Watanabe Chinatsu (Ten Thousand Word Chapter)

The surrounding scenery peeled away like a mirror, shattering into pieces that made his body feel torn apart and immediately reassembled. The air in his throat was squeezed out completely, and the feeling of suffocation made his vision go black, only to return to normal in the next instant.

"Plop!"

Naruto's body landed heavily on the ground with a dull thud. Stars swam before his eyes, and his whole body ached, but the sensation quickly faded, and his vision cleared.

Nightfall.

On the streets of Ginza, colorful billboards piled layer upon layer, as if to cover the sky. On the giant electronic screens, advertisements switched like a revolving lantern, displaying the radiant smiles of models and the trendy displays of electronic products.

Neon towers soared into the clouds, their lights shifting unpredictably. In the distance, pedestrians bustled along, their footsteps hurried.

Naruto struggled to get up, his eyes following the movement of the pedestrians, his gaze filled with confusion and disbelief.

"This, this isn't Kamui Space?"

Although he didn't know the origin of this technique, he had even prepared himself to fight Obito to the death. But now, there was no Obito, no Madara, no Black Zetsu. All that existed was a dense forest of steel stretching across the entire modern city.

How strange, what kind of bizarre development was this?

Naruto subconsciously moved closer to the pedestrians and discovered that they were speaking Japanese, and he could understand it perfectly.

Combining this with his surroundings, he instantly realized that he had arrived in modern Japan, the exact location unknown.

"A little perk for a Transmigrator, understanding the languages of other worlds..."

Naruto muttered to himself and walked up to a passerby, trying to ask for information.

He reached a wide street intersection where many pedestrians were waiting for the green light. He stepped forward and asked one of them, "Excuse me, where is this place?"

"Hello?"

The pedestrian ignored his question. Naruto frowned slightly and intended to pat his shoulder, but to his surprise, his hand passed right through the pedestrian!

"Huh?"

Naruto panicked a little. He tried again, passing his hand through several more pedestrians, finally reaching a despairing conclusion:

He seemed to have become a ghost, the kind no one could see.

This was the end.

As he was contemplating his last words with a sense of hopelessness, the scenery around him slowly began to flow. The green light turned on, and pedestrians quickly crossed the intersection.

A figure suddenly caught Naruto's attention. The feeling was subtle, as if he had located her through some special means in the vast crowd, or like a firefly in the dark night, her presence was exceptionally strong.

"Hmm..." Naruto scratched his eyebrow and strode forward, his intuition telling him that this person would be the key to breaking free.

From the back, it looked like a girl.

Naruto walked briskly, quickly catching up to her pace.

He turned his head to look.

She had a round, slightly chubby face, her hair tied up high, revealing a smooth forehead. Her features were regular, her figure a bit plump, and she wore a loose, ginger-yellow dress. She was slightly hunched, with a clear lack of confidence in her expression.

Her appearance wouldn't be considered beautiful in any country, but she wasn't ugly either.

"Why is her presence so strong?" Naruto looked around, puzzled. No one was paying attention to this girl, which made him doubt if he was mistaken.

Rustle, rustle...

They walked side by side. The girl didn't look at Naruto, as if he were truly an unseen ghost. However, Naruto noticed that the surrounding scenery seemed to change constantly, centered around this girl.

Naruto tentatively moved away from the girl and started running in the opposite direction, but he quickly hit an invisible wall of air. So, he had to laboriously run back.

In other words, he could only move around the girl.

A bold guess suddenly arose in Naruto's mind.

This wasn't the real Japan, and he hadn't turned into a ghost...

This was a memory, and this girl was the owner of this memory!

This would also explain why her presence was so strong, yet the surrounding pedestrians ignored her.

The question was, who was this girl? And why was he inexplicably transported into her memory?

Naruto quickly recalled his recent fight with Kin Hammer. After opening the cloth strip, the mysterious fragment exposed to the air had transported him here.

