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Naruto: End of the Shinobi World

Chapter 229 229: This World Is Rotten · Oct 25, 2026

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Chapter List (423)

Page number / 9

201 Chapter 201 201: The Mizukage’s Head 2026-10-25
202 Chapter 202 202: Crippling the Raikage’s Arm 2026-10-25
203 Chapter 203 203: A Gift from the Heavens 2026-10-25
204 Chapter 204 204: The Intruder 2026-10-25
205 Chapter 205 205: Lies Repeated Until Believed 2026-10-25
206 Chapter 206 206: Konoha F4 (Konoha Council of Four) 2026-10-25
207 Chapter 207 207: The Shinobi Alliance 2026-10-25
208 Chapter 208 208: Something Happened to the Great Toad Sage 2026-10-25
209 Chapter 209 209: A Man Who Was Fishing 2026-10-25
210 Chapter 210 210: Lord Fukasaku ! 2026-10-25
211 Chapter 211 211: No. 6: Neji 2026-10-25
212 Chapter 212 212: Hearts Begin to Scatter 2026-10-25
213 Chapter 213 213: What the Hell Is This Lineup?! 2026-10-25
214 Chapter 214 214: Are You Sick? Listening to That Blond Idiot? 2026-10-25
215 Chapter 215 215: Naruto’s Temptation 2026-10-25
216 Chapter 216 216: Tailed Beast Chakra 2026-10-25
217 Chapter 217 217: In the End, You Still Relied on Power 2026-10-25
218 Chapter 218 218: Make the Windmill Turn Again 2026-10-25
219 Chapter 219 219: A Hokage With No One Coming to His Rescue 2026-10-25
220 Chapter 220 220: The Impure World Reincarnation 2026-10-25
221 Chapter 221 221: The Entrance of Uchiha Itachi 2026-10-25
222 Chapter 222 222: Congratulations on Raising an Itachi 2026-10-25
223 Chapter 223 223: A Dead Hokage Is a Good Hokage 2026-10-25
224 Chapter 224 224: I Regret Not Paying More Attention to You 2026-10-25
225 Chapter 225 225: Sakura Haruno Defects 2026-10-25
226 Chapter 226 226: All Dignity Lost 2026-10-25
227 Chapter 227 227: Naruto Becomes a Hero 2026-10-25
228 Chapter 228 228: The Hyūga’s Itachi? 2026-10-25
229 Chapter 229 229: This World Is Rotten 2026-10-25
230 Chapter 230 230: Thinking Too Much Leads to Trouble 2026-10-25
231 Chapter 231 231: We Need to Talk 2026-10-25
232 Chapter 232 232: I Can Accept Anything 2026-10-25
233 Chapter 233 233: Naruto Strikes a Deal with Danzō 2026-10-25
234 Chapter 234 234: Up Next to Take the Stage 2026-10-25
235 Chapter 235 235: Comparison Is the Cruelest Thing 2026-10-25
236 Chapter 236: Sasuke Has Changed 2026-10-25
237 Chapter 237: A Shattered Mindset 2026-10-25
238 Chapter 238: Has Naruto Defected? 2026-10-25
239 Chapter 239 239: A Storm Sweeps the Shinobi World 2026-10-25
240 Chapter 240: Where Did Karin Go? 2026-10-25
241 Chapter 241: The Sage of Six Paths 2026-10-25
242 Chapter 242: The Secret of the Byakugan 2026-10-25
243 Chapter 243: The Tenseigan 2026-10-25
244 Chapter 244 244: It Really Can Destroy the World 2026-10-25
245 Chapter 245 245: Orochimaru Isn’t Dead? 2026-10-25
246 Chapter 246 246: Giving Birth to a New Uchiha Clan 2026-10-25
247 Chapter 247 247: You’re a Demon, Aren’t You? 2026-10-25
248 Chapter 248 248: Was He Really Just “Observing”? 2026-10-25
249 Chapter 249: Someone Who Can Fight World-Destroying Naruto 2026-10-25
250 Chapter 250: The Invader? 2026-10-25

”Absolutely… we absolutely cannot let him reach that point!”

An elder shot to his feet, voice hoarse, eyes filled with resolve—and a trace of ruthlessness.

”We must… we must find a way to completely secure Neji’s loyalty as soon as possible. Or… before he fully turns toward Uzumaki Naruto…”

He did not finish the sentence.

He didn’t need to.

Everyone present understood.

For the survival of the clan, extreme measures might have to be considered.

