The scenery around him peeled away like a mirror shattering, breaking into countless fragments. His body seemed to fall apart before instantly reassembling. The air in his throat was squeezed out, and the suffocating sensation made his vision go black, but it returned to normal in the blink of an eye.
Thud!
Naruto's body slammed heavily into the ground. Stars swam before his eyes, and every muscle ached, but the feeling soon faded, and his vision cleared.
Night had fallen.
On the streets of Ginza, colorful billboards overlapped layer upon layer, as if they meant to cover the sky. Advertisements flashed across enormous electronic screens, alternating between models' brilliant smiles and trendy displays of electronic products.
Neon towers soared into the clouds, their lights shifting unpredictably. In the distance, pedestrians streamed past in a hurry.
Naruto struggled to his feet. His eyes followed the pedestrians' footsteps, filled with confusion and disbelief.
"This... this isn't Kamui Space?"
Although he had no idea where this technique had come from, he had even prepared himself to fight Obito to the death. Yet there was no Obito, no Madara, and no Black Zetsu here. Instead, a forest of steel buildings stretched across an entire modern city.
What was going on? What kind of bizarre development was this?
Naruto instinctively approached the pedestrians and discovered that they were speaking Japanese to one another. He could understand every word perfectly.
Taking in the surrounding scenery, he instantly realized that he had arrived in modern Japan, though he had no idea where exactly.
One of the transmigrator's little perks: understanding the language of another world...
Naruto grumbled inwardly as he walked up to one of the pedestrians, intending to ask what was going on.
He reached a broad crossroads where many pedestrians were waiting in line for the light to change. He stepped forward and asked one of them, "Hello. May I ask where this is?"
"Hello?"
The pedestrian completely ignored him. Naruto frowned slightly and reached out to tap him on the shoulder, but his hand passed straight through the man!
"Huh?"
Naruto panicked a little. He passed his hand through several more pedestrians before arriving at a despairing conclusion:
He seemed to have become a ghost—the kind nobody could see.
I'm screwed.
As he despairingly composed his last words, the scenery around him began to flow. The light turned green, and the pedestrians hurried across the intersection.
A figure suddenly caught Naruto's attention. The feeling was strange, as if she had been located through some special method amid the vast sea of people. It was also like a firefly in the pitch-black night, her presence exceptionally powerful.
"Hmm..." Naruto scratched his brow and hurried after her. His instincts told him that this person was the key to breaking out of his predicament.
From behind, she appeared to be a girl.
Naruto strode forward and quickly caught up with her.
He glanced to the side.
She had a round, fleshy face and her hair was tied high, revealing a smooth forehead. Her features were ordinary, her figure somewhat plump, and she wore a loose mustard-yellow dress. Her shoulders were slightly hunched, and obvious insecurity showed on her face.
She was not attractive by the standards of any country, but she was not ugly either.
"Why is her presence so strong?" Naruto looked around in confusion. Nobody was paying attention to the girl, making him wonder whether he had made a mistake.
Rustle, rustle...
The two walked side by side. The girl never looked toward Naruto, as if he truly were an invisible ghost. Yet Naruto noticed that the scenery around them seemed to be constantly changing with the girl at its center.
Naruto cautiously moved away from the girl and began running in the opposite direction, but he soon struck an invisible wall. He had no choice but to huff and puff his way back.
In other words, he could only move around the girl.
A bold guess suddenly arose in Naruto's mind.
This was not the real Japan, and he had not become a ghost...
This was a memory, and this girl was the owner of it!
That also explained why her presence was so powerful while all the surrounding pedestrians ignored her.
The question was, who exactly was this girl? Why had he inexplicably been transported into her memories?
Naruto quickly thought of his battle with Kin Hammer. After he had opened the cloth strips, the mysterious fragment exposed to the air had transported him here.
Could this be the true identity of Kin, the transmigrator?
A Japanese girl who looked somewhat insecure?
It didn't seem right. She lacked that innate madness.
