Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Naruto's words merely planted a seed of doubt about Konoha in Sasuke's heart.

This led Sasuke to begin wondering for the first time what role Konoha played on the night Itachi Uchiha wiped out the Uchiha clan.

The seed that Naruto planted in Sasuke's heart is exactly what Naruto needs.

Once Sasuke begins to question Konoha, Itachi Uchiha's plan to "mold" Sasuke into a hero who killed the village traitor will become uncontrollable.

Naruto did this not because he wanted to help Sasuke "save" Itachi Uchiha.

If Sasuke fails to become "Konoha's hero" according to Itachi's own wishes, Itachi will reveal Shisui's hidden Mangekyou Sharingan.

In the original story, before his duel with Sasuke, Itachi Uchiha approached Naruto, who was determined to bring Sasuke back to Konoha from the darkness.

Having learned of the deep bond between Naruto and Sasuke, he entrusted "Kotoamatsukami" to Naruto, so that if he died at Sasuke's hands, Sasuke, standing on the edge of the abyss, could be pulled back by Naruto.

Even if it's a deception using illusion, we must prevent Sasuke from falling into endless darkness.

Naruto found Itachi's behavior ridiculous.

He tried every means to prevent Sasuke from falling into darkness, but never considered whether Konoha, which had made the same mistake, or him, brought more darkness to Sasuke.

Itachi Uchiha's pursuit of peace was, in some ways, even more extreme than that of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha.

Itachi Uchiha's understanding of peace was so extreme that even though Naruto knew that the peace that Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha believed in could not be achieved, he could still understand their initial motivation for choosing this path to pursue peace. However, Naruto did not understand Itachi Uchiha's behavior from the beginning. The peace that Itachi Uchiha pursued was different from that of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

Uchiha Itachi longed for the same "no killing" peace as Senju Hashirama, hoping to build a friendly bridge between the Uchiha clan and the village through negotiation and verbal exchanges.

However, in order to achieve this goal, he personally annihilated his own blood relatives, and the cruelty of his methods was even worse than that of Madara Uchiha.

They possess power but do not know how to resist; instead, they use their power to aid and abet evil.

He then embellished this action with the words "righteousness," making it seem as if he had made a great sacrifice.

But none of this has anything to do with Naruto.

Like Sasuke, Naruto also defected from Konoha, but he was unable to obtain "Kotoamatsukami" from Itachi Uchiha through the original story.

To ensure that the Mangekyou Sharingan of "Kotoamatsukami" could actually appear.

What Naruto needs to do is to actively disrupt Itachi's plans for Sasuke by making contact with him.

This forces Itachi Uchiha to reveal the Mangekyou Sharingan, another one that Shisui Uchiha entrusted to Itachi, after discovering that Sasuke was not acting according to his own plan.

He used "Kotoamatsukami" to force Sasuke to follow his plan.

What Naruto needs is the "Kotoamatsukami" Mangekyou Sharingan that Itachi Uchiha possessed.

In addition, Naruto could indeed use Sasuke to help him deal with the Akatsuki organization.

Chapter 37 Assistance

Sasuke's eyes flickered, a sign of inner turmoil.

This indicates that Sasuke is beginning to doubt something he has always believed in.

Sasuke never really considered that the annihilation of the Uchiha clan many years ago might be related to the Konoha leadership who controlled the village.

The attitude Itachi showed to Sasuke on the night he annihilated the Uchiha clan made it seem as if the destruction of the Uchiha clan was merely a whimsical choice made by Itachi after gaining power.

He arbitrarily used the lives of his people to test his own strength and capacity.

He then casually let Sasuke go, sparing his life.

It's like the crazy behavior of a simple madman in the eyes of ordinary people.

A madman's words and actions do not require logical justification.

Therefore, no one knows what the madman will do next, and there is no way to prevent it.

But through Naruto's words, Sasuke recalled the strange atmosphere within the Uchiha clan that he had felt but could not understand when he was only a few years old.

That strange atmosphere, the source of the memories that Sasuke could still find in his mind, began when Itachi Uchiha successfully joined the Konoha Anbu, which was directly under the Hokage.

Itachi Uchiha was so outstanding as an older brother that no matter how hard Sasuke tried, in the eyes of their father Fugaku Uchiha, he was just a clumsy imitation of Itachi.

In the eyes of his father, Fugaku Uchiha, Sasuke and Itachi were both his children, so Sasuke's "excellence" was only natural.

However, Sasuke never surpassed Itachi, so when it came to Sasuke's efforts, his father Fugaku Uchiha always used Itachi as a model for praise.

"Sasuke, keep chasing after your brother and look up to him."

Sasuke's father, Fugaku Uchiha, had said these words to him countless times, so many that Sasuke had lost count, and he had deeply etched them into his mind, never to forget them.

Sasuke never received his father's approval.

