"Brother!"
Shisui Uchiha could already guess what the other clan members were thinking at this moment, and the embarrassment was so strong his toes nearly curled into the ground. Those clansmen all thought Itachi Uchiha had sided with Konoha and had even asked him to keep an eye on Itachi. In reality, Shisui himself had always been the one standing firmly on Konoha's side.
Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke and Child Sasuke were stunned to realize that their brother had even anticipated the possibility that they would grow to hate Konoha. Not only that, he had entrusted the ultimate genjutsu capable of twisting one's will, Kotoamatsukami, to Naruto Uzumaki.
He had calculated even that far.
Was it that Itachi understood him too well?
Giving Kotoamatsukami to Naruto was a decision born from Itachi's absolute trust in him.
When he thought about how Naruto had earned that kind of trust from Itachi, while Itachi always described him, his own younger brother, as a blank slate who was easily manipulated by others…
It made him furious.
No matter how you looked at it, at least in Itachi's eyes, he had lost to that dead-last idiot.
...
"That Nagato… after absorbing the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki's chakra, he seems even stronger than Pain!"
"He's really hard to deal with!!"
"What is that?!"
A red chakra armor…
"Is that Susanoo?!"
"It's different from Sasuke Uchiha's Susanoo from before?!"
"This is…"
The scene where Itachi Uchiha used Susanoo to severely injure Danzo Shimura in the mission scroll world hadn't been seen by anyone else. So now, within Naruto's consciousness, those experiencing things from Naruto Uzumaki's perspective were seeing a Susanoo that wasn't Sasuke's purple one for the very first time.
When Itachi Uchiha controlled Susanoo and blew away half of Nagato's body with a single strike, Fugaku Uchiha froze completely.
Both Itachi and Sasuke… actually possessed Susanoo?!
The Uchiha were left speechless. Before this, the second son of the clan head's family, Sasuke Uchiha, had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and Susanoo. But now the eldest son, Itachi Uchiha, also wielded this legendary power said to belong to the Uchiha's myths?!
"Chibaku Tensei!"
This was the legendary special ninjutsu of the Sage of the Six Paths, a technique capable of sealing even the power Naruto released from the Eight-Tails!
Naruto shouted, "What do we do?! It's this jutsu again!!"
Panic surged through him, and even the Uchiha were visibly shaken.
"Calm down, Naruto. If getting sealed meant the end, then why are you still alive? Panicking won't help. What matters is calmly analyzing the weakness of every ninjutsu."
Uchiha: …
That's right. Over more than a decade, not only them, even the Nine-Tails' temperament had probably been reshaped by Naruto Uzumaki. He'd become impatient, straightforward, blunt, someone who spoke his mind and followed through, energetic and relentless…
"That black sphere is the core of this technique. If we destroy it, we should be able to stop it. The three of us attacking at the same time with our strongest moves should work."
"Yasaka Magatama!"
"Tailed Beast Ball!"
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
Yasaka Magatama?!
So Susanoo even had a move like that?!
Young Obito had successively experienced being Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke and Naruto within the illusion. He had personally felt the power of Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke's complete Susanoo, and had also seen Shisui and Itachi's Susanoo up close when they fought Danzo. The envy was so intense he was practically drooling.
At the same time, Fugaku Uchiha's two sons really were outstanding.
Awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan was probably already the limit of his own talent. Susanoo, a power that only direct-line geniuses could awaken, was likely beyond his reach.
Ahhh! He really wanted to have Susanoo too!
But even his future self didn't seem to have it…
Boom!!!
That technique which had nearly taken Naruto's life earlier… actually failed!
Pshhk!
Nagato's Edo Tensei body was pierced straight through by Itachi Uchiha's Susanoo.
Finally free from the control of Edo Tensei Reincarnation, Nagato said, "Sorry, Itachi…"
"You've regained your senses? That's the Sword of Totsuka. It's the same method I used before to help seal the Orochimaru curse mark inside me."
Young Obito: Sword of Totsuka?
Most of the others didn't know either.
But they all saw it clearly. Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan and the power of Six Paths Pain, and who was effectively immortal thanks to Edo Tensei Reincarnation, was sealed into a gourd the moment the blade of Itachi's Susanoo pierced through him.
The strongest genjutsu, a sealing technique that rivaled Reaper Death Seal, the undying black flames of Amaterasu, and that technique from earlier that dragged Naruto and even their consciousness into a genjutsu space…
The faces of the Uchiha clan members darkened.
No matter what, the fact remained that Itachi had exterminated the clan. They couldn't truly bring themselves to understand what Itachi Uchiha had been thinking.
But honestly… that was a ridiculous number of trump cards.
Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke's mouth twitched. Back then, in that battle where their lives hung in the balance, had Itachi's strength been severely weakened because of his terminal illness? Or had it all been a performance, carefully holding back to give his little brother an opening without making it obvious?
