Naruto didn't understand what Sasuke meant.
That guy had been like this since they were kids. Always holding things back, never saying everything outright, forcing others to guess. Why couldn't he just say what he meant, like Naruto did?!
"Hey, Sasuke, is there something you want to tell me or not? Don't leave me hanging with half of it. That's the worst."
"I was going to say it," Sasuke replied flatly, "but now I don't feel like it."
The fair-skinned Uchiha had already reached the age people called youth, yet in Naruto's and Kakashi's eyes, he was still that same arrogant brat with too much pride weighing him down.
"Huh?! Now you don't feel like it?! How can you be like that!! Just say it already!"
Sasuke clicked his tongue, impatiently pushing away the idiot who was clinging to him.
"I'll tell you later! You super idiot!"
"Aaah! Damn it, Sasuke, you're insulting me again!!"
Naruto grumbled, then his eyes drifted to Sasuke's left arm.
Sasuke had never been one to wear gloves. He hadn't worn any when they fought Kaguya either. So why, after vanishing for a whole month, had he suddenly started wearing black gloves like Madara and Obito?
Was this some kind of coming-of-age symbol for Uchiha men?
No, no, no.
Itachi never wore gloves.
"Sasuke… that arm of yours…?"
Naruto remembered that when he woke up, he'd seen blood pooled nearby, looking like someone else had lost an arm just like he had.
"It's a prosthetic made from the First Hokage's cells and White Zetsu," Sasuke said.
The experiences from the other two worlds flickered briefly through his mind.
"I copied the technique with my Sharingan. Hashirama's cells can be extracted from my body, and Orochimaru's base should still have some left. There was no shortage of White Zetsu on the battlefield either. Restoring your right arm to the same level as mine shouldn't be a problem."
Sasuke spoke as if to himself, deliberately glossing over something.
"Well that's great!" Naruto said, brightening. "Then this time doesn't count! We'll just say I punched a stupid idiot awake! Next time we'll have a real fight… nex—"
Maybe because of his awakened Rinnegan, Sasuke's right eye, which had once refused to close properly, could now return to its normal black color.
Uchiha eyes were already striking, pitch-black and unnaturally large. When Sasuke looked straight at him like that, Naruto's voice trailed off mid-sentence.
"…Forget it. You're just a super idiot."
"Hey! Why are you suddenly insulting me again?!"
"No reason. Go take a shower."
"Oi! I've been kind of down lately, but I still showered on time like I promised Mom and Dad!"
"You showered? Then you'd better look in the mirror and see what you look like right now."
"Huh?! Is it really that bad?!"
Naruto jumped up and rushed to the mirror. Sakura and Kakashi stood at the doorway, finally relaxing when they saw the two of them reconcile at last. Sakura, who had been crying at the slightest thing lately, couldn't stop the tears from falling.
In Kakashi's eyes, Team 7 had finally started to look like itself again.
…
After the emotions settled, the most critical problem remained.
The Infinite Tsukuyomi.
And the fate of the entire ninja world.
The whole of Konoha Hospital, aside from the four of them, had been hoisted up into the trees.
Remembering that, Naruto grabbed Sasuke and bolted straight for the window.
"We have to go save everyone trapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi! Now!!"
At times like this, Naruto became more impulsive than anyone else.
Sasuke was dragged along, with Sakura and Kakashi following close behind.
The four of them returned to the battlefield of the Fourth Shinobi World War…
More than a month had passed.
Those people…
Even if they hadn't turned into White Zetsu, they had probably lost their consciousness, becoming little more than living corpses.
Their hearts heavy with unease, they watched as the Infinite Tsukuyomi was undone. One by one, people fell from the trees, yet all of them remained fast asleep, impossible to wake no matter what they tried.
The four of them sank into despair.
Sasuke blamed himself.
Kakashi asked where he had disappeared to during that time.
"Another world."
Sasuke briefly explained how he had traveled to the world of the mission scroll, and then saved his clan on the eve of the Uchiha massacre.
Kakashi frowned.
"So if you hadn't gone to another world, then when we reached you and Naruto, you would've already reconciled, broken the Infinite Tsukuyomi together, and saved everyone?"
"Yes," Sasuke answered quietly. "But I came back too late."
The four of them looked at the ninjas scattered across the ground, all sleeping deeply, unresponsive no matter how they were called.
"Sasuke," Kakashi said, "try using your Rinnegan. See if it can change anything."
It was the only option he could think of.
Only the power of the Sage of the Six Paths could possibly turn this situation around.
Carrying everyone's hope, Sasuke opened his newly awakened Rinnegan.
Only then did Naruto realize that Sasuke had become like the Sage of the Six Paths himself. Shocked, he hurriedly asked Sakura and Kakashi how Sasuke had awakened his Rinnegan.
Kakashi couldn't help running his mouth.
"Because that guy thought you were dead."
"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head, completely confused.
