Chapter 64: Konoha Crush Begins!
As Makoto explained what would happen later in the Naruto world, he was also considering whether he could use Yukinoshita Yukino's trust to give himself another massive boost.
His cursed techniques were already extremely powerful in terms of mechanics, giving him plenty of ways to deal with conventional enemies.
His biggest weakness was raw destructive output.
Even going all out, Makoto could only blast out a crater around ten or twenty meters across.
Against Kage-level shinobi, that was little more than the power behind a casual attack.
By the time Makoto finished explaining, Yukinoshita's eyes were wide with shock.
This was her first time entering the Naruto world.
Most of what she knew came from intelligence collected by her previous team, and even that information only covered events before the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Information about the Fourth Shinobi World War and everything afterward was effectively top secret at the Veteran level.
Even if someone wanted to buy it, there might not be anyone willing to sell.
"I think I understand the general situation."
Yukinoshita looked at him seriously. "But how do you know so much?"
Makoto pointed at his eyes.
He still had his Stand imitate his voice while he repeated the same words silently in his mind.
"Naturally, it's because of these eyes."
"Maybe once they reach SSS-rank, I'll be able to see straight through fate itself."
[Ding! Making Fake Become Real has activated...]
[Yukinoshita Yukino: Fate Value 20. Trust: 0%.]
[Making Fake Become Real has failed.]
Makoto froze.
'It failed?'
He looked at Yukinoshita in confusion.
She, meanwhile, was staring at the Zanpakuto in her hand.
The blade trembled softly, almost as if it were warning her about something.
Yet confusion appeared on Yukinoshita's face.
Eventually, she spoke with some difficulty.
"Kitano-kun, please don't make jokes like that."
"If the Main God Space permitted an ability capable of seeing through fate itself, who could possibly oppose the person who possessed it?"
Makoto could now tell that Yukinoshita had fallen into a very strange state.
It wasn't that she simply distrusted him.
Some force seemed to be pushing her to reject his statement.
'Did I exaggerate too much?'
'Or is there some strange mechanism connected to her Zanpakuto?'
"Does the Main God Space prohibit abilities like that?" Makoto asked, using the question to shift the topic.
Yukinoshita shook her head.
"That's only my own judgment. If someone truly possessed that sort of ability, why would they obediently continue serving the Main God Space?"
Makoto relaxed.
So her own understanding of reality could override that strange trust she held toward him.
He immediately asked another question.
"How much do you know about the Jujutsu Kaisen world?"
"I've never been there, but many people treat it as a battlefield for advancement."
"So there's quite a lot of information available about Gojo Satoru and Ryomen Sukuna."
Makoto's mood immediately improved.
If Yukinoshita knew enough about Jujutsu Kaisen, then he still had room to continue improving his jujutsu abilities.
"You probably don't know this, but the Jujutsu Kaisen world has a manga called Naruto."
"I learned what happens later in this world by reading that manga."
"Of course, if Players interfere with this world along the way, its future might end up differing from the manga."
The confusion on Yukinoshita's face quickly disappeared.
Apparently, that explanation made perfect sense to her.
Then she remembered what Makoto had said earlier.
"So when you said we should release Otsutsuki Kaguya, you were joking about that too, right?"
"Of course. With our current strength, we probably couldn't even beat the gatekeeper on the moon."
Yukinoshita's expression became stern.
"In that case, Kitano-kun, let's focus on matters relevant to the coming battle."
"We need to take responsibility for our own lives."
Makoto adopted an equally serious expression.
"Don't worry. I won't do that again."
By now, Makoto had mostly figured out Yukinoshita's condition.
Her strange 100% Trust toward him probably existed for some particular reason.
It clearly wasn't genuine, unconditional faith.
Her own understanding could interrupt that trust.
Now that Makoto knew that, he had a much clearer idea of how to use her trust to strengthen himself.
"The place we're actually heading next is Danzo's Root."
"Root?" Yukinoshita asked. "What's there?"
"Some Sharingan left behind by the Uchiha clan."
Makoto smiled. "I want to take them out and see if I can install them on myself."
Yukinoshita's eyes widened in alarm.
Before she could question him, Makoto continued.
"I haven't really shown it yet, but I'm a once-in-a-thousand-years genius when it comes to jujutsu."
"My talent is twice Gojo Satoru's, and I'm no worse than him when it comes to Reverse Cursed Technique."