Could it be that this was the true identity of Kin, the Transmigrator?

A Japanese girl who looked a bit unconfident?

It didn't seem like it, she lacked that wild spirit.

Naruto remained noncommittal and continued to follow the girl.

She soon reached the entrance of a shop on the street. There was a prominent sign at the entrance, adorned with glowing characters and neon lights. Above it, a handsome Japanese man was displayed.

The girl hesitated for a moment before stepping in.

Naruto looked up.

"Tsk, this guy's looks don't match my aesthetic." He casually commented on the photo at the entrance and followed her inside.

Inside, the lobby was spacious and bright, with a magnificent crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and high-grade marble flooring. Various artworks adorned the walls.

A bar was set up to the side, displaying a dazzling array of alcoholic beverages. Under the lights, the bottles shimmered with a captivating glow, filling the entire space with an atmosphere of opulence and revelry, accompanied by laughter and chatter.

The girl was a little nervous. She looked left and right, finally finding her friend amidst the lively atmosphere around them. She shyly greeted her friend and sat down beside her, feeling timid.

Naruto plopped down beside her, looking around. "This place doesn't feel as good as Helens," he commented.

He glanced at the girl's friend, appraising her from head to toe. She had the typical sweet, doll-like appearance of a Japanese girl.

Naruto slowly nodded. "Her friend is definitely a player." With that, he turned his attention back to their surroundings.

The establishment seemed to cater primarily to female customers, who were surrounded by many brightly dressed men. These men served them drinks and food with deferential attitudes, chatting and laughing with them.

Naruto began to form a suspicion.

"Hello, is this your first time here?" a clean-cut male server approached, kneeling on one knee as he presented the menu he held.

"Chinatsu-chan, take a look," her friend said, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Oh... okay," the girl nodded nervously.

"Chinatsu, that's her name, right?" Naruto watched as the server, with a warm, friendly smile, enthusiastically introduced her to the various 'set menus' on the tablet. Chinatsu, not fully understanding, nodded repeatedly, like a chick pecking at rice.

Naruto leaned in for a closer look. Good heavens, these so-called 'set menus' were actually different kinds of men.

"This isn't an ordinary bar, it's a host club..."

A host club is an entertainment venue where the servers are men, and their job is to accompany female customers, drink and chat with them, and profit from their spending.

In his past life, Naruto had searched for pictures of hosts out of curiosity. Their looks... were hard to describe for him.

He wondered how they managed to charm all those female customers.

"Please 'order'," the server said, pulling out a tablet and inviting Chinatsu to choose freely.

The first page prominently featured the host club's top performer. A man in a white suit held a rose, with his 'achievements' listed beside him:

[4 months, 10 million yen consecutively] [Highest Record: 19 million yen] [2021 Sales & Number of "Nominations" NO.1]

Naruto frowned, not because of the exaggerated sales figures, but because of the last line: 2021.

Strange, he remembered transmigrating in '25. Why was this memory from '21...

Naruto pushed this question aside and watched as Chinatsu continued to scroll. Her eyes were filled with hesitation.

He roughly understood. The owner of this memory, Chinatsu, had been introduced by her friend for some reason and was visiting a host club for the first time.

Seeing Chinatsu's indecision, the server simply had all the hosts make a round.

And so...

Various hosts began lining up, taking turns to toast her, hand her business cards. They were either flamboyant or gentle and graceful, bombarding her with cheesy pickup lines and flashy talents, like peacocks displaying their plumage.

But faced with these oily specimens, Chinatsu didn't seem delighted; instead, she became increasingly restless.

"Their level is too low," Naruto slowly shook his head.

Just as he thought it was over, a young man in a black suit walked over with a light smile, handing Chinatsu a business card. Scrawled on it in crooked handwriting was:

[Arashi]

Chinatsu's eyes lit up as she looked at the handwritten characters.

Upon seeing the writing, Naruto's hair stood on end. He couldn't help but stand up, staring intently at the simple word "Arashi."

