Forgive Me, Sasuke

"Being able to exploit the weakness of my Chakra nature in battle—you're really strong."

Haku stared at Sasuke, knocking away every Shuriken he threw. Then he kicked back the kunai with the burning Explosive Tag attached.

"But I have my own reasons for fighting, so if you die, please don't hate me!" Haku's tone instantly turned sharp.

"Hmph. You're just as arrogant as Naruto."

The two fought in close combat amid the ceaseless roar of explosions. Because Sasuke was pressing Haku so hard at close range, Haku had no time to use his killing move.

Naruto, watching the battle from the side, casually smashed an enemy's kneecap, but his brows furrowed despite himself.

This is bad, this is really bad. Sasuke's a little too capable.

According to the original story, Sasuke was supposed to unleash his potential and awaken the Sharingan during his life-or-death battle with Haku.

But perhaps because he had trained too intensely during military training recently, combined with his determination to surpass Naruto, Haku was now having a hard time keeping up with Sasuke.

This is completely screwed!

There was already a third transmigrator now. Who knew whether there would be a fourth or fifth later? What if some pervert obsessed with Sasuke transmigrated over, then used their knowledge of the plot to drug him...

The more Naruto thought about it, the more creeped out he became. Pretty boys really had to protect themselves when they went out!

In short, to protect Sasuke's ass, Naruto decided to raise the intensity for him.

Naruto let crimson Chakra spread around his body. Then, as casually as tossing cabbages, he grabbed several enemies and hurled them viciously toward Sasuke.

The Ninjas were dazed from being slammed down at first, but they soon saw Haku engaged in a fierce battle with Sasuke and joined the encirclement against him!

"Forgive me, Sasuke! I accidentally lured the enemies over to you!" Naruto shouted urgently, acting completely innocent.

"You super idiot." Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto, then used several consecutive flying kicks to send the enemy in front of him vomiting bile. Seeing this, Haku retreated several steps and tried to form hand seals, but Sasuke quickly closed in again.

Even Rock Lee would have applauded that performance!

But less than a second later, a long string of Explosive Tag-laden kunai flew toward Sasuke. Sasuke hurriedly rolled to the side and shielded his vital areas with his hands.

"Boom!!!"

"Boom!!!"

The force of the explosions and flying debris scattered in every direction, leaving Sasuke wounded. Yet two seconds later, he was tangling with Haku again—both Haku and Sasuke had suffered minor injuries.

Naruto's voice came from afar once more. "Forgive me, Sasuke. The Nine-Tails controlled my mind just now and made me want to kill you. Are you all right?"

Sasuke shot Naruto a vicious glare without saying a word.

But only a second later, a huge red hand radiating evil slammed toward Sasuke. His scalp prickling, Sasuke narrowly dodged it with several consecutive backflips. Haku was surprised, but he seized the opportunity to begin rapidly forming hand seals.

Sasuke glared in Naruto's direction.

Naruto said helplessly, "Pillar, what the hell are you doing...?" He felt that he was truly doing his best to awaken Sasuke's potential.

"Naruto!" Sasuke flew into a rage. You're not even pretending anymore, are you?!

Who sneaks up on his own teammate's rear during a fierce battle?!

But before Sasuke could settle accounts with Naruto, transparent mirrors resembling crystals suddenly rose all around him.

"Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!" Haku's voice brimmed with murderous intent.

Naruto felt relieved, while countless emotions welled up inside him...

What a lame name!

Kishimoto really doesn't understand Naruto.

In any case, he would let Pillar suffer for a while. The moment he awakened his eyes, Naruto would fully unleash the Nine-Tails and end the battle instantly.

Well, if Pillar saw me slaughtering everyone, his mental state might become unstable. It's not impossible that his Sharingan could advance even further.

"Tsk... to be fair, aren't these ice crystals a little too thin?" Naruto muttered.

The repeated explosions from the Explosive Tags had caused the surrounding moisture to thin out. That might have been why the technique's effect was so weak.

"Ugh, what a useless thing." Naruto shook his head. He felt that Sasuke would soon forcibly break through Haku's technique.

But causing trouble now would be unwise. What if he scared Haku and caused the technique to be dispelled?

"Looks like I'll have to cause some mental pollution." Naruto first summoned Shadow Clones and cleared out the enemies nearby. Then he and the other Shadow Clones jumped behind several large trees, conveniently hiding from Sasuke's view.

"I've used quite a lot of Chakra... Looks like I'll have to dispel the Shadow Clones after using this move. Hopefully the real body can get here in time." Naruto spoke softly.

If he depleted any more Chakra, the clones would no longer be able to suppress the Nine-Tails.

He immediately released Transformation Jutsu together with several Shadow Clones, transforming into Uchiha Itachi. Then they jumped onto the trees and used several smoke bombs to make themselves appear and disappear hazily.

At that moment, Sasuke had already suffered two rounds of attacks inside the ice crystals and had been stabbed until he looked like a little porcupine.

"Whew..." 'Itachi' stood on a tree branch and attracted Sasuke's attention with a heavy sigh.

Sasuke raised his eyes. They instantly widened, and he wondered whether he had been tortured so badly that he was hallucinating.

"My foolish little brother~" The hazy 'Itachi' on the tree spoke. "Why are you in such a sorry state? Is it because your hatred isn't deep enough? Or are you still immersed in the illusory past of your clan?"

Sasuke's breathing immediately grew heavier, and he even ignored Haku turning his head toward 'Itachi.'

Sasuke roared at 'Itachi,' "Enough nonsense! The reason I've lived until now and trained so hard every day is so that one day I can kill you completely!!"

'Itachi' chuckled softly, and his figure vanished—Naruto had dispelled one of the Shadow Clones.

Another tree branch produced 'Itachi's' low laughter. "Pathetic. Ridiculous. You can't even surpass your own teammate, yet you think about revenge every day... Heh."

Naruto forcibly swallowed the words "Go home and raise pigs!"

Sasuke froze. Was Itachi talking about Naruto?

'Itachi' ignored Sasuke's confusion. "You know very well that I'm merely a delusion in your heart. Yet you actually thought of Naruto in that delusion?" He deliberately paused, then let out a mocking laugh. "It seems Naruto is the true shadow in your heart, isn't he, Sa-su-ke?"

Sasuke felt his blood rush straight to his head, instantly turning his cheeks bright red.

Naruto? I'm actually afraid of Naruto?!

He is indeed very strong now, but am I not strong too? I work just as hard as he does. He's only a dead last!

But Sasuke soon froze again. Naruto's status as the dead last had only applied during their time at the Ninja Academy. It had nothing to do with who he was now!

Am I a complete joke now?

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" The Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals did not pause because of Sasuke's inner turmoil. Countless needles locked onto the space around Sasuke, determined to kill him here.

The needles shot out all at once!

What Haku failed to notice was that streams of Chakra had begun pouring uncontrollably into Sasuke's eyes, making his vision increasingly clear.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!" After a barrage of needles, the place where Sasuke had been standing was completely empty.

Sasuke stood to the side, his eyes a dripping crimson, a pair of tomoe slowly rotating into shape within them.

Double Tomoe Sharingan!

Unlike the original story, where one eye had a single tomoe and the other had a double tomoe, Sasuke's strength had already surpassed the limit Naruto had anticipated.

At the same time, the various 'Itachis' vanished without a trace.

Naruto's Shadow Clones had all been dispelled!