Sasuke flushed with anger. His purple-ringed eyes shot a sharp glare at Kakashi. He still hadn't settled this score yet.
Kakashi immediately raised both hands over his head in surrender.
"Alright, alright. I misspoke back then."
Sasuke clearly wasn't very familiar with the Gedo Art of Rinne Rebirth that Pain and Obito had once used with the Rinnegan. He abandoned that line of thought and instead began exploring his own Rinnegan abilities.
First, he activated Susanoo.
Then, he released the nine tailed beasts.
Amid the curses and complaints of the nine colossal creatures, from Shukaku to Kurama, Sasuke demanded their power, drawing on the chakra of the Six Paths as he attempted to fully awaken his true Rinnegan.
The evolution of the Rinnegan largely followed the same trajectory as the Mangekyō Sharingan and Susanoo.
Madara Uchiha's Susanoo, for example, took the form of a twin-faced Buddha with multiple arms, and his Rinnegan ability, Limbo: Border Jail, allowed him to create several invisible clones beyond normal perception.
Sasuke Uchiha's Susanoo ability was Kagutsuchi.
And at the moment he awakened his true Rinnegan power, countless weapons seemed to tear through space itself, emerging from behind his Susanoo as though from another world.
Blades. Swords. Spears. Windmill shuriken. Giant kunai. Chained weapons. Nunchaku. Tang swords…
An endless torrent of armaments poured forth.
Every single one that struck the ground blasted out a massive crater, making even the battlefield of the Fourth Shinobi World War seem to tremble in fear.
It was like a King's Treasury.
Like an infinite sword domain.
This was the power of Sasuke Uchiha's Rinnegan.
"It's strong," Kakashi said.
"But it's completely useless for our current situation."
Kakashi and Sakura were both at a loss.
Naruto, as if trapped in the same inner headspace he shared with Sasuke before, grabbed his head and wailed,
"What do we do?! Are there only four humans left in the whole world, plus Kurama and the others?! And there's only one girl left—Sakura! Doesn't that mean the world's doomed?!"
"What do you mean only one girl left?!" Sakura snapped, punching him hard. "Idiot Naruto!"
Sasuke shot Naruto that unsettling stare again.
"W-what?" Naruto asked nervously.
"We kill everyone," Sasuke said calmly. "Then I try to use the Rinnegan to revive them all. After I die, you dig out my Rinnegan and revive just me. With your chakra reserves, that won't be a problem."
…Huh?
Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi were all stunned.
That was even an option?!
How did Sasuke even come up with something like that?!
"The logic itself isn't bad," Kakashi said slowly. "But there's a problem, Sasuke."
"Hm?"
"When Pain attacked Konoha, the technique had conditions. A limited range. And fresh corpses."
Kakashi put his hands on his hips and sighed.
"How do you guarantee that after killing everyone in the world, the people you killed first will still be intact? They'd probably be rotting by then."
"Or are you planning to do it in stages? Kill one village, revive them immediately, have Naruto dig out your eyes to revive you, then move on to the next village and repeat the whole process?"
Did he think the Sharingan was a USB drive you could plug in and pull out whenever you wanted?
Uh…
That really was a problem.
"Then what about Edo Tensei—"
The Second Hokage had already returned to the Pure Land. Orochimaru and Kabuto were standing right in front of them, and even after the Infinite Tsukuyomi was lifted, they were only maintaining the most basic life functions. No matter how much they were called, they wouldn't wake up.
"Aaaargh!" Naruto clawed at his hair, his temper finally flaring. "Sasuke, your Rinnegan abilities are totally useless! They're all offense! Is this because of your personality or what?!"
"What did you say?!" Sasuke snapped back. "Why don't you awaken a Rinnegan and show me how it's done?!"
"I'm not an Uchiha! How am I supposed to awaken the Rinnegan, dattebayo?!"
Kakashi and Sakura were speechless.
And before long, the two of them were arguing again.
But even if Sasuke's Rinnegan couldn't help…
There was someone else who could.
...
As Sasuke from the Fourth Shinobi World War returned to his own world, Team Minato, Team Kakashi, young Obito, and Hokage Minato all returned to the world of the mission scroll as well.
The moment they were back, the two Minato Namikaze inexplicably began to worry about Sasuke's situation on the other side.
It was as if some extraordinary form of mental resonance existed between them. After countless crossings between worlds, their perception of the mission scroll had grown so sharp that it surpassed ordinary sensitivity to space-time chakra.
This was also one of the reasons they suspected that the one operating behind the scenes of the mission scroll was connected to themselves, or to versions of themselves from parallel worlds.
They had thought their own world might finally enjoy a brief period of peace.
But change still arrived without warning.
Roughly three hours after returning, young Obito went out to buy red bean cakes and helped an elderly woman along the way. When he got back, he opened the mission scroll, planning to check how far he still was from reaching the number 6000.
He never expected that the moment he opened it, the sight before him would leave him completely stunned.
***
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