"I can see it now. So this is the source of your unknown power. I never imagined something like that was hiding inside you."
For the first time, Uchiha Sasuke saw the monster inside Uzumaki Naruto with his own eyes.
Just a trace of its chakra leaking out, and its scale was already absurd.
"Oh? You can see the me inside this kid? That cursed Sharingan of yours… truly the power of an accursed clan," the Nine-Tails said with amusement.
"So this isn't your first time seeing the Sharingan," Sasuke answered coldly. "That means you really are the Nine-Tails Demon Fox."
"Your eye power, and that ominous chakra even darker than mine… exactly the same as Uchiha Madara back then."
The Nine-Tails didn't finish the sentence. Sasuke crushed its enormous fox head in his palm like it was nothing.
"I don't care about that kind of guy." Sasuke's smirk was razor sharp.
"You can even suppress my power now…" the Nine-Tails muttered from the darkness. "This may be our last meeting. I'll tell you one thing. Don't kill Naruto. You'll regret it."
The moment those words echoed out, Sasuke and Naruto snapped back from the mental world. Before anyone could figure out what had happened, Yamato unleashed Wood Release in an attempt to restrain Sasuke.
But Sasuke shattered it instantly.
Seeing Wood Release again, Uchiha Itachi narrowed his eyes. The first time had been Danzo. Now another Leaf ninja was using it.
Had Konoha learned to mass-produce Wood Release while he was away?
Only Hatake Kakashi wasn't surprised. He'd spent time in Root, so he already knew Yamato's background.
On-screen, Sasuke landed atop the cliff, staring down at the others.
"That's enough talking. Naruto, Sakura, I didn't want to fight seriously in front of you two… but I can't hold back anymore," Yamato said as he stood. "A missing-nin who fled the village like Orochimaru can't be ignored."
"No matter what it takes, we will bring him back."
"Konoha? I have nothing left to say to you," Sasuke replied, already forming hand signs. "Time to end this."
Lightning gathered. He was about to unleash Kirin.
But at the last second, Orochimaru appeared and blocked him.
Everyone froze.
"Don't use that jutsu, Sasuke," Orochimaru said casually.
"Move." Sasuke didn't even look at him.
"You really do speak to Lord Orochimaru so rudely," Kabuto said as he appeared beside him.
"I have no reason to stop," Sasuke answered coldly.
"You should know Akatsuki's movements by now," Kabuto said. "Let these Leaf ninja take out at least one member for us. If Akatsuki interferes, your revenge will never go smoothly."
"What a pathetic excuse," Sasuke muttered.
"Even if it increases your odds by one percent… you understand, right?"
Sasuke didn't reply. He simply stared down at the group below with icy eyes. A moment later, the three of them vanished in a burst of fire and were gone.
The video ended.
But the shock it left behind hadn't even begun to settle.
The information was overwhelming.
First, the timeline was clear. This was three years in the future, predicted from the present.
Second, it confirmed Sasuke's fate: the last heir of the Uchiha Clan would defect from Konoha. The cause was unclear, but Orochimaru targeting Sasuke was no surprise.
A previous video had already shown Orochimaru coveting Sasuke's body, and Kakashi had nearly died fighting him off.
"So Sasuke really does leave Konoha in the end… and for revenge, he takes Orochimaru's hand."
Uchiha Itachi felt the truth crystallizing. He hadn't intended for this. His plan was to push Sasuke to grow strong enough to seek revenge, not to make him abandon the village.
He had hoped Sasuke would become the new foundation of the Uchiha Clan in Konoha.
"He thought growing in Konoha was too slow. Under Orochimaru, his strength skyrocketed… he even surpassed Kakashi-san. Only the Mangekyo Sharingan separated him from Kage Level." Itachi's thoughts were heavy.
Three years.
In just three years, Sasuke had gained that kind of power.
Orochimaru's training was far more effective than Itachi had expected.
But Sasuke had strayed far from the path Itachi originally wanted for him. Was that future truly acceptable?
"Orochimaru again… it always comes back to Orochimaru."
Hatake Kakashi scribbled quickly across a sheet of paper, mapping out the timeline.
Based on the videos, Sasuke hadn't encountered Orochimaru yet at this point in time, so nothing immediate was wrong.
But if Sasuke defected within three years, it would almost certainly happen during the so-called Konoha Crush incident.
And based on the fact Konoha still managed to elect a Fifth, and even a "5.5th Hokage," they would survive it—but not without heavy losses.
Knowing all this ahead of time made it impossible to treat Sasuke like an ordinary student.
But Kakashi refused to give up on him.
He remembered how dark his own past had been. He'd crawled out of that darkness.
He believed Sasuke could too.
The Uchiha Clan had only two surviving members left in the light.
One had become a missing-nin who massacred his own clan.
The other could not fall into darkness as well.
The price for that would be far too great.