Chapter 586: The Terrifying Dictator Hokage
The Eighth Gate... the Gate of Death?
Naruto's shadow clone froze in place. Watching Namikaze Yukiaki disappear in the blink of an eye, it fell into deep thought.
If he remembered correctly, the Eight Gates was Bushy Brows-sensei's signature technique. Kakashi-sensei had once explained it to him. Opening each Gate placed tremendous strain on the body, and opening the Eighth Gate meant sacrificing your life.
The shadow clone felt this was beyond what it could handle. It immediately dispelled itself, sending its memories back to the original Naruto and leaving the decision to him.
Naruto, who was still in the library, was in shock over the truth about his identity in this world. After receiving the memories from his shadow clone, he became numb all over again.
According to the information he had just read, Guy and Rock Lee in this world were the "slacker duo." They practiced something called the Five-Day Breathing Method. Don't ask why it was called Five-Day—they needed two days off every week.
Meanwhile, the Eight Gates had become Sunagakure's signature technique.
So it made perfect sense for Namikaze Yukiaki, as a Sunagakure ninja, to know it.
The problem was that no one had ever opened the Eighth Gate before. No one knew its true power... or its cost.
So after opening the Gate of Death, Yukiaki had been overjoyed, believing that his anger and competitive spirit had pushed him beyond his limits.
"Forget it. I don't know anything."
Naruto decided to play dumb and pretend he had never met Yukiaki-sensei today.
The other two teachers had already died in accidents. One more dying wouldn't be anything unusual.
Besides, with all the teachers dead, he wouldn't have to go through training anymore.
Even if Mom wanted to find new teachers, it would take time.
Feeling relieved, Naruto continued reading.
This time, he wanted to find out what had happened to Sasuke in this world.
Opening the Uchiha Clan's file, Naruto frowned.
"Why is it so thin?"
There was only one person's file inside.
Uchiha Sasuke.
"That's strange. Did Sasuke's clan get wiped out in this world too?"
Naruto scratched his head.
But after thinking about it, the NPC guiding him had only said that his parents were alive in this world. It had never said Sasuke's parents were alive.
That wasn't strange at all.
If Sasuke were the one experiencing this world, maybe his parents would be alive instead.
Still, the records inside were incredibly bizarre.
The Uchiha Clan possessed the Sharingan, a kekkei genkai. According to the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, they were a clan born with innate kindness.
Because the Sharingan could only awaken and evolve by helping others and earning their recognition, praise, and admiration.
The founding of Konoha had happened because the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, seized upon this weakness of Uchiha Madara and constantly forced him to help others. For the sake of evolving his Sharingan, Madara had accepted countless humiliating demands from the First Hokage.
According to the current records, Sasuke had surpassed even Madara.
Madara became clan head at twenty-six.
Sasuke became clan head at seven.
Madara tried to lead the clan out of Konoha at twenty-eight but failed because not a single clan member wanted to follow him.
Sasuke led the entire clan out of Konoha successfully at thirteen.
However...
The naturally kind-hearted Sasuke had a rather strange hobby.
After fighting the Raikage, the Raikage lost an arm.
After fighting Killer B, the Eight-Tails lost one of its tentacles.
After fighting Danzō...
Danzō also lost an arm.
"..."
Reading this, Naruto suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Why did Sasuke in this world feel so creepy?
If Sasuke ever came looking for a fight...
Would he lose an arm too?
'Could Sasuke have some kind of hand fetish...?'
"But Sasuke in this world is actually this strong?"
Naruto was genuinely surprised by Sasuke's achievements.
If they were compared purely by battle records, this world's Sasuke had accomplished even more than the Sasuke from reality.
Of course, the real Sasuke had already begun using the Rinnegan, so he was still stronger overall. But because the ninja world was largely peaceful, Sasuke had few opportunities to display his strength.
Next came the classified documents.
Everything inside had been personally recorded by Hokage Uzumaki Kushina.
It turned out...
The Uchiha Clan had been exterminated by Kushina together with Uchiha Itachi, the traitor of the clan.
Because the Uchiha were a clan born with innate kindness, they refused to go along with corruption and constantly interfered with Kushina's dictatorship.
After repeatedly failing to persuade his father and the rest of the clan, Itachi had no choice but to wipe them all out.
Itachi's only request had been to spare Sasuke.
He willingly accepted all the blame himself. He believed that by becoming the ultimate villain, Sasuke would eventually defeat him, earn the villagers' admiration, and evolve his Sharingan.
After reading that, Naruto's back, which had already been drenched in cold sweat because of Sasuke's obsession with hands, was soaked all over again.
'Mom in this world...'
'She's terrifying.'
'You could even call her evil.'
He continued reading.
Then he came across an even more horrifying passage.
After the massacre, the Mangekyō Sharingan of the previous Uchiha Clan Head, Uchiha Fugaku, Sasuke's father, had mysteriously disappeared.
The truth was...
Kushina had gouged out Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan and turned it into a pair of glasses.
Using those eyes, she read the contents of the Uchiha Stone Tablet...
And altered it.
She changed only a single character.
In the sentence: "Combining the power of the Uchiha and the Senju gives birth to the power of all creation."
She removed the character for "Sen" from "Senju."
Which meant...
The sentence now effectively read: "Combining the power of the Uchiha and hands gives birth to the power of all creation."
That...
Was why Sasuke loved hands so much.
So Mom...
Was the mastermind behind everything...
After finishing the files, Naruto returned them to the archivist and walked out into the street in a daze.
He had originally thought this would be a cheerful illusion world.
Why did it now feel like a horror story?
Uneasiness filled his heart.
He suddenly wanted to head to Amegakure and find Shiromo and the Akatsuki.
Although the Six Paths NPC at the beginning had told him to oppose the Akatsuki and create a furry-burning world...
Naruto now felt that the Akatsuki in this world might actually still be the good guys.
As he walked, he arrived in front of the supermarket where he had rescued his father yesterday.
Today, there were no villagers blocking anyone outside.
Naruto reached into his pocket and took out his wallet.
Opening it, he found far more spending money than he had expected.
The warmth of having money instantly eased the anxiety in his heart.
'Looks like not everything in this world is bad.'
Taking big strides, Naruto entered the supermarket, intending to buy something.
"Yo, Naruto. Skipping meals again and buying instant noodles today?"
The moment Naruto walked in, the cashier greeted him.
The familiar voice made Naruto freeze.
"Shiromo-nii? What are you doing here?"
Naruto was dumbfounded.
Why was Shiromo in Konoha in this world?
Wait...
Shiromo was talking to him so casually.
Did that mean they had known each other for a long time in this world?
Were they already friends?
"What kind of question is that? If I'm not here, where else would I be? You think everyone is like you, Young Master? You don't even need a job to have food on the table."
Cashier Shiromo complained.
"Yeah... I guess."
Naruto responded absentmindedly.
He casually bought a cup of instant noodles, paid for it, then returned to the library archives once more.
He had still been too careless.
Because his intelligence gathering had been incomplete, that embarrassing situation earlier had happened.
He needed to read a lot more.
Naruto requested a file containing information about Shiromo.
(End of this chapter)