Once Kakashi came up with the theory that Heaven's Will revolved around Naruto, the Child of Prophecy, it felt as though the clouds had finally parted and sunlight had broken through.
At last, he had found a glimmer of hope.
But Kakashi did not get carried away.
Instead, he immediately asked himself the reverse question:
Why hadn't Makoto mentioned this possibility in his letter?
Had Makoto simply failed to think of it?
No.
As the second-greatest Makoto believer in the shinobi world, Kakashi rejected that possibility immediately.
"I get it."
Kakashi came to his conclusion.
"Makoto doesn't believe Naruto can change."
Without realizing it, Kakashi had already left the beach and wandered back into Kirigakure proper.
Changing Naruto was not something he could accomplish alone.
He would need help from several sides.
And there was one particular "senior" with plenty of experience in changing people whom Kakashi could ask.
Conveniently enough, that very person happened to be in Kirigakure right now.
"Kisame?"
Kakashi had been so lost in thought that his attention was entirely focused inward, only snapping back to reality when Samehada—and then Kisame attached to it—wandered into his field of vision.
Kakashi vaguely remembered that in Akatsuki, Kisame and Samehada—
No.
Kisame and Itachi were partners and often carried out missions together.
Unless those ridiculous rumors were true about "Itachi constantly putting Kisame under genjutsu so Kisame thought they were running missions as a pair when he had actually been alone the entire time," then Itachi should be somewhere nearby.
"Itachi? Uchiha Itachi! I need to talk to you!"
Kakashi looked around.
When he failed to spot Itachi anywhere, he simply started shouting.
It was exactly the same tactic Obito had used inside Engraved Tsukuyomi when trying to summon White Zetsu.
A crow flew down from a tree and landed in front of Kakashi.
It blinked twice.
Then took off again.
Kakashi immediately understood and followed it.
A short while later, he found Uchiha Itachi deeper in the forest.
Kakashi did not bother with small talk.
True to his nature, he opened with the kind of statement that went straight to the point and told Itachi everything.
First, he explained that the Second Hokage had effectively designated him as Konoha's next Hokage and assigned him the mission of changing Konoha's culture of bullying.
"Kakashi, you should understand that Konoha is not the only village with this problem."
Itachi spoke calmly.
"As far as I know, Sunagakure's Kazekage, Gaara, and Kumogakure's Killer B were both bullied when they were young."
"Itachi, enough."
Kakashi's expression sharpened.
"At this point, everyone already knows who you really are. Stop doing that."
Itachi blinked.
"Are you worried someone will suddenly become the designated eavesdropper because the two of us are discussing something privately?
"Or are you testing how loyal I am to Konoha?"
Kakashi's tone became more serious.
"Forget the fact that the bullying problem in other villages isn't nearly as severe as Konoha's.
"Even if it were worse, so what?
"Does another village having a bigger problem mean we can ignore our own?
"Our goal isn't to compete with everyone else over who's less terrible and declare victory because we're only the second-worst."
When it came to the Sharingan, Itachi was certainly Kakashi's senior.
But in terms of actual years of service in Konoha, Kakashi was the senior.
Back when Itachi had been in the ANBU, he had served under Kakashi and even gone on missions with him.
"…Sorry."
Itachi realized that instinctively opening conversations with probing tests was probably inappropriate in this situation.
"Habit. It's difficult to change."
"Forget it. Let's keep talking."
Kakashi waved it off and continued explaining his idea.
He told Itachi about asking Makoto for help, only to receive the conclusion that the sole absolute solution was mass killing to reduce the number of people carrying the Will of Bullying.
Then Kakashi explained how he had thought of Naruto's identity as the Child of Prophecy and realized that perhaps Naruto could be used to force a breakthrough against the otherwise unsolvable Will of Bullying.
"Makoto came from the Boruto era."
Kakashi continued.
"He's seen the future Naruto.
"And from the way Makoto described him, Naruto remained exactly the same person he had always been. His saintly nature never changed in the slightest."
