Hearing his brother's thoughts. Seeing his past. Understanding the tangled hatred between the Uchiha clan and the Hidden Leaf.
It was too much.
The pain tore through Sasuke, and something deep inside him answered. Yin-attribute chakra was secreted in his brain, stirring the dormant power in his blood.
His scarlet eyes shifted.
The two tomoe spun… then split.
Three.
If his body had been stronger… if he carried Hashirama's cells… Tobirama almost believed this boy might have awakened the Mangekyō on the spot, just like the one Madara once manipulated.
But Sasuke wasn't there yet.
What he did have… was darkness.
And that darkness fed the curse mark Orochimaru left behind.
It spread.
From the three-tomoe pattern at his neck, black markings crawled across his body like living ink, swallowing half of him in seconds.
"Sasuke!" Sakura's voice trembled as she looked at him.
Naruto, strangely calm, asked, "Sasuke… why aren't you wearing your Leaf headband?"
"…Huh?"
Sasuke blinked, thrown off. Sakura followed his gaze back to the projection.
The Sasuke in the image…
He really wasn't wearing it.
Not just that. His clothes didn't match Konoha's style either.
Sakura forced a laugh. "M-Maybe it's on his jacket or something? You know how his hair gets longer after he transforms… it'd be easy for the headband to fall off, right?"
Kakashi said nothing.
He had noticed it too. He just hadn't expected Naruto to pick up on it first.
Sasuke's thoughts were already spiraling. The curse mark pulsed against his skin, dragging his emotions deeper into the dark. The Uchiha. The village. The Second. The Third.
And Danzō…
His teeth clenched.
Then Naruto's question reached him again.
Sasuke let out a cold laugh. "Who knows? Maybe I ended up like Itachi."
"You bastard!"
"Naruto."
Kakashi grabbed him before he could rush forward. "Don't lose your head. And you… Sasuke."
Sasuke's gaze was sharp, almost feral. "Kakashi. You still think you can lecture me with Konoha's rules?"
Silence fell.
The Third Hokage said nothing.
Itachi said nothing.
Then Tobirama spoke.
"Hey, Uchiha brat. Let me remind you of something." His voice was flat. "Your mother and your brother are both alive right now."
Sasuke's head snapped toward him. "Are you threatening me… Second Hokage?!"
"Sasuke, that's enough!" Naruto snapped. "Get a grip, you idiot!"
"What would you know, dead last?!"
A fist slammed into his face.
Kakashi didn't stop it this time.
"Wake up!" Naruto's voice dropped, rough with anger. "Stop acting like the whole world's out to get you, you idiot!"
That voice.
That tone.
Kakashi froze.
It's the same…
The same voice from that unseen future.
"You didn't become Hokage… so what right do you have to insult the Hokage? And besides… you have no right to insult my dad… the Hokage!! You bastard!!!"
It clicked.
That line…
It had come from Naruto in the future.
Which meant… one day, Naruto would learn the truth about his father.
And even then…
He would still respect the Hokage. Still hold onto his respect for Minato-sensei.
Kakashi stared at him, stunned.
Naruto…
You really are something else.
Even he, Kakashi, had felt shaken by everything the visions revealed. Doubt had crept in.
But Naruto?
The one who had every reason to hate the village… to hate the Hokage…
He never wavered.
Sasuke didn't know any of that.
All he felt was rage.
"What did you say? You wanna fight?!" His voice rose. "You dead last—"
"I'm going to beat some sense into you!" Naruto shot back. "For Aunt Mikoto!"
"You don't get to—"
"Enough."
A blur. Using the Flying Thunder God, Tobirama stood between them.
One hand caught Sasuke's fist. The other stopped Naruto's.
"Learn to listen before you act," he said, eyes cold. "Hotheaded Uchiha brat."
He held them there, effortless.
"What I meant was this," Tobirama continued. "Because of this 'Terrifying Quiz,' your mother has been revived. You and your brother haven't reached that point yet. Nothing is set in stone."
"There's still time."
"Instead of drowning in anger over something that hasn't even happened… why not think about how to change the ending?"
Sasuke froze.
A different… ending?
Tobirama pressed on, his voice steady, persuasive.
"The force behind these visions is beyond anything we understand. It may reveal even more. And if these quizzes can continue bringing the dead back…"
"Then the regrets of history… might not be beyond repair."
His gaze locked onto Sasuke.
"So tell me, Uchiha Sasuke."
"What will you choose?"
"To follow the path in the vision… become a rogue ninja… and try to destroy Konoha?"
"Or stay… rebuild your clan… and stop your brother from dying?"
Sasuke's pupils shrank.
"...!"
"Sasuke, you idiot!" Naruto cut in. "If you become a rogue ninja, what about Aunt Mikoto?! If you're really that much of a coward, then she shouldn't have been—"
He stopped.
The words died in his throat.
Even in anger… he couldn't say it.
She shouldn't have been revived.
"…Sorry," Naruto muttered quietly, turning away.
Sasuke knew exactly what he had almost said.
And yet…
Over the past few days, he'd been the one lashing out. Taking his anger out on the people closest to him.
On his teammates.
On his friends.
"…Naruto."
The curse mark receded slightly.
Mito spoke up then, her voice calm. "The vision isn't over. It's just paused."
Her eyes shifted to the markings on Sasuke's body.
"This curse mark… resembles the Yin Seal on my forehead. But they're fundamentally different."
"The Yin Seal stores excess chakra. When it's needed, it releases it all at once."
"But yours…"
She studied it carefully.
"It grants power quickly. But that power isn't truly yours."
"Like the Mangekyō Sharingan… it changes you. Makes you more extreme. More self-centered. It dulls your ability to see the goodwill around you."
Her expression darkened.
"In the end… you become someone like Madara."
Sasuke's breath hitched.
He remembered the vision.
The voice of Orochimaru echoing from the mark.
That massive white serpent… the Eight-Headed Serpent…
And the crow-shaped Itachi, calmly planning to rip the curse out and seal it with the Totsuka Blade.
Kakashi stepped forward.
"Lady Mito… when it comes to sealing techniques, the Uzumaki clan is unmatched. I've only learned a little from… someone."
His eyes flicked briefly toward Naruto's back before continuing.
"I'm not confident I can handle Sasuke's curse mark. So… could I ask you to seal it for him?"
Mito smiled faintly. "I was planning to."
"Before the next vision begins, I have something to discuss with Tobirama. Once I return, I'll seal it immediately."
Kakashi bowed slightly. "Thank you."
Tobirama: "..."
Tobirama mentally sweatdropped.
Still, resigned to his task, he placed a hand on Mito's shoulder.
In the next instant, they vanished.
Flying Thunder God.
The two of them reappeared in an empty, distant field.
Silence swallowed them whole.