I welcomed them into the living room before heading off to get Aunt Yoshino. Soon, once they were settled, Aunt Yoshino and I stepped back inside. She greeted them warmly.
"Kushina, Mikoto, what a pleasant surprise. How are you? And how is pregnancy treating you so far?" she asked with a smile.
Kushina-sensei laughed. "Well, nothing much, just added weight and a disgusting urge to eat sour things."
Aunt Yoshino smiled and sighed. "Still as energetic as ever, some things never change."
Aunt Mikoto, ever the mature one, stepped forward. "How are you? Is Akira taking good care of you?"
Aunt Yoshino chuckled. "Oh, he is a dear. Not even letting me do any work and always ready to help me."
Soon, they slipped into their pleasant conversation.
Meanwhile, I was terrified. How can women talk at such speed? If I say they have covered two years' worth of gossip in an hour, I would not be exaggerating.
I asked Nano, "How is that possible?"
Nano replied, "Many researchers and scientists have tried to solve the mysteries of women, but they have no results. Even a hundred quantum computers cannot follow up with women's gossip."
I shivered at the thought. Women are born with a very overpowered skill of talking at two million words per second.
Their discussion went on endlessly. Rin occasionally contributed, while Itachi remained silent, not bothering to listen, just intensely watching me like he was trying to read my mind. I ignored him until Aunt Mikoto asked Aunt Yoshino an important question.
"Have you thought of a name for the baby?"
"Yes," Aunt Yoshino replied. "It was Akira's suggestion. If it is a boy, we will name him Shikamaru, with 'Shika' meaning deer. If it is a girl, Shikahime, with 'Hime' meaning princess."
Kushina squealed. "Akira, you have such a good naming sense. Unlike Minato. Do you know what he suggested naming our baby Menma!"
I shuddered at the thought. Did I accidentally change the timeline into the Menma Uzumaki one? Menma is the opposite of Naruto, full of evil to the core, though that was due to Tobi's influence on Dark Kurama. Since Obito has not been driven to darkness here, Kushina and Minato will live, so the Nine Tails will not be sealed in Naruto.
If he does not have the Nine Tails, will he even have whiskers? Naruto without whiskers... might look better. It seems I have unintentionally given Sasuke a rival in the looks department.
Their gossip continued endlessly. I excused myself, saying I would bring tea and snacks.
Itachi and Rin followed me into the kitchen. With Itachi, I was fine. But with Rin, it was complicated. I knew it was not her fault, yet this kid's body and kid's brain felt agitated and angry whenever I saw her. I avoided her eyes.
She stepped up behind me to help prepare tea and snacks. Without looking at her, I said, "You do not need to."
"I want to," she replied without hesitation.
I did not push it further. Talking more would only make it worse. Itachi stayed silent, watching us as we worked.
We returned to the living room with the tea and snacks. The conversation was still in full swing. Aunt Yoshino asked Aunt Mikoto, "Have you decided on a name? You will be the first in our group to give birth."
I perked up. From the anime, I knew Sasuke was named after the Third Hokage's father, Fugaku, 's way of showing support or appeasing the Third. But now that Minato is Hokage, would that change?
"Fugaku suggests Sasuke if it is a boy, and Sayuri if it is a girl," Mikoto said. Then she sighed. "But instead of Sasuke, .... I was thinking of Indra."
I almost froze. Did she crack the reincarnation code? How in the world did she come up with that? Was she some future-seeing sage? Or a past-seeing one? I prayed she would not name him Indra. I had this strange feeling that if she did, the first thing he would yell would be "Ashura."
After that shock, the conversation drifted back to pregnancy troubles and hopes for the babies. Kushina began discussing her struggle to control her cravings for sour foods.
But I could feel Itachi's gaze burning into me, the urge to fight radiating from him. He had been holding back all day, trying to be a good friend, but now he could not hide it anymore.
I excused myself and flickered into the middle of the Nara forest. He followed almost instantly, with Rin trailing behind.
"I do not think it is good for you two to fight now," she said.
We both ignored her. Our chakra flared, muscles tensing like coiled springs. We waited, and the moment a leaf touched the ground, we vanished into motion, our taijutsu clashing in a blur.
I drove my fist toward his abdomen, already planning my follow-up: a kick to his head and a knee to his ribs. But he blocked everything with precise, efficient redirection. Even though I had trained hard, Itachi had not been slacking either.
We exchanged dozens of blows in mere seconds. Every time I tried to exploit a gap, he filled it with smooth counters and flawless parries. But I refused to break my momentum. If I started this fight with offense, I would end it with offense.
When punches failed to break through, I went for my kunai. My hand slipped into my ninja pouch, drawing the blade in a single motion, slashing toward his neck. His kunai met mine instantly, steel ringing against steel. Sparks flew with each clash as we traded rapid slashes and blocks. I feinted high, then dropped low, sweeping at his legs before following with a sharp roundhouse kick.
Itachi blocked the kunai slash, lifted his leg to avoid my sweep, and leaned back just enough to let my roundhouse whistle past his face. He pushed off the ground, creating distance.