Hyūga Hiashi remained seated at the head of the chamber, silent. His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

His pale Byakugan swept across the panicked elders. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and steady, carrying the authority of a clan head.

”Calm yourselves.”

”The sky projection reveals only a possible future. Neji… is the pride of the Hyūga Clan. He is also my nephew. I believe his heart is not ruled by hatred alone.”

Within the projection—

Faced with Naruto’s question, Hyūga Neji fell into prolonged silence.

The wind carried the scent of scorched earth, stirring the loose strands of hair at his forehead—and the scar that had only just begun to heal within his heart.

In his pale eyes reflected the desolation of ruins… and fragments of cold, unjust memories.

After a long time, Neji finally spoke. His voice was calm—almost deliberately rational.

”My father… made his own choice.”

He paused, as if persuading himself.

”When he chose to die in Lord Hiashi’s place… he was free.”

”He chose to protect his brother. To protect the village. And he chose… to leave me a different path.”

”As for the Main House and the Branch House…”

Neji’s gaze drifted toward the direction of the Hyūga compound. It too was being rebuilt, but its structure remained unchanged.

”I trust Lord Hiashi. And I trust Hinata. They will bring change. Hinata… is not like the Main House of the past.”

Yet when Naruto heard this, he did not look relieved.

Instead, he forced a faint smile—one so strained it looked like a mask too heavy to bear.

There was no agreement in it.

Only exhaustion.

And something colder.

Neji’s heart sank.

He knew Naruto well. That was not his usual smile.

”Naruto. What’s really going on?” Neji stepped closer, voice firm. ”You are completely unlike yourself. What happened?”

Naruto lowered his head. After a long silence, he drew in a deep breath—as if bracing himself to face a truth he had long avoided.

When he looked up again, his once-clear blue eyes were shadowed. Deep. Almost cold.

”Neji…”

His voice was soft—but it carried an unsettling weight.

”Nothing… is going to change.”

”…What?”

”I’ve met a lot of people these past few days,” Naruto continued, eerily calm.

”Survivors. Shinobi rebuilding. Old acquaintances…”

”I thought about things I’d never allowed myself to think about before.”

His gaze swept across the ruins—then seemed to pierce through time itself.

”And I realized… no matter how warm their smiles are now… no matter how much admiration or gratitude they show…”

His tone sharpened with bitter self-mockery.

”To me… they’re the same.”

”The same as before. The ones who looked at me, avoided me, called me ’demon fox,’ threw stones at me…”

”In essence, they haven’t changed at all.”

”No! That’s not true!” Neji cut in sharply, disbelief clear on his face. ”Naruto, wake up! They truly admire you now. They’re grateful you saved the village. That’s not the same!”

”You don’t understand, Neji!” Naruto shook his head violently, his voice rising—raw with suppressed anguish.

”They acknowledge ’Uzumaki Naruto, the hero who saved the village’!”

”They acknowledge the strength. The power. The tool that protects them!”

”Not the lonely Uzumaki Naruto who needed to be accepted!”

”They haven’t changed. They never will.”

”Their smiles, their admiration—it’s all built on usefulness. On strength. On the safety I provide.”

”And if one day I lose that strength… or fail to meet their expectations…”

He laughed once, hollow and brittle.

”Those smiles will turn right back into fear. Into coldness. Into hatred.”

His words struck like hailstones—shattering the fragile warmth that had formed after the disaster.

”And it’s not just them…”

Naruto’s gaze sharpened, almost piercing.

”Konoha itself hasn’t changed.”

”The leadership still plays political games. The clans still guard their interests. The mission system is still cold.”

”And the so-called Will of Fire… heh. Just a convenient slogan.”

He even turned his criticism toward the new Hokage.

”Even Granny Tsunade… she’s just the continuation of the Third’s system.”

”Different face. Same structure.”

”Maybe she wants change. But how much can she change?”

”Can she dismantle the entrenched clan power?”

”Can she erase the invisible gap between shinobi and civilians?”

”Can she make sure that every so-called ’dead last’ or ’monster’ like I once was… is treated equally?”

His final words were delivered with chilling clarity.

”Nothing has changed.”

”The ruins became buildings. That’s all.”

”I changed—from the hated ’demon fox’… into a ’hero’ they depend on.”

”But the rotten roots of this village—its hypocrisy, its injustice—those haven’t changed.”

He looked up at the sky.

”This world… is rotten to the core.”

Neji stood frozen.

He stared at Naruto—the friend who seemed to have aged ten years in a single night.

Ten years older.

Ten years colder.

A ringing filled his ears.

Was this… still the Naruto he knew?

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