Yukinoshita frowned again.
From the perspective of her rational judgment, Makoto's claim was obviously suspicious.
Yet she didn't immediately deny it.
Given her own level of strength, talent exceeding Gojo Satoru wasn't actually that hard to accept.
The real problem was something else.
Makoto had only completed one Mission World.
How had he improved this much in such a short time?
"Don't believe me?"
Makoto smiled and took Yukinoshita's hand.
"Then come with me."
He stepped through a Spatial Gate that opened before them.
The next instant, the two appeared thirty meters away.
Makoto immediately opened another gate.
In the blink of an eye, they'd already crossed more than a hundred meters.
Then a familiar notification sounded in Makoto's ears.
[Ding! Making Fake Become Real has activated...]
[Yukinoshita Yukino: Fate Value 20. Trust: 100%.]
[You now possess 79.5% of Gojo Satoru's talent.]
[The power and precision of all cursed energy and Spatial Manipulation-related abilities have increased accordingly.]
Makoto immediately felt the cursed energy inside his body begin circulating faster.
Even his maximum reserves increased considerably.
He instantly understood.
The Energy stat he'd raised inside the Main God Space was finally beginning to show its effects.
Once his cursed energy completely filled his new capacity, Makoto estimated that his reserves wouldn't be too far behind Gojo Satoru's.
Of course, Gojo's strength also relied on the Six Eyes reducing cursed energy consumption to an absurd degree.
And Makoto's total cursed energy was still far below Ryomen Sukuna's.
Compared with an ordinary Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, however, Makoto already possessed at least three times as much cursed energy.
In other words, purely in terms of combat strength, Makoto was unquestionably at the level of a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.
He still couldn't compare with Gojo Satoru or Ryomen Sukuna at his peak.
But that was hardly surprising.
Those two stood far above ordinary Special Grades.
"Sorry..."
Yukinoshita's quiet apology reached him.
She lowered her head and stared at the blade in her hands, almost as if she were repenting inwardly.
"I doubted you just now."
Makoto laughed casually.
"It's fine. Who can blame me for being a genuine genius?"
"Your standards simply can't keep up with how quickly I improve."
"You'll get used to it soon enough."
Yukinoshita looked up.
There seemed to be a faint light in her eyes.
She gently nodded and tightened her grip on her Zanpakuto.
Makoto noticed everything, but he didn't rush to activate Making Fake Become Real again.
His growth through Jujutsu Kaisen was already approaching its current limit.
His growth in the Naruto world, however, had only just begun.
"Stay close to me from here on."
"I'll have my Stand erase the sound around us, then use Sky Manipulation to conceal our figures."
"That should make it extremely difficult for anyone to detect us while we're infiltrating."
"All right!"
Yukinoshita immediately moved closer without questioning him.
Yukinoshita thought she was already close enough. But it wasn't until Makoto wrapped one arm around her shoulders and Yukinoshita was forced to press her chest against Makoto's chest that she understood what true closeness really meant.
"Ki-Kitano-kun!" Her voice trembled. Such close contact made her entire body tense up, thoroughly unaccustomed to it.
Makoto merely whispered, "Shh. We're getting close to Root's underground base."
Finding Root's base wasn't particularly difficult from Makoto's perspective.
Root possessed far too many secrets and personnel.
Its underground facility was comparable to a stadium several stories tall.
To Makoto, something that large was practically the biggest lightbulb.
However, after reaching the area above Root, Makoto didn't immediately descend.
They were still on the surface.
The underground base was more than fifty meters below them.
With Makoto's current ability, crossing that entire distance in one attempt would be difficult, especially while bringing Yukinoshita with him.
Makoto closed his eyes and calculated the distance between himself and the underground facility.
Then he activated his technique.
At a point roughly halfway down, he opened his storage space and swallowed the surrounding soil into it.
That created a new foothold underground.
Only then did Makoto bring Yukinoshita down with him.
The damp underground air immediately made Makoto's nose itch.
He couldn't stop himself from sneezing.
Yukinoshita quickly raised a hand toward her hair and whispered so softly he could barely hear her.
"Sorry. Is the smell of my shampoo bothering you?"
Makoto blinked.
'Why did she immediately assume that?'
