The Perfect Timeline’s Choice

"Urgh—"

The Fourth Raikage vomited blood. Even protected by the Strongest Lightning Release Armor, the violent impact had displaced his organs, darkened his vision, and left his left arm completely numb and grotesquely twisted.

He had never imagined that one day, someone would beat him to the brink of death through pure physical strength. No Chakra, no Kekkei Genkai, nothing at all—Mercenary Tao’s strength was simply absurd beyond comprehension.

Not even a tailed beast could possess such terrifying strength.

He slashed his right hand across, instantly severing his twisted left arm. Taking the opportunity, he used Lightning Body Flicker to pull away. Yet after taking only a few steps, he vomited blood again and collapsed weakly to the ground.

Bai Cangshu paid no attention to the Fourth Raikage. The benevolence in Hiranaka Minoru’s eyes nearly disgusted him enough to vomit.

"Tell me, have you really started thinking of yourself as Marika, huh?!"

Bai Cangshu had no interest in debating what constituted Utmost Benevolence and Goodness. Such matters had no objective standard, varying entirely according to each person’s moral character and the nature of the living being in question. Arguing about it was a complete waste of time.

Yet Hiranaka Minoru was practically on the verge of losing himself entirely, while still stubbornly immersing himself in the beautiful dream of making the world a better place. It truly displeased Bai Cangshu.

Hiranaka Minoru had no idea who Marika was, nor did he care. He could sense Mercenary Tao’s killing intent toward him, but he did not care about that either.

On the contrary, Mercenary Tao’s overwhelming strength, which had instantly defeated the Fourth Raikage, allowed him to truly see a glimmer of hope for the arrival of the Erdtree Era.

Miss Heaven’s Will had once told him that if the Erdtree Era was to descend, it would inevitably encounter immense resistance. The existing order and power system of the entire world would turn against them.

It was a force even Naruto could not shield them from.

But if Naruto could not… Mercenary Tao could!

Tch.

Bai Cangshu lost all interest. There was no possibility of communication with someone immersed in the mentality of a "martyr." He tightened his grip, preparing to kill Hiranaka Minoru first, abandon this trial mission, then find that woman and cut down the Erdtree along with her.

At that moment, golden light suddenly appeared from an incredibly distant place. Hiranaka Minoru, held in Bai Cangshu’s hand, somehow found the strength to turn his head. In the southern sky far away, golden radiance lit up one corner of the heavens.

"That is…"

Still holding Hiranaka Minoru, Bai Cangshu walked over to the Fourth Raikage. He raised his foot and stomped down brutally.

Bzzz!

The air suddenly warped, and the Fourth Raikage’s twisted body vanished.

Bai Cangshu lowered his head and looked down at Uchiha Obito, who had appeared before him in a distortion. Killing intent flooded his voice.

"Uchiha Obito, you recovered your other eye?"

He tossed Hiranaka Minoru aside and spread his hands. The instant he assumed that stance, Uchiha Obito felt an icy killing intent completely envelop him.

Mercenary Tao had truly decided to kill him. He had to run!

Yet no matter how many times Uchiha Obito tried, he could not move at all. A will countless times stronger than his own had appeared within his body.

He could only helplessly watch as his body remained where it was.

"Young man, before you kill these people, might you listen to my benevolence…"

An extraordinarily powerful Chakra gathered in front of Uchiha Obito. Yin-natured Chakra, which represented spiritual energy, began to merge with Yang-natured Chakra, which represented physical and life energy.

In the end, a pitch-black sphere appeared.

This black sphere did not emit the intense gravitational pull that Pain’s Chibaku Tensei had, yet it still brought Bai Cangshu’s movements to a halt.

The moment he saw it, he felt a powerful sense of danger. His cells and his body were rejecting it.

That thing possessed terrifying destructive power against any living being.

Yin-Yang Release: Truth-Seeking Orb…

This was one of the world’s supreme expressions of energy control, a power that truly transcended the level of human ninja.

Bai Cangshu stared at Uchiha Obito. The calmness in those Sharingan was completely unlike Obito’s.

