Tsunade's words stung, but they struck the very truth he least wanted to face.
The fall of the Uchiha Clan was as much his doing as Danzo's.
And Naruto's future fall into darkness was tied to the choices he'd made these years!
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned a pleading gaze toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya understood instantly: his teacher was asking if he could train both Naruto and Sasuke.
He shook his head hurriedly and gave a wry smile. "Old Man, it's not that I refuse. You can see my style's nothing like the Uchiha Clan's. I don't grasp the secrets of the Sharingan either. Forcing it would only hold the boy back."
Hiruzen Sarutobi fell silent once more.
In all of Konoha, was there truly no one who could guide the Uchiha Orphan and ease his hatred?
Right then Tsunade voiced an earth-shaking idea, staring at the conflicted Hiruzen and Jiraiya with a tone of cold pragmatism: "What's there to hesitate over? Since the heavenly screen shows Sasuke seeking Orochimaru's tutelage, surviving, and growing strong enough to stand against World-Destroying Naruto—clearly fighting for Konoha, for the Ninja World—why not push the boat with the current?"
She paused, then continued under their stunned stares: "In the end, the outcome benefits Konoha. Does the process really matter?"
"Rather than letting him stay in the Village like a ticking bomb of hatred, or us meddling and making things worse, let him follow that 'predetermined' path—at least the result is one we can accept."
"I… uh…" Jiraiya's jaw dropped, floored by Tsunade's audacious, near-mad scheme.
Hiruzen was equally dumbstruck; he had never considered such a hands-off approach.
It flew in the face of every tenet of stability and control he'd always preached.
To willingly hand an important clan bloodline and combat asset to a dangerous Rogue Ninja?
The risks were incalculable!
It sounded almost reasonable, yet to relinquish all control and gamble on an uncertain future?
Hiruzen asked himself and knew he could not make that choice.
In the heavenly screen, the Valley of the End fight blazed toward its climax. Rain, sweat, and blood mingled; both youths were spent, yet the obsession in their eyes burned hotter.
"Aaaargh! Give Sasuke back!" Naruto howled, the vast, malevolent Chakra he'd long suppressed erupting out of control!
A crimson Chakra cloak flamed around him, tails sprouting one after another as his reason was devoured by beastly bloodlust!
"That's… the Nine-Tails' Chakra!"
"Uzumaki Naruto… is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?!"
At that instant the entire Ninja World finally understood!
Why Konoha guarded Naruto so closely, why the screen showed him wielding apocalyptic power!
The truth: sealed within him was the Nine-Tailed fox that had once nearly destroyed Konoha!
Facing a Naruto super-charged by Tailed Beast Chakra, Sasuke felt an unprecedented threat of death—and an absolute gap in power!
The dark Cursed Seal on his face spread over his body, bringing searing pain and bestowing strength beyond his limits.
Horns bulged from his forehead; bat-like wings unfurled from his back, his form turning grotesque.
With a roar, Cursed Seal Stage-Two Sasuke let out an inhuman shriek, jealousy, rage, and lust for power driving his Chidori to the extreme!
Blinding lightning shrieked in his hand like the cries of a thousand birds!
Meanwhile, the Nine-Tails-driven Naruto, acting on instinct, condensed massive Chakra into a wild-spinning, ominous red Rasengan!
One embodied ultimate hatred and darkness (the Nine-Tails), the other twisted jealousy and power (the Cursed Seal).
Two boys, each bearing misfortune and obsession, poured everything into this final clash!
"Chidori!"
"Rasengan!"
Under countless stunned eyes, red and blue comets collided head-on before the thundering waterfall of the Valley of the End!
BOOOOM—!!
An explosion louder than thunder rocked the valley!
Blinding light swallowed everything; a violent shockwave shattered rock and trees, even reversing the cataract's flow!
When light and dust settled, a ravaged battlefield lay revealed.
Battered and drained of Chakra, the Nine-Tails cloak gone, Naruto lay unconscious in the mud.
Sasuke, equally bloodied, Cursed Seal fading, staggered to his feet before him, clutching an injured arm.
He gazed down at the dead last who had fought with everything, even the Tailed Beast's power, to drag him home.
His expression was a storm of conflict.
Hatred screamed at him to kill this obstacle and strengthen his Sharingan.
Yet deep inside, the bond Naruto called a "tie" tugged like an invisible thread at the hand holding his Kunai.
At last Sasuke slowly lowered the Kunai.
He took a long look at the unconscious Naruto, then did something no watcher expected.
He untied the forehead protector that marked him a Leaf Ninja.
Bending, he gently placed the scratched plate beside Naruto.
A final farewell—and a severance of his ties to the past, to Konoha, to Naruto.
With that done, Sasuke turned away without pause or glance back.
Supporting his broken body, he limped yet strode with iron resolve into the rain-misted night of the Valley of the End.
He chose the path of hatred and desertion, yet in the end… could not bring himself to sever that blazing bond.
The heavenly screen froze on the lonely Leaf forehead protector beside the unconscious Naruto.
The real Ninja World fell silent.
Everyone felt the thick, inescapable sorrow, helplessness, and finality that filled that rainy night.
Uchiha Sasuke's defection was no simple betrayal, but the tormented choice of a boy cornered by fate and hatred.
And Uzumaki Naruto's all-out attempt to save him ended in heart-rending failure.