Chapter 22: Suddenly Lost

~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones

~ Every 400 PS = Bonus Chapter!

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Sasuke asked in confusion, "Right hand, what do you mean?"

"Well." Naruto took a deep breath and extended his left hand, "Do you remember what happened back in the ninja academy? What Iruka-sensei asked us to do afterward?"

"..." Sasuke lowered his gaze, recalling.

The two of them had a scuffle in the training field and were eventually ordered to form the Seal of Reconciliation.

Back then, Sasuke used his left hand to form the seal.

"So this time it's the right hand, is that what you mean..."

Sasuke pondered, "What you're implying is that if I destroy Konoha, not only will you not lend me a hand, but you'll also break my left hand so I can never form seals again?"

"Pfft..."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

Sasuke pressed on, "Answer me!"

Naruto's mischievous side emerged, as if he was sulking or deliberately provoking Sasuke, "Ah, yes, you got it right! I'll break your hand!"

Sasuke was infuriated, "So that's how it is! You arrogant fool! Speaking of the past, did you forget who was defeated at the Valley of the End! If I had intended to, forget your left hand, your life would have been over!!"

Indeed, Naruto had lost at the Valley of the End back then, and Sasuke had every opportunity to kill him.

But... many people overlooked an important detail.

At the moment of close combat, Naruto's Rasengan was aimed diagonally upward, targeting Sasuke's forehead protector. The scratch in the middle of the protector was left by Naruto's sharp claw during his tailed beast transformation.

Meanwhile, Sasuke's Chidori was aimed diagonally downward, striking Naruto's chest at a critical point.

Had it been otherwise, the one who fell might not have been Naruto.

"..." Naruto's expression was reminiscent, then he gently said, "Don't take it seriously, can't you see I'm joking with you?"

"..." Sasuke's expression softened slightly, but he quickly retorted coldly, "I'm not joking with you! You keep saying you consider me a friend, yet you mock me with your words! Stop underestimating me! Do you think I don't know anything? You're now Konoha's hero, the darling of the ignorant masses. If I want to destroy Konoha, you'd be my number one enemy!"

Naruto pondered, "I've already betrayed Konoha..."

"What?!" Sasuke was stunned, only then noticing that the forehead protector Naruto wore was the one he had left behind, symbolizing a rogue ninja!

Sasuke turned to look at Tobi. Earlier, in the forest outside Konoha, Tobi had only mentioned the Five Kage Summit and Danzō becoming Hokage, briefly mentioning Naruto defeating Pain but not a word about him defecting from the village!

"..." Tobi's masked face revealed no emotion.

Sasuke turned back to Naruto and asked, "What's really going on?"

Naruto replied, "My goals are at odds with the village's ideals, so I must leave the village's constraints to act..."

Sasuke's eyes flickered with a hint of inexplicable disappointment, "So, your move against Danzō was for your own purposes, not to clear obstacles for me?"

People are such complex creatures. If it's for you, it feels like meddling, but knowing it wasn't for you, there's resentment.

Naruto sighed, "That's not entirely true, it's half and half. I thought if you killed Danzō, it might ease your hatred, and maybe you wouldn't turn your vengeance toward the village. But you let Danzō go out of spite. I underestimated your current thirst for revenge, this will surely lead to trouble in the future..."

"..." Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, and the chakra of Susanoo around him wavered.

Naruto's expression turned serious, "Sasuke, if you seek revenge on Danzō again, I still won't stop you, but beyond Danzō, I hope you don't harm others...!"

Sasuke's gaze turned cold, "What if I insist?"

Naruto responded firmly, "Then I will do everything in my power to stop you!"

Sasuke's tone grew colder, "You're saying you still have strength to spare?"

Naruto replied without hesitation, "At least, I haven't gone all out!"

"Heh heh heh..." Sasuke chuckled lightly. He was arrogant but not foolish, knowing Naruto's words were true. However, he retorted coldly:

"Yes, your power has grown, but what do you understand about me? Do you know the real reason for my revenge against Konoha?"

Naruto made a startling revelation, "Ah, I know... about Itachi's truth."

"What?!" Sasuke was shocked, "That's the highest secret! How do you know?! Could it be..."

He turned to look at Tobi again.

"..." Tobi shook his head, indicating it wasn't him who told Naruto.

In fact, Naruto had indeed learned from Tobi—in another timeline...

Tobi thought: This kid Naruto, I really underestimated him in the past...

Sasuke said coldly, "Since you know what Itachi went through, you still want to stop my revenge?"

Naruto said, "If Itachi were alive, he would definitely not want you to do this..."

"..." Sasuke's shoulders trembled. Itachi was his reverse scale, touch it and he would be enraged, even if Naruto was someone special to him, it didn't mean he could comment on Itachi! Whether positively or negatively!

He had no idea that Naruto wasn't making baseless claims; he had indeed interacted with Itachi, more than once.

"Don't act like you understand Itachi so well!! And don't use Itachi's name to interfere with my revenge, Naruto!!!!"

Boom!!!

Responding to Sasuke's furious emotions, the purple chakra surged outward, forming a majestic armor around the existing Susanoo!

This was the ultimate form of the 'half-body' Susanoo, the Tengu form!!!

