Obito left, while Sasuke Uchiha was still lecturing Naruto Uzumaki about trusting everyone too easily. If he kept believing people like that, one day he'd be sold out and still help count the money afterward.
Naruto Uzumaki eyed Sasuke Uchiha suspiciously.
"You've been acting really strange lately, you know, dattebayo."
And honestly, weren't members of the Uchiha Clan the ones more likely to be deceived? Shouldn't he, Kakashi Hatake, and Sakura Haruno be the ones worrying that Sasuke might someday get sold out, or worse, help someone carry out some bizarre world-ending plan?
"Mm. Mm." Sakura~ and Kakashi Hatake had noticed it too.
Ever since Sasuke-kun—or rather, Sasuke—came back from that other world, it felt like he was…
A bit too protective of Naruto.
Kakashi Hatake even wondered if the Sasuke standing in front of them had been possessed by someone else.
Still, aside from being unusually nice to Naruto, nothing else seemed different. At least he still didn't talk much, nor was he especially polite toward the two of them.
Their gazes met for several seconds, jet-black eyes facing those bright blue, glass-like ones. Sasuke was the first to give in.
"Can't I be nicer to you guys?"
No, no, no!!
Standing off to the side, Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake complained silently: Please take out the "guys." We really don't deserve that.
Naruto frowned.
"If you don't give me a reason, I'm seriously freaking out over here, dattebayo!!"
Sasuke thought for a moment.
"Did Itachi Uchiha ever tell you that he entrusted me to you?"
"Yeah!" Naruto nodded hard. "That's why every time you started talking about destroying the world, I stepped in for your brother and knocked some sense into you!"
"Not anymore," Sasuke said calmly. "I'll help you achieve your dream. I'll protect Konoha and safeguard this ninja world."
"Huh?!!!"
Naruto was completely stunned.
"Sasuke! Did you catch some kind of weird disease after transplanting the First Hokage old man's cells?! Sakura, Sakura! Hurry and check him out! He's acting way too strange, dattebayo! Super strange!!"
Those two perfectly ordinary sentences sent Naruto into a rapid-fire burst of "dattebayo, dattebayo," as he jumped around in a panic, dragging Sakura over to "examine" Sasuke.
Watching Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi react like this, Sasuke Uchiha—who had experienced Naruto Uzumaki's entire life—fell into careful self-reflection.
Had he hurt them too much in the past? Was that why even a couple of completely normal words from him left them so shaken and at a loss?
He thought back to the words spoken by Sasuke Uchiha in the illusion, back when he had been Naruto Uzumaki.
'Why don't I just kill everyone important to you too?'
'How could someone who's been alone since childhood understand my pain!'
'It's always you getting in my way! Why don't you just hurry up and let me kill you already!!'
No. This was bad.
Sasuke Uchiha felt like sinking into despair on the spot. Had transplanting Hashirama Senju's cells eaten away his brain too?
Pushing aside Sakura Haruno, who was about to give him a full-body check, Sasuke looked straight at Naruto Uzumaki, his expression serious.
"The Second Hokage once said that when Uchiha emotions lose their anchor, they easily become obsessive and mad, right?"
"Huh? The Second old man said something like that?" Naruto asked.
"He did. You just weren't there."
"Oh. Then I guess that's true."
Naruto mulled over Sasuke's words, letting them circle around in his head.
Then suddenly, it clicked.
He clenched his fist and lightly bumped it against Sasuke's chest, like close brothers messing around.
"I get it now, Sasuke! You're saying you don't want me competing with you over Sakura—"
Sakura's name was just about to burst out of Naruto's mouth.
But Sasuke cut him off flatly.
"Prepare yourself to become the vessel for Uchiha emotions, you super idiot."
It was a statement, leaving no room for discussion.
Naruto tilted his head.
"Huh? What does that even mean?"
Behind him, Kakashi Hatake and Sakura Haruno recalled the moment when Sasuke—Sasuke-kun—had thought Naruto was dead. That insane surge of chakra, the instant awakening of a Rinnegan just like Madara Uchiha's…
They seemed to understand.
"Huh?!" The two of them froze, voices filled with disbelief. "Huh?!!!!"
Naruto, meanwhile, was still trying to figure it out. Following Orochimaru really hadn't been a good idea for Sasuke. The way he talked now was starting to sound just like that creepy snake, leaving people totally confused.
Just then, another voice spoke up from the side.
"Oh, oh. So that's how it is."
It was a voice none of them had ever heard before.
Not knowing whether it was friend or foe, everyone immediately turned toward the source, on full alert.
Sakura froze.
"Why is there another Sasuke-kun?"
It was a young man dressed in a style similar to Ōtsutsuki Obito after his regression, with features resembling Sasuke Uchiha. His hairstyle was slightly reminiscent of Itachi Uchiha's, and a small braid hung down at the back of his head.
Behind him, Ōtsutsuki Obito was stepping out of a black spatial rift.
Clearly, this young man was the helper Obito had brought back.
Naruto frowned.
"Who's that?"
Although Sakura had instinctively called out "Sasuke-kun," they quickly realized this person couldn't be Sasuke Uchiha.
If nothing else, his voice was completely different from the Sasuke standing beside them.
