Naruto helped Sasuke to his feet and tried to use Medical Ninjutsu to treat him, but was stopped.
Sasuke shook his head at him.
"Don't bother. I'm just drained. I'll be fine after some rest."
Seeing this, Naruto also relaxed, then started pulling various foods out of his sealed space, stuffing them into Sasuke's arms.
Halfway through the action, he suddenly realized something and quickly asked.
"So... you avoided that Genjutsu?"
Through the foresight of his Observation Haki, he had seen Sasuke's personality drastically change after being hit by that so-called Genjutsu, directly leaving the team.
But looking at the current situation...
Sasuke had truly changed the future.
'Not bad, this kid.'
Unexpectedly, Sasuke still shook his head.
"No."
"Huh?"
"But I've pushed the arrival point of that future infinitely back."
"What do you mean?"
Naruto never had much patience for Sasuke's riddle-like way of speaking.
Fortunately, Sasuke also understood Naruto's personality and patiently explained.
Michikaeshi, the Dojutsu of his other eye.
It was also a Genjutsu.
In terms of being unreasonable, it was even above [Kotoamatsukami].
It was a Genjutsu capable of truly 'correcting reality'.
It wasn't like Izanagi, which could turn unfavorable reality into a 'dream' at the cost of an eye.
Its cost wasn't that great, and its effect was to transfer what just happened into an infinitely repeating 'future'.
According to Sasuke, from the perspective of someone hit by this technique, they would live forever within this intercepted segment of the 'future'.
If unable to break free, their spirit would be eternally lost in the future, while their body would become an empty shell that wouldn't die.
Yes, undying.
Itachi, under the effect of Michikaeshi, had in a sense achieved one of Orochimaru's ultimate dreams: immortality.
As long as he didn't break free from that 'future', his bodily functions would remain in their current state, maintained forever.
And in Itachi's 'future', Sasuke had already fallen under Kotoamatsukami.
Unless he was willing to deny this future and enter another timeline, it was impossible for him to wake up.
And if he denied this future, then Sasuke never fell under Kotoamatsukami… nothing happened at all.
As the caster, Sasuke wouldn't be restricted by this infinite future and could live normally until the other party made a decision.
"So that means..."
Yugito, who had the quickest mind among the group, sorted out the logic and explained.
"That so-called Kotoamatsukami won't take effect, right?"
Sasuke thought for a moment, and ultimately, not wanting to explain more, simply nodded.
"Oh!"
"Then it's fine, it's fine-"
"That makes things easier..."
The group dispersed, starting to clean up the battlefield.
Some went to rekindle the cooking fire, some were responsible for looking after the child. Jiraiya, who had a relatively good memory, hadn't forgotten about Sora, who was brought by the Itachi duo earlier, and hurried to the place where the person had been thrown down.
'Hopefully, the kid didn't die under the meteor shower.'
"Did you know all along?"
Only when the people around had mostly left did Sasuke speak up sullenly, addressing Naruto.
He was referring to the fact that Itachi didn't actually want to kill him.
Naruto nodded.
"After all, this is your matter. I thought it would be better to leave it for you to resolve yourself. I believed in you."
"...Thank you, Naruto."
After saying this, Sasuke looked again at the unconscious Itachi on the ground.
The person he had imagined killing countless times was lying defenseless before him.
Yet he couldn't kill him.
Perhaps this outcome was the best punishment for him.
"So, does it end here?"
Hearing this, Sasuke looked over.
"If I intended to destroy the entire Konoha Village for revenge, would you stop me?"
Hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto smiled noncommittally.
"Maybe. Are you going to kill the Third Hokage?"
Although he said this, there wasn't a trace of gravity on Naruto's face… his tone remained light.
"Tch-"
Sasuke snorted disdainfully.
"Do you think I'm still who I used to be?"
Sasuke punched Naruto in the chest in return.
"That old guy might be too weak-willed, but he's just an incompetent 'accomplice'. How many years could he live even if left alone?"
"Let him spend his remaining years in repentance."
