"Truly… unbelievable."
Sasuke Uchiha hadn't experienced a thousand years like Yūshin; his trips through time were on an "express lane." Still, the realization that he had returned to his original timeline felt profoundly surreal.
The memories felt too close. The years felt too far away. Any normal person's senses would be thrown off-kilter. Sasuke needed to reorient himself.
But one thing was certain: the journey to the era before Konoha's founding was an incredibly effective catalyst. It didn't just propel Sasuke's strength forward in leaps and bounds; more importantly, it forced his mind to mature.
The original Sasuke—full of resentment, believing the world was wrong, not him, acting all high and mighty—had evolved. He was now the Sasuke weighed down by profound, bitter suffering.
"Can you accept your brother's eyes now?" Yūshin asked him.
Sasuke fell silent. Certain emotions within him intensified… He understood he had "just" killed his own brother.
Fate was such a frustrating thing. Sasuke had gone back in time. His mind had matured. He knew the truth about Itachi Uchiha. Yet, he couldn't change any of it in the past.
The dead were dead. A tautology, perhaps, but it was the unvarnished truth.
Sasuke couldn't deny the fact that Itachi Uchiha had died by his hand.
"Of course."
That's what he said after a long moment of silence.
"Good. Actually, you're easier to talk to once you're blind. When you still had your Sharingan… honestly, your personality was a bit too… anthropomorphic."
Yūshin said this while digging out a pair of eyeballs.
Sasuke remained silent. Then, embarrassment crept in. Following Yūshin's comment, he recalled his own conduct from his "youth." It felt like a salaryman looking back at his middle school QQ space.
For someone of Yūshin's skill, fusing a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was child's play. He popped Itachi's eyes into Sasuke's sockets. Within minutes, sight returned.
Sasuke blinked, adjusting to the light. He looked at the utterly mundane scenery around him. An indescribable feeling settled in his chest.
"This is probably what they call 'feeling like a lifetime has passed.'"
Yūshin provided the commentary for Sasuke's mood. Sasuke just nodded in agreement.
"I have a question. Orochimaru's strength at that time must have far surpassed yours. Given your power level then, how did you escape his control?"
Seeing Sasuke had adapted to his new eyes, Yūshin didn't plan to dig deeper into his emotional journey. He switched to practical questions.
Considering Orochimaru's power and capacity for evolution, with Sasuke's previous strength, escape from the snake's den seemed impossible.
Sasuke fell into memory. Leaving Orochimaru felt like a distant event.
"It wasn't an escape. In fact, Orochimaru let us leave. It was as if… we had lost our value." After careful thought, Sasuke answered.
Yūshin considered it and understood. Orochimaru had lost interest in his research subjects because he had finally confirmed the best research material of all: Orochimaru himself.
Better to win by your own hand than rely on others. Better to study yourself than study others.
Yūshin stroked his chin. Stealing Orochimaru's memories turned out to be a good thing. It didn't interfere with Sasuke's fate, and it gave Orochimaru back the joy of pursuing knowledge…
Finally regaining his composure, Sasuke spoke.
"Since you're here, you must know the Akatsuki is collecting the Tailed Beasts. I… what should I do next?"
The good news: the matured Sasuke Uchiha definitely harbored no desire to destroy Konoha. After failing to save the Uchiha and being "killed" by Madara Uchiha, he had come to terms with the clan's fate and Itachi's sacrifice.
The bad news: after finding peace, he felt a weight lift. And with that relief, he now had no idea what to do.
He certainly didn't want to keep working for the Akatsuki. Did that mean he should "retire"?
And also…
Sasuke was glad to see Yūshin again. But Yūshin was a truly peculiar man. All these years had passed, yet he seemed completely unchanged, and at the same time, like a completely different person.
"Do what? As a member of the Akatsuki, of course you should continue carrying out the missions assigned by the organization… Don't forget, I'm also a member," Yūshin said.
One downside of maturing: Sasuke lost that reckless impulsiveness. He wouldn't just charge ahead like a bull in a china shop anymore.