"It's Kin's, no, it's Chinatsu's writing when she's gone crazy," his entire face darkened.

During the Chunin Exams, those repeated "[Hehe]" written in crooked letters had left an indelible impression on him. And this handwriting, it was exactly the same as Chinatsu's when she was losing it!

Naruto felt as if he were facing a great enemy. He stared intently as the clean-cut young man in the black suit sat opposite Chinatsu. The young man had neat black hair, and his bright eyes seemed to speak.

"Arashi, that's this host's name," the young man began to chat with Chinatsu in a gentle voice, which sounded soft and mellow.

"...I've only been a host for a short time, so talking to you feels as easy as talking to a classmate," he said with a smile. His demeanor reminded Naruto of a poem: "Emerging from the mud unstained."

But this was a comparison, especially with the greasy, middle-aged men from before!

Was this the tactic of a host club?

Chinatsu's expression visibly relaxed. This, however, made Naruto more worried, because to enter a girl's heart, the first step was to make them lower their guard.

"Me too, you seem very gentle and easy to talk to..." The two gradually got to the heart of the matter. As Naruto listened to their conversation, he learned about Chinatsu's life.

Chinatsu, full name Watanabe Chinatsu, was a university student working part-time to support herself. Her father had passed away early, and her mother worked tirelessly to send her to college.

With a modest family background, she studied hard during the day to earn scholarships and worked at a restaurant in the evenings for extra income. Her life was tough but full of hope.

The only problem was that as a "plus-size girl," she always felt the malice of the world.

Beautiful girls were surrounded by handsome men, while the boys who were interested in her were all ugly. When she video-called friends, she was pushed out of the frame to avoid embarrassment. When she walked down the street with handsome men, she was openly called a "sugar mama" with a gigolo.

Her only solace was the small bar on the street corner. The owner there was one of the few people who treated her sincerely. She would occasionally go there for a drink or two. It was also here that she met Takahashi Maiha, who claimed to be a regular at the host club and was the "player" who brought her here tonight.

She had always believed that being with handsome men would only lead to humiliation, but the bar owner encouraged her to give it a try, so she agreed.

"Nothing seriously wrong, just a bit starved for affection," Naruto concluded Chinatsu's experience.

He couldn't help but think of Gato, the man from Goryeo who had also gone astray due to a long-term lack of recognition.

Is there anything in common here?

The two were getting along swimmingly.

When Arashi heard that Chinatsu was a university student working part-time to support herself, he immediately showed his admiration. He said he started working in high school to help his family and had a particular fondness for people who were self-reliant.

Chinatsu felt the same.

Before they knew it, time had passed.

The server handed her the bill, and surprisingly, it was only three thousand yen, cheaper than a drink at a bar.

"You can choose one you like to take you home~" the server said with a suggestive smile.

Chinatsu looked around but still felt Arashi was the most to her taste. Arashi was flattered and asked if there would be a chance to meet again.

"However, I won't be coming back," Chinatsu said apologetically.

"It's okay, it's just too sudden to say goodbye like this. If you're annoyed, you can just not reply," Arashi said, blinking. Chinatsu thought about it and ended up exchanging contact information with Arashi.

"Ah, this is bad..." Naruto shook his head repeatedly.

He wasn't involved in the situation and naturally felt wary of Arashi's words.

But this was just a memory.

As she left, Arashi provided Chinatsu with impeccable service. When she left, Chinatsu watched Arashi wave goodbye to her with a smile at the shop entrance, and she politely waved back.

"That's just because I paid money, and he was just playing along," she muttered to herself, making Naruto raise an eyebrow.

So clear-headed!

At this moment, the space around Naruto and Chinatsu began to distort and shift. The next moment, it switched directly to the next scene of the memory.

"This memory is over... but I still haven't found a way to break free..." Naruto looked at Chinatsu, who was looking at her phone, perfunctorily replying to Arashi's messages.

