The once cute and dainty Sarutobi Keiko lost all resemblance to a human in Naruto's eyes.
She looked like a skinned monkey—her skull sawed open just above her eyebrows, exposing her pulsing cerebral cortex, which jiggled as she spoke. And clinging to it was an enormous, writhing worm.
Naruto was freaking out.
Somebody help! I'm begging you, urgent!!
He made up a clumsy excuse to shake off Sarutobi Keiko and hurried back to his room, heart pounding and cold sweat pouring down his back.
"Holy crap… What the hell was that? That scared me to death!"
Faint, chilling memories began to surface in his mind. This so-called "New Konoha"... maybe many of the people here weren't people at all.
They were monsters—disguised as humans—just like Keiko!
And as time went on, the number of these things seemed to be increasing.
"Why are my memories all messed up?" For once, Naruto forced his rusty brain to think… but came up with nothing.
He flopped down on the bed in frustration—only to feel something wedged under his pillow. He reached beneath and pulled out… a journal?
Naruto blinked in confusion.
I keep a diary? Since when? That was way off-brand for him.
He took a deep breath and opened it up...
Sure enough, it wasn't a normal diary. The pages were filled with a messy scrawl—rambles, contradictions, thoughts bordering on delusion.
I noticed something weird. Teuchi-san and Ayame-neesan clearly didn't come here with the Third Hokage... so why is there still an Ichiraku Ramen shop in this new village?
Why am I even writing this stuff down? Because something feels off. Some people in the village… they're just not right. And my memory—my memory's not right either.
I ran into my childhood neighbor Itou Souichi. Didn't expect to see him again—I thought he left with the Third. We talked for hours. He's always been a gloomy guy, not very likable. Back in the day, the villagers always avoided both of us. The memories hit me hard…
So far, it still seemed mostly coherent.
But then the handwriting suddenly shifted into a wild, erratic scrawl. Right at the top of the next section, a note in bold:
[Everything written below is TRUE. If you're reading this after waking up—please believe it!]
As we kept talking, it felt like we were back in the good old days, pulling pranks on the Hokage Rock… until this foreign chakra inside me suddenly surged out of control. It wasn't mine. And it wasn't the fox's, either.
Then I saw it—Souichi's skull was completely gone. He looked like a long-dead corpse. Sitting right there on his exposed brain was this massive bug—and it was the one talking to me the whole time!
I freaked out and ran. When I calmed down, I realized… there's no proof Souichi ever existed. I can't remember a single concrete detail about him—just this vague idea that he was my childhood friend.
By now, Naruto's face had turned ashen.
He was terrified of ghosts, ghouls, anything supernatural. He rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head. His mind was blank. He couldn't remember ever writing a journal like this.
Am I… losing my memory?
He wasn't sure whether to trust what the journal said. With trembling fingers, he forced himself to read on.
The sky is always gray here. When will it finally clear up? I miss Sakura a little… today Souichi and I trained tog—hold on. What the hell!
I just found this journal under my pillow, but Souichi was clearly someone I met at the Academy… so why does the diary say—
Am I going crazy? Is it amnesia again?
After just a little time with Souichi, that uncontrollable chakra flared up again—and I saw what he really was.
Naruto yawned and nervously flipped to the next page.
Uzumaki Souichi… is my long-lost older brother!
If it weren't for this journal, I would've fully accepted him—eaten with him, slept beside him. I couldn't take it anymore. I went to see the Third Hokage, but he didn't believe me. He even warned me not to fight with my "brother."
That strange chakra inside me always flares up at just the right time to break the monsters' illusion. But each time it happens, I'm left totally exhausted and fall into a deep sleep.
And every time I wake up… my memories have been rewritten.
That chakra isn't flaring up as often anymore. The monsters must be building resistance to it. I'm scared. Someone, anyone—help me!
What if, someday… those monsters become my parents, my friends… even me?
I think I'm losing it.
My childhood friend was fake. My comrades at the Academy—fake. Even the girl I liked… she was fake too!
Wait—what about the Third Hokage… is he even real?
Konohamaru, that little bastard, something's off about him too!
Fake. Fake. More fakes. It's all fake!
What's real anymore?!
I can't tell. I can't tell. I really can't tell anymore!
What do I do… #06#--0026%￥ (a string of incoherent, mad scribbles)… Maybe I should just kill them all!
Naruto's heart clenched.
Has my mental state really fallen this far…?
He wanted to pick up a pen and jot down the incident with Sarutobi Keiko.
But a wave of drowsiness washed over him. He collapsed on the bed, fast asleep before he could even grab the pen.
Soft snores filled the room. A cold wind swept through.
The diary fluttered open, its pages rustling in the still air. One by one, lines of text began appearing on the previously blank paper—
I've lost my memory again. When I first read this diary, I thought it was some cheesy horror story. But then—Keiko-neesan transformed right in front of me!
Ugh… and she ate the instant noodles I'd been saving for ages!
Who am I supposed to trust anymore?
What if… I'm the only normal person left in this entire village?
Kill them all. If I'm the only one left, no more monsters can get to me…
...
Night fell.
The candle in Naruto's room flickered out. The diary slid back beneath his pillow, as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, the light in Sarutobi Hiruzen's office still burned bright.
Tsunade had spent a long time speaking with her former teacher. Only now did she finally understand why, even in such dire straits, he never gave up on the dream of reviving Konoha.
Because… he had a plan.
"Although some in Konoha have pledged allegiance to the Daimyō," Hiruzen said, his face showing a hint of pride, "I've already reached out to many of them in secret. We've come to a quiet understanding."
The power of the "Will of Fire" wasn't just propaganda. After all these years of indoctrination, you couldn't just sever loyalty overnight. Many of the ninja who'd sided with the Daimyō still held Konoha close to heart.
And more importantly—the Daimyō was getting more reckless by the day...
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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