Naruto neither agreed nor disagreed with the idea, simply following the girl onward.
She soon reached the entrance of a shop. An eye-catching sign hung outside, decorated with glowing lettering and neon lights. Above it was a handsome Japanese man.
The girl hesitated for a moment before taking small steps inside.
Naruto looked up.
"Tsk, tsk. This guy's looks don't suit my taste." He casually judged the photo at the entrance and followed her in.
Inside, the hall was spacious and brightly lit. Gorgeous crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the floor was paved with expensive marble, and various works of art adorned the walls.
A bar stood to one side, displaying a dazzling array of alcoholic drinks. Under the lights, the bottles glittered alluringly. An atmosphere of luxury and indulgence filled the room, along with laughter and conversation.
The girl seemed nervous. She looked around until she finally found her friend amid the lively atmosphere. She greeted her stiffly, then sat timidly beside her.
Naruto sat down beside them in a carefree manner and looked around. "This feels inferior to Helens."
He glanced at the girl's friend and sized her up. She had the standard appearance of a sweet Sakura-style beauty.
Naruto nodded slowly. "Her friend is definitely a party girl." With that, he turned his attention elsewhere.
The establishment seemed to cater mainly to female customers. Many flamboyantly dressed men surrounded them, serving tea and wine with utmost respect while chatting and laughing.
Naruto formed a vague guess.
"Hello. Is this your first time here?" A neatly dressed male server walked over, knelt on one knee, and opened the menu in his hands.
"Chinatsu, take a look." The friend's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Oh... okay." The girl nodded nervously.
"Chinatsu. So that's her name." Naruto watched the server smile warmly as he enthusiastically introduced the various "packages" on the menu. Confused, Chinatsu kept nodding like a pecking chick.
Naruto leaned closer and took a look. Good grief—the so-called "packages" were actually various men.
"This isn't an ordinary bar. It's a host club..."
A host club was an entertainment venue staffed entirely by men. Their job was to drink and chat with female customers, earning profits by encouraging them to spend money.
In his previous life, Naruto had searched for pictures of hosts out of curiosity. As for their looks... he found them difficult to describe.
He had no idea how they managed to coax those female customers around their fingers.
"Please 'order' one." The server pulled out a tablet and invited Chinatsu to choose.
The first page prominently displayed the host club's top host: a man in a white suit holding a rose, with his "record" listed beside him:
[Ten million yen for four consecutive months]
[Highest record: 19 million yen]
[No. 1 in sales and number of nominations in 2021]
Naruto frowned slightly. It was not because of the exaggerated sales figures, but because of the number on the final line: 2021.
Strange. I remember transmigrating in 2025. Why is this memory from 2021?
Naruto suppressed the question and watched Chinatsu continue scrolling. Her eyes were full of hesitation.
He more or less understood. For some reason, Chinatsu, the owner of this memory, had been introduced by her friend and come to the host club for the first time.
Seeing that Chinatsu could not make up her mind, the server simply had every host come over in turn.
And so...
The hosts began lining up to toast Chinatsu and hand her their business cards. Some were gaudy, others gentle and refined. They bombarded her one after another with cheesy pickup lines and flashy performances, like peacocks displaying their feathers.
But faced with these greasy men, Chinatsu did not become excited. Instead, she grew increasingly restless.
"Their level is too low." Naruto slowly shook his head.
Just when he thought it was over, a young man in a black suit approached with a light laugh and handed Chinatsu a business card. A crookedly handwritten character appeared on it:
[Arashi]
Chinatsu's eyes brightened at the sight of the handwriting.
The instant Naruto saw the character, his hair stood on end. He could not help rising and staring fixedly at the simple character "Arashi."
"That's Kin's handwriting—no, the handwriting Chinatsu produced when she went crazy." His entire face darkened.
During the Chunin Ninja Exams, the repeatedly crookedly written [Hee-hee] had left an indelible impression on him. The handwriting here was exactly the same as the handwriting Chinatsu had produced when she went mad!
