Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 449 Minato: You are, Naruto?

use?

Upon hearing this, Sasuke was taken aback, but then he realized that what Kumoshiki had done to Naruto was exactly what Naruto was doing to him at this moment.

There was no coercion, no seduction, and not even guidance or preaching.

It simply laid out another world, another possibility, so directly and so grandly before him.

It was like pushing open a locked window, letting him see a view he had never imagined before.

Let him know that the world shouldn't be like this, and that the world could be a better place.

Then, the choice is completely returned to him.

Thinking of this, Sasuke remained silent for a long time, a troubled look appearing on his face. He sighed and said, "This is an open conspiracy."

“Yes.” Naruto nodded, admitting it frankly without any hesitation, just like he had done with Kumogakure back then. “But no one is forcing you to make a choice.”

“You can watch it all, listen to it all, then turn around and leave, return to Konoha, and continue your plan to become Hokage and revitalize the Uchiha clan.”

"You can treat everything you see here today as a bizarre dream, or something insignificant."

"You can choose to remain indifferent and let the world, including Konoha, the Uchiha, and yourself, continue to follow that predetermined path."

Upon hearing this, even Sasuke could no longer regard it as something to be used or manipulated.

If, just if, on that night, before Itachi Uchiha made that decision...

They were able to present him with the choice between his clan and Konoha, telling him about the possibilities and costs of both paths.

Then he said to him, "Sasuke, you can choose for yourself. Whether you choose the clan, Konoha, or another path, I will respect your choice."

If that's the case, can it still be considered manipulation?
That may be cruel, but it is more respectful.

But Itachi Uchiha did not.

Arrogantly and selfishly, he made what he considered the "correct" and only choice for Sasuke and for the entire Uchiha clan.

He deprived Sasuke of the right to choose, and also deprived the other members of his clan of the possibility of choosing.

The fundamental difference between the two lies here.

"so……"

Sasuke forced himself to pull himself out of the shock, took a deep breath, and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Although he had just said he wanted to help Naruto, at this moment, he had no idea what to do.

"I can't tell you right now," Naruto shook his head.

Actually, showing the documentary to Sasuke was already a very risky move.

If Sasuke were smart enough, he could have deduced that Kumoshiki, who also knew this knowledge, might not have viewed the ninja world as a nursery, as they perceived it.

But Sasuke clearly hadn't expected this, or rather, he habitually didn't want to think in front of Naruto, and couldn't help but frown and ask, "Why? Can't you trust me?"

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Sasuke,” Naruto said in a low voice, “but that someone is ‘watching’ us.”

“I’m not even sure if he will be aware of what you are thinking, hearing, and seeing right now.”

Is someone watching me?
They even know what I'm thinking?

Upon hearing this, a chill instantly crept up Sasuke's spine.

“You mean…” He almost immediately thought of the name Naruto had mentioned earlier, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was dry as he said, “Six Paths…”

Naruto nodded slightly, while Sasuke opened his mouth, wanting to ask more questions.

Is the Sage of Six Paths "watching" us?
Where? For what purpose?
Why isn't Naruto worried about his thoughts, feelings, and experiences being discovered?

Countless questions arose in his mind, but Naruto clearly had no intention of answering them. Sasuke could only force back all his doubts, which were stuck in his chest, causing him a feeling of suffocation.

Just then, Naruto suddenly frowned, as if he had noticed something.

The brief look of helplessness on his face quickly faded, replaced by a chilling aura.

"Although there isn't a good way to deal with that old guy right now, but..."

Naruto said coldly, "Before that, I can help you solve a more pressing problem."

trouble?

Sasuke was stunned. Before he could speak, a sudden sense of detachment overwhelmed him. The world spun around him, and everything in his vision turned to darkness.

The next second, a bone-chilling cold enveloped him again, causing him to suddenly open his eyes.

Before my eyes, the sky had returned to its leaden gray hue with snowflakes falling continuously, and beneath me lay cold, hard frozen ground and snow.

"Hiss!" A sharp pain shot through Sasuke, who couldn't help but gasp. He instinctively raised one hand to cover his forehead and used the other hand to support himself as he sat up.

"In the sealed space, the flow of my thoughts and senses was accelerated several times over."

Naruto's voice came from the side: "So in reality, only a short time has passed. It's normal to have a headache the first time this happens, and it will get better soon."

Sasuke shook his head, trying to dispel the dizziness and throbbing pain, and turned to look at Naruto.

