Taking Sasuke Away

Naruto froze for a moment at the mention of the village, but quickly came to his senses. Seeing that Uchiha Gen wanted to use his distraction to sneak away with Sasuke, he had no time to think about anything else. As he ran, he unleashed the Multi Shadow Clone Technique!

He kicked off a Shadow Clone's hands, using the force of the throw to abruptly skyrocket forward and leap in front of Uchiha Gen. "Stop! Don't think you're leaving unless you hand Sasuke over! Why are you working for someone like that?!"

Uchiha Gen frowned slightly, as though he were genuinely considering how to explain it. "Then I'll skip the details and give you the short version. That guy—the system—controls whether I can continue existing in this world. Do you understand now?" He did not say it controlled his life and death, because he was obviously already dead.

Hearing that, Naruto instinctively assumed he meant Orochimaru. But he also knew there was no talking him out of this. There was simply no solution to a situation like this. He could not give up on Sasuke, but after hearing that explanation, the anger in his heart faded somewhat, replaced by the resolve of two people standing on opposite sides. "Sorry."

Uchiha Gen actually found that amusing. It had merely been something he said offhand, with no credibility whatsoever, yet Naruto seemed to have immediately believed it without even questioning him.

More importantly, Naruto had not asked what he meant by the One-Tail or the village. Uchiha Gen's gaze casually flicked between the two of them. Yeah, they really were best buddies.

"Isn't that apology a little premature? Or do you think you can beat me?"

That said, running while carrying Sasuke really would be troublesome. It was not impossible, just a hassle. After all, if the Nine-Tails wanted to act, ordinary genjutsu would be useless against Naruto while he had a Tailed Beast inside him, unless Uchiha Gen had the Mangekyo. And if Naruto summoned the Toad Boss, that alone would give him a headache. Naruto's knack for surprises was no exaggeration.

And if this dragged on too long, reinforcements from behind could easily catch up. This kid was a monster when it came to stamina, too.

The best solution seemed to be beating Naruto half to death, making the Nine-Tails appear to save him and go berserk, leaving Konoha too busy to worry about Uchiha Gen.

But... Uchiha Gen felt he did not need to go to that much trouble.

He casually tossed Sasuke onto the ground, grabbed him by the collar, and held a kunai across his throat. "I advise you not to move!"

Naruto used the Multi Shadow Clone Technique and was just about to charge forward when he slammed on the brakes. He nearly performed a faceplant right in front of Uchiha Gen. Uchiha Gen's expression twitched. No, don't laugh. This is a serious matter.

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Bastard! Didn't you say you wouldn't do anything to Sasuke?!"

Uchiha Gen looked helpless. "If you hadn't chased me, I wouldn't have had to do this. I didn't want to waste time playing around with you, but now I've changed my mind."

Then he looked at Sakura, who had been quietly standing there with little presence. "You, the useless pink-haired brat."

The two of them instinctively glanced around. Pink-haired... useless... Naruto looked awkward, while Sakura's brow twitched. Her inner self roared, What the hell are you saying, bastard?! But when she thought about how she had performed earlier... it seemed to be true...

That realization made Sakura's emotions jam up, and she sank into a slump. Then Uchiha Gen's next action instantly snapped her back to attention!

The kunai in Uchiha Gen's hand pressed against Sasuke's neck, drawing blood. His voice suddenly became low and cold. "Go kill Naruto, or Sasuke dies!" After saying that, Uchiha Gen suddenly felt inexplicably awful. What was going on? His eyes also grew slightly unfocused.

(Malice...)

Naruto and Sakura's pupils abruptly contracted. This scene! They suddenly remembered how Kakashi had acted during the bell test. In their daze, Uchiha Gen's figure seemed to overlap with Kakashi's.

But this time, it was real!...

Sakura had already been frightened stiff. Her usual calm vanished in an instant, and her mind became a complete mess.

Naruto was not much better. Anxiety filled his face as he put his thumb in his mouth and bit it until it bled. He tightly furrowed his brow, forcing himself to control his chaotic thoughts. Don't panic, don't panic! If I panic too, Sasuke really will be taken away!

