Naruto : Cruel Rebirth

Sasuke asked in confusion, "Right hand, what do you mean?"

"Huff." 

Naruto took a deep breath and extended his left hand. 

"Do you still remember our days at the Ninja Academy? What Iruka-sensei asked us to do back then?" 

"…" 

Sasuke lowered his gaze in thought. 

He recalled how they had quarreled on the training field and were eventually ordered to perform a reconciliation seal. 

Back then, Sasuke used his left hand for the seal. 

"This time, it's the right hand. Is that what you mean?" Sasuke mused. 

"So, you're saying that if I destroy Konoha, not only will you refuse to help, but you'll break my left hand so I can never form seals again?" 

"Pfft…" 

Naruto couldn't help but laugh. 

Sasuke pressed on: 

"Answer me!" 

Naruto's mischievous side surfaced. He seemed both sulking and deliberately provoking Sasuke, saying: 

"Ah, that's right, you understood correctly! I meant breaking your arm!" 

Sasuke, furious, retorted, 

"So it really is like that! You arrogant fool! Since you're bringing up the past, have you forgotten the Valley of the End? Who was the loser back then? If I had been serious, forget your left arm—your life would have been long gone!" 

Back at the Valley of the End, it was true Naruto had lost, and Sasuke had every chance to kill him. 

But... many people overlooked a crucial detail. 

At the moment of close combat, Naruto's Rasengan had angled upward, striking Sasuke's forehead protector. The scratch in the middle of that protector was left by Naruto's sharp claws in his Tailed Beast form. 

On the other hand, Sasuke's Chidori was angled downward, directly targeting Naruto's chest—a fatal spot. 

If not for that, the one who fell back then might not have been Naruto. 

Naruto's expression turned reflective, but he quickly softened and said with a smile, 

"Don't take it seriously. Can't you see I was joking with you?" 

Sasuke's expression eased for a moment before he coldly barked, 

"I'm not joking with you! You keep calling me a friend, but all you do is mock me! Stop looking down on me! Do you think I don't know anything? Now you're Konohagakure's hero, the darling of those ignorant villagers. But to me, you're my number one enemy, because I'm going to destroy Konohagakure!" 

Naruto pondered and said, 

"I've already betrayed Konohagakure..." 

"What?!" Sasuke froze, finally noticing Naruto's forehead protector. It was the same one he had once scratched—a symbol of a rogue ninja! 

Sasuke turned to Obito. Back in the forest outside Konohagakure, Obito had only mentioned the Five Kage Summit and Danzo becoming Hokage. He had briefly mentioned Naruto defeating Pain but never said anything about Naruto defecting from the village. 

Obito's masked face betrayed no emotion. 

Sasuke looked back at Naruto and asked, 

"What's going on?" 

Naruto replied, 

"My goals conflict with the village's ideals. To act freely, I had to leave the village's constraints." 

Sasuke's gaze wavered, his tone carrying an unspoken sense of loss: 

"So, your attack on Danzo was for your personal reasons, not to clear obstacles for me?" 

Humans are such complicated creatures. If it had been for him, Sasuke might have thought Naruto was meddling. But knowing it wasn't for him, he felt resentment instead. 

Naruto sighed, 

"That's not entirely true. It was half and half. I thought that if you killed Danzo, it might ease the hatred in your heart, and maybe you wouldn't direct your rage at the village anymore. But you let him go out of spite. I underestimated the depth of your desire for revenge. This is bound to cause trouble in the future." 

Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, and the chakra of his Susano'o flickered unsteadily. 

Naruto's tone grew serious, 

"Sasuke, if you seek revenge against Danzo in the future, I still won't stop you. But I don't want you to harm anyone else besides him." 

Sasuke's eyes turned cold, 

"And if I insist?" 

Naruto responded firmly, 

"Then I'll stop you with everything I've got!" 

Sasuke's tone grew even icier, 

"So you still have strength to spare?" 

Naruto replied without hesitation, 

"At the very least, I haven't gone all out yet!" 

"Heh..." Sasuke chuckled softly. He was arrogant but not foolish; he knew Naruto wasn't bluffing. Still, he sneered, 

"You've grown stronger, sure. But what do you understand about me? Do you even know the real reason I seek revenge on Konohagakure?" 

Naruto stunned him with his answer, 

"Ah, I do. It's about the truth of Itachi." 

"What?!" Sasuke was shocked. 

"That's the village's highest secret! How could you know? Unless..." 

He turned to look at Obito again. 

Obito shook his head, signaling it wasn't him who told Naruto. 

In truth, Naruto had learned it from Obito—in another timeline. 

Obito thought to himself, 

"This kid... I really underestimated him in the past..." 

Sasuke said coldly: 

"So, you know what Itachi went through, and yet you still want to stop my revenge?" 

Naruto replied: 

"If Itachi were still alive, he definitely wouldn't want you to do this..." 

Sasuke's shoulders trembled. Mentioning Itachi was like hitting his most sensitive nerve—guaranteed to enrage him. Even though Naruto held a special place in his life, that didn't give him the right to comment on Itachi, whether positively or negatively. What Sasuke didn't know was that Naruto wasn't just speaking out of nowhere—he had actually interacted with Itachi, more than once. 

"Stop pretending like you understand Itachi!" 

He growled. 

"And don't use his name as an excuse to interfere with my revenge, Naruto!" 

Boom! Sasuke's fury surged, and purple chakra burst out. It wrapped around his Susano'o and took on the form of sturdy armor. 