Naruto had already stood up, his gaze sweeping over the approaching Uchiha clan members and fixed on the direction behind them, his eyes cold.

A lazy, meowing sound rang out.

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat. He looked up sharply at the sound and saw a completely black cat sitting on Naruto's left shoulder.

It was the black cat that Naruto had kept before, which later disappeared with him.

However, unlike Sasuke's memory, the black cat's eye, which had been tightly closed and should have been blind, was now open.

There were no pupils like those of a normal cat in its eyes, only a pure white.

Others might mistake it for blindness, but how could Sasuke not recognize it?

"Byakugan?!" Sasuke looked on in disbelief.

How could Hinata's Byakugan be leaking out, even onto a cat?

The next moment, Naruto's actions interrupted Sasuke's thoughts.

Naruto slowly raised his right hand, extended one finger, and pointed straight at Uchiha Yakumi and the others who were walking quickly towards him.

At the same time, the bones beneath the skin of his face quickly covered it, returning it to that pale, bony surface.

"get out."

Naruto's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a cold blade scraping across a snowfield. A point of scarlet light began to condense on his fingertips, emitting a low hum.

A Cero?!
Uchiha Yakumi and the others' expressions changed, and they subconsciously stopped and assumed a defensive stance.

But Sasuke realized that Naruto's target wasn't Uchiha Yakumi and his group, but rather...

呲!
A sharp, piercing whistle, so sharp it seemed to tear eardrums, rang out!
A thin, scarlet beam of light shot out from Naruto's fingertip, moving faster than the limits of retinal detection, leaving only a scorching trail in the air!

Before Uchiha Yakumi and the others could even react, the beam of light had already swept past them and pierced into the seemingly empty, hazy snow mist behind them.

Boom! !
The explosion and its resulting flames and shockwave instantly dispersed the snow and fog in the area.

"Quack quack!"

In the area hit by the Cero, several black crows scattered and flew about amidst the flames and shockwaves of the explosion, emitting piercing, hoarse cries.

The next moment, reflected in Sasuke's constricted pupils, under Naruto's icy gaze, and in the horrified stares of Uchiha Yakumi and the others, a scattering of crows gathered in the area in front of the firelight, outlining a human figure.

"..."

The moment Sasuke Uchiha saw the figure clearly, his breath caught in his throat.

The sounds of wind, falling snow, and explosions all around quickly faded away, becoming blurry and distant.

Only the sound of my heart pounding wildly in my chest and the roar of blood rushing to my head were crystal clear.

He practically spat out the name he loathed through clenched teeth, each word a strained and hoarse sound:

"Uchiha Itachi!!"

The figure wearing a straw hat in the distance did not respond. With a flicker, it became a blurry afterimage and turned to speed off in the opposite direction.

In a few blinks, he almost disappeared into the swirling snow and from the sight of Uchiha Yakumi and the others.

"Uchiha Itachi?!" Uchiha Yakumi and the others' eyes flashed with malice, and they almost reflexively chased after him.

However, Sasuke Uchiha, who should have hated that guy the most, seemed to be calmer than them.

hum!
Just as Yaowei and the others were about to set off, a burst of chakra erupted from behind them, carrying a chilling killing intent and a biting cold, violently churning up the snow on the ground.

Uchiha Yakumi and the others' expressions changed, and without hesitation, they transformed into several afterimages and scattered in all directions.

In the distance, Sasuke's figure was already enveloped in chakra, and the ribs, spine, and a complete right arm skeleton of Susanoo materialized.

Sasuke stretched out his left hand, gripping the middle of the spear that gleamed with dazzling silver light, while his right hand moved back as if to draw a bowstring.

The one that truly drew back the bowstring was Susanoo's enormous skeletal right arm!
Zizizi! !

A deafening thunderous roar, as if a million birds were singing in unison, suddenly erupted!

Lightning Release chakra was drawn from Sasuke's body and condensed on the bowstring into a lightning arrow that appeared to be a tangible object.

The bow was drawn to its fullest extent, and the arrow was aimed at the figure in the distance that was about to disappear from sight!

Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan spun, and he let out a cold, low shout: "Go!"

The skeletal arm of Susanoo suddenly loosened its grip.

Whoosh! !

The lightning bolt instantly transformed into a silver bolt of lightning that pierced through the wind and snow, tearing through the air and emitting a piercing shriek as it shot off in the direction where Uchiha Itachi had disappeared.

