018 (Vol 2) Breaking the World Apart

They ran into a familiar face just as they were leaving Tanzaku Street.

"Another one?" Tsunade's eyes turned cold.

"Tsunade? You're here too? That's great!" The man in the mask let out a cheerful laugh.

"I don't see how that's a good thing!" Tsunade growled through clenched teeth.

It was obvious he was another member of her so-called "harem." One had to wonder just what kind of twisted humor the author had when writing this—pairing ugly men with beautiful women seemed to be a favorite trope. Raikage, Killer Bee, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzō—those were apparently the "main leads," while the pretty boys like Namikaze Minato or Kakashi had only made one or two brief appearances at best.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got!

Seriously, didn't the author understand the concept of "beauty is justice"?!

Sure, even attractive people burp and fart—it's basic human biology. But how many people actually believe that beautiful men and women don't burp or fart? Especially some fans who, despite their education, mentally block out the idea that their beloved idols do such things. As long as the face is good-looking, they'll accept any lie!

Tsunade had been running from the plot all this time, largely because her "harem" consisted of old and ugly men. If they had all been fresh-faced guys like Namikaze Minato or Uchiha Sasuke, maybe she would've at least considered the idea…

Slash!

The masked man was cleaved vertically in half—dead on the spot.

Tsunade's face went pale. She tried to maintain a calm facade, silently continuing to follow the demon. As expected of a cold-blooded killer—he didn't even say a word before slicing someone to pieces.

She had no idea what the demon was planning, but she followed him for a while, only to realize he was actually heading toward Konoha!

"Um, hey, old pal… you're going to…" Tsunade hesitated.

The demon ignored her. The scenery before them flickered for an instant—and the next moment, the two of them were standing on the streets of Konoha.

Tsunade was dumbfounded, holding her breath.

The demon scanned his surroundings, then instantly teleported to where Uzumaki Naruto was. A chilling wave of killing intent pierced straight through Naruto's mind.

Naruto sensed something wrong, but before he could react, thump—he collapsed.

He wasn't dead yet.

The demon glanced at Tsunade. "Finish him off."

Tsunade's face froze in horror. "Old pal, can we talk this out…"

"No," the demon cut her off coldly. "Either he dies, or you all do. Make your choice."

The star of death was flickering in the sky—Tsunade knew if she dared to say no, her head would likely roll next.

In the span of 0.5 seconds, she buried her sympathy and compassion. She genuinely liked Naruto—but no matter how much she liked the kid, it couldn't compare to her own life.

Her "affection" was like that of a high-dimensional reader for a two-dimensional character. She had never truly regarded them as real people.

A kunai pierced Naruto's heart. The power of the Uzumaki bloodline and the Nine-Tails' chakra surged up together—but a strange force blocked it.

Naruto breathed his last.

The demon asked, "Did your tag change?"

Tsunade opened her mouth. "I…"

Crack!

A bizarre shattering sound cut her off. The moment Naruto died, the sky splintered like shattered glass, fragments crumbling and falling.

"Warning! Program crash in progress…"

"Hurry! This is not a drill—the protagonist has been eliminated!"

"Who the hell did this?!"

"Quit yapping and restore history using the backup data!"

Tsunade stood frozen. The demon asked, "You can't hear that?"

She shook her head blankly. The demon looked up.

"Whoever's talking—this is a full-dive game world, isn't it?"

"Shit!" came a panicked voice from the sky.

Tsunade wasn't stupid. After hearing the demon, she realized something instantly.

"Are we gonna get deleted?" Her face turned pale. If the game had detected a bug, it might start purging the database. That'd mean all transmigrators—dead.

The cracks in the sky gradually vanished. Everything around them froze. A dazzling light slowly descended from above.

"I am Itō Hidenaka." A plain-looking middle-aged man stepped in front of Tsunade. He smiled gently, but the chakra aura he unintentionally emitted was unfathomably deep.

"Are you the game administrator?" Tsunade asked. "Can you give me a set of divine gear? Maybe a god-tier bloodline or two? Unlimited chakra?"

Itō Hidenaka paused. "You think this is a full-dive game world?"

Tsunade looked him up and down calmly.

"Isn't it? Tags, red names—if this isn't a game, then what is it?"

Itō looked a little troubled. "Maybe what we said earlier misled you… it's complicated. You probably wouldn't understand."

Tsunade glared at him coldly. She had no confidence and was a little scared, but she still acted like she had everything under control. As far as she was concerned, this was a game. If people can transmigrate into manga, why not a game?

"This is the real shinobi world," Itō Hidenaka emphasized.

Tsunade sneered. Don't take me for an idiot!

Itō looked at her sincerely.

"I'm not lying. This is the real world—only, it happens to be a part of the past."

Tsunade's eyes went wide. She understood every individual word—but strung together, they made absolutely no sense.

Would saying anything now reveal that she was… illiterate?

She instinctively turned to the demon for help—only to realize he had disappeared at some point.

"What are you looking for?" Itō Hidenaka asked curiously.

"The man who was just beside me—where did he go?" Tsunade asked.

"What man?" Itō scanned the surroundings.

"He was really handsome. And ruthless. Killed Uzumaki Naruto in a flash…" Tsunade smoothly shifted all the blame.

Itō gave her a strange look—like she was… mentally unwell.

Tsunade snapped, "What the hell is that look for?!"

"Apologies, Tsunade-san. But let me remind you: from what I saw just now, you're the one who suddenly attacked Uzumaki Naruto and killed him. There was no one else with you." His tone was serious. Was Tsunade historically known to suffer from mental illness?

"No way! That's impossible!" Tsunade vehemently denied it. She tried to describe the demon's face—but her mind was blank. Her memories of him were fading fast.

At first, she was confident that the mysterious red-named transmigrator was real. But as more and more information vanished from her memory, she started to waver… then slowly began to doubt herself.

The whole process took no more than three seconds.

"Could it be I've been under too much stress from hiding lately… and started hallucinating?"