SIZZLE!
A black flame sphere met the incoming blade. Sizzled through steel. Burned away the Sharingan mark etched on it. Sasuke surged forward. Lightning crackled around his shins. His shunshin surged. Blurred forward with terrifying speed.
"What—?!"
Shin's eyes saw it. His body didn't. Couldn't.
His chest met Sasuke's knee.
THUD—!!!
"GYAAAGH—!!!"
Shin screamed. Hurled backward. Crashed into the cliff face in a shower of rock.
"Damn it… impossible! He's just a brat!!!"
Uchiha Shin slapped a hand against the stone. Marked it all. Wrenched. The entire section of rock shattered under his power. He flung the hail of stone shards forward.
CHAK!
Sasuke didn't flinch. Kusanagi sang from its sheath. A whirlwind of silver. The incoming rocks split. Cleanly.
But Shin grinned. Even shattered, the marked fragments retained their tracking. His palm jerked back. The shards reversed course. Shot toward Sasuke's unprotected back.
Sasuke knew. Didn't even look.
His right hand, finishing the sheath motion, formed a seal. His left palm snapped out behind him.
— Wind Style: Gale Palm!
SLAP!
A violent gust erupted. Pulverized the stony shrapnel into dust.
Sasuke's hand seals changed.
— Earth Style: Landslide!
BOOM!
The very stone Shin clung to sheared away from the cliff. Shin plummeted.
Sasuke's left hand wove seals now. His right swept Kusanagi in a wide arc. Water churned. Gathered along the blade's edge. Then—
— Water Style: Water Dragon Slash!
SHWING!
A flat, razor-sharp dragon of water launched from the sword's trajectory.
"!!"
Pure survival instinct. Shin twisted mid-air. The water dragon missed bisecting him by inches.
SCHLUCK!
It struck the cliff. Exploded. Water gushed from the new wound, forming an instant waterfall.
After the Fourth War, he and Naruto had known. Their foundations were shallow. They'd spent years. Endless, grinding years. Honing every facet of a shinobi's craft.
His arsenal was no longer just fire and lightning.
Yin. Water. Earth. Wind. Lightning. Fire.
All six basic natures. He could wield their common techniques like breathing.
"Haah… haah… haah…"
Shin crashed onto solid ground. Gasped. Saw Sasuke closing in. Panic flashed in his eyes. He threw a desperate look at the clones surrounding them.
SWOOSH!
Twelve of Shin's clones moved. Giant shuriken in hand. They formed a wall between Shin and Sasuke. Sasuke stopped. Calm.
Kabuto's voice cut the air. "Shin. What is this?"
Shin pushed himself up, dusting off his robe with false bravado. "They are my children. Are they not part of me?"
"..." Sasuke's gaze held no surprise. He'd seen this before.
SWISH!
The twelve clones charged. Fearless. A swarm of steel and killing intent.
Sasuke simply raised a hand. Formed a single seal.
— Genjutsu: Dark Mist Technique!
WHOOSH.
Darkness. Absolute, swallowing darkness flooded the clones' vision. They stumbled. Swung blindly. Lost.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Sasuke moved through the black. A ghost.
"Urk—!" "Gah!" CLANG, CLANG!
Cries. The sound of shuriken hitting dirt. In moments, all twelve were down. Unconscious. Or worse.
Shin wasn't caught in the genjutsu. He saw it all. The efficient, ruthless harvest.
"No. No! I won't accept this!!!"
He scrambled back. Pulled a scroll. Unleashed a storm of marked blades. Desperate. Trying to regain control with his Sharingan's power.
Sasuke stood firm. Unmoved. He formed another seal. His left arm, now covered in intricate White Cursed Seal markings, thrust forward.
— Wood Style: Great Forest Technique!
From his palm erupted not tendrils, but thick, gnarled roots of living wood. They shot out. Snaked around Uchiha Shin's limbs, his torso, binding him in a vice-like grip!!!
Kabuto jolted. "That's…!!"
Orochimaru smiled. "Oh? He can use Wood Style already…"
Shin struggled. Writhed. But the wood's strength was monstrous. Unyielding.
"Uchiha Sasuke… WHAT ARE YOU!!!"
Sasuke's arm flexed. The massive tree-trunk binding Shin whipped over his shoulder.
— Uchiha Over-the-Shoulder Throw.
