"So if the Rasengan can be infused with Wind Release chakra… then could you add other natures too? Like fire? Lightning?" Jiraiya's eyes lit up as the idea struck him.
If their future enemies were all monsters like that, then maybe it was time to upgrade his own arsenal. Wind Release: Rasenshuriken was a brilliant concept.
What shocked him even more, though, was the Tailed Beast cloak Uzumaki Naruto had been wearing. A mantle formed entirely from Tailed Beast chakra, so dense it was visible to the naked eye. Only a Tailed Beast could produce something like that.
Which meant… in the future, Naruto could already borrow the Nine-Tails' chakra?
"He's starting to look more and more like Kushina…"
Jiraiya murmured.
Inside the scene, Sakura glanced at Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke as they approached. A quiet emotion welled up in her chest.
"Lady Tsunade… I think I've caught up to them."
Memories flooded her mind. All those past battles, the three of them fighting side by side.
Yet over and over again, she had grown under their protection.
She had watched their backs disappear into the distance, further and further away, while she stood there powerless.
That's right. Ever since I became a Genin, I told myself I'd be a ninja who could stand on her own. But in every fight, I hid behind Sasuke and Naruto. They were always the ones protecting the weak me. I hated that version of myself. That's why I swore… one day, they'd be the ones looking at my back instead.
So she had gone to Tsunade personally and begged to become her student.
To her surprise, Tsunade agreed.
In her memories, the past three years unfolded piece by piece. Learning medical ninjutsu. Learning how to fight. Pushing herself forward step by step, chasing after the two of them.
At that moment, everyone finally understood what Kaede Kitahara had meant by "the strongest genjutsu scene."
They still did not fully grasp the joke behind it, but they could sense he was teasing something.
They just did not see what was so funny.
The punch Sakura had thrown earlier had already displayed Kage Level destructive power.
In that context, what was so ridiculous about her saying she had caught up to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke?
In everyone's mind, even if Naruto and Sasuke were stronger, it would not be by much.
They were all standing within the Kage Level realm now.
Back in the day, Tsunade had been considered the weakest in pure combat among the Legendary Sannin. But who would dare say she did not deserve that title?
"I see…" Uchiha Sasuke's lips curved faintly.
He realized he had never truly understood Sakura.
Or maybe he had never tried.
He had branded himself an avenger. Romance and feelings meant nothing to him. Not just Sakura. He had no interest in anyone.
Revenge was all he had room for.
But now, he had to admit it.
He needed to look at Sakura in a new light.
Hatake Kakashi felt the same.
He even felt a trace of guilt.
In Team 7, his attention had always been focused on Naruto and Sasuke. Rarely on Sakura. He had no idea she had carried so much inside her heart.
To rise from Genin to Kage Level combat strength in just three years… that required more than effort. It was beyond effort.
At her age, he had only just climbed to the level of an elite Jonin. After that, he had been stuck there for the rest of his life.
Which meant Sakura was not just hardworking.
She was a genius.
A true medical ninjutsu genius, just like Tsunade.
If that did not qualify as talent, then what did his so-called title of Konoha's Number One Technician even mean?
The only difference was that she had been born a civilian.
Without the guidance of a Kage Level father from an early age, she had not been able to unlock her potential as quickly.
That was common among civilian ninja.
Uzumaki Naruto had been similar. Technically, he was not a civilian. But in reality, he might as well have been.
So even though he would one day reach such heights, in the academy he had still been dead last.
Clan ninja could develop their talent early. Even if they lacked raw ability, their families could find ways to compensate.
But for a civilian genius to realize their potential, the road was far more difficult.
Unless you were Namikaze Minato.
Before anyone could fully sort through those thoughts, the scene shifted again.
The three of them bit their fingers at the same time, preparing to summon.
Tsunade and Jiraiya's eyes gleamed instantly.
They knew exactly what was coming.
"Sweep the field, close in when the moment's right. Easy."
Uchiha Sasuke spoke first as he summoned.
"Not only can it leap straight to the enemy in one bound, it can attack and defend at the same time."
Uzumaki Naruto followed.
"Even if you're badly hurt, I can stay by your side and heal you anytime. I can do that now!"
Sakura adjusted the ninja forehead protector bearing the kanji for "ninja" and completed her hand seals.
All three shouted in unison.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
In an instant, three massive Summoned Beasts appeared, each towering like a small mountain.
It was as if the scene of the Legendary Sannin summoning had been replayed.
The only difference was that Manda had been replaced by Aoda.
And Gamabunta… had been replaced by Gamakichi.
"I never thought I'd see the three-way summoning again."
From a distance, Namikaze Minato appeared. A cloak of Nine-Tails chakra burned around him as well.
"Heh heh…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled softly, remembering what his three students had looked like in their youth.
Uzumaki Naruto glanced down at the toad beneath his feet and froze.
"Wait… why is it Gamakichi?"
"Dad's busy mediating something, so I came instead. Surprised?" Gamakichi replied.
"No, no, no. How did you get this huge? This is even more shocking than Akamaru back then!"
"That's because you humans grow too slow," Gamakichi said. "So, what did you summon me for?"
Naruto pointed toward the colossal monster in the distance, its body like a mountain range.
"See that big guy in the center? Jump straight to him in one go."
"Lord Sasuke, your command."
Aoda lowered his head respectfully toward Uchiha Sasuke.
Everyone suddenly remembered Manda from the earlier footage.
This blue snake's aura was no weaker than Manda's. Yet his temperament was completely different.
Polite. Controlled.
Nothing like Orochimaru's Manda, who demanded human sacrifices and even turned on his master.
The gap between snakes was absurd.
"Just charge straight ahead. I'll handle the true body at the deepest point."
Uchiha Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan spun within his eyes.
Only now, with the camera zoomed in, did everyone notice something strange.
His Sharingan looked different from before.
"Does the Mangekyo Sharingan's pattern… change?" Hatake Kakashi rubbed his chin, puzzled.
There was far too little information about the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo Sharingan.
He had tried using his former Anbu clearance to search for answers, but found almost nothing.
After the clan's annihilation, their archives had been sealed away in the Anbu vault. And he was no longer captain.
From what little he had gathered, each Mangekyo Sharingan seemed to awaken a unique ocular ability.
In Kaede Kitahara's diary footage, they had seen Uchiha Itachi's Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu.
They had seen Uchiha Sasuke's Amaterasu and Flame Control.
They had even seen that suspected Uchiha Madara's space-manipulating ability.
And there was his own Mangekyo ability, Kamui, which Kaede Kitahara had named for him.
More precisely, it belonged to Obito.
But did the Mangekyo's pattern itself change?
He had never heard of such a thing.
Maybe it was simply a feature. After all, it was called a "kaleidoscope."
Or…
Could the Mangekyo Sharingan evolve further?
The thought sent a chill through him.
It could not be, right?
Among all those holding the diary, the one trembling most violently was Uchiha Itachi.
As he stared at Sasuke's new Mangekyo pattern, one that faintly carried elements of his own, his entire body shook.
He could suppress the tremors caused by his bloodline illness.
But now, facing the brand-new Mangekyo Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes, one he had never seen before, he could not stop himself from trembling.
"I did it…"
Uchiha Itachi whispered.
Others might not understand.
But he did.
That was what he had pursued all along.
The Mangekyo Sharingan he had wanted Sasuke to possess.
Not an ordinary Mangekyo Sharingan.
That was the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
He had never dared to be certain his plan would succeed.
But now, seeing the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan shining in Sasuke's eyes…
He could not stop the tremble of joy.