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

Chapter 457 You Didn't Choose Me
boom! !

The purple half-giant and the green half-giant collided violently.

A deafening roar exploded across the snowfield, and the violent impact spread in a ring, uprooting thick snow and permafrost within a radius of hundreds of meters!
Uchiha Sasuke's purple Susanoo maintained its form, covered with meridians and flesh, and was draped in a chakra cloak. His right hand tightly gripped a silver spear that flashed with dazzling lightning.

The green Susanoo on the opposite side was also covered in meridians, flesh, and clothing, but what it held in its hand was a spiral sword shaped like a giant drill.

At this moment, the silver spear and the spiral sword were locked in a fierce stalemate, causing the already cracked earth below to shatter once more.

The two half-giants were very close, and through the translucent body of the green Susanoo, Sasuke could clearly see Uchiha Shisui.

He was wearing the Uchiha clan uniform before he died, and his short black hair was slightly messy. But his once gentle face was now covered by half of his bone mask, leaving only emptiness and indifference.

"Shisui-kun! Wake up and see who I am!" Sasuke shouted hoarsely.

However, Uchiha Shisui remained expressionless, his eyes vacant, ignoring his calls without even blinking.

The only response Sasuke received was the sharp hum of the spiral sword spinning suddenly, and the explosive penetrating power that burst forth.

Zizizi!
The spiral sword spun at an extremely high speed, and the violent lightning leaping on the silver spear made a loud noise. It rubbed against the vortex brought up by the high-speed rotation of the spiral sword, and burst out a large amount of light and heat.

Bang! !

Under the force of the spinning spiral sword, the silver spear's force was gradually deflected, and then the spiral sword suddenly swung to the side, forcefully deflecting the silver spear's block.

The sword shone with a bright green light, carrying an aura that could pierce through everything, and stabbed fiercely towards the center of the purple Susanoo's chest, aiming straight for Uchiha Sasuke!
"Shisui-nii..." Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan spun wildly as he manipulated his Susanoo to defend, retracting his silver spear and holding it horizontally in front of his chest.

The tip of the spiral sword slammed into the silver spear shaft that was blocking it, producing a teeth-grinding, ear-piercing noise. A dazzling burst of sparks erupted at the point of contact between the spiral sword tip and the silver spear shaft!

Although it was barely blocked, the penetrating force of the spiral sword was not completely eliminated. It passed through the silver spear and struck the chest armor of the purple Susanoo heavily.

Crack! Boom!
The massive body of the purple Susanoo flew backward uncontrollably, carving deep and wide furrows in the frozen snowfield and stirring up a cloud of snow dust.

A cracking sound came from his chest, as if it could no longer bear the weight. Large fragments of purple chakra scattered like glass, revealing translucent meridians and flesh.

"Give up your naive ideas, my foolish little brother." Itachi Uchiha's cold voice came from afar, clearly penetrating Sasuke's ears.

"The reason why the reanimated can be perfectly controlled is precisely because Danzo used the Mangekyou Sharingan he stole as a medium to impose the restraint."

“But Shisui is the true owner of ‘Kotoamatsukami’, so how could he be allowed to retain even a trace of his own consciousness like others?”

While effortlessly dealing with the combined furious attacks of Uchiha Yakumi and the other members of his clan, Itachi Uchiha spoke with a subtle, enigmatic tone.

But this only made Sasuke Uchiha even angrier.

"asshole!!"

Looking into Shisui's empty eyes, Sasuke Uchiha felt a surge of violent anger rush to his head, veins bulging on his forehead, his hatred and madness almost overflowing.

At this moment, he had just barely managed to stabilize himself by controlling Susanoo, and the damage to his chest was being slowly repaired by his eye power and chakra.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Shisui's pursuit had already begun.

Instead of getting close, the green Susanoo suddenly opened its chakra armor, revealing a huge orange-red tomoe inside.

The next moment, countless emerald green chakra needles burst forth from the open breastplate.

Susanoo, number ninety-nine!
Bah, bah, bah! !

A green attack, as thick as a beam of light, shot out, tearing through the air and emitting a sharp shriek.

"Aaaaah!" Sasuke roared furiously, his Mangekyou Sharingan spinning, and his Susanoo, under his control, assumed a bow-drawing posture.

