Chapter 371: The Complete Failure of Another Naruto
The moment Hagoromo Gengetsu opened his eyes, he immediately knew he hadn't returned to his original world. He found himself standing in a small town.
Unlike last time, there was no dramatic entrance from the sky, causing a huge commotion.
This time, he simply appeared on a small town's street.
The street was sparsely populated.
However, a few people noticed Hagoromo Gengetsu's sudden appearance.
Under normal circumstances, these people would have shown curiosity, astonishment, or even worry and fear.
But unexpectedly, after just a glance at Hagoromo Gengetsu, they completely disregarded him, either lazily continuing to rest or hastily heading out to the fields with their farming tools.
It seemed like the few townsfolk were divided into two types: either exceptionally hardworking or extremely lazy.
But they all shared one thing in common.
Peacefulness!
A remarkable sense of peace!
The entire town was devoid of any noise.
Even when the lazy and the diligent crossed paths, they greeted each other with smiles and laughter.
It seemed like a utopia.
However, this perception required ignoring the towering, thick trees surrounding the town, trees with branches laden with countless cocoons of people.
The moment Hagoromo Gengetsu arrived, he noticed these trees, far taller than the town's walls.
He was all too familiar with these.
He had created them once before.
Hagoromo Gengetsu looked up at the sky.
Though it was daytime, the moon was still visible in this world.
The light of the Infinite Tsukuyomi had faded.
But the claws of the Divine Tree were still spread across the entire planet.
This was the world after the success of the Infinite Tsukuyomi!
"Has the Ōtsutsuki Kaguya of this world already broken free?" Hagoromo Gengetsu slowly retracted his gaze from the moon and murmured.
This was clearly not the era when Ōtsutsuki Kaguya ruled.
Not only because the town's architecture and the people's clothing closely resembled that of the Shinobi Era, but also because of the people themselves.
Though Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had released some humans during her rule to continue reproducing and provide more subjects for her White Zetsu army, none of those people could have been truly happy.
However, the townsfolk before him seemed to be living comfortably, completely unconcerned about the hanging, still-living cocoons outside.
Hagoromo Gengetsu looked at a hurried passerby.
Since he had doubts, he decided to ask someone from this world.
Hagoromo Gengetsu reached out, his fingers gripping the passerby's head.
At the same time, far away, Naruto stared in shock at the massive Divine Tree towering into the sky, with its thick roots rising from the ground, carrying countless human cocoons.
"This is the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
Naruto quickly ran to the nearest row of cocoons, tearing apart the bandages covering them.
"Lee!"
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"Sakura!"
"Sasuke!!!"
"Huh? This person looks familiar—oh right! It's me!"
Naruto scratched his head instinctively as he looked at the last cocoon he uncovered, surprised to find himself face to face with another version of himself.
It seemed he had entered yet another new world.
But in this world, his other self had been utterly defeated.
Naruto looked at the "Naruto" within the cocoon.
The other version of him was covered in blood. Even though he was under the effects of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, his face was still etched with anger, defiance, and unwillingness.
After a moment of silence, Naruto tried to free him.
However, no matter how many times he tried, the result was always the same—his other self was re-hung on the roots of the Divine Tree.
After his efforts proved futile, Naruto thought of something and turned his gaze toward the distant Divine Tree, whose roots spread across the entire planet, a resolute expression on his face.
Just as he was about to use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to play the role of a lumberjack and try to destroy the Divine Tree, hoping to save everyone on this planet, a white figure descended from the sky, blocking his path.
"We meet again, Naruto."
The newcomer looked at Naruto and spoke calmly.
Naruto raised his head to look at the figure, his pupils contracting sharply.
"Has this world's 'me' already broken free?"
In a distant place, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, with long blue and white hair trailing the ground, gazed at the many roots of the Divine Tree rising from the earth and the numerous cocoons wrapped in white bandages hanging from them. She recognized the scene immediately.
From within her body, the voice of the other Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, who had been compelled to follow her here by the power of the Dragon Vein, spoke:
"If that's the case, with the help of this world's 'me,' we can completely defeat Hagoromo Gengetsu and Hagoromo here. Afterward, we can each return to our own worlds."
Judging by the current state of this world, it seemed that the Ōtsutsuki Kaguya here had already regained her full strength after breaking free and placing everyone on the planet under the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
With the two of them combined, their chances of victory were significant.
The Ōtsutsuki Kaguya from the original world nodded in agreement and was about to respond when she suddenly sensed something.
After going through two worlds and learning many lessons and experiences from Hagoromo Gengetsu, she had grown considerably. With a slight sigh, she extended her hands from her wide sleeves and coldly said:
"It seems things won't go as smoothly as we imagined."
As soon as she finished speaking—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thousands upon thousands of White Zetsu soldiers emerged from the ground, surrounding Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Moreover, even more White Zetsu were continuously streaming toward her.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya surveyed her surroundings, never imagining that one day her own biological weapons would turn against her.
As the two sides faced off,
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had wanted to ask who was behind all of this.
But just then, the White Zetsu at the front gave her a once-over and curiously asked:
"Do you know what it feels like to poop?"
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's gaze turned icy as two All-Killing Ash Bones extended from her palms.
Boom!
With a violent sonic boom, the battle erupted!
"Good! Good! Good! I underestimated you!"
"You are me, so how could you be underestimated?"
Elsewhere, two identical voices were coldly exchanging words.
The first speaker was the Sage of Six Paths from the previous world.
Currently, just as he had wished, Hagoromo Gengetsu and his companions had indeed left his world.
But he, too, was forced to leave his own world.
At the last moment, his other self had betrayed him.
If the other self hadn't resisted, Hagoromo Gengetsu would have returned to his original world by now, and the causal link of crossing time and space would have been severed.
"You are too extreme!" The Sage of Six Paths from the previous world spoke in an increasingly cold tone.
The Sage of Six Paths from the original world calmly responded, "Just like you, I only want to protect my own world."
"Have you considered what lies ahead?"
"This world needs my power."
"No! I don't need it!"
"You think—"
"It seems you've realized that, in the end, you and I are different. So... die!!"
"No—"