Chapter 281

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Inside the Kara organization's base in a different dimension, Naruto was crying bitterly.

They were gone, everyone was gone. The vast base now only had him left, alone.

Mabui was killed by Shisui, Kimimaro took down both Akatsuchi and Chiyo, and Utakata was instantly killed by Itachi.

Gaara, Deidara, Suigetsu, and Kurotsuchi were each defeated in one-on-one battles by the new generation of warriors from the Dragon Nation.

With just a handful of members, Kara could never hope to stand against the massive war machine of the Dragon Nation. Their only fate was to be crushed into oblivion.

"Why, why is this happening?!" Naruto knelt on the ground, his voice hoarse with his eyes bloodshot, making him look almost frightening.

He had grown up with Gaara and the others, sharing every day together, so it was impossible for him not to have formed strong bonds. Especially for someone as sentimental as Naruto, losing them felt like being cut with a dull knife.

Mabui, in particular, although her heart wasn't completely set on Naruto, she had always taken good care of him, acting both like an older sister and a mother.

"I have a way to bring them back to life."

"What way?"

Naruto's head shot up, looking towards the towering tree in the distance. The voice had come from there.

"Come closer, and I'll explain it to you in detail," Isshiki's voice was filled with an enticing lure. "This matter is quite simple for me."

Naruto felt as if he had grasped at a lifeline, his face displaying a mixture of excitement and grief. He quickly got up and ran towards the tree.

"You're the god that Jigen always talked about, right?" Naruto asked, without much politeness. "Yes, you're a god; you must have a way to bring my friends back to life!"

Isshiki wasn't offended by Naruto's tone. His sole aim now was to make Naruto believe in him unconditionally, to the point where Naruto would regularly and habitually use the power of the Kāma seal Isshiki had granted him.

This was the only way for Isshiki to seamlessly take over Naruto's body and soul, thus completing his resurrection plan that had been in the works for over a thousand years.

Naruto knew nothing of this.

He thought he had found hope, but in truth, he was merely drinking poison to quench his thirst.

"Yes, I can do it. If I want to, I can bring them back to life right now."

"Then do it now!" Naruto shouted urgently, his voice filled with desperation.

"Not just yet," Isshiki replied calmly. "My power was stolen by a traitor, and with what little power remains, I can only bring back three people."

Isshiki was being cunning. "If you're in a hurry, I will do everything I can to help you, but you must decide which three people I should resurrect."

Isshiki knew Naruto would not be able to make a choice. This psychological game was something Isshiki knew he would win.

If it required Naruto's own sacrifice to save and resurrect his fallen comrades, Naruto would undoubtedly choose self-sacrifice without hesitation.

But if it meant selectively resurrecting only some of them while the rest remained dead, with the price being paid from someone else, Naruto would surely refuse.

As expected, Naruto shook his head.

"Ōtsutsuki God, can you bring back three now and then bring back three more later?"

"The idea is good, but it's not feasible." Isshiki chuckled to himself but maintained a serious expression. He then enacted a bit of melodrama.

"I have little power left, and after using everything to bring back three people, I might cease to exist altogether."

Isshiki sighed dramatically, continuing his performance, "For over a thousand years, I've seen clearing away traitors and reclaiming my power as a fading hope, something I've almost given up on.

Given this, I wish to do something meaningful for Jigen, who has followed me for millennia, and for the other Kara members who have strived to restore my power, even in my final moments.

I'm sorry, Naruto, but you can only choose two people for now. I cannot abandon Jigen; I must fulfill my promise to him."

Isshiki's righteous and self-sacrificing words—such as "selfless sacrifice," "mutual understanding," and "letting go of hatred"—were perfectly tailored to Naruto's sensibilities and deeply resonated with the ideals of Ashura.

Sniffling, Naruto wiped his tears with his sleeve. "Hey, you're a god! How can you say things like this? How can you just give up like that?"