She seemed to quickly return to her own life, attending classes, studying, working part-time, and occasionally having a drink at a bar. Time and space flowed and shifted, while Naruto was merely an observer, 'peeking' into her life.

Until one day.

One evening, Chinatsu was walking with several university classmates. They seemed to have just returned from an outing, and someone looked at Chinatsu and suggested they go to her usual bar for a drink.

Chinatsu hesitated. She had always considered the bar her "corner of refuge" and didn't want to share it with others, but unable to refuse, Chinatsu eventually brought them along.

Naruto followed.

As expected.

After entering the bar, all eyes fell on the beautiful female classmates. The owner and servers showered the female classmates' jewelry with compliments, and no one paid attention to Chinatsu anymore.

These classmates had stolen her only "place of refuge." Now, she was going to become a complete nobody.

But why? Just because they were pretty, the world had to revolve around them, and she deserved to be ignored by everyone?

Chinatsu kept drinking, but her resentment only grew stronger. Suddenly, she started to make insinuating remarks:

"Of course, her jewelry is beautiful, because she has many boyfriends."

As soon as she said that, the surroundings fell into dead silence. Even the owner, who usually cared about her, looked at her with surprise.

Naruto was also stunned, then shook his head and sighed, "Unbelievable."

Perhaps unable to bear everyone's gaze, Chinatsu hid in the restroom.

After composing herself, she realized the inappropriateness of her words. After much thought, she decided to apologize to her female classmate.

However, when she returned.

She saw everyone chatting and laughing. The owner and servers acted as if nothing had happened, joking and chatting merrily with the people around them.

No one cared if she stayed or left.

This scene was perhaps more jarring than the stares from everyone earlier.

Chinatsu broke down. She fled the bar in a mess, recalling all the grievances she had suffered because of her appearance, and couldn't help but cry.

Naruto followed her, saying nothing.

He opened his phone.

No one cared, no one tried to keep her.

The only message was from Arashi.

With nowhere to go, she called Arashi, and the man on the other end answered immediately.

Hearing Chinatsu crying, Arashi rushed out, risking being late for work, to comfort her. Chinatsu was deeply moved and suggested they go to Arashi's shop for a drink to help boost his sales.

Chinatsu came to the decadent world of hosts once again and couldn't help but hesitate. Arashi saw her concerns and, like a gentleman, extended a hand and took hers.

Tonight, Chinatsu surrendered herself completely to Arashi.

Another round of "mind massage" identical to the previous one followed, and time flew by. The server, as usual, handed her the bill.

[Ten thousand yen]

The bill startled Chinatsu, as if trying to drag her out of a beautiful dream and force her to face her bleak reality again.

Arashi quickly apologized and explained that because this was a private booking by Chinatsu, an additional service fee was included.

Speaking, he secretly took out some cash from his pocket: "Chinatsu, please accept this."

Arashi stealthily slipped the cash into Chinatsu's hand, interlocking their fingers.

Chinatsu looked up in surprise, and Arashi said with an apologetic look: "It was my fault for not explaining clearly at first, I'll pay the extra money."

"No, no, how can that be?"

"Please, otherwise I really can't rest easy." After speaking, he leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Don't tell anyone else."

Finally, Chinatsu paid the bill with Arashi's money.

Naruto watched the scene before him, feeling his breath catch.

Is this what a real host is like?

Chinatsu told Takahashi about this experience, and the latter's inner fangirl instantly exploded, shipping them as a couple. She declared that even as a VIP, she never received such treatment, and Chinatsu had found a treasure.

Gradually...

Chinatsu also noticed Arashi becoming more and more intimate with her.

It wasn't like a host and his client, but more like a couple.

Arashi sent Chinatsu selfies every day and shared his outfits.

Chinatsu also started to get hooked. She worried about her dwindling savings while comforting herself that payday was at the end of the month.

She once again took the initiative to go find Arashi.

But this time, Arashi was attending to another customer.

