"Who exactly are you? What do you want?"
At this moment, Konan was on high alert, having completely regarded the person before her as an enemy.
"My name is 'Adam.' As for my purpose..."
Uchiha Sōgetsu paused slightly for half a second before slowly saying, "In the name of the 'Lord,' I carry out His will, walk the world, and save those lambs who have lost their way."
Adam was naturally an identity he had fabricated.
He had to praise it—anything produced by the system was bound to be top quality!
The extraordinary item, Lie, really was remarkably handy.
"Are you referring to me as a lost lamb?"
Konan frowned deeply, a trace of chill passing over her iceberg-like face. "You said that every gift bestowed by fate already has its price marked. What exactly did that mean?"
"Hadn't you already seen fate's revelation?"
Uchiha Sōgetsu lightly tapped the book with his slender fingers. "As for the 'price'... isn't it your friend, Yahiko?"
"Y-you... who exactly are you? How do you know these things? Why would you..."
It was as if a bolt of thunder had struck Konan's mind. Her face turned deathly pale, and she seemed to have been stripped of her soul, her limbs ice-cold.
Because all of this was the result of my doing.
Uchiha Sōgetsu said indifferently, "I believe I've already answered that question. As for why I know these things, the answer is simple. I am the one who let you see fate."
"You?!"
In an instant, Konan's emotions surged, and all her endless regret seemed to transform into anger.
All the repression she had endured these past few days erupted like a volcano at that moment. Countless emotions mingled together, completely igniting the bomb inside her.
Pain! Hatred! Regret!
With all those emotions intertwined, Konan's eyes turned red as she Stared at him like a wild beast.
As if she would rush forward the next second and tear apart the man before her.
But the last trace of reason told her that if she truly attacked, she would meet a miserable end.
She could not die yet. Otherwise, who would take care of Nagato?
Yahiko's death had made her realize that meaningless anger and panic would only make things worse.
Rather than that, she might as well calm down and seek an opportunity to solve the problem.
Konan painfully suppressed that hatred and tried her best to remain calm. "Can you tell me why you chose me?"
"The one who chose you was not me, but the 'Lord.'"
Uchiha Sōgetsu's calm tone carried an inexplicable power of persuasion. "I merely followed the Lord's will, happened to extract a small fragment from fate's great torrent, and made it appear in the form of a dream. As for what comes next, whether you can change it, that depends on you."
"That's too cruel."
Konan clenched her fists and bit down hard on her lips, allowing blood to seep into her mouth as bitterness spread.
The helplessness of witnessing the outcome unfold step by step before her, yet being unable to change it, was like a drowning person seeing floating grass before them and mistaking it for salvation. But after grasping it, they discovered it was an even deeper, heavier, darker despair—plunging from the heaven of hope straight into the abyss.
That boundless abyss of despair was like a giant hand clenching her throat, suffocating her.
"Though it is regrettable, I have fulfilled my duty."
Uchiha Sōgetsu folded his hands before him, his eyes like a clear lake. "But fate will not change because of that. The future you saw will still come to pass. So... what will you choose? Will you become fate's slave, or carve out a path through the dark wilderness?"
"Do I even have a choice?"
Konan was filled with bitterness, helplessness flooding her entire body. "I tried... but I couldn't change it."
Yes, she had tried. But what had happened?
The result of her rash attempt was that her actions had caused Yahiko's death ahead of time!
How ironic was that?
It was precisely because she had tried to change the future that she had instead hastened fate's arrival. In the end, she had changed nothing at all.
If... if she had simply pretended she knew nothing, perhaps it would have been easier to bear.
At least then, Nagato might have lived a little longer.
This enormous blow had made Konan afraid. She no longer dared touch fate's red line, terrified that she might accelerate that outcome's arrival.
"The key question is whether you have the courage to abandon everything."
A trace of Psychological Suggestion quietly entered Uchiha Sōgetsu's low voice. "Everyone has moments of hesitation. Hesitation is not frightening. What is frightening is refusing to make a choice while hesitating. Because once you make a choice, you will no longer hesitate. You will act in accordance with the direction you have chosen."
