Seeing Naruto suddenly unleash an overwhelming surge of chakra, Shikamaru Nara, who had only just left, couldn't help but worry about that idiot. The spot where he and Shino were standing was closer to Temari and Kankurō, so they also caught the sounds Temari quietly sent over later using wind chakra.
"What do you mean by 'ultimate weapon'?" Shikamaru asked. "Aside from being a genin from Sunagakure, what other identity does Gaara have?"
Temari snapped back irritably, "I was just about to ask that! Why are you two squatting over here instead of standing next to that Kakashi?!"
Shikamaru rubbed his head, looking completely unmotivated.
"I don't want to deal with women either. But since you two are technically our enemies, Shino and I are supposed to be keeping an eye on you, right?"
What he meant was that he was watching Temari while Shino kept watch on Kankurō beside her. But when those people started talking about Naruto and Gaara, Temari used wind to push their voices over. Hearing that, Shikamaru couldn't help slipping into eavesdropping mode as well.
A man too lazy to even make up a lie. Today really broadened Temari's horizons.
Of course, neither she nor Kankurō knew yet that monsters like Shukaku didn't exist as a one-off, but as nine in total. What she really wanted to know right now was who that Naruto Uzumaki actually was.
Even without knowing the truth, it didn't stop her from piecing things together based on two bits of information: only Naruto Uzumaki could defeat Gaara, and he shared the same identity as Gaara.
Naruto Uzumaki seemed to be something Konoha had deliberately hidden, just like Gaara…
A humanoid monster?
Yet compared to Gaara, that kid didn't seem special at all.
Was it just bluffing? Or was he hiding it too well?
Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno were just as shocked.
Meanwhile, the members of Team Kakashi from the mission scroll parallel world were completely stunned by this world's Naruto dropping such a blunt declaration.
"As long as they're alive, I'm not alone!! As long as I can be with them, that's a kind of happiness and joy I've never experienced before!!"
Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi had never realized that, without them noticing, Naruto had already come to see them as being that important.
Sasuke, who had lost his clan. Sakura, who considered herself painfully ordinary. Kakashi, who had lost everyone important to him. None of them had ever imagined that simply existing was enough to be Naruto's happiness and joy.
Naruto himself had been hit pretty hard by his own straight-on words. When he spoke, a lot of things came out in a rush of impulse, and once they were said, he neither overthought them nor regretted them.
But…
Hearing those words come from another version of himself was unbelievably embarrassing, dattebayo!!
His heart was in complete turmoil, but on the surface, he quieted down after hearing his other self speak. He then told Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno of this world that both he and Gaara were the ultimate weapons of their villages.
"Because of this special identity, even if Gaara and I never did anything, we were still monsters hated by everyone in the village. No one was willing to look at us directly. They all wanted to run as far away from us as possible and deny our very existence."
"That kind of pain isn't something ordinary people can endure. It's like living in hell."
As Naruto said this, his emotions threatened to spiral out of control.
He lowered his head, staring at the ground, his hands clenched tightly into fists.
"Back then, I hated this village too. Just like Gaara. I even thought it might be better to destroy everything."
When Naruto remembered Iruka-sensei saying, "Yeah, if it were the demon fox, that's exactly what it would do," and before he heard the rest of the sentence, there was an instant when he truly almost came to hate everything.
Sakura and Sasuke felt a quiet ache alongside him. They had been to the era of the Nine-Tails incident and had seen what Naruto and Gaara's childhoods were like. More than anyone, they understood what Naruto had gone through.
Sasuke had once thought that maybe Naruto was just an idiot, too simple to even understand hatred.
It wasn't until they came to this world and heard the words of two Narutos that they finally understood.
Naruto wasn't someone who didn't hate.
He was someone who had already found redemption.
And that redemption… turned out to be Team 7.
The Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno of this world stood there, staring blankly at Naruto Uzumaki in the distance.
Information crashed into them one after another, like an explosion.