Wherever it passed, it plowed a deep, scorched furrow into the snow below.

The power and speed of this attack far exceeded the arrow he had fired when facing Naruto's Cero.

boom!
The lightning arrived in an instant and exploded with a deafening roar in the distance.

A blinding flash of lightning erupted, instantly engulfing the area. The violent lightning unleashed its fury, evaporating the accumulated snow and sending up plumes of smoke and mist that obscured the view.

Uh-huh! Swish!

Naruto and Sasuke instantly appeared at the edge of the explosion zone, while Uchiha Yakumi and the others also appeared in an instant, blocking in front of the two and staring intently into the distance.

The smoke and water vapor were dispersed by the wind.

The first thing that catches the eye is a huge, charred crater, emitting wisps of heat, with tiny arcs of electricity flickering and emitting a pungent smell left behind by ionization in the air.

In the center of the giant crater, Uchiha Itachi, wearing a straw hat, withdrew his right hand from the ground and slowly stood up from his half-squatting position.

Spiritual communication techniques...

In front of him stood two tall and heavy wooden coffins, their surfaces covered with cracks and damage, clearly bearing most of the impact.

Kaka! Click!
As the cracking sound rang out, the two wooden coffins, under everyone's watchful eyes, finally disintegrated completely, turning into scattered fragments.

Inside the coffin, two figures stood with their heads bowed, exposed to the gaze of Naruto, Sasuke, and the others without any cover.

"..."

Sasuke Uchiha's eyes widened suddenly, almost bulging out of their sockets, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Not because of fear.

It was anger.

"You!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, crimson tears streaming down his face. "You're asking for death!!"

Before he finished speaking, the surging chakra within him and the power of his Mangekyou Sharingan erupted with a thunderous roar.

The purple Susanoo, which had only condensed into ribs and a single arm, suddenly expanded and grew taller, its bones rapidly extending, and in an instant transformed into a half-giant covered in meridians and flesh.

A cloak of condensed chakra appeared, radiating a suffocating pressure!
Without a word, Sasuke controlled his half-body Susanoo, channeling all his anger and killing intent into his right fist, and slammed a heavy punch into the calm-faced Uchiha Itachi.

Bang! !

A muffled, loud bang, accompanied by a visible impact, exploded, instantly clearing away the snow and rubble from the ground.

A green half-body Susanoo, also covered in meridians, flesh, and clothing, stretched out its arm with its five fingers spread, firmly blocking Sasuke's Susanoo's punch.

The air surged and turbulent currents tore at the air, Sasuke's eyes filled with shock and anger.

The figure who had been standing with his head bowed in front of Itachi Uchiha had raised his head, and his eyes, which should have been empty, now contained a pair of Mangekyou Sharingan.

Without a doubt, it was because of Danzo that Uchiha Shisui died.

call out!
Almost simultaneously, Naruto's figure vanished from the spot like a ghost, and the next moment he appeared beside Uchiha Itachi!
The speed of the burst was fast enough to exceed the dynamic visual limits of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

A straight punch tore through the air and slammed into Uchiha Itachi.

We're far from the snow-capped mountains now, so no matter how much noise we make, it won't trigger an avalanche. Naruto isn't holding back at all, whether it's speed or power.

In its current first form, with half a bone armor covering its face, its speed is comparable to that of the Nine-Tails' chakra in the original work, and its defense and strength are many times stronger.

but……

Boom! !
The ground trembled violently. Centered on the point where Naruto's fist landed, the hard frozen soil was covered with dense, spiderweb-like cracks, and the violent impact blasted away all the surrounding snow.

All that could be seen was a fleeting golden flash; Naruto's punch had struck empty air.

The person who arrived was faster than him.

No, this isn't speed; it's space-time ninjutsu.

"As expected, Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, you are indeed a great threat."

Itachi Uchiha's calm and unwavering voice came from afar: "It seems that bringing this man here was the right choice."

Naruto slowly withdrew his fist, turned around expressionlessly, and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Itachi Uchiha stood there unharmed, not even the hem of his clothes was disheveled, and another figure appeared beside him.

He was a man wearing a white Hokage robe with a green Konoha Jonin vest underneath, and he had blond hair like Naruto.

"you……"

He stared blankly at Naruto, sensing the very familiar yet somewhat different Nine-Tails chakra within Naruto's body, and couldn't help but open his mouth.

"You are, Naruto?" Minato Namikaze managed to utter the words with difficulty.

(End of this chapter)