Kotoamatsukami had been handed to Naruto, while Amaterasu had been left to him.
And if everything that happened to the Uchiha clan had never happened… if Shisui had lived…
Could Shisui have become the Uchiha clan's first Hokage?
The thought struck him out of nowhere, but in this world he was only a passerby.
He wouldn't forget that in his own world, Itachi was already dead.
"I'll deal with Edo Tensei Reincarnation," Itachi said. "Naruto, you go and face Madara."
After sealing Nagato, Itachi spoke with a consciousness rewritten by Kotoamatsukami.
Naruto yelled, "No! I'm going too! I'll carry this whole war on my shoulders!! This is my mission!"
That was exactly how the Uchiha felt as well. Now that they were all experiencing life as Naruto Uzumaki, they wanted the war to end as quickly as possible.
"You're stronger than you used to be."
Itachi remained as calm as ever. "Power that grows too quickly can make people lose sight of what matters most. Looks like you're no exception."
Naruto: "???"
Adult Obito and Rebellious Obito both froze, their heads full of question marks, completely unable to understand what Itachi meant.
Because their personalities were already so similar to Naruto's, this experience was almost like giving Rebellious Obito and Young Obito a chance to live a life where Madara Uchiha never used them.
A life where Obito Uchiha chased his dream of becoming Hokage and saved the world as a cool, heroic figure.
Compared to everyone else, the two of them were far more immersed. They truly treated Naruto Uzumaki as themselves, and themselves as Naruto Uzumaki.
Konoha ninja who stopped war, aiming for Hokage.
So when they heard Itachi say:
"Listen carefully, Naruto."
"The people in the village who used to hate you now admire you, acknowledge you, and accept you as a companion because you've always given them a place in your heart. You worked for their recognition and kept striving to protect the village. Everyone has seen that."
Naruto: "!!!"
It was a bit roundabout, but at that moment, Obito also understood what Itachi was trying to say.
"Naruto, you said you want to become Hokage, right?"
"Yeah!!"
Naruto nodded hard.
Obito Uchiha, along with the Uchiha inside Naruto's consciousness who had spent fifteen years living as Konoha ninja and fully blending into that identity, heard Itachi continue:
"Then you have to remember this…"
"It's not that becoming Hokage is what earns everyone's recognition."
"It's that only someone who's earned everyone's recognition can become Hokage!"
Naruto's expression jolted, and the Uchiha clan members within his consciousness all fell into thought as well.
Itachi said, "If you gain great power and get carried away, stop considering what the people want, and insist on doing everything your own way, then sooner or later you'll become the next Madara Uchiha."
Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke: !!!
I'm going to kill the current Five Kage and launch a revolution across the entire shinobi world!
Sasuke!! Think this through! Is the shinobi world you want to change really what everyone wants?!
Hmph. They don't need to understand. I'll inherit Itachi's will and carry out my justice from the shadows!!
"Sasuke! You're being too impulsive right now! The ninja world isn't as hopeless as you think. As long as we work together, we can definitely—"
"Shut up, Naruto. I won't listen to you anymore. You have only two choices: kill me and become Konoha's hero, or die by my hand like a stray dog."
Itachi's will…
Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke, at this moment, was also a restless fragment within Naruto Uzumaki's consciousness.
Those words Itachi spoke to redeem Naruto, by a twist of fate, also redeemed Sasuke himself. A younger brother who, at some unknown point, had become no different from Madara Uchiha. Drunk on overwhelming power, unable to see the people at the bottom, obsessed with forcing a revolution upon the ninja world.
Inheriting his brother's will. Walking in darkness.
That had all been… a complete misunderstanding of his brother's intent.
And the question of killing Naruto or being killed by him was something his brother had already posed to Naruto long ago.
Everything about him had been seen through by his brother from the very beginning.
At this moment, Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke clearly possessed the power to judge the Five Kage, power enough to punch a hole through the very ceiling of the ninja world's combat strength.
And yet, in this instant, he felt as small as a monkey that could never escape the Buddha's palm.
Held in the palm of a towering Itachi Uchiha.
Protected.
"Never forget your comrades."
Because of those words from Itachi, Naruto thought of the Konoha ninja who had always stood by his side.
The Uchiha remembered the days before they awakened the Sharingan, before they became far stronger than their companions. Back when they carried out D-rank and C-rank missions together, filled with simple joy.
Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke thought of the Naruto Uzumaki from his own world.
Rebellious Obito and Adult Obito thought of Rin, Kakashi, and all the Ninja Academy students of their generation.
They also thought of Minato-sensei, and of Kushina, who was just as warm and full of life, caring for them as deeply as Minato did.
All of them, these Uchiha…had already returned to the past.