I wasted no time. With no hand seals and only a single swift gesture, I released my jutsu.
Wind Style: Severance Field.
At this close range, dodging was nearly impossible. But geniuses make the impossible possible. Itachi didn't move aside. Instead, he locked eyes with me, and his gaze shifted, his pupils turned scarlet, a single tomoe spinning.
I faltered for just a second. Genjutsu.
The world warped, but I forced a surge of chakra through my system, shattering the illusion. When my vision cleared, Itachi was gone.
Crows fluttered in from all directions, gathering in mid-air until they formed his silhouette. My eyes narrowed. He had already signed a contract with crows and mastered body-switching. That meant Shisui had contacted him.
Behind me, my Severance Field tore a hole clean through the trunk of a tree. No time to dwell. I sprinted toward him, hurling a shuriken before forming a single seal.
Shadow Shuriken Jutsu.
One became two. Two became four. In seconds, a storm of nearly a hundred shuriken sliced through the air toward him.
He wasn't the only one improving. My fingers formed another seal, and purple lightning surged around my hand, forming a crackling claw. The speed and force it gave me were immense.
Itachi, his Sharingan spinning, slipped between the shuriken as if they weren't there, his hands flashing through a blur of seals before he slammed one palm to the ground.
Fire Style: Eruption.
The ground beneath me began to boil with heat. One by one, fiery blasts erupted in my path. With the lightning claw amplifying my speed and reflexes, I zigzagged through the danger and closed in. He retreated, refusing to let me get close enough to land the lightning strike.
He hurled several shuriken my way. I sidestepped them, but the glint of a thin chakra wire caught my eye. I twisted my body mid-run, springing backward just in time as the wire snapped taut and the shuriken whipped back toward where I had been.
Uchiha Shurikenjutsu.
Enough. I formed another seal.
Wind Style: Dust Cloud.
A thick cloud billowed out, shrouding the field and disrupting his visibility. I created a shadow clone, transformed it into a shuriken, and hurled it toward him. The instant it left my hand, I used Shadow Shuriken Jutsu again. Even in the dust, he slipped past each one, his movements perfectly measured, running toward me.
I slammed my hands into the dirt.
Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique.
I tunneled through the ground silently, creating another clone underground and sending it upward to grab his legs. Itachi hopped backward, avoiding the grab, and unleashed:
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu.
The clone substituted away at the last instant, reappearing to unleash:
Water Style: Waterfall Basin.
A torrent of water surged forward, forcing Itachi to leap into the trees.
This was my chance. I erupted from the ground beneath him, hands already moving.
Mind Interference Jutsu.
He twisted in mid-air, redirecting himself with a sudden Gale Palm burst, landing on a tree trunk. The moment his feet touched, he blurred and appeared behind me.
Sharingan genjutsu. Again.
A cold point pressed against my neck. "You lose," he said.
I smiled. "Nah… I win."
His brow furrowed. Then his eyes widened as his limbs locked.
The Shadow Imitation Jutsu. My clone, disguised as a shuriken, had been waiting.
He exhaled slowly. "You win."
I grinned, dispelling the clone.
"It was close," he admitted.
I chuckled. "Scan your body with your chakra."
He looked puzzled but did so. His expression changed instantly. His gaze shot down to his calves, where the seal for chakra suppression and binding was etched.
"W… when?" he stammered.
I grinned wider. "From the very beginning, you were destined to lose."
Without another word, I turned and walked toward the flowing river.
I sat at the edge of the water, my reflection rippling with the gentle current. The air was cool, carrying the faint scent of wet earth and moss. Behind me, soft footsteps approached, steady and deliberate. Itachi came to my side and lowered himself onto the grass, silent as ever, his gaze fixed on the river's flow. Rin lingered a few steps back, shifting her weight, her hands clasped in front of her as if unsure how close she was allowed to come.
For a while, we simply listened to the sound of the water and the distant rustle of leaves. It wasn't tense, but it wasn't light either. The kind of quiet that holds everything you're not saying. I finally let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
"I missed this."
Itachi's head tilted slightly. "Me too," he said in that calm, unreadable voice of his.
The silence returned, softer this time. Rin's lips parted, her eyes flickering between the ground and me.
"Akira… I am sor—"
I raised a hand gently to stop her. "No need. I know it's not your fault. Nor Minato-sensei's."
My voice carried no anger, no attempt to soften the truth. Just the truth itself.
"My old man… he just wasn't strong enough to return."
The words were heavy in my chest. I drew in a deep breath, eyes fixed on the water as if it could steady me.
"After the news… I didn't know what to do. I was lost. I couldn't figure out where to go or how to cope. The only way I knew was to blame someone. Back then, I didn't understand, so I blamed you. And Minato-sensei. For not being there in time."
My voice faltered. I clenched my hands together to keep them from trembling.
"I knew it wasn't your fault… but I couldn't help it. I shut everyone out. Thought that if I never let anyone close, I'd never have to feel that pain again."
The river kept flowing, its surface catching the sunlight like shattered glass.