Hearing this, Konan hesitated, unsure what choice she should make.
As Adam had said, should she become a slave who submitted to fate and watch the tragic future unfold, or carve out a new road through this dark wilderness?
"I... I don't know either."
Konan was deeply lost, or perhaps she had always been that way.
If Yahiko were still alive, he surely would have been able to make the right choice, wouldn't he?
"If you really can see fate, can you tell me..." Konan bit her lips, tears moistening her eyes as she asked in a trembling voice, "Why... why is fate so cruel to us? Yahiko... Yahiko always wanted to change the Shinobi World, wanted everyone to be happy. Why... did he have to die?"
"One cruel fact is this."
Uchiha Sōgetsu instantly figured out how to shift the blame, and the excuse was flawless. "Yahiko had to die. Only his death could bring about Nagato's transformation."
"Nagato?" Konan was completely shocked now, her pupils widening. "Why... why does Yahiko's death have anything to do with Nagato?"
"Because Nagato's existence is the catalyst that allows the Child of Prophecy to mature."
Uchiha Sōgetsu's tone was calm and cold, his eyes filled with an awe-inspiring expression. "The fates of everyone in the entire Shinobi World were destined from the moment He was born."
"Who is He? And what is the Child of Prophecy?"
Konan felt as though her mind was about to descend into chaos. The sudden flood of immense information left her unsure how to react.
Yet faintly, a voice seemed to sound from within her heart.
It was a name—a name that made the entire Shinobi World stand in awe, a name that existed only in legend!
Konan's gaze was panicked. She did not dare meet his gaze, and an inexplicable fear tightly gripped her heart.
"The blue-eyed boy who laughingly calls upon the names of nine beasts is the Child of Prophecy."
Uchiha Sōgetsu glanced at her and said blandly, "As for that 'He,' haven't you already guessed it in your heart? Why ask me?"
"The Sage... of Six Paths..."
Konan instinctively took two steps back, muttering under her breath.
Perhaps others would think the Sage of Six Paths was merely a legend, but she could be certain that was no legend. He had once been a real person.
Because Nagato possessed the Sage of Six Paths' eyes—the Rinnegan!
"So everything we have gone through was for the Child of Prophecy?"
Hatred surged within Konan's heart. She had never felt such anger before.
She desperately wanted to loudly question the Sage of Six Paths. Why did one ridiculous prophecy have to destroy everything she cherished?!
But immediately afterward, Konan felt a deep sense of powerlessness. She looked at Adam in confusion. "I... what should I do?"
"You should ask yourself that."
Uchiha Sōgetsu pointed to where her heart was and softly said, "Ask your heart what it wants to do."
Konan slowly closed her eyes.
Scenes from the past flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern.
Yahiko's smiling face and dreams, Nagato's persistence and pain—the past and future intertwined, until countless images finally froze.
Konan opened her eyes. There was no longer even a bit of confusion in them.
At that moment, she transformed, As if newborn.
"I will not become fate's slave!"
Konan's voice was firm and resolute, a jet-black flame burning in her pupils. "Nor will I become a pawn in someone else's prophecy. I will carry Yahiko's dream onward!"
"In your eyes, I see 'resolve.'"
Uchiha Sōgetsu extended his hand with a smile. "Then... the Twilight Hermit Society welcomes you. Join us."
In some unknown void.
A pure white figure sat cross-legged, a monk's staff laid across his knees, several black spheres floating behind him.
"Hmm?"
The pure white figure opened his eyes, revealing a trace of confusion. "Fate... has made a new choice. Who was it?"
Within His pupils were rings of purple circles—the legendary Rinnegan, flowing with a unique aura.
December 21st, Sunny
I feel awful, like I'm about to die. I'll buy a scratch-off ticket after work. Hopefully, seeing how miserable I am, it'll let me recover some losses. If I win big, I'll definitely treat all you readers to a good time, so since I'm being so sensible, hurry up and support Jian Dan~)
Before you continue