Seeing their expressions, Uchiha Gen's icy face suddenly seemed unable to hold any longer, and he let out a snort of laughter. His eyes gradually regained focus. "Hahaha, just kidding." Yet the smile never reached his eyes.

"..." Naruto and Sakura did not find it funny at all, though they vaguely felt a little relieved.

"As an apology, I'll give you some advice. Chase in that direction and stop Gaara. Otherwise, they may cause massive destruction and casualties in the center of Konoha.

"Until next time, kids~" As soon as he finished speaking, "Uchiha Gen" burst into a cloud of smoke. As for the real body, he had used genjutsu while they were frightened and quietly slipped away with Sasuke.

Naruto punched a tree in frustration and roared, "Bastard!" He was about to pick a direction and chase after him when Sakura stopped him. Leaving aside whether Naruto had chosen the right direction, "Would that even help? If this happened again, what could you do?!" That killing intent just now—had it really only been a joke?

Naruto fell silent.

At the same time, as though confirming Uchiha Gen's words, a gigantic creature suddenly appeared in Konoha, causing countless buildings to collapse. Even without Sasuke and the others provoking him, Gaara still failed to control his emotions. The One-Tail Shukaku had gone berserk!

Meanwhile, Uchiha Gen, who was fleeing with Sasuke, was trying hard to suppress his emotions. Had that really been his own thought? No! For some reason, he had felt immense malice toward Naruto. Yet he could tell that the malice was not directed at Naruto himself, but rather an instinctive jealousy that the dead felt toward the lives of the living.

Impure World Reincarnation... a forbidden technique that desecrated the dead.

Uchiha Gen's mood darkened at that thought. He shook his head. He would settle down first and think about it later.

Suddenly, he heard a soft groan. It was quiet, but Uchiha Gen had been keeping an eye on Sasuke's condition, so he noticed it immediately. Sasuke seemed about to wake after being jostled around the whole way. To avoid trouble, Uchiha Gen gave him another chop to the neck.

Poor Uchiha Sasuke had not even regained consciousness before he was knocked out again.

Uchiha Gen casually found an inn in a small village within the Land of Fire and used it as a temporary resting place. All he could say was that in this world, money might not save your life, but it was still quite useful in certain ways. He settled into the inn.

By then, the battle in Konoha had ended. History had largely not been changed by the flutter of a small butterfly wing. The Third Hokage had died, and Orochimaru's hands had been sealed.

The difference was that both Konoha and Orochimaru had issued kill orders for Uchiha Gen. It was not so easy to be the fisherman who profited from the fight.

According to Uchiha Gen's calculations, Konoha needed time to recover after the Third Hokage's death. Following the original plot, it would also take some time to bring Tsunade back.

Orochimaru's hands should temporarily be useless, barring any surprises. That gave Uchiha Gen time to rest and adjust. That was also why he had chosen this period to take Sasuke away.

Konoha...

Following the original course of events, Naruto should have been bragging about defeating Shukaku. But the moment he thought of Sasuke being taken away, everything else had to wait. With an anxious look on his face, he bounced around in front of Kakashi and excitedly explained what had happened. "Kakashi-sensei, let's go save Sasuke!"

Sakura was also emotional, though more restrained than Naruto. She looked at Kakashi pleadingly. "Kakashi-sensei...!"

After everything that had happened, Kakashi felt like his head was splitting in two. Frowning, he rubbed his temples. "Calm down first. Naruto, judging by the attitude of that Sound Ninja, Jiya, Sasuke should not be in danger for the time being. We will definitely save him. No one can take a member of Team 7 away from us! But... not now!"

"Why—"

Kakashi cut him off. "The Third Hokage... sacrificed himself..."

"!!" Naruto's eyes widened, and his expression completely froze. "You're kidding, right? That old... Lord Hokage was clearly... so strong..."

"...Clearly so strong. From the moment a ninja is born, no matter who they are, they may face death at any time." Kakashi sounded as though he were speaking to himself as much as to Naruto.

"The Hokage's funeral will be in two days. Rest well during that time, and afterward, we'll go find Sasuke." Kakashi frowned as he spoke, then sighed. Too much had happened lately, and the burden on his shoulders was growing heavier and heavier... Death in war, even the Third Hokage...