Naruto reacted as though facing a formidable enemy. He stared at the neat-looking young man in the black suit as he sat across from Chinatsu. The man had fresh-looking black hair and a pair of bright eyes that seemed capable of speaking.
"Arashi. That's this host's name." The young man began chatting with Chinatsu in a gentle, soft voice.
"I haven't been working as a host for very long either. Talking to you feels as easy as talking to a classmate." He smiled, and his bearing reminded Naruto of a line of poetry: Emerging from the mud yet unstained.
Of course, that impression came from comparison, especially compared to the oily middle-aged men from earlier!
So this was the method used by host clubs?
Chinatsu visibly relaxed, which instead made Naruto worried. To enter a girl's heart, the first step was to make her lower her guard.
"Me too. You seem very gentle and easy to talk to..." The two gradually got to the point. As Naruto listened to Chinatsu, he learned about her life.
Chinatsu's full name was Watanabe Chinatsu. She was a university student working her way through school. Her father had died young, and her mother had worked to support her through university.
Her family was ordinary. She studied hard during the day to earn scholarships and worked at a restaurant at night to make extra money. Her life was difficult, yet full of hope.
Her only problem was that, as a "plus-size girl," she constantly felt hostility from the world.
Beautiful girls were surrounded by handsome boys, while every boy interested in her was hideous. Her friends pushed her out of the frame during video calls because they were afraid of looking bad, and when she walked down the street with handsome men, people openly called her a Rich Woman with a kept boy.
Her only refuge was a bar in a small street-side shop. The owner was one of the few people who sincerely treated her well. She occasionally went there for a couple of drinks, and it was there that she met Takahashi Maiha, who claimed to be a regular at the host club—the party girl who had brought her there that night.
Chinatsu had originally thought that being with handsome men would only bring her humiliation, but the bar owner encouraged her to give it a try. In the end, she agreed.
"She doesn't have any major problems. She's just a little starved for affection." Naruto delivered his verdict on Chinatsu's life.
He could not help thinking of Gato. That man from Korea had also taken the wrong path because he had never received recognition for so long.
Was there some common thread between them?
The two gradually hit it off.
When Arashi heard that Chinatsu was a university student working her way through school, he immediately expressed admiration. He said that he had started working after graduating from high school to help support his family, and that he had a particular fondness for people who supported themselves.
Chinatsu felt the same way.
Before they knew it, time was up.
The server handed her the bill. Unexpectedly, it came to only three thousand yen—cheaper than a single drink at a bar.
"You can choose one person you like to walk you home~" the server said with an ambiguous smile.
Chinatsu considered one after another, but still felt that Arashi suited her best. Arashi was flattered and asked whether there would be a chance to see her again.
"But I won't be coming back after this," Chinatsu said apologetically.
"That's okay. It would be too abrupt to say goodbye just like this. If you find me annoying, you can simply not reply." Arashi blinked. After thinking it over, Chinatsu exchanged contact information with him.
"Oh no, this is bad..." Naruto shook his head repeatedly.
He was an outsider, so he was naturally wary of Arashi's words.
But this was only a memory.
Before they left, Arashi provided Chinatsu with meticulous service. As she departed, she saw him smiling and waving at her from the entrance. She politely waved back.
"He only acted that way because I paid. It was just professional acting," she murmured, making Naruto raise his brows.
She's surprisingly clear-headed!
At that moment, the space around Naruto and Chinatsu began twisting and changing. In the next instant, it switched directly to the next scene in the memory.
"That memory is over... but I still haven't found a way to break out..." Naruto looked toward Chinatsu. She was staring at her phone, perfunctorily replying to Arashi's messages.
She seemed to quickly return to her own life: attending classes, studying, working, and occasionally having a drink at the bar. Time and space continued to flow and shift, while Naruto merely "spied" on her life like an observer.
Until one day.
It was another evening. Chinatsu was walking with several university classmates, apparently returning from an outing. Someone looked at her and suggested that they go drinking at the bar she frequented.
