Naruto: Tango with Death

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A little confused, I asked, "Don't you want to be reincarnated?"

Yami shook his head and replied, "It's not just the Sages, the Otsotsuki definitely are plotting for their revival too. But reviving them would spell disaster for your world."

Frowning, I asked, "Why do you care? I'm grateful for all your help until now, but why exactly do you care about humanity?"

Jashin snorted, "It's not so much caring about humanity, but for his own safety instead. He was one of the Sages who took my brat's side in the war, and that's why they are pretty pissed about him."

Yami added, "I'm also content with the current situation, I wouldn't gain anything by a physical revival."

I snorted slightly, before asking, "And what is that plan of theirs?"

Yami replied, "We don't know exactly, only that it heavily relies on the Sage of Death, Shinigami. I believe they will try to have him reverse the death of all the Sages, bringing them back to the physical world. But how exactly Shinigami will do that, I don't know."

So I have two clans of crazy entities aiming to reincarnate into this world to dominate it. Perfect. Couldn't be any better. I mean, the Otsotsuki weren't too big of a bother already with the Akatsuki and their shitty shenanigans that made the Boruto god awful plot, I now also have to deal with the damn Sages.

Besides, it would seem my knowledge on the Otsotsuki and on a larger scale the entirety of Naruto Shippuden couldn't be trusted, as not only had I drastically changed the already chaotic world, but Yami had just told me the Otsotsuki were killed off, just like the Sages.

My memories are a bit fuzzy, but from what I remember, the Otsotsuki aren't dead in the original plot, but instead arrive in waves on the planet or something.

And the Akatsuki's original plan was to merge all Tailed Beasts into the Ten Tails to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, which ended up being nothing more than Kaguya's reincarnation, but if the aim now is to revive the entirety of the Otsotsuki Clan…

My head hurts.

Rubbing my temple, I said, "Never enough conflicts are there… What about the sham, Sage Mode? Could they have been manipulating humans through Sage Mode to help them resuscitate?"

Yami replied, "I'm afraid I can't answer that. It is possible, but the influence of a Sage over a human is somewhat diluted because their link has to travel through the dimensions, so even if they manipulated some humans, it should be more thoughts at the back of the mind than anything else."

I nodded slowly, before turning to look at Isobu, who had remained silent until now. The little beast shrunk down as I stared at it and said, "What about this one? Should I absorb what's left of him?"

I'm bluffing, of course. I don't know how to do that. But Isobu doesn't know, that I don't know.

Jashin clapped his hands in response and groaned, "My Queen wants to kill, yet it is my family! Ha, the dilemma! You know how to push my buttons like no one else!"

I ignored him, and so did Yami, who answered me, "I don't care what you do with the fragment."

Jashin quickly stopped his usual antics as he quickly said, "It's my grandson, not a fragment!"

Isobu stepped a little closer to Jashin, looking at me and Yami warily. One would almost forget this is a being capable of wiping out an entire village.

Yami sounded a little annoyed as he corrected himself, "Fine, your 'grandson'. But you should know that they will try to reassemble it one day."

Although I already knew the answer, I asked, "What is 'it'?"

Yami replied, "The Otsotsuki's weapon, the Original Sin, the Ten Tails."

Original Sin, that's a new one.

"How strong is it, to be their weapon?"

Yami snorted, "Take the power of a Tailed Beast, multiply it by a hundred, and you'll get close to that thing's power. It is a true calamity, and you should dread the day it awakens."

Frowning, I asked, "Because it will awaken again?"

This time, Yami shrugged, "While immensely powerful, the Ten Tails is also easily manipulable. Hence, anyone who learns about it will try to revive it, for their own selfish interest. And the day someone manages to do so, I don't think anything will be able to stop it."

I narrowed my eyes as this was a little different from what I knew, it was truly annoying to only have partial knowledge of the world, and potentially faulty one too.

So I guess the solution is the same as always. Deal with my hand, and grow strong enough to obliterate any problem on the horizon. Yeah, I'm sure this is gonna work out, definitely did not encounter a single problem so far using this method.

Sigh, what choice do I have though. I'm more and more certain I'm not a protagonist, things are supposed to be easy for them! Or at least, not constantly shitty.

Back then, I had a path already set in mind. Stay in the academy until I turn 12, join Team 7, grow alongside the two OP morons while keeping them in check, being this big sister kind of figure, and slowly trace my own path to the peak.

But no, the world has been throwing shit at me again and again…

No. The truth is, I am unfortunately not a perfect protagonist. I have flaws, and I have brought everything that happened to me, by myself. Well, a good part of it.

I could have stayed in the academy for longer, I could have asked to stay in my Genin Team longer, I could have become a normal Chunin, along with Laiko and Izumi.

But I didn't. And the reason for that isn't for my survival, as I had tried to make myself believe for so long, nor was it any logical, ethical or morally good reason.

It was because of nothing more than greed. I always wanted more, and so I keep putting myself in danger, for opportunity comes with danger.

Damn, that feels good.

But am I going to stop because of this realization? Hell no. In the end, it doesn't matter why I do what I do. I've already set foot on a path, and be it because of my pride or something else, I'm not walking off.

Smiling softly, I bent over to grab Isobu, and said, "Let's just release him in the wild, and let him live his own life."

Jashin looked surprised, and Yami even more so as he asked, "Are you sure? Don't you want to keep him under your wing? He is quite powerful, in his complete form."

I nodded, Isobu looking up at me strangely as I added, "I know perfectly well how strong he could be, I just killed his host. But I want him to be free, to deal with his own things. If he ends up being sealed again, then it's his own fault. And if he manages to do his own thing, then good for him."

Isobu looked happy, so I made a scary smile as I continued, "But don't think that because of this, we are friends. If you ever see me again, flee with all your might."

Isobu shrunk his head in shell, but still peered at me with happy eyes. Whatever, it's not my problem.