Neither time nor having a family had changed Naruto.
Perhaps that was precisely why Makoto had never offered this plan.
He simply did not believe Naruto could change.
"And it isn't only a personality issue."
Kakashi lowered his voice.
"I genuinely can't imagine what Naruto would even look like after changing.
"But before the masked man's identity was exposed, I couldn't imagine what Obito would look like after changing either."
Naruto's biggest problem was not merely who he was as a person.
He was also the reincarnation of Asura's chakra.
And the Child of Prophecy.
Those two identities seemed to place invisible restraints on both his personality and his position in the world.
"If we can somehow break through those restraints and change Naruto's personality…"
Kakashi's eye narrowed.
"…then maybe we can create a crack in the otherwise absolute Will of Bullying.
"And once that crack exists, perhaps everyone else can change too."
Kakashi laid out his reasoning and conclusion in full.
"Heaven's Will…"
Itachi murmured.
"The Will of Bullying…"
He considered it for a moment.
"It really does sound as though everyone has been placed under Kotoamatsukami."
Hearing Kakashi's explanation left even Itachi feeling unsettled.
After all, there was no question that Itachi himself had once been a target of the Will of Bullying.
He had been the eldest son of the Uchiha clan's leading family, one of the most prominent people in all of Konoha, with extraordinary strength and status even as a child.
And people had still beaten him up—
Well.
They had beaten up his shadow clone.
Still.
People often claimed the Uchiha were feared and hated because they served as Konoha's police force.
But when those same people bullied Uchiha children, they did not seem particularly afraid.
They knew perfectly well the Uchiha were notoriously emotional and held grudges.
Wasn't provoking their children practically asking for trouble?
Later, when Itachi heard that even the Hyūga clan's eldest daughter had been bullied, he had simply accepted it as perfectly normal.
He had been through the same thing himself.
What felt strange in hindsight was something else.
He had never heard of the Uchiha clan retaliating against anyone over bullying.
Nor had he ever heard of the Hyūga clan going after anyone for mistreating Hinata.
It was almost as though bullying others—and being bullied in return—had become such an ordinary part of life in Konoha that nobody even regarded it as something requiring revenge.
Thinking about it now was horrifying.
Just as Itachi had said—
It really did feel as though the entire village had been placed under one enormous Kotoamatsukami command.
Those who bullied others ignored differences in strength and feared neither injury nor death.
They simply had to carry out the Will of Bullying.
Those who were bullied never truly held grudges.
In the end, they would always choose to protect Konoha.
"Yes."
Kakashi nodded.
"And according to Makoto, in the original timeline you changed Sasuke multiple times.
"Sasuke is Indra's reincarnation.
"If even he could be changed by you, that proves these 'restraints' aren't completely unbreakable!"
At last, Kakashi revealed the real reason he had sought Itachi out.
Itachi shook his head slightly.
"It wasn't only me changing Sasuke."
"Sasuke changed me too."
He paused.
"And if you're talking about the Sasuke from the Boruto era…"
"The person who truly changed him wasn't me."
"It was Naruto."
As a former double agent, Itachi's information had always been secondhand.
In fact, when it came to future events, he often learned things later and knew less than Kakashi and the others who remained openly connected to Konoha.
"Naruto…"
Kakashi froze.
Then his eye widened.
"That's right."
"Naruto!"
"Sasuke!"
Something clicked in his mind yet again.
"Itachi…"
Kakashi leaned forward.
"What if Sasuke—the other chakra reincarnation—actively tried to influence Naruto?"
"Wouldn't that work better than us trying to change him ourselves?"
With Itachi's reminder, Kakashi had suddenly noticed something important.
In the original timeline, Sasuke had ultimately been changed by Naruto—
And Naruto carried the additional status of the Child of Prophecy.
So if the influence could flow one way…
Couldn't it flow the other way too?
Could Sasuke change Naruto?
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