Chapter 114:
"Naruto."
"Sasuke."
Young Sasuke and young Naruto crossed paths on their journey. The two locked eyes, and in that moment, they saw no one else but each other.
"So this is what Uncle Sasuke looked like when he was a kid?" Boruto glanced at young Sasuke, then at young Naruto, and nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, just as I thought—way cooler than my dumb old man. He totally lied to me."
"Hey! I was obviously the better-looking one, okay?!"
Just as young Naruto was about to argue with Boruto about who was cooler, young Sasuke suddenly launched a silent attack.
At this stage, neither Naruto nor Sasuke had learned many flashy jutsu, so most of their fighting relied on taijutsu.
Young Naruto blocked Sasuke's side kick and shouted, "What are you doing, Sasuke?! Aren't we comrades?!"
Even though this wasn't the Sasuke from his own timeline, Naruto believed that no matter the era, Sasuke would always be his comrade.
"You're still just as naïve, Naruto. This little pretend 'comrade' game is over. I'll do whatever it takes for revenge!" Young Sasuke declared as he spun and launched another side kick.
"Even if it means killing me?!"
"Of course. Whether it's you or Sakura—if you stand in my way, I'll kill you without hesitation!" Sasuke growled after a moment of hesitation.
"You bastard!" Dodging Sasuke's attack, young Naruto used the recovery time after Sasuke's missed strike to put some distance between them. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A shadow clone appeared beside Naruto, already forming a Rasengan.
"I'll help too." Boruto ran over to stand beside him.
"No, Boruto. This is between me and Sasuke. I need to knock some sense into him!" Naruto's eyes never left Sasuke.
"You're going to knock some sense into me? You? Dead last?" Lightning surged in Sasuke's hand, the sound of chirping birds filling the air. "Chidori!"
"Rasengan!"
"Uchiha Itachi!"
Adult Sakura stood protectively in front of Sarada and her younger self, alert and ready.
Behind her, Sarada cautiously peeked out, eyeing the man in front of her and murmured, "Is that... my dad's brother?"
For some reason, Sarada felt a strange sense of familiarity from Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi didn't answer adult Sakura. Instead, he looked at Sarada with a gentle smile and asked, "What's your name?"
"Sarada."
As soon as Sarada replied, Itachi activated a Transcription Seal, sealing his Amaterasu into her eyes.
"Sarada!" Sakura first glanced at her daughter, then quickly turned back to glare at Itachi. "What did you just do to her?!"
Though Sakura's monstrous strength was troublesome, she couldn't stop Itachi, who was determined to leave.
Itachi could feel it clearly—his illness, the bloodline sickness, was worsening. At this rate, he wouldn't survive until the Holy Grail War ended.
Adjusting his state of mind, Itachi moved in the direction of young Sasuke.
He knew he didn't have much time left, so he decided to deepen young Sasuke's hatred of him as much as possible before he disappeared.
Since the Sasuke of this era eventually found happiness, it proved that his decisions were right.
Originally, Itachi planned to put on a show for Sarada as well—but after thinking it over, he simply couldn't bring himself to do it. Besides, this version of Sasuke was far stronger than he had ever been. He should—
Be able to protect Sarada.
"Dad!"
Seeing young Naruto get impaled in the chest by Sasuke's Chidori, Boruto shouted instinctively.
It should've been a mutual strike, but at the last moment, Naruto's Rasengan vanished.
Relying on the durability of his Jinchūriki body, Naruto managed to steady himself after staggering a bit. He grabbed Sasuke's arm—the one that had pierced his chest—and said, "Sasuke, come back. Sakura misses you every day."
In young Naruto's timeline, Sasuke had already defected to join Orochimaru.
"I..."
Sasuke, who had always thirsted for power, actually hesitated!
It might seem a bit unrealistic, but that's the power of Naruto's Talk-no-Jutsu!
"Is this all the resolve you've got, Sasuke? If you can't go through with it, then I'll do it instead."
Young Naruto never expected that he would be the first to be eliminated in the Holy Grail War.
He gradually faded into glowing particles of light.
"Dad!"
Hearing Boruto's voice snapped young Naruto's attention away from Sasuke and back to Boruto.
"Naruto!"
Sasuke looked pained. This moment should be a trigger for a flashback sequence.
Flashback sequence ends. As young Sasuke looked up again with a defiant gaze at Itachi, his Sharingan had evolved into the Three Tomoe form.
With Naruto's disappearance, the Nine Tails chakra inside him also vanished.
"One less Nine Tails chakra!"
Adult Sasuke and Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, who had been exchanging blows with taijutsu, both broke off and looked in the direction where the Nine Tails chakra disappeared.
Urashiki clicked his tongue in irritation and immediately departed toward Old Man Madara's battlefield.
With one Nine Tails gone, he had to secure the remaining one before Madara could hog it all for himself.
Seeing Urashiki vanish, Sasuke also teleported toward Naruto's battlefield.
"Naruto!" The loss of the Nine Tails chakra didn't escape the sharp senses of the Byakugan either.
Though visibly worried, adult Hinata still held back her speed to accommodate Himawari.
Even with his newly awakened Three Tomoe Sharingan, young Sasuke still couldn't match Uchiha Itachi.
Seeing Sasuke taking a beating, Boruto was just about to step in with a shadow clone when Sasuke shouted, "Assistant! This is between me and him!"
"You want to know why, with all my power, I didn't just kill you outright?" Ignoring the hatred in Sasuke's eyes, Itachi said slowly, "Continued use of the Mangekyō Sharingan leads to deterioration of vision and eventual blindness. However, if you transplant the Mangekyō from a close relative, it evolves into the Eternal Mangekyō. Then, I'll no longer have to fear going blind."
With Susanoo activated, Itachi continued to pressure Sasuke. "My foolish little brother, give me your eyes."
As Itachi's fingers crept closer, Sasuke showed his classic terrified expression.
"Mom! Over here!"
"Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists!"
Her fists struck nothing as Itachi's body scattered into crows.
From the fluttering crows came Itachi's voice: "I'll let you hold onto your eyes for now, Sasuke."
(Support me and read ahead on Patreøn: patreøn.com/craxxtranslations.
3 new chapters are released daily—thank you for your support!
Powerstone Event: For every 50 powerstones, 1 chapter will be unlocked.)