He'd lived through Sasuke's defection.
He'd endured three years of brutal training.
He'd fought to take Gaara back, and again and again, he'd been stopped by the same helpless truth: he was still too weak to bring Sasuke home.
He'd received the news of the Pervy Sage's death.
He'd fought Pain.
He'd watched the Nine-Tails go on a rampage, only for the Fourth Hokage to reinforce the seal once more.
He'd gone to the Five Kage Summit—got beaten down, forced to kneel, pushed so far he could barely breathe.
He'd learned everything about Sasuke, understood why Sasuke hated Konoha, and still been powerless to do anything about it.
He'd gone to the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki to learn, met his mother Kushina, even mistaken her for the Nine-Tails' incarnation, and gotten a hard smack on the head for it.
He'd been through the Fourth Shinobi World War.
He'd said goodbye to his father, and returned to being an orphan.
Even though his dad had already been revived somewhere in another world, after living through a different version of his own life, the mission scroll world's young Naruto understood those farewells all too well—the kind of grief that stuck in your bones.
If not for Adult Obito's ridiculous stunt, he would've had to go through it twice: saying goodbye to the dad who came from Kannabi Bridge, and then saying goodbye all over again to the dad brought back by Edo Tensei.
If that had happened…
Naruto tried to imagine it. It would hurt, of course. But he would treasure every memory of the time they'd had together, then keep living—bravely, head held high, walking straight down the right path.
And if Sasuke still kept drifting toward the wrong road in the end, then he'd do what the Naruto Uzumaki of that other world did and drag him back to the village.
Because no matter which parallel world it was, he was Naruto Uzumaki.
"Kurama, from now on, you'll stay inside Naruto's body and serve as the administrator of the tailed beasts' meeting place. Every tailed beast will leave a portion of its chakra within Naruto. If anything happens, you can use this meeting place to reach Naruto and Kurama."
"Like I said before—even if you're far apart, your chakra is still connected. That isn't something you hate anymore, is it, Kurama?"
"Uh… if you say so, old man…"
"Hahaha. You're really not honest, Kurama."
["What are you laughing at?! What's so funny?!!"]
Kurama inside Naruto Uzumaki's consciousness was so mortified that he actually yelled at the exact same time as the Kurama in the illusion.
Young Naruto: "Ah! Kurama, you're here too!"
["Got a problem with that?! I'm the one who used chakra to bring you in! Why can't I be here?!!"]
"Uh, I never said you couldn't be here. Why are you getting so mad…?" Young Naruto could only stare, completely speechless.
"By the way, the Tailed Beast Mode you and I have in that other world is seriously awesome!!" The sparkle in his eyes couldn't have been clearer: he wanted it too.
Truthfully, Kurama was just as jealous of his other self. Inside the cage, he scratched at his cheek in annoyance.
["Talk after you can pull it off yourself."]
The two chatted in their subconscious while sensing everything in the illusion. Kurama said:
["Don't get happy too soon. Sasuke Uchiha isn't going to be easy to deal with."]
"The method to undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi is simple. As long as Naruto, who holds all the tailed beasts' chakra, and Sasuke, who has the Rinnegan, form the Rat Seal together, that's enough."
"The question I asked you two earlier—has your answer changed?"
Young Naruto's expression tightened. Just like everyone in the Uchiha clan, he followed the gaze of his other self toward Sasuke Uchiha.
"My answer won't change."
After Naruto Uzumaki made his stance clear, Mikoto Uchiha waited, tense and breathless, for Sasuke's reply.
Fugaku Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha, and Shisui Uchiha all looked grim.
From what they understood about Sasuke Uchiha in the illusion, his answer probably wouldn't be what everyone hoped to hear.
Sure enough…
"Before undoing the Infinite Tsukuyomi, I'll kill the current Five Kage!"
Just as expected.
Inside Naruto Uzumaki's consciousness, Fugaku Uchiha stood with his arms crossed over his chest.
The Sasuke in front of them was no longer the carefree kid from their world—the one who used to run after Itachi every day with a grin on his face.
This was Sasuke Uchiha, swallowed by darkness, someone who could turn into the next Madara Uchiha at any moment under the pull of Indra's chakra.
Sensing Naruto Uzumaki's turmoil, Fugaku Uchiha could only do what his son Itachi had done—place everything in Naruto's hands.
The rest of the Uchiha felt the same. No matter how you looked at it, Sasuke was the clan's last remaining seedling.
They'd already dealt with two world-class bosses like Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha—surely the last seedling couldn't start crying and screaming about destroying the world too!
But Sasuke Uchiha still wasn't finished. The words that stunned every Uchiha present—and Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and the others—kept coming.
"And you tailed beasts too! I'll make every last one of you submit to me and accept my control!"
The moment he finished speaking, every tailed beast was caught in a genjutsu and sealed away by his Chibaku Tensei.
Obito Uchiha jumped in fright. Who would've thought Sasuke could be this twisted when he dug his heels in?!
"Sasuke! Are you trying to become the next Madara Uchiha?!"
"I won't become Madara. I won't be Pain, Obito Uchiha, or anyone else…"
"But this ninja world is beyond saving. I'll destroy everything, and then rebuild it."
Adult Obito: So in the end, isn't this still the same as Madara—and what I used to be?
Fugaku Uchiha was so furious his Mangekyō Sharingan practically popped out.