"Customer, if you want Kaede to come over, you need to order him a drink~" the delicate-looking server said with a smile.

She looked at the price list and saw that the cheapest drink was still 17,000 yen. Thinking about the living expenses that she and her mother had scraped together, she abandoned the idea and ended up sitting alone for the entire night.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't spend time with you today," Arashi said, gently stroking Chinatsu's shoulder with his right hand.

"I'm also very sorry I didn't order a drink for you."

"It's okay if you didn't order a drink, I didn't want you to do that either." Arashi looked at Chinatsu seriously. His understanding made Chinatsu incredibly surprised.

But the more he was like this, the more uneasy she felt.

She noticed a wealthy female customer who often splurged to boost Arashi's performance, spending lavishly each time.

This won't do, she'll lose this boy sooner or later.

Chinatsu finally took out a loan to order Arashi his first bottle of champagne.

Even though it was the cheapest one, Arashi didn't mind at all. He even promised to spend time with Chinatsu after work. To avoid gossip, he changed out of his host attire and into clean, casual clothes.

Chinatsu gazed at Arashi, mesmerized.

They went to a Western restaurant. Chinatsu, conscious of her image, hesitated to order, but Arashi told her to order whatever she wanted, and he'd be her "trash can" if she couldn't finish it. His gentleness enveloped Chinatsu, freeing her from her inhibitions.

He said, "I'll pay for the transportation, don't you worry."

He said, "Remember to call me when you get home, or I'll worry."

He said, "If you have any troubles, tell me, and I'll find a way to help."

He watched Chinatsu leave, his eyes full of tenderness.

Chinatsu was completely smitten.

For her beloved 'boyfriend', Chinatsu decided to become a rental girlfriend to earn quick money.

This was a gray industry in Japan, where boys and girls found what they needed, tasting the fruits of love under the guise of renting.

But Chinatsu lacked confidence. She found Takahashi and asked her to help her get ready. Takahashi agreed.

After a makeover, the effect was immediate. Her appearance improved significantly. Although she still looked a bit gaunt, her well-proportioned face still added to her charm, so much so that men started hitting on her as soon as she stepped outside.

Chinatsu was overjoyed. Blushing, she went to meet Arashi with her new look. He was startled and repeatedly praised her, saying she looked better than before. However, just then, the wealthy female patron who usually spent a fortune appeared. She specifically requested Arashi's service, so Arashi had to leave reluctantly.

Chinatsu knew the rules: to request a specific host's service, you had to order champagne for him first.

It's okay, I'm a rental girlfriend now. As long as I take on a few more clients, I can pay off my debts. I can take out a loan for the champagne first.

She immediately ordered seven thousand yen worth of champagne for Arashi!

Naruto stood beside her, closing his eyes. He couldn't leave Chinatsu too far behind.

It's completely over.

However, seven thousand yen worth of champagne naturally created a spectacular scene.

"Princess, please drink this champagne full of affection!"

"Drink up!"

"Drink up!"

"Drink up, drink up, drink up!"

"Next, Prince, please drink this champagne full of deep affection!"

"Drink up!"

"Drink up!"

"Drink, drink, drink!"

Chinatsu smiled at Arashi, a happy smile gracing her face.

"Next, let's hear a few words from tonight's star, our princess!"

The host handed the microphone to Chinatsu.

"Three."

"Two."

"One!"

"Um, well..." Chinatsu couldn't help but hesitate. Just then, Arashi threw an arm around her shoulders, leaned in, and whispered in her ear:

"Xiao Xia, do you like me?"

"I, I like you."

Chinatsu shyly ran into the restroom, her excitement uncontrollable at the thought of their upcoming private time together.

But as she walked out of the restroom...

Arashi was snatched away by the rich woman from earlier. She saw him looking at his benefactor with affectionate eyes, his gaze shifting, exuding elegance.

Seventy thousand yuan was nothing in this decadent world.

To buy more happiness, one needed a more expensive package.