"You are… the Sage of Six Paths?!"

Outside Konoha, the enormous Erdtree continued to grow, already nearing a thousand meters in height. Golden radiance spilled down from its branches, covering an area hundreds of kilometers wide and drifting ever farther on the wind.

The ninja and ordinary people of Konoha Hidden Village all stared blankly upward at the spectacle.

Many who had previously refused to believe in the so-called Golden Order now began to waver.

Jiraiya stood at the village entrance, watching the golden radiance drift down. In a daze, he realized that this was no longer Konoha’s landscape.

Beneath this Erdtree, there were no more embers, nor were there any new sprouts.

No matter how wonderful the Erdtree Era described by that woman sounded, all he could see was stagnant water.

With death gone and everything reduced to the order of the Golden Order, would the world truly become a better place?

But when he turned around, he saw that countless ninja in the village, including members of the Uchiha Clan, already had golden gleams in their eyes.

This war had left Konoha too burdened to recover.

Perhaps Orochimaru would like this so-called world without death… He gave a self-mocking smile and returned listlessly to the village.

He had to hurry and find Minato’s son. Uchiha Shisui had said that Uzumaki Naruto and Second Pillar of his clan had disappeared at the same time, hinting that Mercenary Tao and Heaven’s Will were most likely involved.

Uchiha Shisui had already left the village to track down Mercenary Tao. Naturally, Jiraiya had to search for Heaven’s Will.

Jiraiya moved with remarkable speed. Ten kilometers beyond Konoha’s rear mountain, he saw two people standing at the roots of the Erdtree.

Red-Hair Leren glanced back at Jiraiya, while the woman farther ahead paid him no attention at all. She merely spoke to Leren.

"Run, Mr. Leren."

Leren lowered his head, unable to hide the confusion and anger on his face.

Their mission had clearly been progressing exceedingly well. They had successfully exploited Akatsuki’s destruction of Konoha to ignite a war and used that war to provide the Erdtree with ample nourishment.

At the same time, Mercenary Tao’s presence had caused a terrifying disturbance, drawing the ninja world’s attention away.

And since the person bearing the Golden Order was a Plot Character connected to Mercenary Tao, the punishment for the altered worldline would not affect either of them.

In his eyes, it was an almost miraculous strategy.

It was proof that Miss Heaven’s Will was far superior to those famous figures in the space.

Yet this very Miss Heaven’s Will had just told him that she had trapped Uzumaki Naruto and Second Pillar inside the Erdtree.

And in the end, she would use shackles to break the restraints, pay an enormous price, and take one of them away from this world.

He could not understand the purpose of doing so at all. Was it merely because she wanted the half of the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, or did she want the fate borne by the two of them?

But everyone knew that once such a thing was done and a Child of the World suffered, the World Will would directly unleash a terrifying catastrophe.

At this very moment, the enormous Erdtree that Konoha’s people regarded as a miracle was Heaven’s Will and Leren’s death sentence.

It meant that the Golden Order was very likely absorbing the power of those two Children of the World.

"Why, Miss Heaven’s Will? Is it just because you don’t want to offend that Mercenary Tao?!"

"If we ignore him, those Six Paths-level people might kill him anyway…"

Leren had always acted carefree, as though he did not care much about profit.

But at this moment, he had completely lost his composure.

Heaven’s Will merely raised her head, gazing at the towering Erdtree, and sighed.

"It’s so beautiful…"

She would not explain to Leren that none of the decisions she made contained any personal emotion. Everything was the perfect timeline’s choice.

It was only because mortals were too insignificant to see changes so distant and complex that people always sighed—Heaven’s Will has been difficult to fathom since ancient times.

Heaven’s Will was not lofty, nor was it difficult. Heaven’s Will endlessly flowed through countless choices.

One had to cast aside greed and make every choice well in order to reach the end.

It was as though countless scenes appeared before her eyes. In every one of them, a terrifying monster grinned cruelly as it tore her apart.

Mercenary Tao… what exactly are you? How can you be… so abnormal?