Chinatsu hesitated. She had always regarded the bar as her "corner of refuge" and did not want to share it with everyone. But unable to resist them, she eventually led them there.
Naruto followed as well.
Sure enough.
After they entered the bar, everyone's attention fell on the pretty female students. The owner and servers showered praise on their jewelry, and nobody paid any further attention to Chinatsu.
Those classmates had taken away her only "place of refuge." Now she was going to become completely transparent.
But why? Just because they were pretty, did the world have to revolve around them? Was she destined to be ignored by everyone?
Chinatsu kept pouring alcohol into herself, but her resentment only burned more fiercely. Suddenly, she began making sarcastic remarks.
"Of course her jewelry is pretty. She has so many boyfriends."
The moment she said it, the entire room fell silent. Even the owner, who usually cared about her, looked at her in surprise.
Naruto froze as well, then shook his head and sighed. "That's outrageous."
Perhaps unable to endure everyone's stares, Chinatsu fled into the restroom.
After composing herself, she realized that her words had been inappropriate. After thinking it over, she decided to apologize to her classmate.
But when she returned—
She saw everyone chatting and laughing. The owner and servers acted as though nothing had happened, joking and talking animatedly with the others.
Nobody cared whether she stayed or left.
This scene was perhaps even more painful than everyone's stares earlier.
Chinatsu broke down. She fled the bar in a disheveled state, recalling all the grievances she had suffered because of her appearance, and began to sob.
Naruto followed behind her without saying a word.
She opened her phone.
Nobody cared. Nobody tried to keep her there.
The only message was from Arashi.
With nowhere else to go, she called Arashi. The man answered immediately.
Hearing Chinatsu crying, Arashi hurried out to comfort her, even at the risk of skipping work. Deeply moved, Chinatsu proposed going to his club for a drink to help boost his sales.
Chinatsu once again entered the glittering, pleasure-filled world of the host club and could not help hesitating. Arashi noticed her concern and gentlemanly extended a hand, taking her small one.
That night, Chinatsu handed herself over to Arashi completely.
Another round of the same emotional massage as before passed quickly, and the server handed her the bill as usual.
[10,000 yen]
The bill startled Chinatsu, as though it were dragging her out of a beautiful dream and forcing her to face her bleak life once more.
Arashi hurriedly apologized and explained that, because Chinatsu had ordered him personally this time, an additional service fee had been added.
As he spoke, he furtively pulled some cash from his pocket. "Xia, please accept this."
Arashi secretly slipped the cash into Chinatsu's hand and interlocked his fingers with hers.
Chinatsu looked up in surprise. Arashi said apologetically, "It was my fault for not explaining things clearly from the start. I'll pay the extra."
"No, no, how could I let you do that?"
"Please. Otherwise, I'll feel terrible." With that, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Don't tell anyone else, okay?"
In the end, Chinatsu used Arashi's money to settle the bill.
Naruto watched the scene before him, feeling his breath catch.
So this is what a real host is like?
Chinatsu told Takahashi about the experience. The other woman's maiden heart immediately went wild as she shipped the two of them, saying that even as their VIP, she had never received such treatment. Chinatsu had clearly found a treasure.
Gradually,
Chinatsu also noticed that Arashi was growing more and more intimate with her.
They seemed less like a host and his client and more like a boyfriend and girlfriend.
Every day, Arashi sent Chinatsu all kinds of selfies and shared his outfits with her.
Chinatsu also began getting carried away. She worried about her meager savings while comforting herself that payday was right around the corner.
Once again, she took the initiative and went to find Arashi.
But this time, Arashi was entertaining another customer.
"Miss, if you want Kaede to come over, you'll have to order him a drink first~" The handsome server smiled brightly.
She took the menu and saw that even the cheapest drink cost seventeen thousand yen. Remembering that her living expenses had been painstakingly saved by both her and her mother, she abandoned the idea and could only sit alone for the entire evening.