Chinatsu felt disheartened. She was anxious to take on more clients to earn money, but the company told her she had to undergo training and exams before her debut, and wouldn't be able to officially start for at least a month.

She had already turned down her previous part-time jobs for this one. Now, not only had her income stopped, but she was also drowning in debt.

"This escort service is surprisingly professional..." Naruto shook his head speechlessly.

Although he didn't want to see the memories that followed, he could already guess the general outline.

A university student craving affection, with no stable source of income but immense spending needs.

What other path could she take?

Chinatsu walked down the street and was stopped by a man in a suit, who introduced her to a job that would let her earn money immediately.

She decided to give it a try.

When she arrived, she realized she had stepped onto a pirate ship. The so-called immediate earnings involved either posting provocative photos online or direct services.

The man smiled reassuringly, promising that the money would be transferred immediately if she agreed.

Furthermore, there was no coercion or illegality involved, and Chinatsu could choose to withdraw at any time without reason.

This was perhaps the most terrifying aspect of Japan.

Chinatsu believed that as long as she remained firm and held onto her principles, she wouldn't fall.

Thus, she received generous compensation as promised, but the price was her descent from a university student to a woman of the night.

When she closed her eyes, those unbearable memories haunted her like nightmares. When she opened them, she was at the mercy of her clients after ringing their doorbells.

She couldn't help but ask herself, did she really love Arashi that much?

Was Arashi worth her selling her body?

Perhaps while she was being tormented, Arashi was clinking glasses with other women.

Chinatsu dialed Arashi's number, telling herself that if he didn't answer this time, she would end it all.

"Ring~ Ring~"

The phone kept ringing. Chinatsu clung to a sliver of hope and didn't hang up immediately.

But just as she was about to hang up completely, Arashi's voice came from the other end of the line.

He had caught her again.

Naruto stood to the side, his expression like the Shiba Inu meme he often used in his past life: "Done for, completely done for."

He admitted this was the most helpless episode he had ever encountered, because he could not interfere with this damn memory!

More importantly, he felt deeply uncomfortable with this kind of story of gradual decline.

The memories began to accelerate, as if rushing towards the final conclusion.

Her actions were exposed, and the school found out about Chinatsu's activities.

She was expelled from school.

Her mother, upon receiving the expulsion notice, didn't blame her too much, even though accepting this outcome was incredibly difficult for her.

Chinatsu regretted her past actions. She stood on the street, looking at her mother's message, beating her chest and stamping her feet, tears streaming down her face.

Perhaps sensing Chinatsu's wavering heart, Arashi found her again and unleashed his trump card.

A 360-degree, no-blind-spot French kiss caught Chinatsu completely off guard.

They had "officially gotten together."

After a long, sweet moment, Arashi casually asked Chinatsu for her birthday, thinking of celebrating it for her. Then, he "surprisingly" discovered they shared the same birthday!

What a coincidence!

Chinatsu was overjoyed. She immediately declared she would give Arashi a surprise on their birthday.

In fact, she planned to order a 1.5 million yen champagne package for him!

Speaking of which, Chinatsu asked the waiter to keep it a secret, as it was a surprise. She had to gather 1.5 million yen before Arashi's birthday.

She started working desperately, accepting every customer without refusal, pushing herself to the brink of exhaustion.

Finally...

she had collected a full, one! point! five! million! yen!

She eagerly sent Arashi early birthday wishes and fell into a deep sleep on the morning of their birthday, utterly exhausted.

She woke up at 4 PM.

Chinatsu got up and quickly put on her makeup, everything ready for his arrival.

She waited at the entrance of the host club, her expression a little excited as she looked at her phone, waiting for Arashi's reply.

After a while, [Xiao Wu, I really want to see you soon too~]

"Huh?"

Chinatsu froze completely, as if she had been slapped hard across the face on the street.

"Oh wow," Naruto also saw the message. "He got the name wrong~"

Every host had to entertain a large number of clients, so mistaking a name was a relatively common occurrence. Generally, the more skilled a host was, the less likely they were to make such a basic mistake.