"Explain more clearly," Sasuke demanded.
Knowing the Akatsuki's ultimate goal, helping them seemed like aiding the villain.
"The Akatsuki's formation and actions were all arranged by your esteemed senior, Madara Uchiha, before his death… Even dead, he wants to resurrect himself. And after resurrecting, he wants to reset the world."
"Reset the world…"
"Ninjas, or rather humans, are the root of all problems. Eliminate humans, eliminate all problems… Madara was just as extreme as you."
Sasuke frowned.
"Only the former, immature me would think that way."
Then, he registered the other part."Wait. Resurrection?"
"Your brain isn't fuzzy again, is it?"
"No. I was just thinking…"
Sasuke immediately denied it. Not me. Didn't happen.
"If that's the case, why should we help the Akatsuki achieve their goal?"
"Simple. It's easier to 'deal with everything in one go' once it's all gathered together… A trash heap is always easier to handle than scattered garbage. It's a rare opportunity—the garbage is voluntarily piling itself up," Yūshin explained.
"One go… Are you sure?"
Sasuke looked at Yūshin with absolute seriousness. The plan sounded simple but could easily backfire, digging a pit to bury themselves.
"I'm sure."
"Can you really do it?"
"Aren't you here too?"
"…"
Somehow, words that should have made Yūshin seem utterly unreliable instead made him seem more reliable to Sasuke.
"Then I know what to do next."
Sasuke trusted Yūshin completely. At the very least, he now had a direction again.
"Go on. Go catch the Eight-Tails."
Yūshin waved a hand dismissively, his demeanor relaxed. He might as well have said, "go catch some jellyfish."
Considering Sasuke's current power—Sage Mode plus an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan—catching the Eight-Tails shouldn't be a problem in theory.
"Alright then…"
Sasuke understood he was now an infiltrator. He just hoped he wouldn't end up becoming the boss. His mind was a jumble of emotions needing sorting, but there was no need to be sentimental with Yūshin.
Doing the right thing was never wrong. As for how to define 'right'…
A thoughtful expression settled on Sasuke's face as he left with his cheerful companions to resume the mission of capturing the Eight-Tails.
He hadn't taken more than a few steps before he stopped. He turned back, looking at Yūshin as if there was something he wanted to ask but didn't dare.
He asked anyway."In that era… after I 'disappeared'… my subordinates…"
"They didn't follow your final orders. Instead, they chose to keep moving forward along the path of the ideal you had defined."
Yūshin's words were brief. Sasuke understood their full meaning perfectly.
When Sasuke foresaw his own end, he'd hoped his followers would survive, lay low. They chose to advance.
Advancing meant falling off a cliff.
Sasuke stood frozen for a long moment before he finally chose to move forward again… Well, people always had to move forward.
Not long after, a great battle erupted at the Cloud Rapture Gorge in the Land of Lightning. Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki from Kumogakure, was defeated by the mysterious Akatsuki.
Though B narrowly escaped death, he lost the Eight-Tails.
If B had only suffered minor losses—say, half a tentacle—he could have faked his death and slipped away to wander. The problem was he'd lost the Eight-Tails. Only half a tentacle's worth of chakra remained inside him.
B knew the situation was critical. Leaving Kumogakure was impossible. He dutifully reported everything to the Fourth Raikage.
Upon hearing the news, the Raikage, true to form, exploded. Combined with Kumo's typical aggressive style, the incident instantly became a massive, noisy scandal.
Because now he finally understood. The previous disappearance of the Two-Tails Jinchūriki wasn't a defection. She'd been attacked by the Akatsuki too…
What was this? Was Kumogakure cosmically destined to lose Tailed Beasts? They'd lost them more than once. Losing Bijū was practically becoming a proud tradition for the village.
Soon, Kumo realized the Raikage wasn't the only one fuming. According to intelligence trickling in, it seemed every other major village had also lost their Tailed Beasts.
This wasn't just Kumo's problem anymore. It concerned the entire Shinobi World.
Peace had lasted barely a few years, and already dark clouds gathered over the world again.