"God?" Isshiki's voice carried a tone of deep sorrow. "That was a long time ago, so long that I've forgotten many things."

Before Naruto could respond, Isshiki began leading the conversation, preparing to instill in Naruto a set of false beliefs—a distorted version of history that Isshiki himself had fabricated.

"Would you like to hear about what happened in the past, Naruto?"

"Yes!"

Naruto nodded eagerly. Since he first arrived at Kara's base, he had always been curious about the god Jigen worshipped, the mysterious Ōtsutsuki.

"I am not originally from this planet."

"Huh? Then where are you from?"

"I was born with immense power, a natural god born with the heavens and earth," Isshiki wove his web of lies. "But our clan was few in number and so lonely. Possessing the power to traverse the stars, we made it our purpose to find new life, to teach and guide them, to give meaning to our existence.

One day, my subordinate Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—whom you know as the Rabbit Goddess—and I arrived on this planet.

Back then, humans still lived like savages. I taught them how to use fire, how to make clothes, how to write, and established simple rules for them."

Kyomu would give Isshiki a hundred thumbs up if he could hear this. The lies were so intricately woven that Isshiki himself might start believing them.

As for Naruto, he was already showing admiration in his eyes, clearly falling under the spell of the grand narrative Isshiki was painting.

This was more enticing than being a savior; Isshiki was positioning himself as a creator god.

"But slowly, I realized that even those humans who looked like me, despite learning everything I taught, still faced many dangers.

At that time, giant beasts roamed this world, preying on humans, and these beasts are what you now know as summoning animals.

I tried negotiating with the summoning beasts, but they continued their ways. To protect humans, I decided to disperse my power into this world.

The power I dispersed into the world is what you know as chakra."

"You're saying you're the ancestor of chakra?" Naruto's eyes widened. "But… but… isn't the Rabbit Goddess considered the progenitor of chakra, and the Sage of Six Paths the founder of ninjutsu?"

"That's what happened later," Isshiki explained patiently, spinning his web of lies further. "At that time, the world was filled with natural energy; there was no chakra.

Although natural energy is as powerful as chakra, it's difficult for humans to use.

So, to create chakra in this world, I planned to sacrifice myself."

"Sacrifice yourself?!" Naruto was shocked, placing Isshiki in the same league as the sun and moon in his mind.

"Yes, to sacrifice myself," Isshiki continued his tale. "But it wasn't a complete sacrifice. I wasn't perfect, and I feared death.

"That's understandable. After all, you're a god, vast like the starry skies that have existed for countless ages," Naruto said, smiling and scratching his head. "But that's still very admirable. I wouldn't be able to do something like that."

Naruto's face then grew serious. "What happened after that? Why did you end up like this? Was it because of… your subordinate Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?"

"Though I hate to recall it, yes, it was her," Isshiki, ever the performer, spoke with genuine sadness. "Blinded by greed, she coveted the other half of my power and took advantage of me when I was sacrificing myself.

The attack came suddenly, and I was too weakened to stop her. Just like that, she stole my power, took my body, and sealed my soul.

Fortunately, my most loyal follower, Jigen, risked his life to retrieve a part of my soul and used my remaining power to create this different dimension.

From there, everything you know now came to be."

Naruto's mind was racing. The story Isshiki told had a certain logic, making it difficult to find any flaws.

But Naruto did find a potential inconsistency.

"There's something I still don't understand."

"Ask anything you like."

"From what I've learned, the God Tree is the key to filling the shinobi world with chakra, but you didn't mention it just now."

Isshiki knew Naruto wasn't easily fooled, but since he intended to deceive him, Isshiki had prepared his answers.

"The God Tree is part of my body, or rather, the culmination of my body and my entire power.

Without my self-sacrifice, the God Tree would not have been born, nor would it have absorbed the natural energy of the shinobi world and converted it into chakra usable by humans."

"In that case, how did your subordinate steal your power?"

