When There Is a Knot in Your Heart, You Must Cut It Yourself

On the edge of Hidden Leaf, at the Third Training Ground.

The cold night wind whipped up the withered leaves on the ground, stinging his face like blades. Sasuke alone against a wooden stake charred by Lightning Release, clutching the blood-stained black feather spat out by the Crow during the day.

Danzo's provocative words before his death buzzed in his mind like flies.

The shame of the Uchiha? The truth behind their massacre?

Sasuke stared at the dark red bloodstains on the feather, his breathing becoming heavier. He took a deep breath, and a faint spark of Chidori lightning flashed at his fingertips as he slashed directly into the Root the feather.

Buzz--

The surrounding air suddenly froze, and the scene distorted violently, like water surface ripped by a stone.

The moon and the forest had vanished, replaced by a oppressive, dark red space. Itachi Uchiha, dressed in his tattered red-cloud black robe, stood seven steps away, his illusory figure barely visible. His right eye was closed, and blood trickled down his cheek from the corner of his left eye, exuding an aura of deathly exhaustion.

"Sasuke," Itachi's voice was hoarse like sandpaper, "Don't go to the Land of Lightning. Beneath Turtle Island, there's an army of 100,000 White Zetsu set up by Obito. It's a deadly trap specifically designed to Naruto Uzumaki's Sage Body and the Nine-Tails. If you throw your current forces into it, you won't even make a ripple."

Sasuke clenched his fist tightly, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spinning wildly in his eye sockets, locking onto the man he hated to the core.

"Who do you think you are? You think I'll believe you just because you say it's a trap?" Sasuke's voice was icy cold. "What makes you think that, at this point, I'd still be a puppet to be manipulated by you? What right do you, a butcher who spews lies, have to warn me?"

Faced with Sasuke's questioning, Itachi showed no emotion whatsoever, not even offering a single unnecessary explanation. His afterimage began to flicker like a screen with a weak signal.

"Three days later, in the southern border of the Land of Fire, at the Old Naka Shrine." Itachi gave Sasuke a deep look. "You must come alone. I will tell you everything you want to know."

As soon as he finished speaking, the phantom disintegrated, turning into a sky full of blinding red light.

The illusion collapsed with a deafening roar.

Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for breath, his chest heaving violently. The black feather in his hand had turned into a small clump of black ash, which was blown away by the night wind through his fingers, leaving not a trace.

"So, what were that bastard's last words to you?"

A lazy voice suddenly rang out from the tree branches overhead.

Sasuke's back tensed instantly, and his right hand instinctively went to the Kusanagi Sword at his waist. He looked up sharply and saw Naruto sitting casually on a tree trunk more than two meters high, with a half-eaten apple tossed in his hand.

"You were following me?" Sasuke's brows furrowed into a deep knot.

"Stop patting yourself on the back. Do you think I'm just wasting my time?" Naruto mumbled, taking a bite of his apple. "I'm Hidden Leaf's strongest fighter right now. I can count on my fingers how many female mosquitoes fly into this village in the middle of the night. You're here in the middle of the night, posing like a melancholy second male lead. Do you think my sensory network is just for show?"

Sasuke fell silent.

In the past, he would never have uttered a single word. But lately, Naruto's unreasonable yet extremely domineering style had long since shattered Sasuke's ridiculous pride. Helping him completely remove Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, crippling Danzo and then handing him over to execute himself—everything Naruto did exuded a domineering "I've got your back" attitude.

In the face of absolute power and unwavering trust, concealment is utterly meaningless.

"He asked to meet me." Sasuke loosened his grip on his sword, his voice stiff. "Three days later, at the Old Naka Shrine."

Naruto spat out the apple core, leaped down from the tree, and landed firmly on the ground without raising a speck of dust.

"A trap?" Naruto clapped his hands.

"Most likely." Sasuke met Naruto's gaze without flinching.

The night wind rustled through the trees, and the two stared at each other for three seconds.

"Alright, go ahead." Naruto waved casually, put his hands in his pockets, turned around and left. "But pay for your own travel expenses, don't expect me to reimburse you. I'm under a lot of pressure to support my family lately."

Sasuke froze on the spot. He had originally thought that Naruto would, as usual, forcibly interrupt his plan, even tie him up like a dumpling with several Adamantine Sealing Chains and throw him into the basement, absolutely forbidding him from stepping into such an obvious pit.

"You... aren't you going to stop me?" Sasuke blurted out, "He's a core member of Akatsuki, this is clearly a dead end!"

Naruto stopped and turned to look at him. His golden hair gleamed with a cold, hard sheen in the moonlight, and his eyes held none of their usual carefree, playful tone.

