FWF Chapter 560 Loyalty
Chapter 560 Loyalty
"...I'm sorry, Master Menma."
Kisame Hoshigaki's gaze fell on Naruto, his face, covered with blue gill patterns, bearing a complex expression—reluctance, regret, but mostly the calm that comes after making a decision.
Naruto's face showed a look of reluctance, but more than that, it was a look of helplessness.
He looked at Kisame Hoshigaki in front of him, at this man who had become one of his most trusted subordinates in another world.
He desperately wanted to bring Kisame back with him, and he longed for this man, who had struggled for half his life amidst falsehood and deception, to live the kind of life that Kisame in that world was living.
"You won't accept my offer?"
"If you're willing, I can take you to my world. You should see it now; in that world, you live the life you've always longed for—no deception, no falsehood, no killing. Your only task is to make this world a better place."
As Naruto spoke, he recalled the scenes he had shown Kisame using genjutsu.
The Kisame from that world, dressed in a neat uniform, followed behind him on missions, occasionally revealing an expression that this world's Kisame had never seen before.
Relaxed, at ease, without needing to be wary of anyone's expressions. Kisame could sit and eat with his companions after a mission, spar with his juniors in the training ground, and sit alone on the rooftop at night to look at the stars, without worrying about someone stabbing him in the back the next day.
That kind of life was exactly what the Kisame in front of him had imagined countless times in the dead of night.
He set his conditions—if Kisame was willing, he could take him to that world, a world where the only thing to do was to make the world a better place.
"Yes, Master Menma."
Kisame Hoshigaki nodded. "I am very grateful to you for leading my other self onto such a bright path that I could never have imagined."
"However, I cannot grant your request."
"...Although I really envy that guy."
His voice carried an almost imperceptible bitterness.
"He was lucky to have found a good leader... But as for me, I've already decided on the path I want to take."
After saying that, he put Samehada down again, the tip of the sword touching the ground.
Kisame answered Naruto's question from the very beginning.
When Kisame realized that the Fourth Mizukage was actually a puppet controlled by someone else, he was completely bewildered.
That kind of confusion wasn't just ordinary bewilderment, but a despair that surged from the very core of my being, from my blood, from the depths of my soul—if even those big shots at the top are fake, then does anything real still exist in this world?
Is what he does every day real? Is the object of his loyalty real? Is the meaning of his life real?
Kisame felt numb to this world. Not the kind of numbness that comes from being tired and wanting to rest, but a numbness from having given up on finding answers.
He couldn't imagine how the world could become the place of his dreams, a place without falsehood. He racked his brains but couldn't figure it out, and the more he thought about it, the more desperate he felt.
It was at that moment that Obito Uchiha appeared and presented him with the plan—the world of genjutsu, the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
That world deeply attracted Kisame. In that world, there was no deception, no falsehood, no killing. Everyone could live the life they wanted, and no one needed to deceive or hurt others just to survive.
Since this world is beyond saving, why not just create a world of your dreams?
This thought was like a lifeline, which Kisame clung tightly to, never letting go.
Even if that world is an illusion?
"……Um."
Kisame Hoshigaki nodded. "But at least, everything in that world gives me a greater sense of fulfillment than this fake world."
"Whether it's the Eye of the Moon or the Infinite Tsukuyomi, at least in that world, I won't have to kill my comrades anymore."
"Even if it's fake, it's still the first world where I don't have to kill my comrades anymore."
After saying that, he turned his gaze back to Naruto.
Naruto sighed. That was Kisame's strength—loyalty. It wasn't just lip service, nor was it written on his face; it was ingrained in his bones and ingrained in his blood.
Kisame will never turn back unless the leader himself betrays him first.
Naruto recalled the ending of the original work—this man chose to commit suicide at the last moment to protect the information, using the most tragic method to protect what he wanted to protect until the very last moment.
He treats Obito this way, and in his own world, he treats himself the same way.
"It seems I can't convince you."
"That's right." Kisame's lips twitched slightly, it was hard to tell whether he was smiling or expressing something else.
"Thank you for your trouble. But I won't regret it."
"Switching to the other side isn't called regret, it's called running away."
"Whether it's Madara Uchiha or Obito Uchiha, as long as they can go to the world he described, the shark will never let go of the bait it has taken hold of."
"...Then I can grant your wish."
Naruto was silent for a moment, then spoke. "Since you don't want to leave, then I'll let you go and see that world."
Kisame was stunned.
He had already raised Samehada, ready for battle, and mentally adjusted himself to the state he should be in when facing a powerful enemy.
His body froze, Samehada held high in the air, neither lowered nor swung. His eyes were fixed on Naruto, and a rare look of bewilderment appeared on his face, which was covered with blue markings.
Because he saw an eye.
That eye was peculiar; it wasn't any kind of eye he had ever seen before—not the Sharingan, not the Byakugan, not the Rinnegan, but a golden eye he had never seen before.
The eye slowly rotated in Naruto's eye socket, radiating a warm and gentle light that was not dazzling but captivating.
Afterwards, he felt as if he had forgotten something.
The feeling was strange. It wasn't like having your memories forcibly erased. It was more like surfacing after holding your breath in deep water for a long time and taking a deep breath of fresh air—your whole body felt light and airy. All the heavy things in your mind, the things that had weighed on you for years, the things that had made it hard for you to breathe, disappeared all at once.
When the scene before him coalesced once more, Kisame Hoshigaki found himself standing in a place he had never seen before.
Above him was a clear blue sky, beneath his feet was soft grass, and in the distance were mountains, rivers, and villages. In the air was a scent that was unfamiliar yet very comforting.