Did Sasuke hate Hiruzen? Perhaps.
But right now, there was another guy who needed killing more.
"Don't make it sound like so much time has passed. It hasn't even been a year since you graduated from the Academy."
Naruto and Sasuke bumped fists, then Naruto said.
"So next..."
"Yeah, next..."
"It's time to take revenge on that masked man!"
The two said this sentence simultaneously.
So that so-called Uchiha Madara was the mastermind behind everything… even the Uchiha Clan Massacre had his involvement.
True to their word, Sasuke, supported by Naruto, stood up, and together they approached Kisame, who was already tied up like a dumpling by the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
"Have you dealt with Itachi-san? What an exaggerated pair of brothers."
Even knowing he might die here today, Kisame's face still wore that ferocious smile.
Naruto didn't dislike people like this.
At least he wasn't hypocritical.
"Tell us, what is Uchiha Madara planning to do now?"
Naruto controlled the Adamantine Sealing Chains to lift Kisame. One of his arms had been torn off, but his vitality was extremely tenacious, and the wound had already stopped bleeding.
Kisame acted as if he felt no pain at all, looking at the two before him.
"Madara-san will gather all the Tailed Beasts and usher in a new world 'order'. He is different from you."
Kisame laughed strangely, his eyes showing no fear of death.
"So, how does he plan to take the Jinchuriki from me?"
Naruto wasn't angry either, taking out a small flask and preparing to take a drink.
But under Kousei's gaze from the side, he sheepishly put the flask away.
Since revealing her identity, Kousei had clearly increased the number of times she acted spoiled in front of him.
Several times, Kousei had explicitly stated she didn't like the strong smell of alcohol on her father.
Naruto had no other choice about this.
But he believed that Kousei was, after all, a child of the sea. One day she would set sail, and setting sail inevitably meant parties and drinking.
By that time, this old father would surely be able to drink again.
'Heh heh heh heh...'
Hearing Naruto's words, Kisame also turned to look at the other Jinchuriki.
"Impressive. To openly snatch their Jinchuriki from those great Ninja Villages. Uzumaki Naruto, you are terrifyingly strong."
"Even if you praise me like that, I won't let you go."
Hearing this, Kisame grinned.
"However, having power alone isn't enough."
"Madara-san is the one who can create a new world!"
Seeing this, Naruto just nodded lightly.
"Is that so... It seems you really trust that guy who always hides his head and conceals his tail."
Kisame didn't answer Naruto, instead turning to look at Sasuke beside him.
"Uchiha Sasuke, you also have such eyes now... Then you should be qualified to know about that plan."
"In your clan's Naka Shrine, there is a stone tablet recording the plan to create a new world."
"Go look for it! Now you can also understand the writing on it! After reading it, you will surely understand how great Madara-san is!"
"Ha ha ha ha!!"
Kisame, like a fanatical believer, even before his death tried to influence others, spreading the seeds of his ideology.
Unexpectedly, Sasuke shook his head.
"No matter how great he is, it's unimportant. What's important is that I will kill him."
Hearing this, Kisame's movements paused, and he stopped his manic laughter.
"Uchiha Sasuke, so you also lack that caliber."
As he spoke, he seemed quite regretful.
"The last guy who liked to measure my 'caliber' is lying right over there. Do you want to end up like him too?"
As he spoke, Sasuke casually pointed at Itachi behind him.
"You don't understand. Madara-san will definitely succeed. I am merely a forerunner of the plan."
"Kill me. I won't say anything."
Faced with this kind of believer lost in some fantasy, Naruto also knew it was impossible to extract any information from him through torture.
Moreover, he didn't like that method.
"Sasuke, can your Genjutsu hypnotize him?"
"Yes, but my Ocular Power hasn't recovered yet. So we need to wait a while."
Hearing this, Kisame immediately fell silent, his face fluctuating, as if planning his own death.
Currently, with his Chakra sealed, he couldn't even use a summoning technique to kill himself. He had to find a way...