Chapter 320: He Even Called Him "Dad" Just to Beg for Mercy
"Sasuke?"
Seeing Sasuke suddenly appear, Naruto was first surprised, then happy, before pinching his own thigh to forcibly calm himself down.
He hadn't forgotten his mission.
He had to act. He had to provoke Sasuke and make him awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan!
Right now, Sasuke only had the three-tomoe Sharingan active, which meant the mission wasn't complete. He had to keep pushing him!
"Naruto, stop looking around! Look into my eyes and answer me!"
Sasuke was furious at Naruto's small movements.
He had already come right up to him, yet Naruto was still acting as if he didn't exist, sneaking glances at Killer Bee and Sai.
As for why Sasuke didn't activate his Mangekyō Sharingan?
His Mangekyō ability was information-based and had no real combat application.
Why waste chakra and ocular power by activating it for no reason?
"I…"
"Uchiha Sasuke, hello. Why are you so angry?"
Naruto had just snapped back to his senses and hadn't even had time to respond when Sai stepped forward first, smiling as he spoke.
Sai had also taken on this mission in order to atone for his past mistakes, cooperating with Naruto to help Sasuke awaken his eyes.
To help Sai understand how to provoke Sasuke, the mission scroll had described the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke.
Kakashi, assistant to the Hokage, acting Hokage, and candidate for Sixth Hokage, had even thoughtfully given Sai two volumes from the 'Buff Man' series as reference material.
Sai was diligent. On the way to Turtle Island, he had been reading nonstop, and now he had already learned something.
"Who are you?"
Sasuke took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.
"My name is Sai."
With his trademark fake smile, Sai took Naruto's hand and placed it on his exposed waist. "So you're Sasuke. When Naruto sleeps, he calls your name ninety-nine times."
"Sai…?"
Sasuke clenched his fists.
Hearing that Naruto called his name in his sleep, Sasuke showed a faint smile for a brief moment.
"But he calls my name one hundred times."
"I know. I'm just your replacement, the substitute for Naruto's longing for you. But now, this substitute has replaced you, the original! I've evolved into something greater!"
Recalling the descriptions from 'Buff Man Paradise', Sai let Naruto wrap an arm around his waist while he leaned shyly into Naruto's embrace, saying things that were utterly outrageous.
"Ah? Oh, right… yes."
Naruto didn't react in time and could only stiffly go along with it.
"..."
Sarada trembled as she watched this scene, "I can't tell… I really can't tell anymore…"
Although she had been told that everything related to Kumogakure was fake, meant only to help Sasuke awaken his eyes, and that the rest was real…
Where exactly was the line between truth and lies?
Why did Sai's tone just now feel exactly the same as how he would speak sincerely in the future?
Did that mean Sai really did have that kind of relationship with Naruto…
Sarada suddenly remembered, Sai was also a member of Team 7.
In the future, he would even become the head of the Anbu and commander of the "Root Division", the organization formed by merging Anbu and Root.
This relationship…
Sarada's mind flashed back to information she had learned earlier through Uchiha Hikari's genjutsu.
Among it was the complicated bond between Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō.
"You are the leaves in the sunlight, I am the roots in the darkness."
Wasn't the relationship between the Third Hokage and Danzō the same as Naruto and Sai?
Sai was Naruto's root in the darkness.
In other words, Sai was Naruto's hidden partner.
And then there was Sasuke, in the future, he would be known as the "Shadow Supporting the Hokage" symbolizing the man who supported the Hokage from behind.
Thinking about it now, that title probably wasn't so innocent either.
Most likely, people in the ninja world had already noticed the unusual relationship between Sasuke and Naruto, but due to their overwhelming power, they could only hint at it indirectly.
"Shadow supporting from behind."
There was no need to say what exactly was doing the "supporting."
Sarada was on the verge of a breakdown.
And Sasuke, too, had reached his limit.
After repeated provocation from Sai, Sasuke's face darkened. He slowly formed hand seals, and lightning crackled in his hand with the piercing chirp of Chidori.
"Stop! Don't fight anymore!!!"
Pushed past her breaking point, Sarada couldn't hold back any longer. She leapt down from the tree and stood between them.
Who was this?
Both sides were startled by Sarada's sudden appearance.
A girl, with three-tomoe Sharingan activated, tears in her eyes.
This was…
"Who are you?"
Sasuke frowned.
An Uchiha?
Impossible.
Hadn't the Uchiha clan all been wiped out by his dear older brother?
Could she be like that Uchiha ancestor, someone sealed long ago and recently unearthed?
"I'm Sarada, I'm…"
Sarada hadn't thought things through when she jumped out. Now, she didn't know what to say.
Her relationship with Sasuke had already become something she feared and resisted.
Only a final thread remained before it would snap completely.
"She is, of course, 'material' provided by Kumogakure, a descendant of the Uchiha captured during the last ninja war, now being used for Naruto…"
Sai was desperate to atone and to prove himself.
The moment he saw Sarada appear with the Sharingan, he immediately came up with an explanation, determined to provoke Sasuke at all costs.
If one substitute wasn't enough, then add another.
"Sai… Sarada… Sa…"
Sasuke clutched his head. He hadn't expected Naruto to have found both a male substitute and a female substitute.
And both of them even resembled him somewhat.
Torment. Pain. Rage.
Sasuke raised his head again, glaring at Sarada, lifting the Chidori in his left hand.
"Da… Dad?!"
Seeing Sasuke about to attack her, shocked and heartbroken, Sarada finally cried out.
"Calling me 'dad' just to beg for mercy? Hmph!"
Sasuke snorted coldly. The sharp Chidori pierced straight through Sarada's shoulder.
In the next instant, Sasuke appeared beside her and kicked her flying away.
Watching Sarada's lifeless body spinning through the air, Shiromo activated New Moon, pulling her back with gravitational force.
Smack.
Crazy Diamond.
The bloody hole in Sarada's shoulder disappeared, even the tear in her clothes was repaired.
But while the physical wound was healed, the emotional one could not be.
Sarada was devastated. This was already the second time.
And this time, she had truly been hurt.
"Sasuke, what are you doing?!"
Naruto, still kind-hearted, panicked when he saw an innocent girl get seriously injured because of their act.
But in Sasuke's eyes…
"You're still worried about her?"
Sasuke shook his hand as if flicking away nonexistent blood, then turned his gaze toward Sai, raising a finger.
"You're next, Sai!"
(End of this chapter)