Sasuke could hardly steal even a fleeting glance of his father's attention from his older brother, who was among the most outstanding and exceptionally talented even within the Uchiha clan, a clan known for producing geniuses.

It wasn't just his father's gaze; his father also placed all his dreams on his older brother, Uchiha Itachi.

But all of this began to change when Itachi joined the Hidden Leaf Village's Anbu as his father had hoped.

The arguments between the father and the ferret became more and more frequent.

It didn't surprise Sasuke that a strict father would express his dissatisfaction with his child.

But Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, always appeared gentle in young Sasuke's eyes.

Itachi Uchiha never initiates arguments with others, even when he has irreconcilable differences of opinion with them.

Itachi Uchiha would also take the initiative to back down, preventing the situation from escalating into an argument.

...After joining the Konoha Anbu, which was directly under the Hokage, Uchiha Itachi underwent a change, and he developed a conflict with his father that could not be resolved with words.

The conflict escalated to the point that Sasuke's father, who had always made him follow in the footsteps of his older brother Itachi Uchiha, told him to stop following Itachi.

As for Itachi Uchiha, he not only isolated his father, but also himself and the entire Uchiha clan.

All of this is because...

...Uchiha Itachi's identity as a member of the Konoha Anbu.

In that sense, Uchiha Shisui—the one Itachi regarded as an older brother, the one Sasuke, though he didn't meet often, could still sense the gentleness emanating from him.

Uchiha Shisui's death also occurred after Uchiha Itachi joined Konoha's Anbu.

On the night that Itachi Uchiha annihilated the Uchiha clan, he personally told Sasuke that he killed Shisui Uchiha in order to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Sasuke had never thought about these things before.

But he was no longer a seven or eight-year-old ninja academy student, nor was he the naive boy who had just become a genin at the age of twelve or thirteen three years ago.

He witnessed too much darkness around Orochimaru, and saw Orochimaru's hateful desires that made people do evil.

With Naruto's slight guidance, Sasuke was still unable to find the reason for his inner turmoil and doubt.

However, it also allows us to glimpse the essence of the problem.

To uncover the essence of this phenomenon and obtain the complete answer.

We need to find someone who knows the answer.

That is to say, it is Uchiha Itachi.

Sasuke's attitude toward revenge against Itachi Uchiha remained unchanged.

However, because of what Naruto told him about what the Konoha higher-ups did to Naruto three years ago, he had an additional answer he needed to know before killing Uchiha Itachi.

In the three years since he left Konoha to follow Orochimaru, and now, upon reuniting with Naruto who had disappeared for three years, Sasuke felt more astonishment than all those three years combined.

However, Sasuke quickly composed himself and re-established his cold demeanor around himself.

"no problem."

Sasuke suddenly spoke, his dark eyes fixed on Naruto, "Cooperating with you to deal with 'Akatsuki' is no problem."

Naruto simply returned Sasuke's gaze.

The two locked eyes, and Naruto's expression showed that he was not surprised by Sasuke's choice.

“I am also very interested in the information you want to know from Itachi… I will help you get the answers from Itachi—but I will not allow you to interfere with my revenge against Itachi.”

Even now, Sasuke still believes that the feud between him and Itachi is a private matter between two Uchiha, a pair of brothers.

Sasuke did not object to the help he received from others during his revenge against Itachi Uchiha, which was exactly what he did when he established the "Hawk" team in the original work.

But in the final moments of his revenge, Sasuke was unwilling to involve anyone else.

Sasuke is waiting for Naruto's answer.

If Naruto objects to Sasuke taking revenge on Itachi alone.

The cooperation that Sasuke agreed to would immediately become invalid.

But Naruto... how could he possibly object?

"I understand, I won't interfere."

Naruto agreed to Sasuke's request.

Although Naruto could not resonate with Itachi Uchiha's extreme views on "peace".

But Naruto never denied how terrifying Itachi Uchiha was.

In the original work, Itachi Uchiha steadfastly walked his own ninja way, which was not recognized by the world, from beginning to end.

He meticulously planned and executed his ninja way, taking into account his own broken and battered physical condition.

They were all successful.

Every step was a risky gamble, and although the process was tortuous, the result of each step achieved Itachi Uchiha's own expected outcome.

People who are about to die are not afraid of death.

Naruto himself had experienced this deeply three years ago.

The instinct to live is that of a dying person, but if they can no longer live, they are capable of doing anything that aligns with their beliefs.

Naruto's actions destroyed Konoha.

Itachi Uchiha, on the other hand, lured Sasuke to become the hero who killed him—not just Sasuke, but also Orochimaru.

Once Sasuke's "talent" is insufficient, he will become a vessel for Orochimaru's Reanimation Jutsu.

But Itachi Uchiha still did it.

A guy who is not afraid of death and regards his ideals and dreams as his life goals is inherently difficult to deal with.