Chapter 196: A Serious Conversation Without Kurama Interrupting  

Minato sat down next to Kushina, having already taken off his mask. He looked thoughtfully at the older Sasuke. 

"So, you're saying Urashiki is much weaker now? Even I can handle him?" 

"Not exactly." The older Sasuke shook his head slightly. "Uncle Minato, you already know the Flying Thunder God Technique, and Urashiki also has space-time ninjutsu. You won't have any major weaknesses against him. Plus, with your battle experience, he's not your match right now." 

"Can't anyone else fight him?" Minato frowned. 

"If they know his abilities, he's easy to deal with. The biggest weakness of the Otsutsuki clan is their arrogance. Based on what I know about Konoha at this point in time, most of the people coming to support us should be able to fight Urashiki. But if we're talking about actually killing him, you're probably the only one who can do it," the older Sasuke explained. 

Urashiki's greatest skill, without a doubt, was running away. Even Sasuke had lost track of him before. Letting anyone else handle it would be even riskier. 

But Minato's space-time ninjutsu was the perfect counter to that problem. While he wasn't as strong as the older Sasuke, he was still the best chance they had to eliminate Urashiki—if he could land the Flying Thunder God mark on him. 

Minato understood what Sasuke meant and furrowed his brows in thought. 

"So, if we all attack at once, it'll just make him more cautious." 

The Otsutsuki were arrogant, but they weren't stupid. 

Urashiki was already weakened by the seal. If he realized there were this many people waiting for him, he'd have to be an idiot to walk into a trap. He'd probably just hide and wait for everyone to leave before making his move. 

"I miscalculated." Minato sighed deeply, then turned to Kushina with a serious expression. 

"Kushina, I need to go back and report this to Shikaku. Don't go anywhere for now. Once I get his decision, I'll come back right away and tell you what to do." 

Then he looked at Naruto and Sasuke. 

"You two are shinobi of Konoha. Even though Sasuke said this would be a good chance for you to get used to your powers, the consequences of failure are too great. So for now, don't act recklessly." 

Finally, he turned to the older Sasuke. 

"The same goes for you. You're also a Konoha shinobi. Stay here and wait for orders." 

Boruto blinked in surprise, his eyes sparkling. 

"Was Grandpa always this cool?" 

Sarada's face turned slightly red as she murmured, a mix of surprise and admiration in her voice, 

"So this is what the Fourth Hokage was really like… He's incredible." 

After all, her dream was to become Hokage. 

Naruto and Sasuke felt a little strange about the situation 

but still nodded.

 The older Sasuke thought for a moment before saying, 

"Urashiki was injured in his last fight against that tough opponent. With the Otsutsuki's healing abilities, he'll be fully recovered by tomorrow morning at the latest." 

"Good." Minato nodded, his expression serious. 

With that, he picked up the mask next to him, then vanished in a flash of light. 

Sasuke frowned slightly and turned to the older version of himself. 

"If Urashiki breaks the seal completely, can you still take him?" 

The older Sasuke nodded slightly. 

"Even if he does, I'm confident I can kill him. But once the seal is gone, he'll be able to enter the second phase of his Otsutsuki transformation. When that happens, his taijutsu and ninjutsu will reach a terrifying level."

"If I fight him, I'll have to use a power far beyond what the Land of Wind can handle. At that point, I can't guarantee the safety of Roran or the Sand Village," adult Sasuke sighed and shook his head. 

If he went all out, Roran would be reduced to ruins in an instant, and even the Sand Village, far away, would be affected. 

Wiping out an entire nation? For adult Sasuke, that was all too easy. 

If worse comes to worst, I could just drop a couple of meteors on your village. 

Sasuke nodded in understanding. It seemed that his future self would become unimaginably strong. He glanced behind him—Roran's massive city loomed in the distance, barely visible through the desert sands. Even at full speed, it would take him a minute or two to reach it. 

Yet the shockwave from his future self's power was strong enough to destroy Roran from this far away—and even affect the Sand Village, which was too far to even see from here. 

That level of power was terrifying. 

As everyone fell silent, Kurama, lying on the ground, blinked his eyes. 

"Why did the conversation suddenly turn so serious?" 

"It's because you didn't interrupt. That's why," Boruto said, his words full of genuine frustration. 

"Huh?" Kurama's face darkened. Without hesitation, he reached out and shoved Boruto face-first into the sand. Seeing Boruto spit out a mouthful of sand, Kurama grinned mischievously. 

Naruto watched the scene unfold with a helpless expression. He reached out and pulled Boruto up. 

Father and son locked eyes for a long moment. 

Then Naruto awkwardly looked away. 

Mom, how did you accept having kids from the future? Isn't this awkward for you? 

Kushina, however, was still laughing cheerfully. She held onto Sarada tightly and refused to let go. Awkward? Not at all. As long as my heart is strong enough, there's no such thing as awkwardness. 

Only Sasuke remained serious, lost in thought as he stared at the ground. 

Time passed as they continued to banter. About ten minutes later, Minato appeared before them again, his face serious. 

He relayed Shikaku's conclusion: they would set a trap. Most of the group would hide in Roran, completely masking their chakra with Kushina's sealing techniques. As long as Urashiki didn't use his Byakugan, he wouldn't be able to detect them. 

Meanwhile, Mukade, Naruto, and Sasuke would confront Urashiki head-on, while Minato would wait for an opportunity to mark him with the Flying Thunder God seal. 

The final safety measure was adult Sasuke, whom Shikaku wasn't even aware of. 

"Got it," adult Sasuke agreed without hesitation. 

After they went over the details, evening approached. Adult Sasuke took Boruto and Sarada to Kaguya's dimension using space-time ninjutsu to rest, while the others returned to Roran. Before leaving, Kushina reluctantly hugged Boruto and Sarada goodbye. 

She only let go when they promised they would return tomorrow. 

Kurama also returned to Naruto's inner space. 

On the way back, Kushina happily clung to Naruto and Sasuke, excitedly sharing her joy of having a grandson and granddaughter with Minato. Minato smiled and nodded along. 

As they walked, Sasuke suddenly turned to Naruto and connected their minds through chakra, sharing his thoughts directly. 

"Naruto, I remember the Sage of Six Paths once said that for my eyes to evolve into the Rinnegan, they first need to become Eternal Mangekyou, right?" 

"Yeah, that's what he said," Naruto nodded. 

He recalled that the Sage had explained that the Rinnegan required the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan's visual power, combined with the Six Paths Yin Power, Six Paths Yang Power, and Six Paths Samsara Power to awaken directly. 

Alternatively, it could also be awakened by combining Ashura's chakra with Indra's, but that method took an incredibly long time. 

After so many reincarnations, their chakra had been diluted and would eventually disappear entirely. 

Sasuke had received the complete Six Paths Yin Power and Six Paths Samsara Power. The Six Paths Yang Power would manifest once he attempted to awaken the Rinnegan. In theory, his eyes were destined to evolve. 

But first, he had to awaken his Eternal Mangekyou. 

And coincidentally, Kurama had already told him how to achieve that. 

Sasuke looked behind him. His future self had awakened the Rinnegan. 

Which meant… 

At some point in the future, he must have obtained Itachi's eyes.

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