Johan's POV
Some days had passed since our meeting with the Third Hokage.
The fire, the conversation — all of it felt distant now, like a story I had heard but never truly lived.
Naruto still clung to the idea of becoming Hokage, running through the village with reckless energy, chasing something he couldn't even fully understand.
I watched him sometimes, wondering how he could hold onto something so fragile.
Dreams.
Hope.
Words people used to lie to themselves.
I didn't feel anything when I thought about that night.
No warmth from the fire.
No comfort from Hiruzen's promises.
Just emptiness, stretching quietly inside me, growing deeper with each passing day.
Maybe that was the truth no one wanted to admit.
Maybe dreams were only meant for people who still believed the world could be kind.
I think sometimes about the wishes I made.
Was it good? Bad?
I don't know anymore.
I liked Johan once — or the idea of him — strong, untouchable, free.
But after merging with him, it's like everything inside me has shifted.
There are days when I wonder if I even recognize myself anymore.
I liked Naruto.
I still feel something when I'm with him — a faint warmth, barely there, like a dying ember in a frozen world.
When he smiles, a part of me wants to reach for it, to believe in it.
But that part is small, fragile, drowning beneath the coldness that grows stronger inside me.
As time passes, I can feel it spreading — an endless winter settling in my bones.
The smiles of others, their laughter, their petty struggles — they mean nothing to me now.
If there's anyone who stirs even a flicker of something human inside me, it's Naruto.
And only him.
Everyone else, I see now as tools.
Objects to be used, moved, discarded when necessary.
Nothing more.
Will I truly become Johan?
The monster?
I don't know.
And maybe... I don't care.
Time will tell what I become.
Maybe it's already too late to change anything.
But one thing is certain.
In this life, I will live it my way.
No one will take anything from me again.
Not my freedom.
Not my peace.
Not my soul.
The world can burn, for all I care.
I will remain standing in the ashes, untouched, unbroken.
Because kindness is a weakness.
And I refuse to be weak.