Snowflakes drifted down, and the atmosphere outside the inn in the Land of Iron turned as cold and still as ice itself.
But Aoi had to admit…
He quite liked it this way.
"Ding — since when have you become so concerned about the feelings of characters in the story?"
The System sounded puzzled. In the past, Aoi had never bothered with such trivial details during his missions.
"Because if I want to change the story, I first have to become part of it," Aoi replied with a faint smile and a shake of his head.
If I kept doing things the old way — taking what I could get, and forcing my way through whenever I couldn't —
I would eventually hit a wall in my growth.
As long as the main course of events remained unchanged, no trial or mission would ever grant me access to the true core of power in this world…
His earlier experiment — taking the Akatsuki robes and killing Utakata — had already proven this point.
Besides… watching these messy love triangles play out is actually quite entertaining.
"Naruto has carried this promise all by himself, and is ready to carry it for the rest of his life," Sai said, his tone cold and sharp.
"And Sasuke is not the only thing causing him pain."
Whether in the original story or right here and now, Sai's rebuke of Sakura felt incredibly satisfying to hear.
Nicely done, Sai!
"Please, stop."
Before Sakura could even open her mouth, Naruto stepped forward, placing himself between her and Sai as usual.
He grabbed Sai's arm and pleaded, "I beg you, Sai — don't say any more."
Tsk, tsk…
Aoi clicked his tongue. Naruto still doesn't realize — this kind of behavior only makes everyone else dislike Sakura even more. It serves no real purpose at all.
But Sai was never one to lose control completely.
He shot Sakura a look of utter disdain, then stepped back and fell silent.
Seeing this, Naruto tried to lighten the already tense atmosphere, turning to Shikamaru with a forced smile.
"Shikamaru — what are you all doing here? Did you come looking for me?"
"It's fine, really — I've been—"
"It's not just that we're worried about you," Shikamaru interrupted, lifting his head with a stern expression.
"There's something important we have to tell you."
"W-What is it?"
The smile on Naruto's face slowly froze.
"We have decided — we are going to kill Sasuke."
Shikamaru spoke with unwavering resolve.
"At this critical moment, the only way to avoid a full‑scale war is for us, his own fellow villagers, to deal with him ourselves."
"But… Shikamaru, you yourself said before — Sasuke is still one of us, a ninja of Konoha!" Naruto protested weakly.
"He was one of us."
Shikamaru shook his head coldly.
At that moment, Gaara, Temari, and Kankurō — who had all attended the Five Kage Summit — stepped out from behind him.
"Gaara?"
"We have urgent news for you."
Because Aoi had delayed Obito just enough, the timeline had shifted slightly — and Gaara and his companions had arrived much earlier than expected.
What had happened at the summit was simple enough to explain: the Akatsuki had launched an attack, and Sasuke along with his Team Hawk had openly assaulted the Five Kage, even burning off the Raikage's arm in the process.
"How could this be… Sasuke?!"
Hearing the truth, Sakura could no longer hold herself together.
She sank to the ground in a huddle, covering her face and weeping in despair.
One crisis after another — this really is turning into quite the tangled mess!
Aoi scratched his head and couldn't help but grin.
From Sasuke's point of view, neither Naruto nor Sakura ever mattered much compared to Itachi.
If anything, Naruto might have held a little weight…
But Sakura? She was worth less than nothing.
Even a fart has some force behind it — yet when Sasuke raised his blade to strike her down, there wasn't the slightest flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
Now let's see how their feelings toward Sasuke will change — and where the story will turn next.
World Line Shift Rate: 5%.
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