The silver spear was held in the middle by Susanoo with one hand, held horizontally in front of him, while the other hand was pulled back to grasp the bowstring formed by lightning chakra.

Suddenly, an arrow, crackling with intense red lightning, materialized on the bowstring, radiating a violent aura. The bow was fully drawn, and the arrow pointed at the overwhelming beams of light!
"Fire and Lightning!" Sasuke roared, and Susanoo released the bowstring.

Sizzle! Rumble!!

The arrow flew off the bowstring and collided head-on with the "Susanoo-Tsukumo" formation, instantly bursting into a blinding light.

The explosion of fire and lightning raged wildly, covering countless chakra skeins with extremely penetrating power. The deafening roar swept across the land, turning into shockwaves that swept outwards in all directions!

Almost at the same time, as Sasuke clashed with Shisui's Susanoo.

"Naruto, I... watch out! My reflexes have been enhanced!"

Minato Namikaze, who was standing some distance away from Naruto, quickly warned him and flung out several kunai that sliced ​​through the air, seemingly casually but actually sealing off Naruto's path as they flew towards him.

"I call this move 'Soaring Swallow Dance: Fleeting Light and Shadow'!"

Before he could even finish reciting the name of the move, his hands had already completed a dazzling series of hand seals, and the several kunai flying in the air instantly multiplied from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and from a hundred to a thousand!

A dense barrage of kunai, accompanied by sharp whistling sounds, shot towards Naruto in the distance!
Naruto's face remained expressionless; he simply raised his right foot and stomped it down heavily.

Boom! Clang!

Centered on the soles of his feet, a large area of ​​frozen soil in front of him suddenly rose up and transformed into a thick and solid rock wall!

Most of the kunai that could have hit him were blocked by the rock wall, making a series of impact sounds and embedding themselves in the rock. Other kunai passed by the rock wall and above and to the left and right of Naruto.

One of the kunai brushed past Naruto and entered the blind spot in Naruto's left vision the instant it passed.

A golden flash appeared silently.

Minato Namikaze appeared out of thin air at the location of the kunai, and at the same time, he grabbed the kunai that served as a coordinate, his arm turning into a blur.

呲!
The kunai, gleaming with a cold light, moved with a speed too fast for the naked eye to detect, silently slicing towards the back of Naruto's neck.

Precise and deadly, ruthless—that's Minato Namikaze.

However, just as the kunai was about to touch it...

Snapped! !

A piercing shriek suddenly rang out!

Naruto didn't even turn his head or move his body, but one of the nine thick bone whips behind him, which resembled tails, lashed out fiercely at Minato Namikaze, who had just appeared.

The attack was fierce and cunning, aimed directly at Minato Namikaze's head, without the slightest hesitation because the other party was his father.

Minato Namikaze, who had originally intended to speak up to remind Naruto, narrowed his eyes, surprised by Naruto's perception and reaction speed.

However, the Flying Thunder God Technique grants him unconventional mobility.

Just as the bone whip was about to strike his body, a golden light flashed again, and Minato Namikaze's figure had vanished from his spot, leaving only the kunai that had been whipped into a small cloud of white smoke.

Almost as soon as he disappeared, a golden light flashed beside another flying kunai on Naruto's right. Minato Namikaze reappeared and launched another fierce and swift attack straight at Naruto!
Whoosh! Snap!

Another bone whip was lashed out, creating a sonic boom in the air, and then lashed out at his point of appearance once more.

Swish!Swish!Swish!
Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
To onlookers, all of this happened in just one or two seconds.

Golden flashes of light flickered and teleported rapidly among the kunai around Naruto at almost zero intervals, each accompanied by a sharp and cunning attack.

Naruto stood almost motionless, but the nine bone whips behind him transformed into nine afterimages that tore through the air, lashing out wildly at an astonishing speed!

Each bone whip was lashed out the instant the golden flash appeared, unleashing a dense barrage of sonic booms that resembled popping beans, leaving trails of white shockwaves around it.