"I'm really sorry I couldn't keep you company today." Arashi gently stroked Chinatsu's shoulder with his right hand.
"I'm sorry too. I didn't order you a drink."
"It's fine if you don't order one. I don't want you to do that either." Arashi looked at Chinatsu earnestly. His thoughtfulness left her utterly astonished.
But the kinder he was, the more uneasy she became.
She noticed that a wealthy female customer often helped Arashi boost his sales, spending lavishly every time.
This won't do. Sooner or later, she'll take this boy away from me.
Chinatsu finally took out a loan to order Arashi his first bottle of champagne.
Although it was the cheapest one, Arashi did not mind at all. He even promised to spend some time alone with Chinatsu after work. To avoid gossip, he deliberately changed out of his host outfit and put on fresh, clean casual clothes.
Chinatsu gazed at Arashi, completely entranced.
The two of them went to a Western restaurant. Concerned about her image, Chinatsu was afraid to order anything, but Arashi told her to order whatever she wanted. If she couldn't finish it, he would be her garbage disposal. His tenderness enveloped Chinatsu, allowing her to stop suppressing herself.
He said, "I'll pay for the taxi. Don't worry about it."
He said, "Remember to call me when you get home, or I'll worry."
He said, "Tell me about any troubles you have. I'll think of a way to help."
He watched Chinatsu leave, his eyes filled with tender warmth.
Chinatsu had completely fallen.
For the sake of her beloved "boyfriend," Chinatsu decided to become a rental girlfriend and make quick money.
It was one of Neon's gray industries. Boys and girls came here to satisfy their respective needs, savoring the fruits of love under the name of renting.
But Chinatsu lacked confidence. She went to Takahashi and asked her to dress her up, and Takahashi agreed.
After a round of makeup, the results were immediate. Her looks improved dramatically. Although she still appeared somewhat plump, her well-proportioned face added plenty to her appearance. The moment she stepped outside, boys began approaching her.
Chinatsu was overjoyed. Shyly, she went to see Arashi with her new look, startling him. He repeatedly praised her, saying she looked prettier than before. But just then, the wealthy woman who usually spent lavishly appeared and specifically requested Arashi's services, so he had no choice but to leave reluctantly.
Chinatsu knew the rules very well. To designate a host, she first had to open a bottle of champagne for him.
It's fine. I'm a rental girlfriend now. As long as I take on a few more customers, I can pay off the debt. I can take out a loan to order champagne first.
She ordered Arashi seventy thousand yen worth of champagne in one go!
Naruto stayed beside her with his eyes closed. He couldn't get too far away from Chinatsu.
This is completely screwed.
Still, seventy thousand yen's worth of champagne was naturally an extremely spectacular affair.
"Princess, please drink up all this overflowing affection!"
"Drink!"
"Drink!"
"Drink, drink, drink!"
"Next, please have the prince drink up this deep affection!"
"Drink!"
"Drink!"
"Drink, drink, drink!"
Chinatsu smiled at Arashi, happiness blooming across her face.
"Next, let's hear a few words from tonight's main character, our princess!"
The host handed the microphone to Chinatsu.
"Three."
"Two."
"One!"
"Er, um..." Chinatsu hesitated slightly, and just then,
Arashi suddenly put an arm around her shoulders, bent down, and whispered into her ear:
"Xia Xia, do you like me?"
"I-I do."
Chinatsu shyly ran into the restroom. At the thought of the time they would spend alone later, she was so excited that she could barely contain herself.
But the moment she walked out of the restroom,
Arashi had been snatched away by the wealthy woman from earlier. He gazed at his patron with tender affection, his eyes glimmering as he exuded an air of elegance.
Seventy thousand yen was nothing in this world of drunken luxury.
To buy more happiness, one had to order a more expensive package.
Chinatsu was disheartened. She hurriedly tried to take on more customers to make money, but the company told her that she had to undergo training and pass an examination before making her debut. She could not officially start working until at least a month later.