Sasuke suddenly recalled something the First Hokage had once said—that he resembled Madara Uchiha's younger brother. He shot the newcomer a sidelong glance and asked uncertainly,
"You are… Izuna Uchiha?"
Izuna Uchiha?
Who was that?
Naruto tilted his head, while Sakura and Kakashi wore equally confused expressions.
"Madara Uchiha's younger brother, an antique from the Warring States Period," Ōtsutsuki Obito explained. "It's not strange that you don't recognize him. Before Konoha was even founded, he was killed without mercy by the Second Hokage."
"Obito Uchiha, you know that having too sharp a tongue can get you killed sometimes, right?"
Faced with the fierce glare of that little ancestor from another world, Obito immediately backed down and waved it off. He had no interest in provoking any Ōtsutsuki from the Warring States era.
All he could do was grumble inwardly: If we're talking about people who talk themselves into trouble, you're definitely number one, little ancestor.
The once-bustling Konohagakure was now silent. Aside from the four members of Team 7, only two others remained—Ōtsutsuki Obito and Six Paths Izuna, beings from parallel worlds with extraordinary power.
Although Naruto and Sasuke had released everyone from the Infinite Tsukuyomi and freed them from the God Tree, it had happened too late. Their minds had already merged with the tree's influence, and they still hadn't woken up.
Naruto stared wide-eyed at Izuna Uchiha, speaking as bluntly as ever.
"I never thought someone like Madara would have such a delicate younger brother."
Delicate…
Was that really a word meant to describe a man?
Izuna and Sasuke both darkened instantly.
After all, the two of them looked remarkably alike. Calling Izuna delicate was basically saying that Sasuke looked… well…
Obito shrugged.
"Just like you. In our world, after Naruto saw the Second Hokage revived through that Q&A technique, he said something pretty similar."
"Tobirama?" Izuna Uchiha perked up when he heard the name.
"What did that kid say?"
Obito thought back for a moment.
"I think he said something like, 'Second Hokage types who look as fair and pretty as Sasuke all have terrible tempers.' Or maybe he said they were tsundere. I don't really remember."
Sasuke Uchiha's face darkened instantly.
Izuna Uchiha, on the other hand, seemed genuinely amused to hear Tobirama being mocked by a younger generation. He laughed without the slightest concern for appearances.
"Just as expected of you, Naruto Uzumaki." Six Paths Izuna gave him a wink. "By the way, that Reverse Harem Technique of yours is pretty well developed."
"Huh?!"
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi all reacted differently, their expressions stiffening at once.
Sasuke looked at him with suspicion.
"If you already died back in the Warring States Period, how do you know about Naruto's perverted… cough, I mean, that ninjutsu?"
"The world I originally existed in isn't the same as the one you experienced. In my world, I was still alive, and I awakened the Rinnegan," Izuna Uchiha said calmly. "With the power to control time, the past and the future are, to me, about as simple as changing the direction of flowing water."
"!!!"
The others were stunned.
That's right! Obito said he was going to find someone who could manipulate time!
And that ability was actually in Madara's brother?!
Naruto immediately jumped in front of him.
"You can really do it?! You can help us solve what's going on right now?! Big bro, if you can wake everyone up, then hurry and start!"
Fourth Shinobi War Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the back of his collar and yanked him back.
He remained extremely wary of this clan member who looked so much like himself.
Izuna shrugged.
"We need to rewind a little over a month, right? The time span isn't long. The only issue is that the range is a bit wide."
Faced with the hopeful looks from all these juniors, Izuna Uchiha couldn't very well say it was too difficult.
"As long as there's enough chakra, it won't be a problem."
Naruto was the last person to lack chakra. He immediately volunteered his own, saying they could use as much as they wanted.
"Idiot! I told you not to get sold out and still help count the money!"
"You're the idiot, Sasuke! He's obviously helping us, isn't he?!"
"Who calculates things like that?!"
"No, your logic is the weird one, isn't it?!"
To stop the two from starting another argument, Izuna had Naruto summon the Tailed Beasts.
"For Kurama, one is enough. As for the others, we'll need at least five or six."
This was both a strong affirmation of Kurama's power and…
A blatant attempt to squeeze a certain fox dry.
In any case, with the Nine-Tails once again being forced to slim down as a prerequisite, Six Paths Izuna successfully rewound time here by a little over a month.
He nearly overdid it, almost rewinding all the way back to before the Fourth Shinobi World War—back when Madara Uchiha was still around and Kaguya hadn't even started fighting yet.
Fortunately, Obito came through for once, pulling things back at the last second and stopping this little ancestor in time.
Naruto and Sasuke once again formed the hand seals to undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Everyone awakened as if from a dream, and the world returned to order.
Izuna Uchiha was just about to quietly slip away, hiding both his achievements and his name.
But he was stopped by a younger clansman who looked almost exactly like him.
"Can you rewind his hand?"
Izuna Uchiha looked at Naruto's right hand.
"You did that?"
"Tch…"
Sasuke clearly didn't want to talk about it.
Patting Sasuke on the shoulder, Six Paths Izuna offered some rare, well-meaning advice to his junior.
"You're on a straight path to the crematorium, kid."
Sasuke brushed his hand away.
"Mind your own business."