"If left uncontrolled, the God Tree can either provide chakra to the shinobi world or bring calamity to it."

Isshiki explained the nature of the God Tree, "The God Tree, created through my self-sacrifice, is essentially a taboo that can absorb all forms of energy and convert them into chakra.

If controlled properly, it only absorbs a portion of the world's natural energy and converts it into an equivalent amount of chakra, which manifests as fruit on the tree's branches.

However, if left unchecked, the God Tree will absorb all the energy and life on this planet.

When the God Tree consumes all the power and life of the world, the fruit it produces will be incredibly powerful.

Kaguya, my subordinate, saw this. She wanted to become stronger and become the sole god in the universe, so she became greedy."

Gulp.

Naruto swallowed hard. "The God Tree can really consume all the power and life on this planet?"

"Not only would it consume everything, but this planet would become a dead star, forever unable to give birth to new life. Its only fate would be death."

Isshiki confirmed this again, adopting a compassionate and empathetic demeanor. "Given all of this, and everything that's happened over the past thousand years, I've given up on resurrection.

Because if Kaguya learns of my resurrection, history may repeat itself."

"What did Kaguya do a thousand years ago?" Naruto asked, driven by curiosity and wanting to probe Isshiki further.

"She wanted to turn all of humanity into creatures to form an army, using them to conquer one life-bearing planet after another, so she could gain endless power."

"Despicable!" Naruto's eyes flashed with anger. "That's pure evil. Do you know how many lives exist on a planet? Could she really kill them all for power?"

"If she could turn against me, her own superior, what regard would she have for lowly life forms she looked down upon?

It's like you eating fish. Do you care about their struggles before they die? No, you care about how they're prepared and how they taste."

"Humans aren't fish!" Naruto clenched his fists, refuting Isshiki. "They're not!"

"But to us gods, humans and other creatures are all lesser beings, like pets or food."

"Does that mean you think the same way?" Naruto looked up, staring intently at the towering tree.

"No, but Kaguya did. Perhaps some of my other clan members do too," Isshiki replied smartly.

Naruto fell silent, his mind a jumbled mess.

When he thought about it, humans' treatment of other animals and plants wasn't all that different from how the Ōtsutsuki viewed humans.

If they were in a good mood, humans might be kept as pets, cared for well. If not, humans were just resources or food.

"Will you always stand by humanity's side?" Naruto asked again, his tone more serious than ever.

"I'm not sure. I don't have a future anymore," Isshiki replied cleverly. "I've given up on many things. Now I just want to use up all my remaining power to bring back Jigen and two other loyal followers.

Naruto, if you can't decide, I'll make the choice myself."

"You're on humanity's side, aren't you?"

"Yes, but what good does it do?" Isshiki spoke as if resigned. "I have no body left, and my soul is fragmented. If Kaguya wishes, I can't stop her.

As for my clan members wandering among the stars, they act as they please. They wouldn't care about the opinion of someone as fallen as I am."

"I can help you, like Jigen did." Naruto finally fell into Isshiki's trap.

Isshiki smiled inwardly. After all this preparation, Naruto was finally delivering himself into Isshiki's hands.

"Thank you, Naruto. I…"

"You're a coward! You don't deserve to be called a god!" Naruto interrupted Isshiki furiously. "You're saving this world. You've persevered for over a thousand years. How can you give up now?"

Silence.

Isshiki fell silent, while Naruto continued his verbal onslaught, trying to 'persuade' Isshiki.

"Heh, this is almost amusing," Isshiki thought, his mind filled with scorn for Naruto, who was playing right into his hands.

"Naruto, I was wrong." Seeing the opportunity, Isshiki swiftly shifted gears. "You're right. I've been weak. I shouldn't give up, not for my sake but for the world's."

"Yeah, that's the spirit!"

Naruto grinned broadly, shouting loudly. He felt it was a great achievement to have persuaded a god.

But… it was all just an illusion.

(End of Chapter)