She had already quit her previous part-time job for this work. Now, not only had she lost her source of income, she was also buried in debt.
"This rental service is surprisingly damn formal..." Naruto shook his head speechlessly.
Although he did not want to see what happened next in the memory, he could already guess the general outline.
A female college student starved for affection, with no stable source of income but an enormous appetite for spending.
What other path could she take?
Chinatsu was walking along the street when a man in a suit stopped her and introduced her to a job that could make her money immediately.
She decided to give it a try.
Only after arriving did she realize that she had boarded a pirate ship. The so-called immediate money either involved posting suggestive photos online or directly providing services.
The man smiled obsequiously and promised that as long as she was willing, the money would be transferred immediately.
Throughout the process, there would be no coercion or illegal activity. Chinatsu could choose to withdraw at any time and without giving a reason.
Perhaps this was the scariest part of Neon.
Chinatsu believed that as long as she stayed firm enough and held on to her bottom line, she would not fall.
Thus, she received a handsome payment as promised. The price, however, was falling from a college student into a woman of the night.
Whenever she closed her eyes, those unbearable memories clung to her like nightmares. Whenever she opened them, she was forced to surrender herself after pressing the doorbell at a client's room.
She could not help asking herself: Did I really love Arashi that much?
Was Arashi worth selling my body for?
Perhaps while she was being tormented, Arashi was drinking nuptial wine with another woman.
Chinatsu dialed Arashi's number and told herself that if he did not answer this time, she would end everything for good.
"Beep, beep~ Beep, beep~"
The phone rang continuously. Chinatsu seemed to cling to a final sliver of hope and did not hang up immediately.
But just as the call was about to end completely, Arashi's voice came from the other end.
He had still managed to catch her.
Naruto stood to one side, his expression exactly like a Shiba Inu meme he had often used in his previous life: I'm numb. Completely numb.
He admitted that this was the most helpless chapter he had ever encountered, because with this damn memory, he couldn't! Do! Anything!
More importantly, he felt deeply uncomfortable with this kind of story about someone gradually sinking into depravity.
The memory began speeding forward, as if it were rushing toward its final conclusion.
The truth came to light, and the school learned about Chinatsu's actions.
She was expelled.
Chinatsu's mother did not blame her much after receiving the expulsion notice. Even so, accepting the result was extremely difficult for her.
Chinatsu regretted everything. On the roadside, she read her mother's messages while beating her chest and sobbing uncontrollably.
Perhaps seeing that Chinatsu's resolve was wavering, Arashi sought her out again and unleashed his trump card.
A three-hundred-and-sixty-degree French kiss with no blind spots caught Chinatsu completely off guard.
They had "officially become a couple."
The two of them enjoyed a long period of sweetness. Then Arashi casually asked Chinatsu when her birthday was, intending to celebrate it for her, only to discover in "surprise" that they had the same birthday!
What the hell, what a coincidence!
Chinatsu was beside herself with joy. She immediately declared that she would give Arashi a surprise on his birthday.
In fact,
she intended to order Arashi a one-million-five-hundred-thousand-yen champagne package!
At this point, Chinatsu told the server to keep it secret. It was a surprise, and she had to raise one and a half million yen before Arashi's birthday!
She began taking on customers frantically, accepting anyone who came and tormenting herself until she was no longer recognizable.
Finally...
She gathered the full amount—one! Million! Five! Hundred! Thousand!
Unable to wait, she sent Arashi his birthday wishes in advance, then fell into a deep sleep on the morning of his birthday. She was simply too exhausted.
When she woke up, it was four in the afternoon.
Chinatsu got out of bed and hurriedly put on her makeup. Everything was waiting for his arrival.
She waited outside the host club, glancing at her phone excitedly as she waited 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 just been slapped hard in the middle of the street.
"Oh, wow." Naruto also saw the message. "He got the name wrong~"
Every host had to entertain a large number of customers, so mixing up names was very common. Generally speaking, the more capable a host was, the less likely he was to make such a basic mistake.
