Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

In the next instant, Naruto appeared beside Karin.

"It's time to go, Karin."

Naruto placed his hand on Karin's shoulder as he finished speaking.

Naruto and Karin disappeared before the eyes of the Konoha ninja.

A second after the two left, Naruto's shadow clones that remained in the same spot all turned into white smoke, voluntarily dispelling the Shadow Clone Technique.

After three years apart, Team 7's first reunion ended badly for Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke.

In the end, neither Sasuke nor Naruto wanted to listen to Sakura.

Naruto even stole Kakashi's Sharingan.

Sakura personally felt the gradual drifting apart of the three members of Class 7.

I felt sad, but I didn't let my emotions show.

Instead of wallowing in empty sorrow, it's better to strengthen your resolve and bridge the gap between yourself and Naruto and Sasuke.

Sakura's Kongo Seal was also lifted after Karin left.

Sakura approached Kakashi and used Healing Palm Technique to heal his injuries.

……

Far from the town, in the forest, Sasuke and the Sound Four, who had left before Konoha's reinforcements arrived, nimbly leaped between the trees.

But their movement speed is actually not fast.

Sasuke, who was moving at the forefront, deliberately reduced his movement speed.

"Lord Sasuke, at this speed, there's a high chance the rested Konoha ninja will catch up with us."

Sakon and Ukon slightly increased their speed to walk alongside Sasuke, and spoke on behalf of the Sound Four, expressing their confusion about Sasuke's current behavior.

Among the ninjas in Konoha, there were clearly tracking-type ninjas.

Sasuke turned his head to look at Zuo Jin and You Jin.

Sakon and Ukon initially thought Sasuke was going to answer their questions, but they discovered that although Sasuke was tilting his head towards them, he wasn't actually looking at them.

"Don't worry, they won't catch up."

Sasuke was on one side of Sakon and Ukon, while the voices that came from the other side did not belong to the other three members of the Sound Four.

The voice soothed Sakon and Ukon's worries about being caught up by the Konoha ninja.

The Sound Four were all surprised by the sudden appearance of the voice.

They all looked toward the source of the sound.

Naruto and Karin seemed to have been right beside them from the beginning, leaping through the trees in rhythm with them.

Only Sasuke seemed certain that Naruto would appear, his expression calm.

But he was also curious about why Naruto was so certain that the Konoha ninjas wouldn't chase after them: "You said the Konoha ninjas wouldn't chase after us, what have you done?"

"We did some cleanup work to prevent them from catching up."

Naruto didn't hide anything and instead took the initiative to explain his reason for being "late": "I stole Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan."

Hearing Naruto confess to taking Kakashi's Sharingan.

Sasuke felt a little surprised.

His dark eyes met Naruto's blue eyes, as if judging whether Naruto's words were true or a joke.

Sasuke was also pondering Naruto's purpose in taking Kakashi's Sharingan.

"You killed Kakashi? Why do you want the Sharingan from Kakashi's eye?"

But Sasuke's question still put Kakashi first.

As expected, Sasuke at this time only chose to leave Konoha and follow Orochimaru because he could no longer see the possibility of rapid growth in Konoha and in order to seek the power to kill Itachi Uchiha.

For Sasuke, who is still unaware of the truth behind the annihilation of the Uchiha clan, he still sees himself as a Konoha ninja and harbors a deep connection to Team 7.

Itachi Uchiha's words, "to prove my worth, I will kill the entire Uchiha clan," made Sasuke extremely resistant to indiscriminate killing.

Before learning the truth about Itachi Uchiha's massacre of his clan, Sasuke never killed anyone except for his truly irreconcilable enemies.

Sasuke's ambiguous attitude toward Konoha at this moment did not surprise Naruto.

"I only took away your eyes."

Naruto smiled at Sasuke's scrutinizing gaze.

He only answered Sasuke's questions about Kakashi.

He did not explain why he took Kakashi's Sharingan.

Upon hearing Naruto's treatment of Kakashi, a hint of relaxation, which even Sasuke himself didn't notice, inadvertently appeared deep in Sasuke's eyes.

It was precisely because they knew what Sasuke was thinking at that moment.

Naruto only realized that Team 7 from the past had reunited in the town three years later, as if by fate.

