Naruto: If I ask you to kill Sasuke, you will become a succubus?

I have no interest in Orochimaru's experiments, and I'm not good at negotiating with people.

While Bai was representing the Hidden Mist Village and negotiating with the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha on how to divide the spoils of victory, I found a candlestick, lit a candle, turned around and left, strolling casually in the underground cave.

Gaara and Neji stayed by Shiro's side to assist in the negotiations. I knew they had the ability to do so. After all, Gaara's talent was enough to become the Kazekage, and Neji had been in charge of foreign negotiations in our team, and had been doing a good job.

Come to think of it, Gaara's performance is not inferior to those of Neci and Sasuke, who are praised as "geniuses", but few people praise him as a "genius".

Maybe people think that his uniqueness is due to the tailed beast, and he is more like a monster than a genius.

It's obvious that Shukaku took away far more than he gave him. It's really unfair.

But Gaara doesn't really care about the title of genius.

Call him a genius or a freak, he looks calm.

I just questioned Lord Shikamaru, and it made me feel uneasy and panicky, not knowing how to move forward, but whenever I thought of Neji and Gaara, I felt at ease.

It was as if I was drifting alone on the dark sea and saw a small boat.

No matter what, they will always stand firmly by my side. Amid all the uncertainties, they are my only certainty.

The corridor here is long and deep, with no end in sight on either side, extending entirely into endless darkness.

This is just like how I feel now, the road ahead is confusing and unsettling, but the important bond is like the candlelight in my hand, even if it cannot dispel all the confusion for me, it can give me a peaceful place to rest.

They are my important companions, and thinking of them brings a smile to my face.

But when he thought about the future, the smile faded again.

I walked forward and found that many of the houses were empty. Perhaps they were prepared for experimental subjects to live in, or for detention.

I opened door after door until I found one room that was different.

The house was still empty, but there was a thin blanket on the bed, as if someone lived there.

Could this be Sasuke's room?

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but walk in, but after looking around carefully with the candle in hand, I really couldn't find anything special.

Even if someone really lives here, there are still too few things in this room.

I walked to the bed, knowing that there was no way that any body temperature could remain on it, but I still subconsciously touched the bed, and it was indeed cold.

I sat on the edge of the bed, looked at the candlestick in my hand, and sighed softly.

I looked outside the dark door and into the dim room. The light from the candlestick was faint but enough to envelop me.

Although I don't know the way, I'm not worried about getting lost. When Neji finishes his business, he will be able to find me with his Byakugan.

My companions will never abandon me at any time.

And what can I do for them?

A better future… I want them to live in a better future.

The Hidden Mist Village is now much better than before, but that’s not so much because Zabuza and I did a good job, but rather because the situation in the Hidden Mist Village was too bad before.

Simply by abolishing the rules of the Blood Mist Village, the living environment of the Hidden Mist Village can be greatly improved.

By following the model of Konoha, strengthening cooperation and trade with various countries, opening up exchanges, and forming alliances to maintain stability and peace, the situation in the Hidden Mist Village will continue to improve.

But then?

The best outcome for the Hidden Mist Village is to continue along this "correct path" and become another Konoha.

But Konoha is not the final correct answer.

The candle flickered.

I sensed a familiar chakra approaching from behind me, and immediately frowned and said, "If you dare to scare me with a sound, I will beat you up."

"Hey, who made you unhappy? Why are you so fierce?"

It was Uchiha Madara's voice.

I turned around and saw him half-leaning out of the wall, behind me, like a ghost.

Given his personality, I thought he would definitely do something to scare me by suddenly speaking from behind me, like shouting "umbrella lizard" at me before.

I'm not in the mood to go along with his pranks right now.

"Why are you here? Are you working with Orochimaru?"

"Well, is there? But I never thought you would come to Orochimaru. What a coincidence, Scorpion came here to meet the subordinates stationed next to Orochimaru."

"You dare to appear in front of me on your own initiative. Are you sure I can't keep you?"

"How could it be! My appearance here just proves that you can keep me. Wherever you are, I can't help but follow you." Uchiha Madara said in a brisk tone, and he looked around in the dim room in an exaggerated manner, "Hey, why isn't Uchiha Itachi with you? His brother Uchiha Sasuke seems to be here with Orochimaru? Why, did the two of them meet and fight somewhere else?"

"It has nothing to do with you."

"That won't do! My informant said that you left the crowd and seemed to be looking for a suitable room... What if you and Uchiha Itachi were alone in the same room, and you were accidentally tempted by his beauty... That would be too bad, so I hurried over here - by the way, you chased me away before, did you really think I was disturbing your relationship? After all, I am your elder, and I have met more people than you. Listen to me, Uchiha Itachi is really not a good guy."

