At the very least, under Orochimaru's protection, he wouldn't have to worry about Danzo's threats. After all, there was still a deep connection between Danzo and Orochimaru right now.
Everything seemed to be pushing Shiki Uzumaki toward making that decision.
Shiki felt like it was time for him to turn around and leave.
However,
He couldn't take a single step forward.
Because of his frustration—his unwillingness to give up.
Because of his hesitation—his deep reluctance to let go.
Why should he abandon all his own light because of someone else's darkness?
Why should he bear the title of a rogue ninja and face condemnation from every shinobi?
He didn't want to become someone like Itachi, who could've overthrown Root yet ended up bearing disgraceful accusations instead.
Even though he didn't have that kind of strength himself.
Thoughts raced through his mind, but Torune Aburame gave him no chance to linger.
The insects were slowly closing in on him.
Sigh.
With a helpless sigh, Shiki cast one last glance in the direction of Hoshino's home.
"I'm sorry… I can't keep my promise to move in with you, Onee-san."
Shiki Uzami turned around, preparing to open the Eight Gates to escape this place.
Opening Gate, Healing Gate, Life Gate, Harm Gate—they were all silently unlocked by Shiki without making a sound.
Actually, when opening the Eight Gates, one usually shouted them out loud, releasing some chakra through vocalization.
Otherwise, the sudden surge of chakra would severely shock the body, causing even greater damage to the internal channels.
But for Shiki right now, he actually needed the physical pain—because only then would it stop him from thinking about other things.
Clutching his fists tightly, he suddenly leaped forward. Then, unexpectedly, his legs went limp, and his body crashed heavily onto the ground.
What was going on?
Alarmed, Shiki realized—thanks to his medical ninjutsu training—that part of his chakra pathways had already been damaged.
He stared wide-eyed at Torune Aburame.
"That's right," Torune admitted directly, without hiding anything. "The anomaly in your body is indeed caused by my poisonous bugs."
"For you, talking has been recovery time. But for me, isn't this exactly the moment to command my poisonous bugs to attack?"
Helpless, Shiki realized once again that he had lost to this jonin before him.
He originally thought he had been cautious enough to prevent any attacks, but never expected he still fell victim to the poisonous bugs.
Yet he had sensed those flying insects with his chakra—he saw them clearly. There was absolutely no way they could've gotten close to him. When exactly did Torune manage to plant them on him?
Torune seemed to sense Shiki's confusion. Since Shiki was essentially a "dead man" anyway, there was no reason left to hide anything.
So he explained, "It's simply a dual-layered bug tactic. The insects you see aren't actually the toxic ones attacking you. The real poisonous bugs parasitize on their backs, being extremely small. So when you saw insects flying through the air earlier, what you really witnessed was them scattering these tinier poison insects toward you."
Shiki let out a bitter smile. "So... you talked to me all this time just to buy time for them to enter my body?"
"No." Torune shook his head seriously. "Actually, dealing with you doesn't require something this complicated."
"And talking to you, I really wanted to chat with someone like you."
"Strange person?" Shiki didn't realize when exactly he had earned such a title.
Yet thinking back at the things he'd done, wasn't he acting exactly like a strange person?
"Thanks. At least you're still willing to chat with me," said Shiki. Then he closed his eyes, ready to calmly accept both his defeat and death.
Torune Aburame nodded and said, "Then this ends here. Creating such a massive disturbance within the village—even Root won't be able to handle it easily."
He then pulled out a kunai and stepped forward, approaching Shiki Uzumaki one step at a time.
In truth, although he had let venomous insects enter Shiki's body earlier, they had only severed his chakra pathways—he hadn't actually poisoned him.
Under normal circumstances, a test subject that had been fully affected by the venom would become difficult to use. If his venomous bugs completely consumed the host's body, it meant the subject was essentially ruined.
Therefore, Torune decided to use the kunai to end Shiki Uzumaki's life instead.
One step. Two steps.
The distance between them kept closing.
Until finally, Shiki felt the cold blade of the kunai resting against his neck.
Just like that… was this really how his life would end?
Not having changed the story. Not seen Naruto grow. Not become a powerful ninja. Not found his mother. And not fulfilled her final wish—to restore the Uzumaki clan.
Looking back carefully, he had so many regrets.
But in the next moment, none of those would matter anymore.
Torune pushed forward slightly—the sharp kunai immediately left a bloody streak across Shiki's skin.
Just one tug, and Shiki Uzumaki would leave this world forever.
[Dynamic Entry!!!]
Suddenly, Might Guy delivered a flying kick that sent Torune flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Might Guy!" Taken by surprise from such an attack, Torune couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"C'mon now, young man," Guy called out. "I may be ten or twenty years older than you—I deserve to be called 'senior,' don't you think? Are you really saying you believe I'm still some teenage kid like yourself?"
After saying that, Might Guy turned his head toward Shiki, raised his thumb, and offered another extremely bright, confident smile.
That green jumpsuit somehow made him feel incredibly trustworthy.
P.S. Sorry for the late update—it's my fault. For quite a while now, I've failed to update regularly. Even though it wasn't entirely intentional, I still must take responsibility.
I'll try my best to add extra chapters to make up for it and stabilize the update schedule.
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