Chapter 296: The Approaching New Era

Having obtained the power of the Four-Tails, it meant that Naruto’s future cultivation of Lava Release would yield twice the results with half the effort.

After Naruto thanked Roshi, he turned to leave, gold dust already beginning to gather beneath his feet.

However, Roshi’s heavy and earnest voice came from behind him, his tone completely different from his previous hearty and free-spirited manner, carrying a near-tragic determination.

"Sixth Hokage, please wait."

Naruto paused and looked back.

Hikari also stopped her movements, her crimson eyes peering through the gaps of her white Cloak, quietly looking at the kneeling figure below.

Roshi’s voice continued to come, clear and slow:

"I know what you did in the Grass Ninja Village. Although you annexed the Village, you didn’t harm the civilians there at all, and you even restored order."

"That’s why, only after giving you a portion of the Four-Tails’ Chakra, do I have the face to make a request of you."

At this point, Roshi fell to his knees with a thud.

Naruto’s eyes widened slightly as he slowly turned around.

He saw that Roshi, the red-haired giant who had just faced him with open fists and undiminished bravado, was now kneeling on both knees with his head bowed, his red beard and hair trembling slightly in the night wind.

His tattered Monk’s robes were stained with dust and mud, and his burly frame now exuded a sense of helplessness and supplication.

"Your power... is too strong."

Roshi’s voice was somewhat hoarse, carrying the bitterness of resignation.

"Even if I give my all and burn my life away, I cannot stop you from doing anything you want to do."

He looked up, his rugged face now filled with exhaustion, struggle, and the finality of a firm decision.

His gaze met Naruto’s directly, no longer possessing any Battle Intent, only the deepest plea:

"Although I’ve never quite gotten along with that stubborn, rigid, and pretentious old guy, Sandaime Tsuchikage Ōnoki..."

"Over the years, I’d rather travel abroad than return to the Village to see his face."

Roshi’s tone carried the helplessness of past grievances, but then his words took a turn, his emotions becoming incredibly heavy:

"But... he is, after all, the leader of Hidden Stone Village, one of the former guardians of this land."

"Furthermore, the Land of Earth is my country, and Hidden Stone Village is my home."

He spoke these words extremely slowly, containing his deepest, inseparable feelings for the land that had birthed and raised him.

"I shouldn’t have... given you the power of the Four-Tails. That is the Village’s strategic strength."

Roshi’s voice was filled with self-reproach and pain, "But..."

He took a deep breath, as if exhausting all his strength:

"If I didn’t give you this power as a ’price’ first... I wouldn’t have the qualifications or any bargaining chips to ask you to spare this country, to spare the ordinary Ninja and civilians in Hidden Stone Village."

"I cannot..."

Watch with my own eyes as my home is completely destroyed by the flames of war, seeing innocent people displaced."

Roshi’s head lowered again, almost touching the ground, his voice trembling yet crystal clear:

"Therefore..."

"This is the... only request of my life."

"Please... treat the civilians of this country as kindly as you did the Grass Ninja Village!"

"Please spare that old man Ōnoki’s life."

"Do not take his life."

After a long pause, as if gathering his final courage or making the ultimate sacrifice, Roshi spoke words that slightly moved both Naruto and Hikari:

"If you are willing to grant this request..."

"I am willing... to be at your service from now on."

After saying this, Roshi seemed drained of all his strength, lying prostrate on the ground, only his broad shoulders rising and falling slightly.

He had staked everything—his dignity as the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, his pride as a powerful Ninja, and his freedom as a wandering monk—on this single request.

Everything, absolutely everything, was bet on this plea.

Listening to Roshi’s hoarse and resolute words, and seeing his burly frame kneeling humbly on the cold, broken ground with his red beard and hair stained with dust, Naruto subconsciously wanted to reach up and scratch his blond hair—.

However, just as his fingers moved, he stopped.

The person kneeling before him and making a painful plea was a weathered, iron-willed man, the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, a tough monk known for his cultivation of Lava Release.

Based on their respective positions, they were enemies.

A tough man showing tenderness is certainly moving, even inspiring respect.

That Roshi could go this far for his homeland and for Ōnoki, with whom he disagreed, left his loyalty and spirit of sacrifice beyond doubt.

But when such "tenderness" is presented to an "invader" in such a heavy and direct way... it’s truly troublesome.

For a moment, a flicker of hesitation and annoyance flashed through Naruto’s heart.

He had clearly told himself before launching the Unification War: this is war.

In war, there should be no room for a soft heart.

The voice of the "Sixth Hokage," who had set out with cold determination and the intent to achieve his goals with thunderous momentum, reminded him of this.

However, looking at Roshi’s eyes filled with pain and hope, and feeling his obsession with protecting his homeland even at the cost of offering everything...

Naruto realized that, in the end, he could not completely turn into a cold-hearted Hokage.

For some reason, he thought of an afternoon back when he was still at the Ninja Academy, coping with loneliness by the Naka River.

At that time, he was also thinking about the hardships he had endured.

He thought of the girl who had come with bellflowers.

He sighed softly.

He didn’t scratch his head, nor did he accept this "allegiance" from a superior position.

Instead, he walked up to Roshi and crouched down.

He reached out with both hands and firmly steadied Roshi’s shoulders, which were trembling slightly from emotion and weakness.

What his palms felt were hard muscles and a heavy sense of responsibility and supplication.

Roshi looked up, meeting Naruto’s clear and steady azure eyes.

There was no victor’s arrogance in the other’s gaze, nor any hypocritical pity, only a frank understanding and a deeper level of resolve.

"Old man," Naruto spoke, his voice steady and powerful, piercing through the night wind, "there’s no need for that."

"The purpose for which I launched this Unification War..."

"...has never been to reignite the flames of war, to make more people bleed and die, or to create new hatred and pain."

His gaze became even deeper, as if reflecting some grand vision:

"On the contrary, I am here to end these decades of endless strife and estrangement in the Ninja World, to bring about... a more lasting and stable peace."

"Perhaps my methods are radical; perhaps in many people’s eyes, this is an invasion, an act of tyranny."

"But the ultimate result I pursue is not a world conquered by force, filled with resentment and division, but a truly unified, orderly Ninja World that can face future challenges together."

Saying this, Naruto applied a bit of pressure to Roshi’s shoulders, his tone becoming even more sincere:

"So, old man, you don’t need to pledge allegiance to me, you don’t need to serve me as your master, and you certainly don’t need to trade your freedom for anything."

Watching the shock and disbelief gradually rise in Roshi’s eyes, he continued:

"You only need to..."

"After I have truly unified this land and this country and established a new order..."

"...continue as you did before, as you have always done, using your power, your Lava Release, and your will as a practitioner..."

"...to continue protecting this land that birthed and raised you, and protecting the people on this land for whom you are willing to give everything." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Only, at that time, this land will no longer be the isolated ’Land of Earth,’ but a part of a unified Ninja World."

"And what you protect will also be a part of a broader peace."

Roshi’s pupils shook violently; he saw a sun, he saw a new era approaching.

The youth before him would not be a second Senju Hashirama, nor a second Six Paths Sage.

But the first Uzumaki Naruto.

The approaching new era is the era of Uzumaki Naruto.

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