This was the ultimate form of his "half-body" Susano'o! 

Boom! The overwhelming, cold chakra sent chills down the spines of Taka members and left the skilled fighters around them visibly shaken. 

Karin shuddered: 

"He's nothing like the Sasuke he used to be…" 

Obito's gaze darkened: 

"So, it's not the Five Kage that serve as Sasuke's best trigger—it's you, Naruto." 

Flames crackled as Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan drew the Heaven's Majestic Bowstring, this time paired with a Flame Control Arrow infused with unmatched power. 

Sasuke's eyes burned with undeniable killing intent: 

"Naruto, I've had enough of your endless chatter! You're in my way, and I'll end you here! After that, I'll burn Danzo and the Hidden Leaf to ashes!" 

Naruto's face turned serious. The form Sasuke's Susano'o had taken was a game-changer, and the arrow it wielded was not something that could be countered with ordinary means. 

Whoosh! The black-flame arrow tore through the air toward Naruto. 

"So be it…" 

Naruto closed his eyes. When they opened again, the light of the Rinnegan flickered. 

"Shinra Tensei!" 

Boom! A powerful repelling force erupted, shattering the solidified black-flame arrow into scattered embers that fell to the ground. 

Obito observed quietly: 

"Finally willing to use the Rinnegan, huh?" 

Naruto's Sage Mode picked up a sudden realization. 

"This battle has already drawn attention from outside. Many chakra signatures are heading this way. Let's finish this quickly." 

He clasped his hands together, channeling massive chakra. 

Poof, poof, poof—one after another, hundreds of shadow clones appeared in a burst of smoke. Each clone held a massive Rasengan, and they all charged at Sasuke's Susano'o. 

"Sage Art: Super-Ultra Big Ball Rasengan Barrage!" 

Boom, boom, boom! The clones unleashed wave after wave of explosions, battering Susano'o's armor relentlessly. Despite its toughness, the continuous attacks brought it to the verge of collapse. 

Sasuke roared in frustration: 

"Where is he getting this kind of power?!" 

Naruto, with blood dripping from the burns left by Amaterasu, made a hand sign. 

"Summoning Jutsu: Roof-Crushing Toad Stomp!" 

A massive toad, draped in shoulder sashes and a wide obi, came crashing down from the sky, delivering the final blow to Susano'o. 

"Argh!" 

Sasuke poured every last ounce of energy into escaping before his Susano'o shattered completely. 

Naruto reached out a hand: 

"Bansho Tenin!" 

Sasuke was pulled toward him by a powerful gravitational force. 

Reacting quickly, Sasuke formed hand signs mid-air, countering the pull: 

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" 

Naruto stood firm. As the fireball neared, he activated his Rinnegan's barrier, neutralizing the flames. Then, with his hand, he caught Sasuke by the throat. 

"Preta Path!" 

Whoosh! Sasuke's chakra was drawn into Naruto's hand as he stared in stunned disbelief. 

Sasuke: 

"Hmph, so this is the ability of your left eye..." 

Naruto: 

"Sorry, but this is the only way to calm you down. If you keep pushing your eyes like this, you'll lose your sight much sooner than you think..." 

Crackle! As his chakra drained away, Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan reverted to a Three Tomoe Sharingan. Then, the tomoe faded, leaving behind dull, ordinary eyes. 

Before losing consciousness, Sasuke muttered softly, as if it didn't matter anymore: 

"Hmph, something like that... is no longer important." 

As Sasuke fell unconscious, Naruto gently laid him on the snow, let out a sigh, and began retreating. 

"Sasuke!!!" Karin ran forward. 

Whoosh! 

But masked Obito was faster. He appeared beside Sasuke, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and activated his spiraling right eye, pulling Karin along with him. 

"Restore Sasuke's chakra!" 

"Ah...!" 

Swish! Swish! Konan and Orochimaru arrived on either side of Naruto. 

Konan asked with concern: 

"How are you? Are you okay?" 

Naruto smiled faintly. 

"Sorry, I've overused my chakra a bit. Things might get a little tricky now. I'll have to rely on you two." 

Konan responded with a soft smile: 

"Of course..." 

Orochimaru's lips curled up. 

"Hmph, as expected, when it comes to Sasuke, you still can't bring yourself to absorb all his chakra." 

Naruto gave no response to that. 

To the south, Mifune led the samurai of the Land of Iron, accompanied by the Five Kage, minus Danzo. 

To the north, faint figures could be seen running through the snowstorm—young shinobi wearing Konoha headbands. 

Under his mask, Obito's expression turned subtle as he observed. 

"Fine. This time, I'll stay completely out of it. Naruto, figure out how to clean this up. Just remember, the Rinnegan is mine—it's my treasure." 

Whoosh! 

The spiraling vortex pulled him and White Zetsu away in an instant. 

Crackle! In a flash of lightning, Raikage A and two of his guards arrived first. 

Looking at the Amaterasu flames still burning on the snow... 

Kumogakure jonin C muttered: 

"Amaterasu's unquenchable flames... Itachi's unique ocular power. But Itachi is dead, so the only one who could use it is..." 

Darui added: 

"The Uchiha who was just here... Sasuke, wasn't it?" 

Raikage roared angrily at Naruto: 

"Where's Sasuke?! Where did he go?!" 

Naruto said nothing, paying no attention to Raikage's fury. 

His focus was entirely drawn to the figure at the front of another approaching group—a figure full of anxiety. 

"Hinata..."

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