Naruto having parents wasn't strange. But what did it mean that he was, like Gaara, the ultimate weapon of a ninja village?! That he had once hated this world just like Gaara, and that his only salvation was them?!
"In our world, I fought Gaara too," Naruto said. "I won, but that was thanks to Kurama and the mission scroll."
He looked toward the battlefield, where this world's Naruto was fighting Gaara.
"To be honest, I've always wondered. If I hadn't gotten that future power of Kurama from the mission scroll ahead of time… could I really have beaten Gaara?"
Without the mission scroll…
Could the power of bonds truly defeat a lonely Asura?
Without anyone realizing it, the fight had already turned into a one-on-one between Gaara and this world's Naruto Uzumaki.
"What?!" Gaara sneered. "You're not attacking anymore?! Are you scared, you coward?!"
"You really are strong," Naruto said quietly. "And I… I really am afraid."
The Naruto who had been overflowing with fighting spirit moments ago pulled his chakra back into his body.
"I'm afraid of going back to being alone," he continued. "I'm afraid of becoming just like you."
"So…"
He bit his finger and formed the summoning hand seals.
"So I absolutely can't let you hurt Sasuke and Sakura! I won't let you run wild in my village!"
"Summoning Jutsu!!"
Smack!
His hand slammed against the tree trunk.
With a loud boom, a cloud of white smoke erupted along the spreading markings.
Sasuke turned to the Sasuke Uchiha beside him and asked,
"Does the Naruto in your world also have contracts with Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave?!"
The corner of Sasuke Uchiha's eye twitched.
"What are you even talking about?"
Sasuke pressed on,
"Then what about you? Did you sign a contract with Ryūchi Cave?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sasuke Uchiha replied, then shifted his attention back to Naruto fighting Gaara.
Inside, he was deeply shaken. When had Naruto learned summoning techniques?!
He didn't know much about summoning. Aside from the Uchiha clan's fondness for ninja cats, the only other example he knew was Kakashi's eight ninja dogs.
Sasuke, Sakura, Temari, Kankurō, Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame, and Team 7 from the mission scroll world—
Along with Gaara and Naruto locked in battle—
All stared at the cloud of smoke, waiting to see what Naruto had summoned.
And then…
The higher the expectations, the greater the—disappointment.
A tiny orange frog wearing a little vest appeared, barely bigger than Naruto's fist.
"Isn't that even smaller than Fukasaku and Shima?!" Naruto, watching from the sidelines, was dumbfounded. "At least I summoned two at once back then! What is wrong with this version of me?!"
"Super idiot," Sasuke Uchiha said flatly.
"Super idiot," Sasuke added at the same time.
The two Sasukes spoke in unison, dealing Naruto a devastating—
Double kill.
"What the heck?! It's just a little brat!"
The small frog Naruto had summoned spoke up, its tone anything but small.
"If you want a favor from me, you'd better have some tasty snacks prepared. Otherwise, I'm not playing with you!!"
Naruto Uzumaki squatted on the ground, arguing with the little frog that was barely bigger than his fist.
"I'm the one who's fed up here! I hate frogs like you the most!!"
"You rude little punk! Don't you dare look down on us amphibians, you bastard!"
The orange-colored little frog even stuck its tongue out at him.
Gaara: "...."
Sasuke Uchiha and Sasuke: "....."
Sakura Haruno and Sakura: "..."
Shikamaru Nara and Temari: "...."
Shino Aburame and Kankurō: "..."
"Aaaahhh!! What the hell am I even doing?!" Naruto yelled.
"This is no time to be arguing with a frog!! Hurry up and beat Gaara, then sit down and talk to him properly, you idiot!!"
The Adult Kakashi let out a sigh.
"Dropping the ball at the critical moment. What am I supposed to say about you guys?"
But thinking about how Naruto almost always managed to resolve things at the last second, Kakashi shook his head and added with a hint of praise,
"As expected of you. The most unpredictable ninja."
The moment he finished speaking, Gaara, feeling mocked, fired a barrage of sand bullets toward the little frog Naruto had summoned.
