His right eye bore a non-standard Mangekyō Sharingan pattern, and he had infiltrated the village by posing as a Konoha shinobi and using a space-time ninjutsu.
In this world, Itachi had never joined the Akatsuki or worked with Obito, so he did not yet know the secret of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
However, he did know that Orochimaru had obtained samples of his younger brother's and Naruto's cells during the Chūnin Exams.
And according to Makoto, Orochimaru was also a member of the mysterious organization Obito belonged to, while Obito's Mangekyō ability just happened to be space-time based.
So Itachi's first thought was that these two strangers who resembled Sasuke and Naruto might be experimental subjects created by Orochimaru and Obito.
In other words, the two standing before him were enemies.
And if they were enemies, there was nothing more to discuss.
After his genjutsu was blocked, Itachi used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of Adult Sasuke and immediately drew his sword to attack.
Adult Sasuke felt rather helpless. Being beaten up by his brother was something he was very familiar with. He had suffered through it since childhood. Even after awakening the three-tomoe Sharingan, he had still been pinned to the ground and thoroughly humiliated by the other man.
In the end, he had only managed to achieve victory because Itachi had been deliberately holding back and his body had already collapsed from illness.
Later, he learned that his beloved brother had never intended to kill him at all. He had been playing that twisted version of brotherly affection where the beatings were the love language.
Unlike the Itachi in front of him, who clearly had no intention of letting him off the hook.
Now, his left eye was a Rinnegan and his right eye an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. In terms of strength, he could completely overwhelm his brother.
But he was exhausted.
Even without Urashiki stealing his chakra during their journey through time and space, he was still running on fumes.
The temporary cheat code the old Sage of Six Paths had given him during the Fourth Shinobi War had long since expired.
Still, no matter how drained he was, his base stats were what they were. Adult Sasuke drew his sword, blocked Itachi's attack, and then forced him back with even greater strength.
The two ANBU accompanying Itachi seized the opportunity to attack from both sides.
Adult Sasuke moved after they did but arrived first. With superior speed, he sent both of them flying back to where they had started with a kick each.
He controlled his strength carefully and did not injure the ANBU. He had no desire to harm Konoha's people, even if this was not the Konoha he knew.
The Sasuke of today, whose mindset had changed completely, was no longer the arrogant and rebellious boy he had once been.
His heart was now filled with warmth thanks to a certain best friend.
Taking advantage of the moment Sasuke drove back his teammates, Itachi quickly formed hand seals.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
A massive fireball shot straight toward Adult Sasuke and Boruto behind him.
Adult Sasuke responded with the same technique.
He did not even form hand seals.
In fact, he could not.
Poor Adult Sasuke was disabled. He only had his right arm left.
Boom—
The two enormous fireballs collided, erupting into a shower of sparks that filled the sky.
The instant Itachi and the ANBU's vision was blocked, Adult Sasuke grabbed Boruto and prepared to escape.
At the moment, he had no way to explain who he was. Nor did he want to become too entangled with familiar faces from this time period.
If this dragged on any longer, more and more people would surround them.
They had to leave immediately and come up with a new plan to protect Naruto.
But just as he and Boruto leaped toward the forest, Team 7 arrived.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Young Sasuke descended from above and launched a fireball straight at them.
Adult Sasuke's only remaining hand was still occupied holding Boruto, leaving him unable to counterattack.
The two could only shove each other away and separate, each landing in a different location.
Although they avoided the Great Fireball Technique, they were forced apart.
The moment Adult Sasuke landed, he immediately jumped away again.
Boom—
The ground where he had been standing exploded into a massive crater under the punch of a pink-and-red blur.
Adult Sasuke's eyelid twitched involuntarily as he stared at the familiar figure.
Had Sakura of this world already learned Monster Strength?
If that punch had connected, it would not have been a matter of a few bruises.
Several ribs would have snapped on the spot, making his already exhausted condition even worse.
Boruto, who had been thrown to the other side, was not particularly nervous.
If things really got out of hand, he could always perform the ultimate move and acknowledge his father on the spot. Once that happened, everything would sort itself out.
But then he suddenly felt a chill on his neck.
Turning around, he discovered that he had become a hostage.
Naruto, who had not participated in the attack, had appeared behind him and pressed a kunai against his shoulder.
With the slightest movement, Boruto could die at the hands of the younger, more handsome version of his father.
Naruto called out to Adult Sasuke.
"Surrender. If you still care about your companion."
Adult Sasuke looked at the unfamiliar Naruto and felt a headache coming on.
'Damn it. This world really is weird.'
Naruto was taking hostages.
This was nothing like the idiot he knew, the one who only knew how to charge straight ahead without thinking.
