Upon realizing the terrifying thought that had quietly sprouted in his heart, Naruto began immersing his mind into his body to examine it thoroughly. After multiple careful scans, to his confusion and unease, Naruto actually discovered a dark and cold presence deep within his inner world—something similar to chakra, yet difficult to detect…
Though it wasn't as overwhelming or vast as the negative emotions radiating from Kurama, it was stubborn and persistent like a cockroach. Even when Naruto tried to suppress it with full force, it merely retreated into dormancy, hiding deep within his psyche. It no longer interfered with his rationality, yet a faint thread of it remained—thin, lingering. No matter what he tried, he just couldn't completely purge it. A helpless sense of frustration weighed on his heart.
'If this kind of thinking isn't just a fluke… then if I leave it unchecked… won't I eventually become another Danzo Shimura?!'
Seeing that he couldn't eliminate it completely, and with no immediate solution, Naruto had no choice but to leave it be for now. His brows furrowed tightly as he muttered to himself, but still uneasy, he used the sealing techniques passed down from his mother. He quickly laid down several small but sturdy seals around the unknown energy. Only then did he feel somewhat reassured, and slowly brought his consciousness back to reality.
'Tch. This thing… Could it be a little farewell gift from Danzo before he died? Or maybe a parting present from Orochimaru's Living Sacrifice Clone? But… they shouldn't have had this kind of ability. Danzo never got Uchiha Shisui's eye that activates Kotoamatsukami, and as far as I remember, Orochimaru didn't brand me with any Cursed Seal either…'
Puzzled and burdened by worry, Naruto shook his head to scatter the unease clouding his mind. After confirming that the strange energy didn't show any more signs of movement, he decided to focus on completing his school registration first. He'd find someone to help figure it out later.
At the same time, even though Naruto had deliberately slowed his pace to give himself more time to process his emotions, the distance between him and Fugaku's group hadn't been that far to begin with. So before Naruto could fully collect his thoughts, he had already returned to the group…
"Yo! Our little hero is back!"
Maybe because he felt guilty about selling Naruto out to his wife earlier, Fugaku was the first to greet him with a teasing grin as Naruto walked out of the crowd.
"Oh, right. I wanted to discuss something with you. Mikoto already—"
"I know."
"...Huh?"
Fugaku paused, hesitating for a moment as he gathered his courage to gently break the news that Mikoto had learned about Naruto's true parentage. But before he could finish, Naruto—clearly distracted—waved him off casually, crossed his arms, and walked straight past him in deep thought.
'He knows…? Knows what exactly?'
Naruto's unexpected reaction made the already guilty Fugaku panic. He completely misunderstood Naruto's distracted and worried demeanor, assuming that Naruto had figured out he had caved to Mikoto and told her everything. A chill ran down Fugaku's spine as if Naruto had just outmaneuvered him, and he instinctively shrank his neck back, nervously glancing at Naruto muttering to himself at the end of the line.
'That brat… He figured I'd tell Mikoto about his background, and now he's planning his revenge… No, no, I need to think—have I left anything that he could use against me?'
Ever since participating in the mission to eliminate Danzo and Root, Fugaku had truly witnessed the kind of cunning and frightening mind hidden behind Naruto's seemingly harmless demeanor. While he knew Naruto would never do anything that would harm his allies… if Naruto found out he'd been betrayed, the mischievous traps and schemes he could come up with were enough to make anyone's life miserable. Shivering again, Fugaku racked his brain trying to recall if he'd left any leverage in Naruto's hands recently.
And because of this misunderstanding of Naruto's expression, Fugaku completely failed to notice the truly odd thing: Naruto's blank, unfocused eyes.
"Heh, nicely done, Naruto! Even the proctor was impressed—you really are amazing!"
"It was just a few questions. Nothing big."
"Ah! Naruto-kun, you're back."
"Mm… sorry, I took a bit longer."
Because Fugaku was the first to greet Naruto and didn't notice his strange behavior, and because Naruto never bothered hiding his real personality from people like Fugaku—he tended to do whatever came to mind in front of them—everyone was already used to his occasional zoning out and unpredictable expressions. So as Naruto gradually regained his awareness, he quickly noticed the unusual look on his own face. Thanks to the acting skills he had honed over years of bottling things up, he was able to flash a wide, carefree grin, scratching his head with both hands. For the moment, no one suspected the anxiety and dread buried deep in his heart.
Of course, not everyone was fooled…
Among those present, one person had accessed Naruto's memories—making him the only one in the world who truly understood Naruto inside and out.
That person was the older brother of the Little Uchiha Fan—Uchiha Itachi.
'Looks like Naruto's gotten himself into some real trouble… and he's planning to shoulder it all alone again? In that way… he's just like the "other me" who already failed.'
As Naruto's grin returned, Itachi—who had just come back from escorting Izumi to class—stood silently beside Sasuke, staring intently at Naruto. When Naruto gave Hinata a half-hearted greeting without breaking stride, Itachi's frown deepened. Seizing the moment while everyone else was distracted, his eyes turned scarlet red—his Sharingan activating.
He once again used the same genjutsu he had employed before to read Naruto's memories, attempting to dive deeper and uncover what had really happened to him.
As expected, Naruto hadn't set up any defenses against Itachi. His mental defenses were easily breached, and Itachi began to observe Naruto's most genuine thoughts…
'What… What the hell is this?!'
But in the very next second, Itachi's expression shifted from solemn confusion to pale-faced horror. Blood drained from his face as he instinctively withdrew from Naruto's mind, staring in shock at Naruto, who appeared perfectly normal on the outside.
'Did I just see… an illusion? But that memory wasn't in what Naruto showed me before!'
Muttering to himself, the grotesque scene he had just witnessed through the genjutsu replayed in his mind…
The vision took place in the Hidden Leaf Village, though it had been reduced to rubble, as if it had suffered a massive catastrophe. All around were mangled, contorted corpses piled haphazardly across the ruins.
Amid the blood-soaked hellscape, a blond young man stood in the center, lifting a barely-alive Sasuke off the ground. Sasuke, still glaring in rage, screamed in pain as the young man coldly gouged out his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and transplanted them one by one into his own empty eye sockets.
A moment later, as if sensing Itachi's intrusion, the young man tossed Sasuke's now-useless corpse aside and turned around. His face—now covered in blood and twisted with madness—locked eyes with Itachi through the fading genjutsu. His lips moved, and Itachi understood his words through lip-reading.
"You saw me, huh… another Uchiha Itachi. Don't worry. I'll find the rest of you soon."
'No… That had to be an illusion…'
A message straight from a nightmare, combined with the image of that young man stealing Sasuke's eyes, made Itachi's gaze toward Naruto grow increasingly grim. His fists clenched, and in his heart, he whispered the name of the blond youth who slaughtered the entire Hidden Leaf Village in that vision.
'That man… was Naruto?!'