plan forward step by step until he ultimately drags the entire Ninshu into an irreversible abyss."
"Or... become the force that stops him."
"You don't need to openly break with him, nor do you need to immediately fall out with him. You only need to let more people see how dangerous his idealism is at critical moments."
"Let the voice of the pro-war faction grow louder, and let those who are still wary of the Uchiha take hold of their blades again."
Arisu's voice gradually lowered, but instead became even clearer.
"History needs war, not unification!"
"At least in this era, it does."
Sarutobi remained silent for a long time.
After a long while, he raised his head and looked at the mysterious existence before him with a complicated gaze. His voice was hoarse. "...What if I refuse?"
Arisu smiled faintly.
"You can refuse."
"But I will appear before the next person willing to listen to me."
"And you will watch with your own eyes as the Ninshu you have exhausted yourself protecting slowly falls apart along the wrong path."
Arisu spoke calmly, "Then what will happen to me if I cooperate with you?"
Sarutobi asked again, "You will be the next leader of the Ninshu!"
After saying this, Arisu's figure began to turn transparent.
The moonlight once again shone into the room, and the sounds of insects and wind returned at the same moment.
It was as if everything that had just happened had merely been an overly realistic illusion.
Sarutobi sat stiffly in place. It was not until the footsteps of the patrolling disciples came from outside that he suddenly came back to his senses.
He lowered his head and looked at his slightly trembling hand. His expression gradually became solemn and cold.
Senju Akira's plan... had to be stopped.
And it was because... the "future" that person had told him was too terrifying.
Of course, it was definitely not because of the promise made by that mysterious person.
Sarutobi slowly clenched his fist.
"I understand."
The night once again swallowed the stone house.
And beyond Earth, Arisu stood with his hands behind his back, the light screen reflecting Sarutobi's face as he finally made up his mind.
Arisu nodded slightly.
"Good."
"The piece has been placed."