As he spoke, he walked through the wall and stood in front of me.

I stood up from the bed, distanced myself from him, and ignored his nonsense about Uchiha Itachi.

Sometimes, Uchiha Madara likes to act crazy and foolish, pretending to be harmless, which makes me suspect that Senju Hashirama, as his nemesis, may not be a serious person: "Who is your informant?"

"You don't need to know this." Uchiha Madara said: "Look, I don't mind you revealing my existence to Konoha and Sand Village, so let me keep some other secrets."

Although I had thought about finding Uchiha Madara before and asking him how he specifically wanted to change the world, he jumped out on his own initiative with a frivolous tone and exaggerated movements, so I didn't want to talk to him anymore.

Because I feel like I would be a fool if I discuss serious matters with him.

But every time he took the initiative to show up and come to me, and I had no way to contact him actively. If I missed it this time, I don’t know when I would see him next time.

"I saw Lin."

"……what?"

"In Kakashi's memory."

Uchiha Madara crossed his arms. I couldn't see his expression, but from his body language, he showed a hint of rejection. He probably didn't like this topic very much and didn't want to discuss it any more.

"I also saw Obito... I saw how they died."

He tilted his head, and his tone became much more normal, without the deliberate briskness and levity. His voice was deep, finally revealing the calmness and composure that he should have at his age: "So, you look so upset?"

"Luckily you came now. I've calmed down for a while. If you had come earlier... I would have been very angry with you. When I saw how hard they were fighting, I remembered that you said you liked Nohara Lin. Since she was so important to you, why didn't you protect her? After she died, you showed a painful and regretful look of reminiscence. It was useless and too infuriating."

Uchiha Madara's explanation was a little confusing: "At that time, I... couldn't catch up. Of course, maybe you think this is just my excuse... but I was also in pain... Maybe you don't believe it, but... I really tried my best to catch up."

"You don't have to explain." I shook my head, "Because I have no right to hate you or blame you. Why do you have to be responsible for Lin's life just because you are strong, you can save Lin, and you have a crush on Lin? People always make many unfair demands on the strong, as if they have the ability to do so and they are guilty of not doing so. But being saved is something you need to be grateful for, not something you take for granted."

He whispered, "You're always good at exonerating others."

"Do you really want me to hate you?"

"It's okay to hate me."

"But that's weird... It was Konoha that sent Rin to such a dangerous mission, the teacher who failed to protect her students was the Fourth Hokage, the captain who failed to take care of his subordinates was Kakashi, and in the end, it was Rin herself who killed her. If you really want to blame someone, they are more responsible for Rin's death than you are. Why should they be forgiven, but I have to hate you who has nothing to do with her?"

"Do you think they all deserve to be forgiven?"

"In the world at that time... under the rules at that time... at least they did nothing wrong."

"But you seem confused." Uchiha Madara asked sharply, "What are you wavering about?"

"Rin used Kakashi to kill herself. In the eyes of outsiders, it could also be said that Kakashi killed Rin. I know they were both helpless, but I put myself in their shoes. If one day, Gaara killed Neji... or Neji killed Gaara... I don't know how I would accept it."

"Then don't accept it." Uchiha Madara said: "Based on the outdated ideas that have been passed down from the old world, if this situation is bound to happen, then just deny everything."

"I do want to ask you, how are you going to deny all this?" Finally bringing up the topic, I asked, "You once said before that the only way to save humanity is to stop humans from taking action. Do you mean to deny the meaning of all human existence? You're not planning to kill them all, are you?"

"No, I should have told you to let everyone fall into a sweet dream."

"You said illusion? But how can you make everyone in the world fall into an illusion? Who casts the illusion? Where does such a huge amount of chakra come from?" I frowned: "You asked Akatsuki to collect the tailed beasts, is it just to get their chakra to cast this kind of illusion?"

"So far, I have only said this much in front of you. Because I hope to gain your understanding, your affirmation, your support... I hope you can join me, Chaolu."

His words, his tone and attitude seemed to say that I was special, important and unique to him.

Because of Lin?

"But dreams sound too... empty."

"It's not just a dream, Chaolu. We are creating a new world." After I showed my hesitation, just as he said just now, Uchiha Madara seemed very happy to share his plan with me.

He may have been like Sensei Itachi over the years, having to keep everything to himself and having no one to share with, so he must have felt lonely.

Moreover, it is now known that the Akatsuki organization is capturing the tailed beasts. Regardless of their purpose or not, the five major countries will definitely stop it.

