History was repeating itself. Fate, it seemed, was a cycle.
Just as Madara Uchiha had attacked Konoha at its founding, Sasuke Uchiha, so many years later, was doing the same this night. In fact, Sasuke was even stronger than Madara had been back then.
Fortunately, Konoha now had Naruto Uzumaki, who was even stronger than the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, who had once stopped Madara. Although Naruto was baffled by Sasuke's desire to destroy the village, he was determined to stop him.
"Sasuke! What are you doing!"
A golden chakra glow emanated from Naruto's body, forming a giant, humanoid Nine-Tailed Fox that clashed with Sasuke's Perfect Susanoo.
What on earth had happened? Just a few days ago, he and Sasuke had promised to protect Konoha together. Why was Sasuke now trying to destroy it for no reason?
"Are you being controlled by Emiya?" Naruto couldn't figure it out and could only guess. With the power Sasuke now possessed, not even Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi could control him. It had to be Emiya Shirou's doing.
"Get out of the way!"
At the word 'controlled,' a fierce, angry look flashed across Sasuke's face, making him even more furious about what he had just experienced.
His own brother... had actually tried to use Kotoamatsukami to alter his will.
That was something he could never tolerate. He refused to have his life manipulated by that brother. He would utterly destroy this village.
"What on earth happened!" Naruto's face was urgent as he tried to persuade his friend. "Did Emiya do something? Sasuke, don't believe him!"
"I don't trust him..." Sasuke gritted out. His heart was completely consumed by anger and sorrow, but he couldn't bring himself to speak of being manipulated by his own brother.
That kind of thing... it was simply too absurd.
Everyone who knew the truth said his brother, Itachi Uchiha, loved him dearly, but he couldn't feel any of that love—only a bone-chilling cold.
"Move aside, Naruto. This has nothing to do with you."
Controlling the purple Susanoo, Sasuke drew its giant katana, releasing his chakra to its fullest. "Let me destroy Konoha."
"I won't let you," Naruto shook his head, his own eyes becoming determined as he began to gather the chakra within his body.
Clearly, this battle was now unavoidable.
No one would have thought that after the Infinite Tsukuyomi war—believed to be the final battle of the ninja world—a new war would break out, even if it only involved two people.
Inside Konoha village, Tsunade was tense. Fortunately, Naruto was in the village. Otherwise, she couldn't imagine Konoha surviving an enraged Sasuke.
But what exactly had happened? Tsunade really couldn't figure it out.
After Naruto brought Sasuke back, the village's attitude towards the former rogue ninja was unclear, but Tsunade had gone against the consensus to handle the procedures for Sasuke to rejoin.
She had even joked that he could participate with Naruto in the next Chunin Exams held by Shirou Emiya.
To be honest, as Hokage, Tsunade felt her attitude towards Sasuke had been tolerant enough. She didn't want a ninja with Six Paths-level power wandering outside the village.
She hadn't done anything wrong, had she? Konoha certainly hadn't.
To keep Sasuke in the village—or rather, because she never intended for him to become a rogue ninja in the first place—she had even issued a special order forbidding anyone from talking about Sasuke's time with the Akatsuki.
"How did Konoha get into trouble?" a familiar voice said beside her.
When Tsunade heard the voice, she froze for a moment before reacting.
It was Madara Uchiha! Wait… how could Madara Uchiha be here? Could this all be his doing?
"On guard!" The Konoha ANBU were startled by Madara's appearance.
"On guard for what?" Madara looked at the ANBU in surprise, as if doubting their sanity. "We are not enemies now. Konoha is one of the ninja villages under our jurisdiction."
A look of humiliation immediately appeared on the faces of the Konoha ninjas. Tsunade's expression wasn't much better. She said in a deep voice, "Sasuke Uchiha wants to destroy Konoha. Is this your conspiracy?"
"It could be..." Madara frowned.