"But… I know my mother and my old man wouldn't want me to live like that. Especially him. I think… he wanted to come back desperately. But he chose to protect Uncle Shikaku and Konoha instead."
I exhaled, slower this time, my shoulders loosening slightly.
"I'm proud of his decision. I can say my father was a hero."
My eyes stung as I turned toward Rin.
"Thank you… for understanding me. And for still supporting me."
Her breath hitched. Then she moved, closing the space between us in two quick steps, and threw her arms around me.
"I'm sorry… so sorry for not being there for you," she whispered into my shoulder.
Itachi shifted closer, his hand resting firmly on my back as he leaned in, embracing us both.
"I'm sorry too."
And just like that, the wall I had built over the years cracked. Tears I had buried deep poured out, hot against my cheeks. My shoulders shook, and I clung to them both as if letting go would make them disappear.
"Thank you… for everything," I choked out.
We stayed like that, the three of us breathing in sync, until the tears finally ran dry. I pulled back, wiping my eyes, my chest feeling strangely lighter.
"We should get going… before they come looking for us."
They both nodded. Together, we walked toward the house, our steps slow but steady. The wind shifted, carrying the scent of pine and distant smoke. My shoulders no longer ached from tension, and for the first time in years, the weight on my heart felt bearable.
But the fire inside me still burned. The revenge was not forgotten.
Even if it brings another war, I will slaughter the Kumo and Iwa nins.
They must pay.Even if some call me a hypocrite, a menace, or a murderer… I don't care. As long as I draw breath, I will hunt them down, crush them, and erase them from the face of the earth.
The night air was cool as we walked. The sound of our footsteps crunched softly over the gravel path, and the faint rustle of leaves carried on the breeze. I glanced at Itachi and asked, "When did you create the Body Substitution Jutsu with crows?"
He kept his gaze forward, his tone calm. "One month ago, with my friend Shisui."
My eyes narrowed. "Shisui… of the Body Flicker?"
Itachi gave a single nod. "Yes. He's a genius on par with Kakashi. His genjutsu is the strongest and most difficult I've ever encountered. His prowess in both genjutsu and the Body Flicker is incredible."
I nodded slightly, my mind racing. Shisui… a genius in genjutsu, kenjutsu, and especially the Body Flicker, probably inherited from Kagami Uchiha. His fate… tragic. To sacrifice oneself for the sake of the clan and the village, noble, yes, but also painfully naïve.
Itachi's next words stopped my thoughts cold."Even with only one eye, he can still do almost everything… as if nothing's changed."
I froze mid-step and turned sharply toward him, stunned."One eye…?" My voice was low, almost a whisper. "How is that possible?"
A dozen scenarios flashed through my mind, each worse than the last. My pulse quickened as I suddenly reached out and gripped Itachi by the shoulder."Itachi… which eye does Shisui still have?"
He blinked, surprised by my intensity, but answered. "His right eye. His left eye was taken during a mission a year ago, before Minato-sensei became Hokage."
I released him, my fingers curling into a fist as my mind started calculating.
If the timeline is correct, Shisui should now be about ten years old. That means it's been two years since he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. His left eye… the one that held Kotoamatsukami, the most powerful genjutsu in existence. The power to alter a person's very will and desire, undeniable and absolute, though slow to recharge.
If his left Mangekyō was stolen… the likely culprits are Black Zetsu and Madara.Yes… It fits too perfectly.
Obito wouldn't have fallen into darkness yet, not while Rin is still alive and happy. That means Zetsu must have known about Kotoamatsukami and stolen it to… rewrite Obito's will. Not just manipulate him, remake him entirely, molding him into nothing more than a pawn in Madara's long, patient game.
The thought chilled me to my core.
If this is true… even Naruto's famed Talk no Jutsu wouldn't be able to reach him. This Obito wouldn't waver; he would follow Madara's commands to the very end. Unshakable. Unstoppable.
And if that happens, Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei will be in danger.There's still half a year before Naruto is born… but if I'm not careful, if I don't account for every variable, history could snap back to the same disastrous path.
I won't allow it.
I still need Minato-sensei as Hokage to complete my plans.I must prepare countermeasures against Obito, against this Obito, and adapt to every ripple the butterfly effect creates.
Resolving myself, I steadied my breathing and stepped forward, falling into pace beside Itachi and Rin. The house was just ahead, its warm lantern light spilling across the path… but my mind was far away, already sharpening its blades for what was to come.
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(A/n)-Sorry for the delay, guys, but it was necessary. After finishing the last chapter, I went on vacation with my friends, where I had a serious accident that caused numerous fractures in my hands and ribs. I was bedridden for almost three weeks and only started to recover enough to move my hands and body by the seventh week, when I had the casts removed from both arms. After being discharged and brought home, I took a week to start using my hands and fingers to type on the laptop. The delay in the chapters was also due to this, and because I couldn't type constantly, I relied more on AI in this chapter, with more to come in future chapters. I hope you continue to enjoy the novel, and I will try to get back into shape as soon as possible.
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