CRASH—!!
Shin, still wrapped in wood, soared through the air. Slammed into the earth. A geyser of blood erupted from his mouth.
BAM!! BAM! BAM!
Again. And again. Sasuke pounded him into the ground. Shin's body felt like pulp. His Akatsuki robe was tatters. But his bloodshot eye flickered. Up. To the cliff top.
"Kekeke…"
There. The miniature figure housing Futodama giggled, a nasty, grating sound. Its single eye swirled with black. A spacetime vortex opened. Ready to pull Shin to safety.
It never stood a chance against Sasuke's perception.
Purple chakra ignited in Sasuke's right palm. Condensed. Took form. A tiny, perfect Perfect Susanoo. He hurled it upward.
— Miniature Susanoo!
ZIP—!!!
The tiny violet warrior was a blur. It reached the cliff top before the vortex could finish. Its miniature blade flashed.
A clean cut. Precise. The Futodama vessel fell, cleaved in two. The precious eye itself? Untouched.
The mini Susanoo flew down. Dropped the tiny corpse at Orochimaru's feet. Dissipated into smoke.
Uchiha Shin was broken. Defeated. "How… how did you gain such power…?"
CRACK.
Sasuke retracted the wood from his arm. The roots slithered back into his skin.
"You once said peace halts human evolution." Sasuke's voice was low. "In a broad sense, you weren't wrong. But your belief… it has no weight. No experience to back it. That's why it's shallow. Those who have truly lived through war… understand the value of peace."
He remembered the end of their last battle. In that other life. Shin's "children," warped by his ideology, turning their blades on him.
"Shin," Sasuke said, a final warning. "Stop claiming the Uchiha name. Stop calling yourself Itachi's admirer. Before your own children turn their blades on you… find who you really are."
He turned. Walked away.
Under the cold, clear moon, Shin lay broken. Sasuke's words echoed in his skull.
His "children" stirred. Woke. Gathered around him. Their eyes, now clear of the Dark Mist, held innocent confusion. They looked at him. He saw himself in them. Long ago.
"Find… myself?"
…
On the boat back.
Orochimaru chuckled. "I never thought I'd see the day, Sasuke-kun. You, playing the redeemer…"
Sasuke smirked, a hint of self-mockery. "I just… tried to do what he once did. Pull back those who aren't beyond saving. But I know my limits. That's probably as far as I can go."
They docked. Returned to the old Otogakure base in the Land of Rice.
Orochimaru produced the miniature corpse. Handed it to Kabuto. "Kabuto. The Mangekyō Sharingan within this Futodama vessel. It goes in your right eye. Along with this Hashirama cell sample. Once the procedure is complete… we head for Pale Moon Island."
Kabuto blinked. "Wouldn't this eye serve you better, Orochimaru-sama?"
"With the Shinigami Mask, I can access the Second and Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique," Orochimaru explained logically. "This eye's utility for me is diminished. For you, it's perfect. Your work will take you across the world. A spacetime ability will be invaluable."
Kabuto hesitated. "But… I'm not sure I can control that power. Especially the Hashirama cells…"
"Trust me. You can." Orochimaru's smile was confident. "Don't doubt your potential. Have you forgotten the 'you' you saw in Sasuke's memories? To achieve our goal, the strength of all three of us is essential."
Kabuto laughed, a touch bewildered. "Honestly… the idea that a past 'me' was that powerful… it still feels unreal."
"Then let this be your confirmation," Orochimaru said. "What do you think, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke's tone was dry. "No objections. But I'll say this, Kabuto. Director of the orphanage? That career path is closed to you now. This time… you're destined for something bigger. Like… creating a world without orphans."
His fate was sealed. Kabuto sighed dramatically. "I'm at your mercy, both of you. Fine. If I die on the operating table… bury me in front of the Konoha Orphanage. Let me become a blade of grass. Watching over the place the old Director cherished."
Orochimaru shrugged. "Relax. If you die, I'll just reanimate you with Edo Tensei. Your service will continue."
Kabuto shook his head, a wry smile finally touching his lips. "It seems a life of toil is my destiny after all…"
He said it lightly. But the warmth blooming in his chest was real. Needed. Valued. He felt it. His resolve solidified once more.
This time. I will stand with Orochimaru-sama. As Sasuke-kun's strongest support.