After the fighting temporarily stopped, Sakura suddenly noticed something extremely interesting.
Her eyes darted wildly between the two Sasukes, Naruto, and Boruto.
"Hey, Sasuke, don't you think this guy looks a lot like you? And Naruto, you look a lot like the blond one too. This is so weird. What's going on here?"
Young Sasuke glanced at Adult Sasuke and felt as though he were looking at his future self. An odd sense of dissonance immediately rose in his heart.
Mainly because the guy's hair was way too flowing and stylish.
He swore he would never wear that kind of hairstyle when he grew up.
Naruto looked at Boruto and, for some reason, felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
This boy, who was around the same age as him, really did resemble him.
More importantly, he had whisker-like markings on his face too.
Now that was interesting.
At that moment, Itachi suddenly spoke.
"What are you three doing here? Take the younger one and leave. The remaining man is very dangerous. He's not someone you can handle."
Young Sasuke was no longer the obedient little brother he had been as a child.
"Are you looking down on me, Brother? This time, I'll be the one dealing with the enemy."
"This isn't the time to fool around, Sasuke."
"I'm not fooling around. Sensei told us to come."
"Is that so?"
Itachi paused for a moment, then looked at the two matching pairs and began forming a hypothesis.
"What else did Makoto-senpai say?"
Young Sasuke replied, "Nothing. Sensei just said that enemies had entered the village through Konoha's barrier and told us to bring them to him."
Hearing that, Itachi began analyzing the situation.
With Makoto's sensory abilities, it was impossible for him not to know how strong these intruders were.
Since he had sent Sasuke to bring them in, that meant the enemies would not try to kill Sasuke and his teammates.
That made things very interesting.
There was clearly some secret here that he didn't know about.
"In that case, let's do as Makoto-senpai instructed."
After saying that, Itachi did not leave with his team.
Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on Adult Sasuke.
He wanted to see how the man would react, and at the same time prevent him from harming his beloved little brother.
Listening to their conversation, Adult Sasuke felt a complicated surge of emotions.
So this was the future where the Uchiha Clan had never been wiped out.
How wonderful.
He could have lived happily in Konoha with his brother and parents.
Young Sasuke folded his arms.
"Hey, long-haired guy. Are you coming with us now, or do I have to beat you up and carry you there myself?"
Adult Sasuke glanced at Boruto, who was still being held at knifepoint by Naruto.
He was so drained that he could not even use Amenotejikara right now.
And even if he could, it wouldn't help.
For Boruto to end up in Konoha's hands with his strength...
The Team 7 of this timeline was far stronger than the one from his own era.
There was no way Boruto could beat them.
Not to mention that Itachi was still standing right there.
He absolutely could not let Boruto face Itachi.
Otherwise, the truth about the two of them would be dug out completely.
So he asked, "You're Sasuke, right? The sensei you mentioned earlier... is he your team's jōnin instructor?"
"That's right. So what's your decision?"
"Fine. I'll go with you."
It seemed that Team 7's jōnin instructor in this timeline was not Kakashi, but the "Makoto-senpai" Itachi had mentioned—a person whose name he had never once heard in his own timeline.
Judging from Itachi's tone, he seemed to respect the man greatly.
Which meant that the differences in this timeline were very likely connected to this so-called Senior Makoto.
Since escape clearly wasn't an option anymore, he might as well go meet this person and find out who he really was.
Seeing the situation resolved, Naruto lowered his kunai.
Even so, he stayed beside Boruto.
He knew this kid was the weak point of the mysterious duo.
Boruto had no intention of running away either.
Instead, he smiled back at Naruto, his eyes full of curiosity.
Watching the five of them leave, Itachi instructed his teammates to continue their patrol.
As for himself, he needed to return home and ask his father about a few things concerning the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Along the way, Adult Sasuke finally couldn't help asking, "Um... Sasuke, your parents... are they doing well?"
"Hmph. That's none of your concern."
"What about Kakashi?"
"Oh?"
Young Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"You know quite a bit. But don't waste your breath. Getting information out of me won't be that easy."
Adult Sasuke looked up at the Hokage Rock.
"One last question. Who's the current Hokage?"
"Obviously the Fourth Hokage-sama."
This time, Young Sasuke didn't hide anything.
After all, it wasn't exactly a secret.
At the same time, he found it strange that the man didn't even know something as basic as that.
What a weird guy.
"I see."
Adult Sasuke asked no further questions.
Instead, he glanced at the very differently dressed Naruto beside him.
No wonder he dressed like that.
So in this bizarre timeline, Naruto's father hadn't died after all.
He was still Konoha's Fourth Hokage.