He chose to step in and rescue Sarutobi Asuma.

They stole Kakashi's Sharingan, but didn't kill him.

Sakura felt that Naruto's "any means necessary" approach to gaining power was unacceptable, especially considering that he stole Kakashi's Sharingan.

But when it comes to Sasuke, it seems less important.

Compared to what Sakura values, the "process" of Naruto taking Kakashi's Sharingan.

Sasuke cared about the "result" that Kakashi wasn't killed by Naruto.

After all, in order to obtain the power to kill Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke followed Orochimaru "by any means necessary".

Naruto needs to deal with the "bonds" he formed in Konoha in the past using his own methods—

—Rescuing the Jonin who led Team 10, who had a good relationship with Team 7;

—To seize Kakashi's power, but without driving him to the brink of destruction—

Naruto needs to make his behavior conform to Sasuke's ideology at this time.

They are ruthless in their methods, yet they maintain a sufficient bottom line.

It also implies to Sasuke that Naruto's defection from Konoha was also a "last resort".

The reason Naruto went to such lengths to get close to Sasuke was certainly not to reconnect with him.

Rather, it was for—

Naruto changed the subject: "You haven't left the forest in all this time. Can I take that as acceptance of my proposal?"

Regarding Naruto's earlier suggestion to cooperate with Sasuke to fight against "Akatsuki".

Naruto marked Hidan's head with the Flying Thunder God seal; he did not deliberately hide the Flying Thunder God seal.

Upon seeing the Flying Thunder God seal, Sasuke naturally realized Naruto's motives.

Sasuke's "slow" movement through the forest is proof of this.

Like the ninjas of Konoha, Sasuke naturally knew about Naruto's Flying Thunder God Technique.

However, no one knows the limit of Naruto's ability to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport.

Therefore, Sasuke's slow and leisurely movement can be seen as a different kind of waiting for Naruto.

"Orochimaru is the one who fears Akatsuki like the plague; I'm only interested in Itachi, who joined Akatsuki."

Sasuke stated his position.

His attitude was awkward.

It seemed like a refusal, yet also like a willingness to offer Naruto some help.

But Naruto also understood that Sasuke never thought he would survive Itachi Uchiha's attack.

He had already witnessed those Mangekyou Sharingan, which surpassed ordinary Sharingan, on the night the Uchiha clan was wiped out.

Sasuke, who only knew the method of "severing bonds" to awaken his Sharingan, could not accept that he would make the same choice as Itachi in order to avenge himself against Itachi.

That's why Sasuke in the original story used his three-tomoe Sharingan to fight against Itachi Uchiha.

Sasuke knew from the beginning that his revenge against Itachi would result in a near-death experience.

He had to shatter the hopes of those who wished he would return to his former self after his revenge was complete.

Even now, when facing Naruto, he still maintains this seemingly heartless and awkward attitude.

Naruto attacked the Akatsuki organization because he was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, one of the tailed beasts that the Akatsuki had been collecting.

Naruto and Akatsuki are natural enemies.

However, Sasuke's attack on Akatsuki was more of a scheme by Orochimaru, a traitor to Akatsuki, to use Sasuke's power to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

This is the serpent's open and undisguised scheme.

Sasuke was also happy to be Orochimaru's "sword" for a while.

Sasuke did need to gather information about Itachi, and he also needed to slightly weaken Akatsuki to prevent Akatsuki from interfering with Sasuke's revenge against Itachi at a crucial moment.

However, Sasuke will not get too entangled in the fight against the Akatsuki organization.

The deeper Sasuke fought against Akatsuki, the more information Itachi learned about him.

Sasuke was well aware that there was a disparity in strength between him and Itachi.

Therefore, he must do his best to maintain the information gap between himself and Itachi.

Preserve your already slim chances of winning.

That's why Sasuke was hesitant to accept Naruto's invitation to cooperate in fighting Akatsuki.

Sasuke was unaware that this very caution was exactly what Naruto needed.

Naruto deliberately approached Sasuke for the reason that—

"Actually, I also have something I want to do to get in touch with Itachi Uchiha, so our goals are similar in some ways."

Naruto's words startled Sasuke.