Sasuke's Fury

"Uchiha Ye Fan?!"

Sakura and the others were completely stunned by those words.

Hadn't the Uchiha Clan been wiped out, leaving only Sasuke and one rogue ninja?

Ye Fan looked about their age. There was no way he was a rogue ninja!

Naruto's reaction, on the other hand, was completely different from theirs.

"You're... You're Steel-Piercing Ye Fan!"

Naruto was overjoyed. He hurried over to Ye Fan and looked him up and down.

"Long time no see! You've gotten so big!"

"You're even a little taller than me, and more handsome, too. I think you might even be more handsome than Sasuke!"

"Naruto, it's been a long time."

Ye Fan smiled warmly, completely ignoring Sasuke's fury.

"Naruto, you know him?"

Sakura was surprised. As she gazed at Ye Fan, she was smitten, and her face flushed as red as a monkey's bottom.

"He... I think... He really is more handsome than Sasuke..."

"No!" Sakura shook her head. "I like Sasuke. I can't start liking someone else!"

"Haha! Let me introduce you. Ye Fan is a good friend of mine. We've known each other since we were kids!"

Naruto said with an easygoing laugh.

He was very happy to see his childhood friend again.

When they were children, everyone in the village had shunned Naruto. Ye Fan had been shunned, too.

That was how the two of them had found so much to talk about. Ye Fan had been happy to spend time with Naruto.

Ye Fan had always admired Naruto's refusal to give up and his optimistic attitude, no matter what happened.

"You've known each other since you were kids?"

Sakura furrowed her brow, trying to recall the past.

Suddenly, she remembered the child who used to play with Naruto when they were little and cried out, "You're that Plague God of the Uchiha Clan?!"

"You're still alive!"

Hearing that, Rock Lee remembered the story, too.

The tale of the Uchiha Clan's Plague God had once caused quite a stir in Konoha.

The Uchiha Clan was born with the bloodline of the Sharingan.

Most Uchiha could awaken it. Even those who never did still had Uchiha blood running through their veins.

But Ye Fan was different.

Although both his parents were members of the Uchiha Clan, he had not a trace of Uchiha blood in him. He had no Kekkei Genkai at all!

The Uchiha discovered this as soon as he was born.

An Uchiha with no Kekkei Genkai was like a different species.

At some point, a rumor began circulating among the Uchiha Clan.

Ye Fan was a Plague God, one who would bring disaster upon the Uchiha Clan—and even all of Konoha!

The year after Ye Fan was born, the Nine-Tails' Rampage struck Konoha. Because of that, the Uchiha Clan was driven to the village's outskirts, where they were forced to live.

After that, the rumor that Ye Fan was a Plague God spread even more widely.

His family became outcasts, hated by everyone.

The Uchiha Clan's elders kept pressuring their leader, Uchiha Fugaku, demanding that he punish Ye Fan and kill him to prevent future trouble.

Uchiha Fugaku didn't believe the rumor and tried several times to put an end to it, but he couldn't stop it.

Nearly every Uchiha wanted Ye Fan dead!

To save Ye Fan's life, his parents chose to take their own lives, begging the clan to spare him.

Only after his parents died did things improve a little, but many Uchiha still wanted Ye Fan dead.

Then, just before Ye Fan turned four, disaster struck the Uchiha Clan!

Ye Fan fought with everything he had to survive that battle. He escaped Konoha and was eventually taken in by Jiraiya.

Everyone thought Ye Fan had died in that battle. With the Uchiha Clan's destruction, the story of him being a Plague God had lived on to this day.

Ye Fan's reappearance in Konoha today had caught far too many people off guard and left them stunned.

"Ye Fan isn't a Plague God! He's my good friend!"

Naruto had always been very fond of Sakura, so hearing her say that made him angry.

Even after all these years, Naruto still remembered what had happened when they were kids.

Ye Fan had been like a ray of light in his life, illuminating those incredibly dark days.

To this day, Naruto still remembered what Ye Fan had once told him: "Don't worry about what other people think. Just be yourself and do what you believe is right."

"Naruto..."

Sakura was taken aback by Naruto's sudden change in attitude.

She never imagined that Naruto, who had always followed her around and done everything she asked, would speak to her like that.

Ye Fan patted Naruto on the shoulder, touched.

After all these years, the kid who used to trail after him was still just as he'd been back then. He hadn't changed at all.

"Naruto, move!"

Sasuke's Sharingan was activated. He stared at Ye Fan, overcome with rage.

Ever since the Uchiha Clan's destruction, Sasuke had blamed not only Uchiha Itachi but also Ye Fan for what had happened.

He believed that without Ye Fan, that Plague God, the Uchiha Clan might never have been wiped out!

Back then, Sasuke had thought Ye Fan was already dead, so he'd trained hard all this time, hoping to avenge himself on Itachi.

Now that he'd seen Ye Fan again, there was naturally one more name on his kill list.

"You want to kill me?"

Ye Fan looked at Sasuke, whose Two-Tomoe Sharingan was activated, and burst out laughing. He just couldn't hold it in.

"Naruto, get out of the way!"

"If you try to stop me from killing him, I won't hesitate to kill you, too!"

"Sasuke... You... Naruto's our teammate! How can you say that?!"

Sakura tried to reason with him.

Ye Fan looked at Sakura and felt not the slightest bit of fondness for her.

Sakura was treating herself like King Xuan of Qi: she sought Zhong Wuyan when she had trouble, and Xia Yingchun when she was happy.

"Teammate?" Sasuke sneered. "Anyone who tries to stop me from getting revenge isn't my teammate!"

"Sasuke, I understand how you feel, but the Uchiha Clan's destruction had nothing to do with Ye Fan."

Naruto spread his arms and stood in front of Ye Fan, his gaze resolute.

"Ye Fan may be a member of your clan, but he's not like you. He doesn't have the Kekkei Genkai you're so proud of—the Sharingan!"

"If you're dead set on killing him, then don't blame me. I'll beat you until you don't want to kill him anymore!"

"Heh, Naruto. You're a coward. You really think you can talk big to me?"

"I won't hesitate to kill you, too!"

Sasuke roared and charged at Naruto.

He planned to knock Naruto down first, then kill Ye Fan!

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Sasuke quickly formed the hand seals and spat out a ball of fire at Naruto.

Naruto saw it coming and immediately dodged with Ye Fan.

"Ye Fan, you're no match for Sasuke. Get somewhere safe!"

"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, I won't let Sasuke hurt you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto clenched his fists and prepared to charge at Sasuke.

"Naruto, let me handle this."

Ye Fan grabbed Naruto's hand and calmly looked at Sasuke.