In just a second or two, it seemed as if dozens of Minato Namikazes were attacking Naruto from all directions at the same time, while lotus flowers bloomed around Naruto, made of nine bone whips dancing, making it impenetrable.

boom! boom! boom!
The shadow clones that served as the coordinates for the Flying Thunder God technique were all blown apart in mid-air into puffs of white smoke.

A golden flash appeared in the distance, and Minato Namikaze reappeared, slightly panting, with beads of sweat on his forehead.

Using the Flying Thunder God Technique so frequently and continuously would be a huge drain on him, even for him.

Naruto remained standing quietly in place, his entire body covered in bone armor seemingly unharmed from the storm of attacks...

No.

Click…click…click…

A few soft but clear cracking sounds came from Naruto.

Several scratches and tiny cracks of varying depths appeared on the surface of his bony armor on his shoulders, sides, and lower back.

Although it failed to completely penetrate the bone armor and damage the body, it did leave a mark.

In that clash that transcended the limits of vision, Minato Namikaze's attack still managed to seize the almost non-existent tiny gap between the bone whip strikes and successfully reach Naruto's body.

Naruto's sensory abilities are strong, and his reaction speed is not weak either, but Minato Namikaze's speed and reaction speed are almost superhuman.

"You've become very strong, Naruto," Minato Namikaze said, his tone filled with genuine satisfaction.

He could sense that Naruto's speed, strength, defense, and almost instinctive intuition were far beyond what a normal ninja could achieve.

but……

"Why have you become like this? This aura... is it the Nine-Tails' chakra? But the seal I left inside you wasn't touched, and..."

Minato's gaze first fell on Naruto's face, looking at the eye that wasn't covered by bone but was kept closed by a vertical scar.

Then, looking at Naruto's Konoha headband, the Konoha symbol in the center of the headband was crossed by a deep scratch.

His expression turned serious, and his voice became low: "As the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, have you become a rogue ninja of Konoha?"

The wind on the snowfield seemed to stand still at that moment.

Naruto stood there quietly, his face expressionless, his one open crimson eye calmly watching Minato Namikaze.

"Before I met my teacher, when I was all alone..."

After a moment, Naruto slowly began to speak, his pace slow and deliberate, as if he were recounting a past event that had nothing to do with him.

"I have imagined countless times what my father and mother are like."

"Although the Third Hokage didn't tell me who my parents were, he told me that they were heroes of Konoha who sacrificed themselves to protect everyone in the village from the Nine-Tails' attack."

"I can't imagine their faces, but I think my father's figure must be tall and majestic, and my mother's appearance must be gentle."

"I think they must love me. They must have had no choice but to leave me alone."

Did the Third Hokage not tell Naruto about my and Kushina's identities?

Was it to protect Naruto and prevent him from being targeted by enemies as a Jinchuriki?
The thought flashed through Minato's mind, causing him to look at Naruto and open his mouth as if to say something, but Naruto's next words interrupted him.

“However, I later realized that I was wrong.” Naruto’s tone remained calm. “They actually had a choice.”

"But they didn't choose me."

Naruto had imagined countless times how he would react when he met the Fourth Hokage, his biological father.

Was it an angry question? A tearful lament? Or an emotional reunion?

Would I rush over and punch him out of anger? Would I yell and question him about why he left me alone and why he made me a jinchūriki?
As a result, Naruto found himself to be calmer than he had imagined.

State a fact calmly.

Accept the outcome calmly.

But Naruto's calmness was more suffocating to Minato Namikaze than any intense emotion.

"..."

Looking into Naruto's eyes, Minato's throat bobbed.

He wanted to explain, to tell Naruto how critical the situation was, to tell him how much he and Kushina loved him, and to tell him that it was the only option...

However, a thousand words were stuck in my chest, and I couldn't utter a single one.

No matter how correct or admirable his reasons may be, they are all just excuses to Naruto, who has been forced into this misfortune.

Pale and powerless.

All he could do was beg Naruto's forgiveness, or even just rush over and beat him up, but judging from Naruto's reaction, that was impossible.

No, that's not right. At least I should tell Naruto that I was the one who was wrong, and that Kushina truly loved him.

"Naruto, you..." Minato opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time. He could only say dryly, "I'm sorry, it's my fault, but Kushina..."

hum!
An unexpected change occurred without warning.