"Little toad!!"
Naruto dove forward, scooping the frog into his arms to dodge the attack. However, he was immediately struck by another projectile from behind and slammed hard into the tree trunk.
For quite a while after that, Naruto was completely on the defensive, taking hits over and over again.
"Are you seriously saying Naruto can beat that guy?!" Sasuke Uchiha snapped.
"He doesn't even have room to fight back!"
He turned toward Kakashi.
"Forget it! I'm going!"
He felt there was no point relying on people who claimed to be from other worlds. It would be faster to handle it himself.
"Wait."
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto all moved at the same time to stop him.
"What are you all doing?!" Sasuke Uchiha shouted.
"If you're not going to help, then get out of my way!!"
"Just wait a little longer," Sasuke said calmly.
"That guy's potential just hasn't been brought out yet."
Kakashi teased,
"Oh? You really know him well. Looks like little Sasuke still trusts Naruto a lot, huh~"
"Shut up!" Sasuke snapped, embarrassed and irritated.
Naruto scratched his cheek and stayed silent.
Sasuke Uchiha and the two Sakuras couldn't help but feel a strange sense of distance. What was this feeling?
On the battlefield, Naruto Uzumaki continued fighting Gaara. Even though he was stuck in a one-sided beating, he stubbornly struggled back to his feet again and again.
Sasuke Uchiha was so anxious he nearly jumped in, but Sasuke stopped him.
"Look at his eyes."
Sasuke Uchiha followed his gaze.
Even though he was sent flying again and again by Gaara's attacks, the look in Naruto's eyes was filled with an unyielding, stubborn resolve that absolutely refused to give in.
"Damn it… damn it!!"
"I don't know why…"
Naruto Uzumaki forced himself to his feet once again.
"I absolutely can't lose to you!"
"Naruto?!" Sasuke Uchiha blurted out.
"That idiot can still stand?!" Shikamaru Nara exclaimed.
Shino Aburame: "..."
Watching his other self tremble as he braced himself on his knees, Naruto spoke.
"Gaara was deceived by his father. Because of that, he's always believed the only reason he exists is to kill."
"That's completely different from the way I try to prove my existence, by wanting acknowledgment from others."
Naruto's expression carried a faint hollowness.
"Our identities and backgrounds are the same. And because of that, if I lose here, it means my way of living has lost."
Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno seemed to vaguely understand what he meant.
Still, they couldn't understand why Naruto was so obsessed with competing against Gaara.
Their levels weren't even on the same plane, were they?
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto was the very definition of growing stronger the more he was beaten down. Even after being overwhelmed by Gaara for a while, his injuries weren't severe. Instead, it was Gaara who had burned through a large amount of chakra.
Three shadow clones were crushed by Gaara's monstrous claws.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the smoke cleared, the real Naruto burst out from within.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Another batch of clones appeared.
Gaara swung his other arm to attack.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto's real body was yanked away by his clones, narrowly dodging the attack once again.
He leapt behind Gaara.
The sand tail behind Gaara moved with the agility of a beast. Just as it was about to strike Naruto—
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Naruto stepped on one of his own shadow clones and slipped past the attack.
"Is that guy a walking mass of chakra?!" Sasuke Uchiha said in disbelief. "He's made that many shadow clones in such a short time?"
Naruto rubbed his nose and said proudly, "Don't underestimate the Uzumaki clan's chakra reserves. I didn't inherit Mom's Adamantine Sealing Chains, but when it comes to chakra quantity, I'm still pretty confident."
The Uzumaki clan?
Sasuke snorted and said to his counterpart in this world, "He's not a mass of chakra, but every one of them has a geometric monster of chakra living inside them. As long as it's chakra, Naruto will never be short on it."
While they were talking, the Naruto fighting Gaara in the distance suddenly shouted,
"Check out my ultimate move! The one Kakashi-sensei taught me—!"
"The Konohagakure Hidden Taijutsu Ultimate Technique!!!!"
…
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