Shisui Uchiha could only give a helpless, bitter smile. It was like a curse. Seriously… just what was this…
Once they were out of the illusion, Sasuke and Itachi's ideological re-education needed to go straight to the top of the list.
The same went for the rest of the Uchiha. Back when they still lived as the Uchiha clan, they'd always felt their personalities weren't the problem—that it was the attitudes of Konoha's higher-ups and the village's shinobi that forced them into action.
But after experiencing Naruto's life, after viewing the lives and deaths of ordinary Konoha shinobi and the bonds they shared with their comrades, they finally realized something.
Sometimes their clan really was…
Way too flawed.
Thinking back on it now, honestly, with a clan this dangerous, it wasn't strange at all that the Second Hokage stayed on guard. If they were Hokage themselves, they'd probably be wary too.
And if they'd been in Iwa, or Kumo, or especially Kirigakure, they would've been wiped out in no time, wouldn't they?
"Naruto, I'll wait for you there."
Everyone knew exactly where "there" meant.
The Valley of the End.
Right in front of the statues of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha—each standing for Ashura and Indra—where this brothers' war would finally end.
"I'll use this to mourn my dead brother! This will be the final blood offering before the revolution!"
In Naruto's sight, Sasuke's eyes were icy, filled with hatred for the world. Even Obito Uchiha and Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke could tell at a glance—someone like that wasn't fit to rule the world.
Much less bring it peace.
Naruto asked Sasuke what kind of person was worthy of being Hokage.
Sasuke's answer was: "Only someone who bears all hatred is worthy to be Hokage!! I'll use the flames of my hatred to burn away the darkness of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!"
Hearing that, Shisui was beyond speechless.
He thought: if Naruto can't stop Sasuke, then Sasuke becoming Hokage would be no different from Danzo Shimura becoming Hokage.
Based on what Shisui knew as Danzo Shimura's subordinate, that man believed the exact same thing. He'd always thought he was far more suited to be Hokage than the Third Hokage, claiming the Third was too soft and indecisive to deserve the title.
Young Itachi Uchiha practically wished the other world's version of himself could be brought back with Edo Tensei, just so he could flick his little brother's forehead six thousand times a second and see if going too long without it had made Sasuke's brain grow in wrong.
Of course, what enraged him even more was himself—just like that legendary Madara Uchiha's younger brother, he'd laid down a road for his own brother, thinking it was "for his sake," only to ruin his life in the end.
Light and darkness.
Just as the Rikudō Sennin had said, this time he wouldn't choose the light, but he also wouldn't abandon the dark completely. He split his power evenly between the two brothers and let them fight it out on their own.
It was the same as when Sasuke had chosen to defect back then.
This battle, too, descended into the familiar chaos of a world gone black.
The golden Nine-Tails and the violet Susanoo no longer looked like mutual understanding made manifest—Kurama wearing Susanoo armor. Instead, they were two colossal monsters locked in a brutal clash.
Kurama rose to its feet, towering at the same height as Sasuke's Perfect Susanoo.
Two humanoid giants slammed fists together, and the once-calm lake at the Valley of the End roared like an ocean under a raging storm.
That punch carried chakra.
And deep in that impact, the loneliness buried in both their hearts reflected back at each other…
The swing set at the Konoha Ninja Academy.
The Uchiha clan grounds, where the stench of blood would never wash away.
The Uchiha felt their noses sting as that grief hit them.
If only…
They couldn't even say what that "if" was supposed to lead to.
But the image still surfaced—if the Uchiha clan could have kept its honor, protected the village as Konoha shinobi… if the Jinchūriki, too, could have protected the village with their power… if the Uchiha and the Jinchūriki could have been acknowledged by the villagers together…
That was the future the Uchiha truly longed for.
And now, within Naruto Uzumaki, the Uchiha felt it more clearly than ever—how exhausted he was. More than once, he'd held back because he couldn't bear it…
Only for Sasuke Uchiha to answer with a full-powered assault every single time.
"Sasuke! I don't want to kill you! And I don't want to watch you end up alone again! Don't we understand that pain better than anyone?!"
Chidori in Susanoo's hand. Rasengan in the Nine-Tails' hand.
The two who hurt the most were fighting the most tragic battle of all.
"Naruto… precisely because it's you, I have to kill you."
Then they saw it—Sasuke using Susanoo as armor, drawing in the tailed beast power of every tailed beast he controlled, forcing it all together into something that surpassed even the Perfect Susanoo.
Everyone inside Naruto Uzumaki froze.
Sasuke…
He really had the resolve to kill Naruto.
Fourth Shinobi World War Sasuke looked away.
Obito Uchiha's pupils shrank sharply.
Fugaku Uchiha and Mikoto Uchiha stared, disbelieving.
Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha had met Sasuke from the illusion era before. They knew what state that Sasuke was in—so twisted and broken he wouldn't even return to the Uchiha clan, choosing instead to live with six-year-old Naruto Uzumaki.
Could it be…
Had Sasuke really killed Naruto?
As an older brother, Itachi understood it all too well. If Sasuke truly killed Naruto…
Just like the Nine-Tails had said long ago—
He would regret it.
He would…
Regret it beyond repair.
Child Sasuke's eyes widened in terror. The version of himself from another era… had to have gone mad.
…What…