He subconsciously thought of the arrangements Emiya Shirou had mentioned, but he couldn't figure out what Shirou had actually planned.
That guy… he really left nothing to chance. The question was, how did he do it?
Clearly, the blame for this was about to fall on Emiya Shirou's head. As the most powerful person in the ninja world, he often had to bear such responsibility, especially since he was probably the only one with the power to control Sasuke.
A pitch-black portal opened above the Hokage's office.
"I didn't do it," Emiya Shirou's voice announced. Behind him were several figures, seemingly escorting someone.
It was Orochimaru. Next to him was the reanimated Itachi Uchiha.
After the war, Orochimaru had been hiding from Kabuto's pursuit. Along with the reanimated Itachi, he was still trying to form an alliance to resist Emiya Shirou. He had no choice. His ally, Obito, had died.
Although Orochimaru thought he might not need to stir up any more trouble, he knew nothing good would come from falling into the Akatsuki's hands. He could only try his best to find allies and continue provoking the ninja world to resist.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru's luck had been bad. The Kabuto pursuing him was far too strong, and his Sage Mode from Ryuchi Cave was a perfect counter, inexplicably blocking his escape routes.
"Wait..." Tsunade believed Shirou's denial. She knew the current Shirou had no need to lie, and the man disliked doing so.
In that case, the suspect was easy to identify. "Could it be Orochimaru?" Tsunade looked unhappily at her old friend.
If someone had instigated Sasuke, Orochimaru seemed to have the ability. At the very least, his tongue was sharp enough.
"I haven't had time to do anything," Orochimaru laughed, his gaze falling grimly on Kabuto. "I've been dodging his pursuit this whole time."
"My apologies," Kabuto smiled politely, his gaze shifting to the reanimated Itachi. "I was under orders to retrieve Itachi Uchiha's body, but Lord Orochimaru beat me to it and reanimated him. I could only capture Lord Orochimaru as well."
Itachi, however, paid no attention to Kabuto. He just watched his younger brother trying to destroy Konoha, his heart uneasy. Had the Kotoamatsukami crow he released not reached Sasuke yet to alter his will?
"Are you wondering..." Shirou's voice suddenly appeared in Itachi's ear.
He was looking at the two fighting in the distance and continued softly, "Why Sasuke's will has not yet been altered by Shisui Uchiha's Kotoamatsukami?"
"!!!" Itachi's expression immediately changed.
This guy! How could he know about Kotoamatsukami? And how could he have guessed he would use it on Sasuke?
"I once obtained a Kotoamatsukami from Danzo," Shirou said, noticing Itachi's expression.
He explained in a friendly tone, "I studied that Sharingan back then. A genjutsu that alters a person's will is indeed very strong, but it's impossible for it to work on Sasuke, who possesses Yin Power and the Rinnegan."
"You guessed that I would use Kotoamatsukami on Sasuke..." The shock in Itachi's heart did not lessen in the slightest.
In fact, he was even more horrified that Shirou could predict his actions. Did this man also guess he wanted to use the Impure World Reincarnation?
"Some things," Shirou continued, "are things people are never willing to waste. If that Sharingan exists, it's destined to be used. With your personality of utilizing everything to the extreme, it's unlikely you would let it go to waste. You would probably use it at a critical moment to make that child, who has obtained great power, protect Konoha or something."
Itachi's heart shook. How could everything be predicted by Emiya Shirou?
However, Shirou's next words made Itachi's heart ache as if stabbed by a knife.
"Originally, after Sasuke rejoined Konoha after the war, I was a bit worried about him and Naruto teaming up to deal with Madara after I left this world. Their combined power is indeed enough to challenge him. But it seems you must have angered him by using Kotoamatsukami to try and alter his will..."
Shirou's face, however, showed he was very satisfied with Itachi's actions. He reached out and patted Itachi's shoulder, not holding back his praise.
"Itachi, you did very well. Now, Sasuke is finally homeless. He should no longer be willing to return to Konoha."