But it seemed Arashi had mentioned before that he had only recently become a host.

"So, I'm just an ordinary customer, so ordinary that he even gets my name wrong..." Chinatsu covered her face and cried, unable to bear this betrayal any longer.

She couldn't be with Arashi anymore. Lies might be beautiful, but the truth was a sharp knife.

The surrounding memories began to blur with Chinatsu's mood swings, as if the memories were nearing their end. Chinatsu's emotions even seemed to infect Naruto, giving him a faint sense of heartbreak.

Naruto silently watched the collapsing Chinatsu and shook his head helplessly.

"At least you haven't spent this 1.5 million yet. Why don't you use this money to start over?"

He stood beside Chinatsu, thinking this seemed to be the end of the story.

It wasn't a complete disaster; at least the money was safe, and there was a way back.

But why would she have a split personality?

And as Naruto pondered, Chinatsu suddenly turned her head to look at Naruto. At the same time, her eyes no longer showed sadness, but gradually regained clarity.

The surrounding scene gradually froze. Pedestrians stopped moving, vehicles stopped driving, and the neon lights stopped changing.

She turned to Naruto and asked, "Is this your true face?"

Naruto was stunned. She could see him now?

Seeing Naruto's silence, Chinatsu took out a makeup mirror from her pocket and handed it to him.

Naruto opened the mirror, puzzled, only to find that he was no longer the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy with whisker marks, but had returned to his original appearance before his transmigration.

He touched his soft black hair and asked Chinatsu doubtfully, "This should be your memory, right? Can you control this space?"

Chinatsu nodded. "I can only control a little. Use this to control it." She took out the black shard and handed it to Naruto.

It was the shard that had teleported him here.

"What is going on?" Naruto felt like he had too many questions that needed answering.

"I'll make it short, because this space won't last long, and you'll be sent back soon," Chinatsu said solemnly, and began to tell Naruto:

"As you saw, after discovering the truth, I cried on the street for a very, very long time, so long that I lost track of time."

"Then I felt my body getting cold, as if something heavy was pressing down on me. When I looked back, I saw a pool of black liquid dragging me down."

Naruto's scalp tingled. "Can you recreate that scene?"

Chinatsu gently shook her head. "My memory limit is here. Listen to me, that liquid wanted to engulf me completely and drag me underground. I kept pulling myself out, trying to escape that monster, but it was too strong, I was no match for it."

"Then I started kicking and punching it, and I actually hit something. Maybe my will to survive was too strong. Then I grabbed it with my hand and pulled out this thing. It transmigrated to the ninja world with me."

Naruto frowned. "So, this shard came from the mastermind?"

"Yes, clearly, they possess space-time abilities," Chinatsu nodded, then suddenly asked, "Do you remember how you transmigrated?"

Naruto was taken aback. He began to rack his brain, trying to recall the past.

"It seems like... huh?" Fine beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "I, I don't remember."

He had never thought about the details of his life before transmigration, after all, transmigration was a common trope in many novels.

Wasn't the point of transmigrating to another world to have fun?

"I suspect this mastermind deliberately erased our memories before and after transmigration. By the way, have you experienced any strong negative emotions in your mind?"

"Not really... Why do you ask?"

"After I transmigrated, I was often affected by my inner demons, experiencing extreme negative emotions, which made me sometimes lucid and sometimes confused."

"I can see that, but that should be your own problem..." Naruto was saying when he suddenly froze.

He remembered that Sakura had once had severe emotional problems, and he had even had physical contact with her because of it.

She had said that the marks on the tree trunk reminded her of her own psychological trauma, causing her to have an emotional breakdown.

Thinking calmly again, the few transmigrators currently present—Sakura, Gato, Kin—they had all suffered great setbacks to varying degrees.

Even he himself had experienced past events that were difficult to look back on. But honestly, anyone would have their own psychological trauma, right?