"Why would I stop you? You have legs and brains. You're not my pet dog." Naruto's tone was calm, yet it carried an undeniable firmness. "If you want to kill him, then draw your sword; if you want the truth, then pry his mouth open. But one thing, don't throw your life away alone. If you die out there, Team 7 will be short one person, and I'll have to go through the trouble of putting up recruitment ads. Hidden Leaf's manpower is very tight right now, understand?"

Sasuke stood there, the cold wind blowing down his neck, but he felt a fire burning inside him.

He had always felt that he was living in a web of lies and hatred woven by Itachi, a pathetic knife being wielded at will. But now, Naruto had forcefully shoved the choice in his face.

"Naruto," Sasuke suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse.

Naruto didn't turn around, he just paused for a moment.

"If..." Sasuke clenched his teeth, this was the first time since he was old enough to reveal his inner confusion to an outsider, "If he really isn't the kind of person I think he is, if the massacre of his clan... really has another story behind it. What should I do?"

Killing is simple: imbue your Lightning Release and pierce the heart. But what if your enemy becomes your benefactor? What if the reason for your lifelong hatred is just a manipulated joke? Where should you stab him then?

Naruto turned his head to the side.

"Then use your own eyes to see, use your own brain to think, and make your own decisions." Naruto's tone was extremely cold, but every word was crystal clear. "Answers that others give you are always bullshit. You are not anyone's tool, not even me. As long as you still wear the Hidden Leaf Forehead Protector, as long as you still call me 'big brother,' even if the sky falls, I, the tall guy, will hold it up for you. But you have to untangle your own knots in your heart yourself."

After saying that, Naruto walked into the night without looking back, leaving Sasuke with only his back view.

The old training ground fell silent once more.

Sasuke looked down at his empty palm.

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan instantly lit up in the darkness. This time, the crimson light no longer held the usual frenzied killing intent, nor the blindness clouded by hatred. Only an extremely pure calmness and sharpness remained.

He fastened the Kusanagi Sword to his waist with a backhand motion, turned and strode into the village. His footsteps crunched crisply on the fallen leaves.

Three hours later.

As dawn broke, the rising sun had not yet passed over the top of Hokage Rock.

A sharp, piercing alarm, capable of shattering eardrums, abruptly tore apart the morning in Konoha.

The sensory lights atop the Hokage Building flashed wildly, their blinding red light turning the sky a blood-red hue.

"Enemy attack?!"

The newly arrived outer patrol team instantly became alert, Hyuga Branch Family ninjas immediately activated their Byakugan, all looking up at the sky.

The thick clouds were violently torn apart.

There was no detonation of the Explosive Tag, nor the descent of the giant summoned beast.

Five enormous Ninja Hawk, with wingspans exceeding three meters and trailing long tail feathers, defied Hidden Leaf's air defense identification barrier with an extremely aggressive posture, heading straight for the Hokage Building like five dive bombers.

Each of the five Ninja Hawk had a scroll sealed with special Chakra bound to its talons. The patterns branded on their backs represented the five names standing at the very top of the Shinobi World's power pyramid.

Thunder, wind, water, earth, fire.

"Urgent report from the Five Kage?!"

Having just pulled an all-nighter and preparing to organize the defense network, Shikamaru rushed to the rooftop. Seeing the five giant eagles circling down, his usually trouble-averse face instantly lost all color.

The Five Great Nations simultaneously issued a joint ultimatum at the highest level.

The last time these things appeared in a group was on the eve of the Third Shinobi World War.

Just as Shikamaru bit his fingertip, preparing to order the Anbu to form an array to intercept him...

Boom!

A violent golden afterimage rose from the ground, shattering the stone carvings on the edge of the Hokage Building, and hovered in mid-air.

Naruto hovered in the wind, his hands moving with lightning speed, tearing the five scrolls, which were imbued with powerful lightning and a raging wind barrier, right off the wall.

He Hand Seals to break the seal, unleashing Pure Yang Chakra from his fingertips and violently crushing the outer layer of the scroll's restriction.

He casually tore open the secret scroll printed with a thundercloud pattern, his eyes quickly scanning the few lines of text on it.

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

Shikamaru below held his breath, his palms sweating profusely.

Half a second later, Naruto's lips began to curl upwards, the arc growing wider and wider until he finally burst into unrestrained laughter in mid-air.

"Interesting! This is fucking interesting!"

Naruto casually tossed the five scrolls to Shikamaru below like they were scraps of paper, his golden pupils burning with undisguised madness and killing intent.

"Shikamaru, go wake the old woman up and make her wash her face!"

Naruto looked down at the entire Hidden Leaf Village from his high vantage point, his voice carrying far in the cold morning wind, making people's eardrums tingle.

"The Land of Iron, the Five Kage Summit. These old bastards have finally lost their patience and are about to overturn the table. Since they're so eager to die, I'll personally deliver their coffins to their doorstep!"

The Turtle Island Trap in the Land of Lightning?

The conspiracy of 100,000 White Zetsu?

No, the real storm has only just begun!