Akatsuki

Just then, Sasuke saw a middle-aged man with white eyes walking toward him.

The middle-aged man approached Sasuke and Hinata.

Hinata hurriedly hid the three-colored dango behind her back and said softly, "Father..."

Hyuga Hiashi ignored Hinata and said to Sasuke, "Young man of the Uchiha clan, I heard you defeated Neji today?"

Sasuke said, "I was merely fortunate."

Hyuga Hiashi said, "It was not fortune. Neji, who possesses the Byakugan, would not give you the chance to rely on luck. You defeated him through your strength. I heard you learned Shisui's Body Flicker Technique?"

Sasuke nodded.

Hyuga Hiashi said regretfully, "What a pity. Shisui of the Body Flicker became a rogue ninja. It is all Danzo's fault."

Only then did Hyuga Hiashi speak to Hinata. "Hinata, come back with me."

"And you are not allowed to eat sweets."

The Hyuga clan knocked the unfinished three-colored dango from Hinata's hand.

Then he took Hinata's hand and led her back toward the clan compound.

Hinata looked at the unfinished three-colored dango, and her eyes gradually grew moist.

She was not crying because she had not finished the three-colored dango. She was crying because her father did not understand her.

After Hinata left.

Sasuke said to Naruto, "Naruto, have you ever had Ichiraku Ramen?"

Naruto said, "No. I don't have that much money, but after my birthday this time, I'll have saved enough!"

Sasuke said, "There's no need to go through all that trouble. From now on, whenever you want to eat it, just go. Put it on my tab."

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Sasuke nodded. "Of course. The Uchiha clan has lots and lots of money..."

Using ramen to win Naruto's favor was an exceptionally worthwhile deal.

They arrived at Ichiraku Ramen.

Sasuke ordered two bowls of teriyaki tonkotsu ramen. As he sampled the famed Ichiraku Ramen, he found it merely average, tasting about the same as the instant noodles he had eaten in his previous life, except the ingredients were fresher.

After taking one bite, Naruto's eyes lit up.

Then he said to Sasuke, "Thank you, Sasuke. This is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten!"

That night, Naruto bid Sasuke farewell, feeling incomparably empty inside.

After returning home, Naruto pushed open the cold door and looked at the empty room.

The room was a mess and carried a faint sour smell.

There was still milk on the table that he had not finished drinking that morning.

But it had already expired. These were supplies the Konoha clinic had sent Naruto.

Although they were expired, they could still be eaten.

Lying on the bed, Naruto covered his eyes with his arm as two streams of tears flowed down uncontrollably.

Then came quiet sobs, which turned into loud crying.

In the end, Naruto was only a five-year-old child. He had lived here alone since he was little.

And Konoha had brainwashed him, telling him that he was a fox demon, that he had destroyed half the village when he was born, and that living was his atonement.

The whisker marks on his face were the most direct proof.

But Naruto clearly did not remember anything.

Whenever he saw others with fathers, mothers, and older brothers.

Naruto felt an incomparable bitterness.

Pale red chakra slowly surfaced over Naruto's body, but he did not notice.

Amegakure.

Akatsuki. The ceaseless rain fell without stopping for even a moment.

Shisui, dressed in Akatsuki's red-cloud cloak, walked down the street.

Though he had lost his eyes, he could see more clearly in his heart.

Akatsuki's goal was to use force to bring about world peace!

Because they had experienced war, they understood its cruelty.

There were inevitably barriers between villages, so Akatsuki sought to gather the tailed beasts.

Like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha during the Warring States Period, they would use force to bring peace to the ninja world.

At first, Shisui had deeply despised this rogue ninja organization.

But as he spent more time with them.

Shisui came to feel that he had misunderstood this rogue ninja organization too deeply.

Moreover, Orochimaru, who had been missing for a long time, had actually been in Akatsuki all along.

Shisui touched the [Vermilion Bird] ring on his finger, feeling somewhat lost.

But suddenly, Shisui sensed a figure appear before him.

Shisui froze for a moment, then recognized through the person's chakra signature that it was his partner, Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru, did the leader summon you as well?"

Orochimaru licked his lips and said with a grin, "Hehehe, Shisui, I want to know where your eyes are."

Shisui said, "Danzo already took my eyes. Haven't I said that before?"

But Orochimaru said, "Then why did Danzo ask me to kill you?"

Shisui immediately became alert. "You are working with Danzo?!"

Orochimaru gave a sinister smile. "What do you mean, working together? Akatsuki is inherently a mercenary rogue ninja organization that puts profit first. Danzo offered me terms I could not refuse. After killing you, he wants me to bring him one of your eyes and leave your body to me. So, sorry!"

Yellowish-brown snakes appeared densely all around Shisui.

Shisui frowned and rapidly formed hand seals. Then seven shadow clones appeared beside him!

Seeing this, Orochimaru chuckled. "An S-rank forbidden technique, Body Flicker Shadow Clone? But I have studied this move long ago."

The next moment, countless snakes coiled around all of Shisui's clones.

Until seven shadow clones dispersed into white mist, leaving behind only one figure.

Orochimaru walked toward Shisui, but a howling wind suddenly sounded behind him. A kunai descended from above and struck Orochimaru in the shoulder. Looking at Shisui atop a tree, Orochimaru said, "So the real body is there?"

Orochimaru looked toward Shisui atop the tree, but a powerful chakra surge suddenly came from behind him.

Green chakra emerged around Shisui's body.

The chakra condensed into a massive skeleton. Muscles grew over the skeleton, which was then covered in green Crow Tengu armor.

Standing within the half-bodied Susanoo, Shisui said, "This is the real body!"

Orochimaru: "!!!"

When Orochimaru saw the green half-bodied Susanoo, he froze. "You can activate Susanoo even without the Mangekyo?!"

Orochimaru slapped one hand against the ground. "Summoning Technique: Manda!"

As the white mist dispersed, an enormous purple snake instantly appeared, its body coiled.

Manda said, "Orochimaru, why did you summon me? This time, I want to eat a hundred people!"

Suddenly, Manda felt a chill run down his back, and the scales along his spine stood on end.

Manda turned his head and saw the half-bodied Susanoo right beside him.

Manda said, "Orochimaru, screw your ancestors!"

Orochimaru jumped into Manda's mouth and said, "What are you standing around for? Run!"

Shisui's green Susanoo condensed a massive green chakra sword and slashed down at Manda. With a bang, Manda dispersed into white mist.

Orochimaru escaped using the Reverse Summoning Technique.

The green Susanoo dissipated.

Shisui dropped to one knee, looking extremely pained!

As expected, activating Susanoo without the Sharingan is still too much of a strain. But this proves that although I lost my Mangekyo, my body still remembers my Susanoo.

The Mangekyo was merely the key. As long as one had activated Susanoo before, once the Uchiha bloodline within the body remembered it, it could be activated again. However, activating Susanoo under these circumstances came at the cost of one's life!

But in order to send the information back to the Uchiha, activating Susanoo to frighten Orochimaru away was the fastest method.