But Arashi had seemed to say earlier that he had not been working as a host for very long.
"So I was just an ordinary customer, so ordinary that he couldn't even remember my name..." Chinatsu covered her face and wept, no longer able to endure such betrayal.
There was no way she could continue fooling around with Arashi. Lies might be beautiful, but the truth was a sharp blade.
The surrounding memory began to blur under the shock of Chinatsu's emotions. It seemed that the memory was about to reach its end, and Chinatsu's feelings were beginning to infect Naruto as well, leaving him with a faint, heart-rending pain.
Naruto silently watched Chinatsu collapse and shook his head helplessly.
"At least you haven't spent the one and a half million yet. Why not use it to start over?"
He stood beside Chinatsu, thinking that this seemed to be the end of the story.
It's not a total loss. At least the money is safe, and there's still a way back.
But why did she develop split personalities?
Just as Naruto was pondering this,
Chinatsu suddenly turned her head and looked straight at him. At the same time, the sorrow in her eyes vanished, and clarity gradually returned to them.
The surrounding scene slowly froze. Pedestrians stopped moving, vehicles stopped driving, and the neon lights stopped changing.
She turned to Naruto and asked, "Is this your true form?"
Naruto froze. She can see me now?
Seeing that Naruto did not respond, Chinatsu took a compact mirror from her pocket and handed it to him.
Confused, Naruto opened the compact mirror, only to discover that he was no longer a blond, blue-eyed, fox-whiskered youth. He had returned to the appearance he had possessed before transmigrating.
He touched his smooth black hair and asked Chinatsu in confusion, "This should be your memory, right? Can you control this space?"
Chinatsu nodded. "Only a little. Use this to control it." She took out the black fragment and handed it to Naruto.
It was none other than the fragment that had teleported him here.
"What exactly is going on?" Naruto felt that he had far too many questions demanding answers.
"I'll keep it brief. This space won't be able to hold together for long, and it'll send you back soon." Chinatsu's expression was solemn as she slowly explained to Naruto:
"As you saw, after discovering the truth, I cried on the roadside for a very, very long time—so long that I can't even remember how much time passed."
"Then I felt that my body was cold, as if something incredibly heavy were pressing down on me. When I turned around, I saw a pool of black liquid dragging me downward."
Naruto's scalp prickled. He asked, "Can you recreate that scene?"
Chinatsu gently shook her head. "This is as far as the memory goes. Listen to me. That pool of liquid wanted to completely envelop me and drag me underground. I kept pulling myself away, trying to escape that monster, but it was too strong. I was no match for it."
"Then I started kicking and punching it. Somehow, I actually kicked something. Maybe my desire to survive was just too strong. Then I reached out and grabbed it, pulling this thing out. It crossed over into the ninja world with me."
Naruto frowned. "In other words, this fragment came from the mastermind behind everything?"
"Mm. Clearly, they possess the ability to manipulate space and time." Chinatsu nodded, then suddenly asked, "Do you remember how you transmigrated?"
Naruto froze and began racking his brain to recall the past.
"It seems like... Huh?" Fine beads of cold sweat broke out across his forehead. "I—I don't remember."
He had never thought about the details of his life before transmigrating. After all, transmigration was a common trope in many novels.
Wasn't transmigrating to another world all about having a great time?
"I suspect that the mastermind deliberately concealed our memories from before and after we transmigrated. By the way, have you ever experienced intense negative emotions?"
"Not really... Why do you ask?"
"After I transmigrated, I was often influenced by my inner demons and overwhelmed by intense negative emotions. As a result, I was sometimes lucid and sometimes muddleheaded."
"I noticed, but that should be your own problem..." Naruto was speaking when he suddenly froze.
He remembered that Sakura had once suffered a serious emotional breakdown, and that 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 psychological trauma, causing her emotions to collapse.
Thinking about it more calmly, the current transmigrators—Sakura, Gato, and Kin—had all suffered major setbacks to one degree or another.
