The scene shifted. The Tsukuyomi Genjutsu ended, and Hatake Kakashi finally returned to reality from that boundless, terrifying Endless Hell. In an instant, he began gasping for breath as though he had endured endless torment, then collapsed facedown on the water.
"What's wrong, Kakashi? You still can't open your eyes?"
Hearing the commotion, Yuuhi Kurenai hurriedly asked.
Hatake Kakashi merely panted as he said, "No... not yet."
Sarutobi Asuma also realized something was wrong. "What exactly happened? He had only just finished speaking, and then you collapsed."
Hatake Kakashi barely managed to kneel on one knee. Three days in that world were only an instant in reality?
But why didn't he kill me? If he wanted to, that shouldn't have been difficult.
For a moment, more and more questions filled Hatake Kakashi's mind.
"Oh? You took that move and still haven't suffered a mental breakdown. But then again, Itachi-san, excessively using those eyes carries risks for you too, doesn't it?"
Kisame Hoshigaki asked.
Uchiha Itachi's face twitched slightly, as if confirming Kisame Hoshigaki's words.
Outside the scene, Hatake Kakashi had somehow already taken out paper and pen and begun recording.
Tsukuyomi!
Was it a unique Dojutsu of Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan? Or was it an ability possessed by all Mangekyō Sharingan?
Within the Illusion Space, it reconstructed space, time, mass, and pain. Even an Elite Jonin like himself, skilled in both Genjutsu and Genjutsu Release, could not resist it. And considering that the Sharingan itself had considerable resistance to Genjutsu, that meant this Genjutsu could affect targets who might even surpass Elite Jonin—perhaps even Kage Level figures could not escape its lock.
Its intensity had already surpassed every Genjutsu he currently knew. He did not know whether Tsukuyomi itself was simply that high-level, or whether the Mangekyō Sharingan directly amplified Genjutsu.
Or perhaps it was both.
Hatake Kakashi wrote down the doubts in his heart. For a ninja, intelligence was the most important thing.
There was no invincible ninjutsu, only invincible people. Now that he had obtained vital information about Uchiha Itachi, he would not be foolish enough to look directly into his eyes if they met in the future.
After being tortured for three days and three nights, even if his mind had not collapsed, he had likely suffered severe trauma. Injuries like that were difficult to treat with ordinary medical methods.
But at the same time, he had the same question as his future self. Judging from Tsukuyomi's power, Uchiha Itachi should have been able to kill him easily. Yet he had not.
Had he spared him because of their past relationship as his former superior?
Or had Uchiha Itachi already reached his limit? Based on Kisame Hoshigaki's words, people who were hit by this ninjutsu usually suffered mental breakdowns. But it was ultimately only Genjutsu, and it had limits. In other words, someone with immense mental strength and an unyielding heart could still endure it without necessarily breaking down.
However, Hatake Kakashi quickly wrote down a hypothesis.
For the target, Tsukuyomi was seventy-two hours of torture. But for the caster, it was probably not easy either. After the technique ended, Uchiha Itachi tried to remain calm, yet his face still twitched uncontrollably. That made it clear enough.
So it seemed Tsukuyomi's range was very narrow. Perhaps only one person, or a small number of people, could be affected by it.
Second, Tsukuyomi's power was immense, but the price it required was equally great. There was a risk of overusing the Sharingan.
Others might not understand that, but Hatake Kakashi understood it very well, because he often overused the Sharingan.
For an outsider like him, someone who was not from the Uchiha Clan, using the Sharingan for even a little too long would put him into a state of overusing the Sharingan. It was an exhaustion of both body and mind that required a long time to recover from.
Yet Uchiha Itachi was from the Uchiha Clan and also possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan. Had he begun entering an Overload State after using Tsukuyomi only once?
Given the power Tsukuyomi had displayed, that should not have been the case. Or perhaps Uchiha Itachi's body had some kind of problem and could not sustain such consumption?
Or was the Mangekyō Sharingan itself simply an enormous burden on the body?
Moreover, from the very beginning, the conversation between those two had casually leaked information—such as their purpose for returning to Konoha, information about the Mangekyō Sharingan, and the fact that using it could lead to Overload State.
Those should all have been extremely important pieces of intelligence for ninja, yet the other side revealed them as though they did not care at all.
He did not believe they were unaware of it. After all, both of them had once been outstanding ninja in their respective villages.
If even they did not understand something as simple as keeping confidential information from leaking, then there were not many people in the world who did.
For a moment, countless question marks flashed through Hatake Kakashi's mind. He scribbled and sketched across the paper, yet found no answers, so he continued watching.
"You're looking for Sasuke?" Hatake Kakashi in the scene asked after hearing that.
Uchiha Itachi slowly composed his expression, then said, "No. We're looking for the Fourth Hokage's legacy!"
Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai were both shocked upon hearing this.
As some of the village's few Elite Jonin and important members of the Jonin Council, they knew what the Fourth Hokage's legacy was.
It was Uzumaki Naruto.
Or rather, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within Uzumaki Naruto's body.
"Is it Naruto?" Hatake Kakashi asked.
At that moment, Second Pillar outside the scene fell into confusion. He was not like Hatake Kakashi.
Hatake Kakashi had always known Uzumaki Naruto's identity. He knew that Naruto was the child of his teacher and Master's Wife, and that the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was sealed inside his body.
But Second Pillar knew nothing of this. He had not yet joined Team 7, nor had he formed any Bonds with Naruto. To him, Naruto was merely an annoying brat who caused trouble every day and did not even know how to study properly.
The key was that this annoying brat came to bother him all the time, as though he could not stand the sight of him.
Sasuke had seen plenty of hot-blooded idiots like that before, and he had never thought Uzumaki Naruto was anything special.
If there was anything unusual about him, it was perhaps that such a hot-blooded idiot had actually been assigned to the elite class alongside elites like them.
The Fourth Hokage's legacy?
What exactly was that?
Before you continue