Chapter 305: Sasuke: Speak Up for Me
"Sasuke is right ahead! Hahahaha, we won! We found Sasuke, Nine-Tails~"
After sprinting all the way and relying on the sensing ability of Sage Mode, Naruto had finally located Sasuke.
[That's great. Hurry up and meet up with Sasuke then. This old man won't disturb you.]
If this had been before, the Nine-Tails would have already been so annoyed that he'd tell Naruto to shut up.
But now there was nothing he could do about it.
Naruto was venting all the longing he felt for Sasuke, and for the Nine-Tails, that was actually a good thing.
It meant they had moved one step farther away from the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.
"Sasuke, I'm coming!"
In his excitement, Naruto dropped out of Sage Mode again. He leapt up from the forest, spun a full three hundred and sixty degrees in midair, landed on the ground, and gave Sasuke a big thumbs-up.
Sasuke, who was by the river using Chidori Sharp Spear to electrocute fish in preparation for lunch, saw Naruto. A hint of surprise appeared on his usually cold face, followed by a faint smile.
But that smile quickly froze.
"Naruto, when did you start wearing glasses?"
Sasuke didn't even ask why Naruto had appeared here or what he had come for. Instead, he immediately asked this question.
There was a reason.
The moment Sasuke saw Naruto wearing glasses, he remembered a "warm training tip" written in the scroll Orochimaru had given him. It warned him never to try take off, because it could blur his vision and he might end up needing glasses.
Naruto… was probably just wearing them for fun, right?
Sasuke thought to himself.
"Oh, the glasses? Lately my training's been a bit exhausting. Because of this my eyesight dropped a little, so I put on glasses. Why?"
Naruto asked curiously.
"Training…"
At the mention of training, Sasuke instantly became serious and clenched his fists.
Power.
He needed power.
Orochimaru had said that right now he needed to build his foundation. As long as his foundation was solid, power would come easily.
But…
"Naruto, tell me, did you run into any Oto ninja blocking your way when you came here?"
Sasuke knew the deployment and combat strength of the Otogakure Village very well. His voice trembled slightly as he asked.
"Of course I did! That guy was really bad. He pretended to be my dad and then ambushed me. Luckily I trained at Mount Myoboku and learned Sage Mode."
"Oh right! My Sage Mode is the 'perfect' Sage Mode, Grandma Toad and the others all praised it!"
"Sasuke, don't you think I'm awesome?"
Naruto lifted his chin confidently.
As the former dead last, after being praised as a genius for so long at Mount Myoboku, he had started to get a bit carried away.
"…I don't want to see it."
Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then refused.
"Alright then."
Naruto didn't react immediately and thought Sasuke meant he didn't want to see his Sage Mode.
…Though it didn't really make much difference.
"Sasuke, I came here to save you and to bring you back to Konoha!"
Only now did Naruto remember the real reason he had come. He looked at Sasuke with a serious expression.
"Save me? I'm not in danger. And I'm not going back. I'm staying here to continue training…"
Sasuke felt Naruto was being completely inexplicable.
"No! Orochimaru wants to take over your body! You have to come back with me!"
Naruto cut him off, looking agitated.
"…That's not true, is it? Orochimaru doesn't have that kind of intention. Naruto, where did you hear that?"
Sasuke was extremely confused.
When he first met Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, Orochimaru had indeed given him a terrifying feeling.
But hadn't Orochimaru's personality been corrected after the Konoha Crush plan?
It was even said that the Third Hokage had acknowledged Orochimaru again.
"Sasuke, stop being so stubborn. If you won't come back, I'll beat you until you wake up. Even if I have to break all four of your limbs, I'll take you back!"
Naruto clenched his fists, his face full of sorrow.
"?"
Sasuke scratched his head.
How was he being stubborn?
All he wanted was to ask where Naruto had heard that Orochimaru wanted his body.
He just wanted to confirm whether the intelligence was accurate.
So say it already, Naruto!?
Why jump straight to beating me awake and breaking my limbs…
Stimulated by Naruto's words, the originally calm Sasuke suddenly grew irritated as well.
"You mean you can defeat me anytime? Break all four of my limbs?"
"No. I mean, we're friends!"
Naruto said with a serious face.
This entire exchange perfectly replicated the dialogue between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.
Unfortunately, Sasuke hadn't awakened Susanoo yet.
Naruto, however, already had Sage Mode.
Back then, when Senju Hashirama shouted "We're friends", he had already started clasping his hands together to gather senjutsu power.
Naruto was the same.
Except he didn't clasp his hands together.
Instead…
"Naruto, what are you doing?"
Sasuke frowned.
"Naruto, stop for a second…"
Sasuke took a step back.
"Naruto, what are you doing!!"
A look of horror appeared on Sasuke's face.
Don't blame the original Sasuke for often questioning Naruto with "what exactly are you to me?"
Just looking at the things Naruto did in the original story, if you were Sasuke, you'd be confused about what kind of relationship Naruto wanted with you.
And the same goes for Sasuke here.
If you were Sasuke, first hearing Naruto ask, "Do you think I'm awesome?", and then seeing countless shadow clones appear, starting to perform "Deep Forest Emergence" (loosen up wide~).
You'd be scared too.
The current Sasuke didn't have the Mangekyō Sharingan yet.
With so many shadow clones, wouldn't he just get stabbed a thousand times over?
"Sasuke, wait! Let me enter Sage Mode first… Sasuke, don't shock me yet…wait a second…"
When Sasuke began to "counterattack", Naruto started panicking as well.
The Chidori Sharp Spear that had originally been used to electrocute fish began piercing through shadow clones one after another, blowing them apart and putting a stop to Naruto's indecent behavior.
Naruto grew anxious. In an instant he had lost more than half of his shadow clones. Those clones had barely even begun to act before being popped, leaving him without enough feedback…
Huh?
Naruto suddenly realized he could already enter Sage Mode!
"Sasuke, the bond between us, you can't cut it!"
Naruto dismissed all his remaining shadow clones and clenched his fists as he shouted at Sasuke.
"Your attributes are Fire and Lightning. Mine is Wind."
"Kakashi-sensei said only Wind counters Lightning."
"But I think only my Wind can make your Fire burn even stronger."
"I didn't expect your Lightning could also help me enter Sage Mode faster! That's amazing!"
"Sasuke, you're no match for me in Sage Mode. Give up. After I rescue you, I still have to go save the Pervy Sage…"
Naruto's tone softened a little.
"Save Jiraiya? That guy deserves to be toyed to death by Orochimaru."
After recovering from his daze, Sasuke said in a low voice.
In Sasuke's view, the only person who could turn the originally innocent Naruto into this kind of person was that unquestionable member of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya.
Kakashi had been a suspect at first.
But after thinking about it, Sasuke decided Kakashi was just secretly perverted; outwardly he was still quite proper.
"What? Sasuke, how can you say that? Have you been brainwashed by Orochimaru? Damn it, I'm going to correct your thinking with punch after punch…"
Naruto angrily launched an attack.
"Don't hit my face with the hand you just used for that!!!"
Panicking, Sasuke activated his three-tomoe Sharingan and began dodging.
(End of this chapter)