Setting aside the ambitions of the Bijū collector, the Five Great Villages losing their Tailed Beasts meant the shinobi system established since the First Hokage's era was on the brink of total collapse…
Without their strategic deterrents, how could the "Five Greats" remain "Great"?
There was no other choice. A meeting in the Land of Fire was necessary. At the very least, they needed to share information and piece together the fragmented intelligence from each village.
Thus, the Five Kage converged on the Land of Fire. Under the mediation of the samurai leader, the Five Kage Summit, dormant for decades, was reconvened.
Then came the phase of "Great Village Magnanimity"…
Arguing. Endless arguing.
"According to our intelligence, the Akatsuki's core members are all Konoha missing-nin! You must take responsibility for this!"
"Raikage, wait! We have something to say… Konoha has been controlling our Kiri's missing Three-Tails! Explain that!"
"Explain? After Suna was attacked, I warned you all to protect your Jinchūriki! You ignored me! If you'd taken my advice seriously, would things have spiraled this far out of control?"
"Ridiculous! Why should we heed your advice? Is the Hokage our superior? Everyone knows Konoha loves underhanded schemes. You're not trustworthy—"
"Wait. Was Konoha even attacked? We received no such intelligence."
"Then question your intelligence department's capabilities! If I hadn't lost the Nine-Tails, why would I be at this summit?"
Yakumo Genkai argued fiercely, but a massive headache was brewing. What kind of meeting was this? It was utterly pointless.
She wasn't exactly lying. While the Nine-Tails wasn't lost, it was… sort of lost. According to the previous Jinchūriki's report, most of the Nine-Tails had been with Yūshin for a long time. What Konoha held now was just a "Mini-Nine-Tails."
The Mini-Nine-Tails wasn't weaker than other Bijū. But with everyone else having lost theirs, Yakumo Genkai wasn't about to stick her neck out.
Ahem. Might as well say Konoha completely lost the Nine-Tails.
The first day of the summit ended with no results. This couldn't continue. On the second day, Yakumo Genkai decided to reveal something of value.
"Everyone, it seems I must clarify something… We have, in fact, ascertained the Akatsuki's goal in collecting the Tailed Beasts. According to our intelligence, they intend to resurrect the Ten-Tails."
The words "Ten-Tails" dropped. The room fell silent.
"The Ten-Tails… Isn't that a legend?"
The Mizukage's question sounded more like a murmur to herself.
"Regarding the Ten-Tails' origins… if you are unaware, I see no need to give a history lesson," Yakumo Genkai stated.
The great villages were built from ancient clans. Legends of the Ten-Tails had been passed down in some form. They weren't completely ignorant.
"Is the intelligence accurate? How did you obtain it? What is the source?"
"Do I need to explain? Differences in intelligence-gathering capabilities between villages are a basic fact. I don't blame you for being weak, yet you blame us for being strong?"
"So you are connected to those Konoha missing-nin…"
"…"
Alright. The arguing would continue.
The masked man's chuunibyou-esque declaration of war on the Five Kage never happened. Without that external pressure to unite them, the Kage had plenty of room to keep bickering.
It had to be said, the name "Madara Uchiha," as an enemy, truly had the power to unite the shinobi world… even a fake Madara.
While the Five Kage Summit raged on, deep within Amegakure, in a hidden space…
"The Eight-Tails is sealed. Ganwencui, what of the Nine-Tails, which was your sole responsibility?"
The Deva Path stared at Yūshin.
The plan was one step from completion. Yet, there was no movement on the Nine-Tails.
Yūshin's act had to continue. He couldn't just pull the Nine-Tails out of another dimension. He feigned a complex sequence of hand seals for a Summoning Jutsu.
The Nine-Tails' massive form materialized. And then…
Everyone present heard its snoring.
The fox was fast asleep.
Thankfully, the Deva Path had a corpse's poker face. Otherwise, even he might have cracked.
They were in the middle of a world-domination-level event. Couldn't the process be a bit more serious?
"Ahem. Excellent. Begin sealing the Nine-Tails…"
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