Only then did Makoto notice that he had completely pulled Yukinoshita into his embrace. The hair on top of Yukinoshita's head could reach Makoto's lips, and his breath fell onto the top of her head. The person in his embrace seemed to have become burning hot, and only the sword in her hand still emitted a faint coolness, refreshing to the mind.
"It has nothing to do with you. The environment down here is just terrible."
"We'll have to endure it for a while. Root's people should start moving soon."
During the Konoha Crush, Danzo kept a significant portion of Root's personnel from taking action.
But he still needed people to contact Orochimaru.
Others had to monitor Uzumaki Naruto and Sasuke, while additional agents watched the movements of Konoha's various clans.
That meant Root's manpower would soon thin out considerably.
Once that happened, Makoto and Yukinoshita could move much more safely.
"By the way, can you put that sword between us? It's a lot cooler with it nearby."
Yukinoshita couldn't help laughing.
She moved the blade between them.
A pleasant chill spread outward, while the faint glow from the weapon illuminated both of their faces.
The underground space was dim and cramped, and the two could clearly hear each other's breathing. The atmosphere gradually began to change. Makoto actually hadn't had any special thoughts originally, but Yukinoshita kept staring at him with a strange gaze, which forced Makoto to speak up first.
"Is there something strange about my face?"
"No. I'm just curious about something."
Yukinoshita hesitated. "Kitano-kun, if you find the question too intrusive, you don't have to answer."
"Go ahead."
"How do you manage to never lie?"
"What does it feel like to always speak truthfully and live as your genuine self?"
Makoto immediately felt a toothache coming on.
Technically speaking, he really could avoid lying.
The problem was that he achieved it by exploiting a bug.
If he tried to express his feelings based on that, wouldn't he simply be using another lie to cover up the previous ones?
If it were for gaining strength, Makoto wouldn't mind.
But he didn't particularly want to use Making Fake Become Real to improve the relationship between himself and Yukinoshita.
Then an idea occurred to him, and he asked in return.
"Actually, that's something I've wanted to ask you too."
"How do you know I'm someone who doesn't lie?"
"Is it because of your Talent, or your Zanpakuto?"
Makoto had already told Yukinoshita about his own Talents and abilities.
Even if nearly all of them came from Making Fake Become Real, asking about her ability in return wasn't unusual.
As expected, Yukinoshita didn't try to hide it. She spoke slowly.
"It's because of my Zanpakuto."
"Its name is Yukimi."
"Its special ability is judging how pure a person is. I use that characteristic to determine whether the people around me are lying."
"Before meeting you, the person who lied the least was my previous captain."
"She was a female boxer from Europe, but unfortunately, she..."
Makoto was about to comfort her.
Yukinoshita had already regained control of her emotions.
She smiled softly and asked, "Now it's your turn."
"Me..."
Makoto rubbed his chin.
Eventually, he came up with a seemingly cool answer.
"Maybe every time I say something, I've already decided deep down that I'll make those words come true."
"Perhaps that's why Yukimi judges what I say as truth."
"In other words, I'm a man who always makes good on his word."
Yukinoshita gave him a strange look.
Her first instinct seemed to be that Makoto was simply trying to sound cool.
Then Yukimi trembled faintly.
Her eyes returned to gentle.
"To think someone like you really exists..."
Yukinoshita smiled. "Meeting you truly is my honor."
"I hope this mission continues smoothly."
"Now then, what do you plan to do next?"
While the two quietly talked underground, the Chunin Exams above them reached a dramatic turning point.
Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, took the Third Hokage hostage.
The Sound Four immediately erected two layers of the Four Violet Flames Formation.
They trapped the Third Hokage inside while preventing anyone outside from entering.
Next, Yakushi Kabuto, who had been hiding among the crowd, used the Temple of Nirvana Technique.
The technique put the ordinary spectators present into a deep sleep.
Outside Konoha, the shinobi of Sunagakure also began moving.
Using the Summoning Technique, they summoned a massive three-headed snake as large as a small hill.
Its enormous body crashed toward Konoha's walls and barriers.
Gaara was originally supposed to use the Feigning Sleep Technique and release One-Tail Shukaku.
However, the injury caused by Sasuke's Chidori had thrown him into chaos, leaving him temporarily unable to carry out the plan.
Baki had no choice but to order Gaara to retreat, recover, and restore his chakra.
Meanwhile, Uzumaki Naruto, Sasuke, and the others received orders to pursue him.
At that moment, the Konoha Crush officially began.
…