Naruto's Dream

Zero's figure melted into the shadows. Like a ghost, he moved swiftly along the edge of the battlefield, setting Explosive Tags and tripwires. Every landing point was impeccably precise, forming an invisible warning net.

Haku knelt on one knee, both hands moving in a blur as one icy Senbon after another pierced the acupuncture points at Naruto's neck and chest. With exquisite medical ninjutsu, he guided the neurotoxin that had invaded Naruto's body slowly out. His movements were focused and reverent, as though he were restoring a sacred work of art.

Sakura held the unconscious Sasuke in her arms, her body still trembling uncontrollably. She stared blankly at the bizarre scene before her.

These two people who had appeared out of nowhere—one wore a blank mask and radiated the aura of a pure killer; the other had delicate features, yet his methods were cold and efficient.

Who were they?

Why did they obey Naruto's orders?

"You..." Sakura's lips trembled before she finally forced out a few dry words. "Who exactly are you?"

Haku did not turn around. All his attention remained fixed on Naruto.

"By order of the 'Commissar,' eliminate threats." Zero appeared like a phantom atop a nearby tree trunk, his voice like two stones grinding together. "Mission complete. Threat has retreated."

Commissar?

That word again.

Sakura's mind was a mess. She had grown accustomed to associating Naruto with iron-blooded severity and authority, rather than the prank-loving dead last he used to be.

Haku finally completed the initial treatment. He let out a soft breath before turning his gaze toward Sakura and Sasuke Uchiha in her arms, the Curse Mark on his neck faintly flickering into view.

"The Commissar's order is to 'recover the soldier.'" Haku's voice was soft, but it carried an indisputable force of execution. "We must take him with us."

"No!" Sakura instinctively tightened her hold on Sasuke. "Sasuke is badly hurt. I don't know where you're taking him!"

"We will not harm him." Haku rose to his feet. His tone remained gentle, but Sakura could sense the chill beneath that gentleness. "But you must understand: he has already been contaminated. If he is not controlled, he will soon become something like a monster. Perhaps something worse."

Contamination? Purification?

Those words struck Sakura's understanding like heavy hammers.

She looked at the ominous black markings on Sasuke's neck, and a chill rose from the depths of her heart. She could not refute him, because her deepest fear was telling her that what this delicate-looking boy said might be true.

At that moment, Naruto's eyelid twitched.

His consciousness did not return.

It was sinking, passing through darkness, passing through Chaos, falling into a sea of memories deeper still—one unrelated to the Nine-Tails.

This was not a battlefield. There was no bloodshed or roaring.

This was Konoha's library, so quiet that only the sound of turning pages could be heard.

Not long after returning from that universe of steel and flame, Naruto sat at the most secluded wooden table. He still wore that faded orange jacket, but his posture was as straight and rigid as a statue.

What lay piled before him were not treatises on the "Will of Fire" or ninjutsu scrolls.

They were ancient texts such as Ninja Creation Myths, Legends of the Sage of Six Paths, Origins of Kekkei Genkai, and Ancient War Records... books that most ninjas regarded as bedtime stories or dust-covered history.

There was no youthful curiosity in his ice-blue eyes, only an almost inorganic urge to analyze and dismantle.

Fragmented pieces of seemingly unrelated information were forcibly seized, broken apart, and reassembled by him.

"God Tree..."

"Rabbit Goddess..."

"Chakra Fruit..."

"Sage of Six Paths..."

"Indra and Asura..."

Within the understanding reshaped by the "Imperial Truth," all of it was swiftly translated into another language—cold, cruel, yet incomparably real.

This was not mythology.

This was a chillingly clear report on "alien biological invasion and energy contamination."

[Invading species: Otsutsuki Clan.]

[Method of invasion: deploying a planetary parasitic unit codenamed 'God Tree' to drain the planet's life energy.]

[Converted product: a high-density energy aggregate codenamed 'Chakra Fruit.']

[Contamination source: 'Chakra,' a form of biological energy capable of mental interference and genetic alteration. It fundamentally changes the evolutionary path of native organisms, making them more aggressive and facilitating the selection of stronger 'nutrients.']

[Advance unit: Kaguya Otsutsuki. Mission: guard the 'nursery' and ensure the 'fruit' matures.]

[Unexpected development: the advance unit betrayed her clan, consumed the 'fruit' in secret, and mated with a native organism, producing mixed-blood descendants and causing the large-scale spread of the 'contamination source' among the native intelligent species.]

The so-called history of ninjas, the so-called Kekkei Genkai—these were merely all manner of mutations produced after native organisms had been contaminated by alien genes.

And the Nine-Tails within him was the largest fragment of that vast contamination source after it had been forcibly divided.

Naruto's fingertip lightly traced the portrait of the "Sage of Six Paths" on the page.

Another history, grander and far more tragic, surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.

It was the bloody tragedy remembered by every human in the Warhammer 40K universe—the Horus Heresy.

The Emperor's most trusted Warmaster, the most glorious Primarch, the brightest morning star of the Imperium of Man—Horus Lupercal.

He heard the whispers of the Chaos Gods from the Warp.

He believed the lies about a "tyrannical father" and a "hypocritical Imperium."

Then he raised the banner of rebellion and led nine Space Marine Legions to spread war across the entire galaxy.

The Emperor's mightiest sons slaughtered one another.

The Imperium of Man crumbled and fell into endless darkness and war for ten thousand years.

Naruto slowly closed his eyes.

"The strongest son betrayed the Emperor after being corrupted by the Chaos Gods of another dimension..."

His gaze returned to the scroll before him.

"The Sage of Six Paths' two most outstanding sons, Indra and Asura, began a struggle that lasted for a thousand years over power and ideals..."

The staggering similarity made his entire body go cold.

The Otsutsuki Clan, an alien race, had planted Chakra, the contamination source. Indra and Asura's struggle was the fratricidal conflict of those who had been contaminated, and the cycle called "hatred" had continued to this day.

This was no coincidence.

This was an inevitable tragedy, engraved into the laws of the universe.

A more terrifying thought stabbed viciously into the core of his mind like the sharpest ice pick.

Since the Otsutsuki Clan were the sowers, the "farmers"...

Then the farmers would sooner or later return to inspect their "farmland" and harvest their "crops."

This world, his homeland, Konoha...

In the eyes of those lofty alien races, it was not a civilization worthy of respect.

It was merely a fenced-in nursery.

A colony awaiting harvest.

A farm that could be completely erased at any moment by violence of a higher order...

"...Farmers."

An extremely soft murmur, nearly inaudible, escaped Naruto's pale lips.

Haku, who was about to carry him on his back, suddenly froze.

He lowered his head and saw Naruto's eyes moving violently beneath his tightly shut lids.

For the first time, that face always covered by cold determination revealed a trace of...

Fear.