Naruto: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 254: Because You Didn't Show Up, Naruto

"Naruto, did you come to Mount Myoboku because of me?" Naruto asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Hagoromo Gengetsu looked over, a surprised smile on his face, and said, "I thought your first question would be about Sasuke."

Naruto had no time for Hagoromo Gengetsu's teasing. He gritted his teeth and repeated with more emphasis, "Did you come to Mount Myoboku because of me?"

Hagoromo Gengetsu understood what Naruto wanted to know. He glanced around at the current state of Mount Myoboku and nodded calmly, "Of course, you should know your own value."

"Nine-Tails, huh?" Naruto muttered, looking down and touching his stomach.

Then, he suddenly lifted his head and shouted, "Why?"

His eyes burning with anger, Naruto stared at Hagoromo Gengetsu and demanded loudly, "Why did you turn Mount Myoboku into this? Why did you harm so many toads? Wasn't your target me?"

"Why?"

"That's a good question," Hagoromo Gengetsu replied. He wasn't inclined to explain, but seeing Naruto's confused expression, he decided to humor him.

"Because you didn't show up, Naruto."

Naruto was stunned for a moment.

Hagoromo Gengetsu continued in a flat tone, "If you had come to me sooner, none of this would have happened. Mount Myoboku wouldn't have been destroyed, and the toads here wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses. But Naruto, you didn't come."

"Whether it was intentional or not, you let Mount Myoboku stand in our way."

"To find you, I had to overturn this mountain."

"To find me, you had to overturn this mountain... to find me..." At that moment, Hagoromo Gengetsu's words echoed in Naruto's ears like a sharp blade striking his heart. He was momentarily dazed.

Finally, he muttered to himself, lost and dejected, "So, Mount Myoboku was destroyed, and everyone suffered because of me?"

Everything originated from him. If he had gone there sooner, Mount Myoboku wouldn't be like this, and Hagoromo Gengetsu wouldn't have started a massacre.

His target was him alone. There was no need to involve Mount Myoboku from the start. It was all because of him!

Thinking this, a surge of strong guilt, pain, and regret welled up on Naruto's face.

The ominous Nine-Tails chakra began leaking out incessantly.

But Naruto didn't go berserk.

Inside the sealed space, the Nine-Tails, who was cautiously sensing Hagoromo Gengetsu outside, didn't seize the chance to influence Naruto further when he lost control.

Fully aware of Hagoromo Gengetsu's terror, it didn't dare to cause trouble and instead warned, "Kid! Are you an idiot? How can you be swayed by such words!"

"I..." Naruto was jolted and was about to respond.

At this moment, Fukasaku and Shima also jumped down, landing on Naruto's shoulders.

"Little Naruto, don't listen to that young man's nonsense. It was us who insisted on taking you away," Shima said urgently.

Fukasaku added, "It was the Great Elder's decision, and also the will of Mount Myoboku. You don't need to blame yourself. Everything was voluntary! Naruto, what you really need to do now is not to let down those toads who sacrificed themselves for you! Pull yourself together! The real culprit who destroyed Mount Myoboku, Hagoromo Gengetsu, is right in front of you!"

Naruto took a deep breath.

Under the repeated awakenings from the Nine-Tails and the two sages, he finally regained his determination and said resolutely, "I understand!"

As soon as he spoke, the turbulent Nine-Tails chakra on Naruto's body calmed down. However, unlike usual, it didn't return to his body but continued to cover him, forming a chakra cloak to enhance his strength.

Naruto looked at Hagoromo Gengetsu with resolute determination.

Now, for the first time, he deeply understood how much disaster his existence could bring to others.

But as Fukasaku said, the true culprit who caused all this, Hagoromo Gengetsu, was right in front of him!

Naruto stared at Hagoromo Gengetsu and solemnly declared, "I indeed have a responsibility for Mount Myoboku's current state. But Hagoromo Gengetsu, your crime is even greater!"

"Although I don't know what you want with the Nine-Tails inside me, it's clear that whatever it is, it can't be good if the Great Elder and everyone at Mount Myoboku are so determined to stop you! So..."

"So?" Hagoromo Gengetsu raised an eyebrow and asked calmly.

"So! I will defeat you here and now! And then I will make amends for my mistakes!" Naruto clenched his fists and said with utmost seriousness, "I'll do what I say!"

After all the twists and turns, everything came back to the beginning.

Seeing Naruto on the opposite side making such a loud declaration, looking like a perfect protagonist, Hagoromo Gengetsu chuckled softly, not disappointed at all.

He never expected to succeed in talking Naruto down using his own tactics.

However, managing to plant a small thorn in the heart of the master of verbal persuasion was not too bad.

Hagoromo Gengetsu waved his hand at Naruto and said, "The culprit is right here. If you want to avenge Mount Myoboku, come at me."

"You..." Seeing Hagoromo Gengetsu's nonchalant demeanor, as if he didn't take everything that had happened seriously, Naruto was instantly furious.

Seeing that Naruto was about to charge in as usual, not even Fukasaku and Shima could stop him.

Hagoromo Gengetsu, who had deliberately provoked Naruto, was already prepared to knock him out and take him away as quickly as possible.

However, to his surprise.

Just as Naruto was about to form the hand seals for Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu and rush forward with a shout.

The Great Elder Sage, who had been silent during the exchange between Hagoromo Gengetsu and Naruto, suddenly made a move.

"Huh? What's happening to me?"

In a sudden flash of pale purple light, Naruto found himself unable to move.

Not only that, in the blink of an eye, when he looked at Hagoromo Gengetsu again, he found that the other had moved below him.

No, that's not right.

It wasn't Hagoromo Gengetsu who moved below him.

It was he who had been moved above.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on? Great Elder Sage! Let me out!" Naruto shouted anxiously and confusedly.

The change happened too fast.

Hagoromo Gengetsu didn't have time to stop it. In the light's shine, Naruto instantly disappeared before his eyes.

When he looked up.

He saw that the missing Naruto had appeared inside a large cat's eye gemstone, engraved with the kanji for "oil," in the center of the Great Elder Sage's necklace of prayer beads. No matter how he pounded on it, he couldn't get out.

"Old and cunning," Hagoromo Gengetsu said to the Great Elder Sage, frowning.

This old being had given him no chance at all.

But of course, it also pushed him into a corner.

"Why continue to live?" Hagoromo Gengetsu moved his fingers slightly and asked one last question.

The Great Elder Sage smiled and replied, "I have lived long enough, young descendant of Hagoromo."