Even if we knew that he wanted to perform a super-large ninjutsu, we didn't know exactly how he would perform the technique, so we had no idea how to disrupt it.

Uchiha Madara asked me: "What do you think dreams are?"

"Dream……?"

Seeing my confusion, Uchiha Madara did not try to be mysterious, "Dreams are a passage to another world. The world we live in can only be said to be the present world where the living live, but it is by no means the only world. The souls of the dead will lead to the Pure Land, and some ninjutsu can even summon the god of death. Do you believe in parallel universes?"

I was slightly startled.

"I believe it. I believe that when people make different choices, the world will develop into two different directions." Uchiha Madara looked down at his palms, "Maybe in another world, I can become a Hokage..."

After saying this, he clenched his fist in self-mockery and put down his hand: "There is a saying that your experiences in dreams may be your memories in another world. Therefore... when people fall into dreams, it does not mean they fall into empty fantasies, they can go to another world. For example, Lin... maybe in a certain world, she liked Kakashi, and Kakashi happened to like her. She made another choice and walked out of another destiny. She survived and grew up successfully... In this case, can you still say that the 'dream' I gave to all living beings is empty? Dreams are the reality of another world."

"So you have a way to travel to other worlds!?"

"I'm still experimenting, but I'm getting somewhere."

I opened my eyes wide in surprise - that is to say, if the world I am in now cannot lead smoothly to the world where Lord Shikamaru is... do I have any other way to find my way back and see them again?

"But... doesn't that also mean giving up this world and fleeing to other worlds?" I suppressed my surprise and tried to think rationally for a moment, but I still felt something was wrong. "Besides, if we go to live in other worlds, then what about the 'us' in that world? Did we take their place? Did we kill them?"

“It may also be possible to exchange.”

"exchange?"

"Yes, we took their place, and they will come to our world and take our place."

"But in that case—"

"In that case, if the new world we arrive at is better than the world we are in, we will know that there is such a possibility in the future. Even if we end up exchanging back, can't we use the experience we have learned to transform our own world?"

I thought about it and felt a little uneasy, but I couldn't find any fault.

"That sounds... reasonable."

"So... are you willing to join me?" Maybe it was an illusion, but I heard a hint of caution in Uchiha Madara's tone that couldn't contain his excitement: "Asaro?"

"I want to try it first."

"Try?"

"Didn't you say that your experiment of traveling to other worlds has made some progress? I want you to try it on me first. I want to see if it is really possible to travel to other worlds."

"Okay." Uchiha Madara agreed immediately, "I'll tell you as soon as my experiment succeeds."

He looked as if he felt that his dream was recognized and he seemed very happy. Even though I couldn't see his expression clearly because of the mask on his face, I could feel that the atmosphere around him suddenly became much brighter.

"Until then... until I'm sure your plan is feasible, I'll continue to think about my answer. If I come up with a better solution than yours... if I convince you, maybe you'll help me in return."

"Of course." Uchiha Madara's voice was filled with a smile, and it was a different feeling from the fake smile he had put on to hide his true emotions when they first met - it was the joy that he felt from the bottom of his heart.

His tone was the most sincere I had ever heard: "Chaolu...if you could really become my companion, you don't know how happy I would be."

"……hope so."

If I could really become a partner with Uchiha Madara, I wouldn't have to rack my brains to figure out how to deal with his tricky eye techniques.

A strong companion is always better than a strong enemy.

But...can we really be companions?

He once manipulated the Mizukage to make the Hidden Mist Village covered in blood. He said that I was good at exonerating others, but everything he did at that time, I still cannot agree with and understand - although I wonder if he was seeking revenge for Lin.

Because the ones who attacked Rin and Kakashi at that time were ninjas from the Hidden Mist Village.

But I have seen Bai's memories.

I know Bai did nothing wrong, but because of Uchiha Madara's cruel orders, he had such a miserable childhood.

If Lin knew, would she agree with this kind of revenge?

If... Lin and I didn't look so similar, not enough for him to recognize that I have Lin's genes and blood, would he still treat me so specially?

At that time, would his attitude towards me be no different from that towards Bai?

Indifferent and callous.

Just like Deidara.

There is not even the most basic respect for the lives of ordinary people.

Does Uchiha Madara think that everyone can eventually go to another world to live, so it doesn’t matter whether they live in this world or not?

So, if I was in danger one day, would he save me? Or would his plan succeed in the end and I would reappear in the new world, so he could just watch me die?

Or, if I finally choose to oppose him and become a hindrance to him, will he kill me himself?

Can we really walk on the same path...?