Nagato looked at Konan, and the purple lines of Rinnegan in his eyes seemed to soften for a moment.
He didn't answer, but silence itself was a kind of acquiescence. Xiao's sins needed to be washed away with their lives.
"I disagree!"
Raikage A's voice was like thunder. He smashed an ice floe under his feet with one punch and glared at Konan.
"This is not a game of atonement! This is pushing our remaining combat power into a pit of fire!"
"Five Kage was captured, and tens of thousands of the Shinobi Alliance were almost wiped out! What are we going to do with going to the moon? Are we gambling with the lives of the four of you?"
His questions were loud and clear, causing the survivors who had just been ignited with a glimmer of hope by Naruto to fall into the cold reality again.
"Lord Raikage is right."
Ōnoki rubbed his waist and stood upright from a piece of debris. His old voice was full of exhaustion and reason.
"We know nothing about our enemy on the moon, except that he can easily manipulate us."
"The most important thing now is to gather the remaining troops and defend this continent. Put all your last hope on it. Once it fails, Shinobi World will no longer be able to resist."
The speeches of the two actors were like two basins of cold water, dousing the last bit of passion in everyone's hearts.
Yes, reality is so cruel. Sacrifice four people in exchange for an illusory hope, or keep them as the last line of defense in the Guardian Ninja world?
Muffled sobs and low murmurs arose from the crowd.
"Are we... really still going to fight?"
"Even the Lord Shadows were caught..."
"Give up... we've already lost."
Jonin, a Cloud Village, had a face full of despair. He looked at Raikage and tremblingly said what everyone wanted to say but dared not say, "Lord Raikage... Maybe, we should... give up on them..."
The word "give up" is like a poisonous needle piercing everyone's heart.
Naruto turned back sharply, and his golden eyes swept over the Jonin, and every companion who was downcast and empty-eyed around him. His chest rose and fell violently, but he did not get angry immediately.
He just looked at them, and then spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but extremely clear.
"I remember that at the beginning of the war, the Iwagakure and Leaf ninjas were still wary of each other. The Cloud Village and Sunagakure guys didn't look at each other in a friendly way."
His words made everyone slightly startled.
"But what happened next? Uncle Dodai blocked the knife for me, and uncle Kitsuchi's fist also protected me. I saw a Sunagakure medical ninja desperately trying to save a Mist Village companion. We ate together, fought side by side, and watched the people around us fall."
Naruto pointed at the sky, pointing in the direction of the moon.
"Gaara, he is my friend! He was once a Jinchuriki, who was regarded as a monster by everyone. It was me, you, and the entire coalition who made him know what a companion is! Now, you want me to give up on him?"
He looked at Sasuke again.
"Karin, she is the companion of Sasuke. This guy has been a jerk for so many years, and he finally found a few people willing to follow him. Now, you want him to give up on her?"
"There are also Mei Terumi, Kurotsuchi, Darui... They are Mizukage, the heirs of Tsuchikage, They are the right-hand men of Raikage! They were caught by the enemy to protect us! If the people who risked their lives to protect us can be easily given up, then what does the blood we shed and the people who died matter?"
Naruto's voice is getting louder and louder, like a loud bell, beating on everyone's heart.
"Companies are not a burden! They are not chess pieces that can be abandoned at will for the sake of the "overall situation"! If we give up our companions... If we give up on them, what's the difference between us and that bastard who sits on the throne and treats people as data?!"
"If the so-called "Guardian Ninja world" means that we become the kind of cold-blooded animals who abandon our companions, then I would rather not be this hero!"
He took a deep breath, looked around at everyone, and spoke carefully.
"I'm going to save them. Even if I'm the only one, I'm going to go. This is my Nindo!"
Those words made the entire silent battlefield audible. Cloud Village Jonin, who proposed to give up, lowered his head in shame. Raikage A clenched his fists, his knuckles turned white from exertion. He looked at Naruto, and his lips moved, but he could not make a sound.
Just when this rekindled will was about to start a prairie fire, a sudden change occurred.
The sky darkened without warning.
It's not that dark clouds have blocked the sun, but that a higher level of "light" has been deprived. Everyone subconsciously looked up at the pale moon.
On the surface of the moon, circles of icy blue halo spread out like ripples. In the center of the halo, a huge, complicated pattern that looked like the eye of a god was slowly taking shape and lighting up.
That's an eye.
One composed of countless geometric patterns, exuding the aura of creation and destruction...Tenseigan!
Buzz--
A terrifying coercion that cannot be described in words descended from the moon and enveloped the entire planet. It was not Chakra's oppression, but an absolute crushing at the level of life. The surviving ninjas felt their souls tremble, and those with weaker strength even had weak legs and fell to their knees directly.
"It's Tenseigan..." Rinnegan of Nagato stared at the vision in the sky, "The body of "Gatekeeper" has begun to wake up."
This sudden miracle is more convincing than any words. It tells everyone in the most direct way: the enemy is about to come. Avoiding and defending are meaningless.
Raikage A looked up at the giant eye overlooking all living beings, and his tense muscles finally relaxed. He exhaled a long breath, which seemed to relieve all hesitation and struggle.
"Kid..." He didn't look at Naruto, but his voice was unusually calm, "Bring them back intact. This is your first S-rank mission as a Shinobi World hero."
Ōnoki also laughed, feeling a little helpless and relieved. "Really, I'm so old, and I still have to be lectured by a kid. Go ahead, while I can still keep my house with my old bones, go back as soon as possible."
Consensus was reached at this moment.
The roster of the expedition team is no longer controversial.
Naruto, possesses Nine-Tails Chakra and Sage Mode, the strongest spears.
Sasuke, possesses Rinnegan and Mangekyō Sharingan, the sharpest eyes and sharpest blades.
Nagato, another holder of Rinnegan, and the controller of Six Paths Technique.
And Konan, the holder of the key, Akatsuki's final tenderness and determination.
The four of them stood in front of the star map made of blue crystal.
Konan stretched out his hand and poured his last Chakra into the crystal. The path connecting the earth and the moon on the star map instantly gathered countless Light Spot into a bright belt of light. An unstable teleportation array flashing with space ripples slowly unfolded under the four people's feet.
"Sasuke." Naruto suddenly spoke.
"Huh?"
"This time, don't show off alone."