Two profound auras emanated from afar: one majestic and ancient, the other deep and cold.

Whether it was Naruto and Minato Namikaze, or Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha in the distance, they all subconsciously turned their heads to look in the direction from which the aura came.

From the direction of the Land of Hot Water, a purple pillar of light shot into the sky, and even from a great distance, one could feel the profound aura contained within it.

Meanwhile, darkness surged towards them at an incredible speed, like a tidal wave.

Wherever it passed, the sky lost its color, the snowfield lost its color, and the whole world seemed to be covered by a giant black curtain.

"This is……"

Minato Namikaze instantly snapped back to his senses, feeling the chill that surged with the darkness, and an unprecedented sense of crisis shot up his spine to the top of his head.

He almost instinctively wanted to activate the Flying Thunder God Technique to take Naruto away from the eerie darkness.

But the next moment, he found himself losing contact with all the Flying Thunder God Kunai, and the "coordinates" scattered everywhere became blurred in his perception.

The darkness spread faster than anyone could have imagined. By the time they realized something was wrong, the all-consuming gloom had already engulfed the edges of their vision and surged to their feet.

puff!puff!puff!
From the shadows beneath their feet, countless black arms reached out, grabbed each person's ankles, and quickly wrapped and spread upwards.

"What the hell is this?!"

Uchiha Yakumi and the others' expressions changed. Amid their exclamations, they were dragged into the darkness beneath their feet and disappeared.

"Uchiha Itachi! Was it you who did this again?!"

More and more arms surged onto the massive body of Susanoo, while Sasuke's crimson Mangekyou Sharingan stared intently in the direction of Itachi Uchiha.

"I will find you!" he struggled, roaring angrily. "No matter where you run, I will kill you!"

Uchiha Itachi stood not far away, completely unprepared for this sudden turn of events. His brows furrowed tightly as he realized he was powerless to resist.

It should be a technique that is not lethal?
Is it some kind of space-time ninjutsu used for teleportation?
"In that case, this might be a good opportunity for me to get rid of Black Zetsu."

With this in mind, in his last moments before being dragged into the darkness, Itachi Uchiha took one last deep look at Sasuke, who was already being swallowed by the darkness in the distance, before he too was completely engulfed by the darkness.

Uchiha Shisui remained expressionless, his eyes vacant, showing no reaction to the darkness beneath his feet or the shadows enveloping his body, allowing them to drag him and his Susanoo down.

“This is the aura of ‘Hollow’…” Naruto frowned subconsciously, but soon, as if sensing something, he regained his composure and fell into darkness.

This must be the opportunity the teacher mentioned before leaving—a chance to escape the Sage of Six Paths' surveillance.

The snowfield became empty and desolate, everyone sank into the black swamp, leaving only faint traces of life emanating from afar.

A moment later, the darkness gradually faded, and a lump of what looked like black mud crawled out from the ground.

"What the hell is that?"

Black Zetsu felt cold sweat pouring down his face, his mud-like face filled with surprise and uncertainty.

Although Obito replaced Itachi's arm with a White Zetsu's, just like Madara Uchiha had done to him, he left a cursed seal in Itachi's heart.

However, the Rinnegan was of utmost importance, and it couldn't put its mind at ease. That's why it and White Zetsu came to monitor Uchiha Itachi, hoping to see him die at Sasuke's hands and hand over the Mangekyou Sharingan to Sasuke.

As a result, even though he and Bai Jue were hiding deep underground, Bai Jue was also swallowed up by that eerie darkness.

He was the only one left behind, like vomit rejected by the "darkness".

Vomit...

"Damn it, this is bad."

Black Zetsu gradually calmed down, and his expression turned grim as he watched Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha disappear before his eyes.

This familiar feeling of suddenly slipping out of control...

Is it that 'shadow' again?

It wriggled its muddy body, looking toward the direction of the beam of light in the distance.

If I'm not mistaken, it should have come from over there.

"The underground palace of the Land of Hot Springs?"

"Orochimaru, Obito, and Danzo are all over there. I wonder how they are doing now..."

After a moment's thought, Black Zetsu disappeared back underground, heading towards the underground palace of the Land of Hot Springs.

(End of this chapter)