Naruto: The Hidden Protector

180: The Prophecy That Would Save One's Life

Izanami's strength is now the ceiling of this world, making her the undisputed strongest. Besides, right now Indra and Ashura are just two corpses without their souls. So, quality-wise, they are already behind. And without much surprise, in this deadlock, Izanami's attack broke through Indra's and Ashura's combined attack and pulverised both of them into ashes. And due to her authority as 'Queen of Pure Land ', this attack was very deadly for the undead like Indra and Ashura.

During this whole time, she hadn't lost sight of him for even a second. During the battle, the sneaky toad had tried to slip away time and again, but Izanami had neutralised every single attempt with a wave of her hand. Whether it was escape talismans, escape by underground, or even escaping by faking one's death, every single escape method Gamamaru tried was completely crushed by Izanami.

This made Gamamaru fall into the abyss known as despair. The only thing he could do was place his hope on the Ōtsutsuki brothers, hoping they would be able to distract Izanami enough or even be able to take her down. But this hope was shattered very quickly when Izanami crushed both Indra and Ashura.

Just as Gamamaru was thinking about committing suicide to escape this demoness, his ability to peer into the future suddenly activated, allowing him to gaze into the distant future.

He saw a man with bright, sun-yellow hair and deep blue eyes, his body pinned helplessly to the ground. There were whisker-like marks on his cheeks, twisted in pain as he struggled to breathe. The iconic white cloak he wore, marked with the bold red symbols of the Seventh Leader, was torn and stained. Black rods—dreaded receivers that drained the very life from his veins—jutted from his chest and limbs, impaling him like a broken toy.

Standing over the fallen hero was a figure who looked like a pale god of death. His skin was bone-white, and a strange, jagged horn curved from his brow. His most terrifying feature was his right eye: a golden, wheel-like pattern with eight spokes that seemed to hold the power to shrink the world itself. He stared down at the impaled man with cold, hollow indifference.

With this sound like shattering glass, Gamamaru's vision was shattered as he once again returned to reality. Seeing that Izanami had not yet killed him, Gamamaru sighed in relief. But then his expression turned serious as his mind began to run wildly.

In the vision, he saw that the yellow-haired man was none other than Naruto. This much, Gamamaru was sure without any doubt. After all, for all these years, Gamamaru was scheming to let Naruto join their Mount Myōboku. So he could still recognise the obvious characteristics of the child of destiny.

And it was exactly because he recognized him that Gamamaru was shocked. Because in his view, a child of destiny would never be killed because he is blessed by the world itself. But this time, such an absurd thing happened. Naruto, the child of destiny, was being killed without him being able to resist at all.

'Wait, those eyes... and that chilling aura. Could he be one of them? A member of the Ōtsutsuki clan?'Suddenly, this thought crossed his mind, making things very clear to him.

These beings weren't just powerful; they were parasites that travelled from world to world, devouring everything in their path. For those who are like gods, killing chosen ones is nothing but crushing an ant.

' Since this is destiny, can I use this information? ' Gamamaru began to think excitedly as hope once again appeared on his face. He knew that Izanami would definitely not let anything happen to Naruto, so he could maybe just maybe be able to make a deal with her and escape his predicament.

Seeing Izanami coming towards him, dragging two swords bathed with blood, Gamamaru immediately came out of his fantasies and spoke with an urgent voice, " Wait, wait, Izanami, I have some information that I think can buy my life "

Izanami stopped in her tracks. The two blades she dragged behind her left deep, red trails on the ground, and her eyes remained cold and empty. She didn't say a word, but the pressure she released was enough to make Gamamaru's skin crawl.

Taking a deep breath to steady his trembling voice, the old toad continued. "I just saw a glimpse of the future. It's about the child of destiny—the boy with the yellow hair you care so much about. He is in grave danger."

Izanami's eyes narrowed, but she still didn't speak. Encouraged that he wasn't dead yet, Gamamaru spoke faster, his words tumbling out.

"In the distant future, I saw him pinned to the ground and being impaled by black rods, unable to move or fight back. And the one standing over him... he wasn't from this world. He was a bone-white monster with a horn and eyes that shouldn't exist. He was an Ōtsutsuki."

Gamamaru looked at her, searching for any sign of emotion. "You know what they are, don't you? They are world-devouring parasites. Even if the boy is blessed by this world, he cannot stand against those guys. But with my ability can help you change it. Spare me, and my ability is yours to use."

He held his breath, his heart hammering against his ribs. He had gambled everything on this single piece of information. Now, he could only pray that Izanami's attachment to the boy was stronger than her desire to turn him into ash.

"Hahahahaha!"

A small, cold chuckle escaped Izanami's lips, but it didn't stop there. It grew louder and louder until it turned into a full-blown, mocking laughter that echoed across the battlefield. She laughed so hard her shoulders shook, the sound piercing through the silence like a sharp blade.

Gamamaru stared at her, paralysed. He had expected shock, anger, or even a hint of fear. He never expected this.

"Hahhaa, you old toad. Oh man, you sure are a very hard guy to kill. " Izanami spoke as she looked at Gamamaru with a mocking smile.

Even though Izanami was mocking him, Gamamaru didn't get angry. Instead, he let out a long breath of relief. To him, the fact that she was laughing instead of killing him instantly meant he had won the gamble. He truly believed he had bought himself more time.

But his relief was cut short.

Suddenly, the world spun wildly. His vision flipped upside down, and for a second, he didn't understand what had happened. With the last of his fading consciousness, Gamamaru looked down and saw a sight that froze his soul: his own headless body, slumped on the ground with blood gushing out like a mountain.

" Unfortunately for you, this much nonsense is not enough to save your life " Izanami sneered as she began to cut the corpse into a million pieces. Just like she said before, she would cut this bastard into a million pieces. 

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