Boom!!!

The powerful and cold chakra shook the hearts of Team Taka and made the experts present take notice...

Karin trembled incessantly, "He's completely not the Sasuke from before..."

Tobi's gaze was dark: Oh? To push Susanoo to this level at once, indeed, for Sasuke, the best catalyst isn't the Five Kage, but you, Naruto...

Boom! Boom!

The Totsuka Bow was drawn tight again, but this time paired with the Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi arrow, its scale and power were on another level!!!

Sasuke's pupils showed genuine killing intent, "Naruto, I don't want to hear your endless chatter anymore!! You're too much of a hindrance, I will eliminate you here, then raze Danzō and Konoha to the ground...!!!"

Naruto's expression turned solemn: This form of Susanoo is a qualitative change, and that arrow can no longer be resolved by ordinary means...

Whoosh!!!

The black flame arrow tore through the air...

"Enough..."

Naruto closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, the brilliance of his dojutsu flowed within!

——*Shinra Tensei!*

Boom!!!

A repulsive force field erupted, shattering the solid black flame arrow into fragments of black flames that fell to the ground...

Tobi's gaze darkened, "Finally willing to use the Rinnegan's powers..."

Sage Mode detected something.

"The battle here has already attracted external attention. A large number of chakras are approaching, let's end this quickly..."

Naruto formed seals with his hands, gathering an unprecedented amount of chakra.

Poof, poof, poof...!!!

Hundreds and thousands of shadow clones appeared with a burst of white smoke, each one forming a Super Big Ball Rasengan, converging on Sasuke's Susanoo...!

——*Sage Art: Super Big Ball Rasengan Barrage!*

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...!!!

Layer upon layer of spheres covered Susanoo completely, the waves of explosions rising and falling, and the sturdy armor of Susanoo was brought to the brink of collapse under this relentless Sage Art bombardment!

Sasuke raged, "Where did he get this power...!!"

Splat! Naruto dipped his hand in the blood from the wound Amaterasu had burned earlier and formed seals.

——*Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique!!*

The massive toad Gamakichi, with a sash around his waist, descended from the sky, becoming the last straw that broke Susanoo...!!!

"Ugh...!!"

Before Susanoo shattered, Sasuke leaped out with all his might...

Naruto extended his palm.

——*Banshō Ten'in!*

Whoosh! The powerful gravitational pull drew Sasuke in from a distance.

Sasuke reacted swiftly, forming seals with his hands as he approached, leveraging the gravitational pull...

——*Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!*

"..." Naruto stood firm, maintaining Banshō Ten'in, activating the Rinnegan's protective barrier, isolating the flames while grabbing Sasuke's throat!

——*Preta Path!*

Whoosh!!

Sasuke's chakra flowed into Naruto through his palm...

Sasuke smirked, "So this is your left eye's ability..."

Naruto apologized, "Sorry, but this is the only way to calm you down. If you keep overusing your dojutsu, your eyes will go blind early..."

Sizzle! As the chakra drained, Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan regressed to the three-tomoe Sharingan, then the tomoe faded, leaving ordinary, dull eyes...

Before losing consciousness, Sasuke murmured intriguingly, "Heh, such things... no longer matter."

Seeing Sasuke lose consciousness, Naruto gently laid him on the snow, sighed softly, and retreated.

"Sasuke!!!" Karin ran forward.

Whoosh!!

But Tobi, with his masked face, appeared beside Sasuke first, lifting him onto his shoulder. His right eye spiraled, absorbing both Sasuke and Karin.

"Go restore Sasuke's chakra!!"

"Eek...!!"

Swish! Swish!

Konan and Orochimaru arrived at Naruto's sides.

Konan asked with concern, "How is it? Are you okay..."

Naruto smiled, "Sorry, I've overused my chakra a bit. The situation ahead might be troublesome, I'll have to rely on you two more..."

Konan smiled gently, "Of course..."

"Heh heh." Orochimaru's lips curled up, "As expected, you still couldn't bring yourself to completely drain Sasuke's chakra."

To this, Naruto remained silent.

To the south, led by Mifune, the samurai of the Land of Iron and the other Kage, except for Danzō, arrived one after another...

To the north, in the snowstorm, silhouettes could be faintly seen running, they were all young and wore Konoha forehead protectors...

Seeing this, Tobi's expression under the mask was subtle, "Oh well, this time I'll be a complete outsider. Think carefully about how to wrap this up, and remember to protect the Rinnegan, it's my treasure, Naruto..."

Whoosh!!

With a swirling vortex, he and Zetsu disappeared into the mysterious whirlpool...!

Crack!!

With lightning speed, Raikage A and his two bodyguards arrived first.

Gazing at the Amaterasu flames remaining on the snow...

Kumogakure jonin C said, "The inextinguishable flames of Amaterasu are Itachi's exclusive dojutsu, but Itachi is dead, so there's only one person who could use it..."

Darui said, "Not long ago, was it Uchiha Sasuke who was here..."

Raikage roared angrily at Naruto, "Where is Sasuke, where did Sasuke go!!!!!!"

"..." Naruto paid no attention, for at that moment, his entire focus was drawn to the figure at the forefront of another group, full of urgency...

"Hinata..."