Naruto slowly said, "You think the mastermind brought some people to the ninja world and then exploited their negative emotions?"

"Mhm," Chinatsu nodded, and at the same time, her figure began to slowly blur.

"I used the ability of the fragment. If you inject enough chakra into it, it can take you into your most unbearable memories. So, this should be the mastermind's ability."

"I don't know why they would do this, but the transmigrators with greater psychological trauma are probably more easily affected,"

"And the ninja world easily amplifies the negative emotions within us..."

As she spoke, Chinatsu's body became thinner and thinner, as if she could disappear at any moment.

Naruto nodded and murmured softly, "Because the ninja world itself is twisted. Ninjas are tools, individual power is paramount, and forbidden techniques like Impure World Reincarnation and Izanagi defy life and death, manipulating right and wrong."

"Just look at Itachi. On Earth, he might have received a good education and become a prodigy, but in the ninja world, he would only be misled by Danzou and kill his entire family."

He watched as Chinatsu's figure completely disappeared, and a sense of desolation suddenly surged in his heart.

How difficult it was to remove negative emotions from people's hearts!

Everyone had their own regrets; it was a natural law. Even immortals might not be able to cut off all worldly desires.

Doing such a thing in the ninja world was like trying to bail out a sinking boat with a tiny ladle.

A translucent phantom in a black robe, exuding an immortal aura, suddenly appeared beside him. His black hair fluttered wildly in the wind, his eyes were unruly, and the corners of his lips curved into a faint, enigmatic smile.

"The simplest way is to kill all the transmigrators," the phantom chuckled softly. "Or, you could try to remove the flaws of the ninja world. However, this is a path as difficult as climbing to heaven. I won't force you; you decide for yourself."

With that, the phantom disappeared like a bubble, and along with a black vortex that had twisted into shape, it teleported Naruto back to the Forest of Death.

"Naruto? Naruto!"

Forest of Death.

Sakura, whose face was ashen, saw the blond youth reappear beside Kin and immediately rushed over.

"Thump!" He fell heavily to the ground.

"Cough cough..." Feeling his soul merging with Naruto Uzumaki's body, Naruto's complexion gradually shifted from pale to ruddy. He gasped for air repeatedly, and Sakura helped him up.

"You scared me to death," Sakura's eyes were red, seemingly having been sad for quite a while due to Naruto's sudden disappearance.

He comforted Sakura for a moment, then cautiously asked, "By the way, where's the fragment? Where did you put it?"

"I wrapped it up and put it aside," she sniffled and pointed to a strip of cloth lying on the ground nearby.

"How much time has passed?"

"...About five minutes."

"I see," Naruto reached out to put the fragment away. Seeing Sakura's eyes widen as if to stop him, he quickly explained, "Don't worry, it won't work anymore if I don't inject chakra into it."

"Oh, oh, is that so... You must have found out a lot of clues, right?"

"Yeah, let's go turn in the mission first. I'll explain in detail later."

Naruto slung Sasuke over his shoulder, and the three of them walked towards the central round tower.

Sakura's emotions seemed to be becoming more unstable... It was understandable, as she had been living in fear during this period.

Naruto couldn't help but look up at the sky.

At first, he had just found transmigrating to the ninja world incredibly novel and felt he could definitely make a name for himself with Naruto's identity.

But now, he only felt an invisible, giant hand manipulating everything, wantonly toying with human nature.

They sent people with psychological trauma to the ninja world, used the environment of the ninja world to ferment negative emotions, and then made the transmigrators play werewolf, killing each other in suspicion.

What a cruel sense of humor.

Naruto turned to look at the gate, the weight of Sasuke on his back, and only one thought came to his mind:

He had to get stronger as soon as possible.

But before that, he needed to confirm a few things with Sakura.

(P.S. A report to all readers: The number of transmigrators alive concurrently in this book will not exceed three, usually Naruto + Sakura + a newcomer)