Even he himself had gone through things he could hardly bear to recall. But logically speaking, everyone had their own psychological trauma, didn't they?
Naruto said slowly, "You think the mastermind brought some people to the ninja world and then used their negative emotions to manipulate them?"
"Yes." Chinatsu nodded, and at the same time, her figure began to grow blurry.
"I used the fragment's power before. After injecting enough Chakra into it, it could take you into the memories you found most unbearable to recall. So this should be the mastermind's ability."
"I don't know why it wants to do this, but transmigrators with greater psychological trauma are probably more susceptible to its influence."
"And the ninja world is extremely good at amplifying the negative emotions in our hearts..."
As she spoke, Chinatsu's body grew increasingly faint, as if she might disappear at any moment.
Naruto nodded and murmured softly, "Because the ninja world itself is twisted. Ninjas are tools, individual power surpasses everything, and forbidden techniques like Impure World Reincarnation and Izanagi overturn life and death and tamper with 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 could only be incited by Danzo into slaughtering his entire family."
He watched Chinatsu's figure disappear completely, and a wave of sorrow suddenly surged through his heart.
How difficult was it to eradicate the negative emotions in people's hearts?
Everyone had regrets they could never let go of. That was simply the natural order; even an immortal might not be able to sever every thread of worry.
Trying to do such a thing in the ninja world would be even more futile.
A black-robed phantom, ethereal as an immortal, suddenly appeared beside him. His black hair streamed wildly in the wind, his gaze was unconstrained, and a faint, enigmatic smile curved his lips.
"The simplest method is to kill all the transmigrators," the phantom chuckled. "Or you can try eliminating the ninja world's flaws. However, that's a path as difficult as ascending to heaven. I won't force you to do it. You decide."
With that, the phantom vanished like a bubble, and the black vortex that had twisted into shape sent Naruto back to the Forest of Death.
"Naruto? Naruto!"
The Forest of Death.
Sakura's face was ashen. When she saw the yellow-haired boy reappear beside Kin, she immediately rushed over.
"Thud!" He crashed heavily onto the ground.
"Cough, cough..." As he felt his soul merge with Naruto Uzumaki's body, Naruto's complexion gradually changed from pale to rosy. He gasped repeatedly as Sakura helped him up.
"You scared me to death." Sakura's eyes were red, as if Naruto's sudden disappearance had left her heartbroken for quite some time.
After comforting Sakura for a while, he asked cautiously, "By the way, where's the fragment? Where did you put it?"
"I wrapped it up and set it aside." She sniffed and pointed to the strips of cloth lying on the ground nearby.
"How much time passed?"
"...About five minutes."
"I see." Naruto reached out to collect the fragment. When Sakura widened her eyes and tried to stop him, he hurriedly explained, "Don't worry. It won't work again as long as I don't inject Chakra into it."
"Oh, is that so... You must have learned a lot of clues, right?"
"Yeah. Let's report the mission first. I'll explain everything afterward."
Naruto hoisted Sasuke onto his back, and the three of them headed toward the central circular tower.
Sakura's emotions seemed to be growing increasingly unstable... It was no wonder. She had been constantly anxious and frightened during this period.
Naruto couldn't help looking up at the sky.
At first, he had only found transmigrating to the ninja world novel, and believed that he could surely make a name for himself with Naruto's identity.
But now, he felt as if an invisible pair of hands was manipulating everything, wantonly toying with human nature.
It sent people who had suffered psychological trauma to the ninja world, used the environment there to ferment their negative emotions, and then made the transmigrators play Werewolf, driving them to slaughter one another amid mutual suspicion.
What a twisted sense of amusement.
Naruto turned to look at the gates, weighing Sasuke's body on his back. Only one thought filled his mind:
He had to become stronger as soon as possible.
But before that, he needed to confirm a few things with Sakura.
(P.S. A note to all readers: No more than three transmigrators who are alive during the same period will appear in this novel. Usually, it will be Naruto + Sakura + a newcomer.)
Before you continue