"Uchiha Sasuke? What a coincidence," Orochimaru said with a sly smile.
"Orochimaru-sensei? Kakashi-sensei? Fourth Hokage?" Sasuke froze upon seeing the three of them.
Orochimaru and the others were under constant surveillance and had never left Konoha. How could he be seeing them outside the village? And why was Kakashi with them?
A sudden sense of unease washed over Sasuke. He glanced at his teammates out of the corner of his eye. None of them were a match for what was in front of them. If a fight broke out, he would have to face the Fourth Hokage and Orochimaru alone.
"Kakashi-sensei, what is going on?" he asked.
"It's just as you see. We're leaving," Orochimaru said with a shrug, answering before Kakashi could. "And Kakashi is coming with us."
"Impossible! How could that be?" Sakura, Sasuke, and the other ninja all stared at Kakashi in disbelief.
In their minds, although Kakashi was often lazy, at his core, he was a ninja who embodied the Will of Fire. Without his guidance, the Sasuke and Sakura of today would not exist. He had laid a solid foundation for them. Naruto's defection might have been understandable, but Kakashi would never betray the village.
"Why?" Sasuke stared at Kakashi, searching his eyes for a sign that he needed help. "Are they forcing you?"
But to Sasuke's disappointment, Kakashi's eyes were perfectly calm, even holding a hint of relief.
"The times are changing, Sasuke. Konoha can no longer keep up. I'm going to look forward now," Kakashi's voice was no longer lazy but filled with a sense of freedom and ease.
He took a step forward, and the Reiatsu within him surged. To everyone's astonishment, he slowly removed his mask, revealing his other, clear eye. A pair of black eyes stared quietly at Sasuke.
"I am no longer Hatake Kakashi of Konoha."
With a flash of light, a white sword slowly materialized at his waist. Kakashi's voice was filled with confidence and vitality.
"I have been reborn. I'm going to chase the future, Sasuke."
"Impossible! Kakashi-sensei (senpai) has become a missing-nin?!" The other ninja took a step back, their eyes wide with disbelief. The Kakashi before them was a stranger, so different it was frightening. But at the same time, this Kakashi was filled with hope and vigor. The change came from a transformation of his very soul.
What could have caused such a drastic change?
They didn't know the reason, and they didn't want to.
"Why?! Why, Kakashi?! Why, in the end, did you have to leave too?" Sasuke felt as if he had been betrayed all over again. He stumbled back, his pupils trembling as he questioned him, his voice shaking. "First Naruto, and now you! Why?! Why does everyone have to leave Konoha?! Was everything in the past something you could just throw away?!"
"Throw away? No. This is resolve. Goodbye, Sasuke. The next time we meet, we will be enemies."
The three of them turned and walked away. No one dared to stop them. They could only watch as their figures gradually disappeared from sight.
"Resolve?" Sasuke collapsed to the ground in a daze, repeating the word to himself, his face a mask of loss and confusion. He hadn't done anything wrong, yet he couldn't hold onto his comrades. His bonds were being torn apart, one by one, and he was once again alone and helpless.
Beside him, Sakura had already collapsed, unable to bear the shock. Tears streamed down her face as she murmured, "Why? Why?"
For these Konoha ninja, "why" seemed to have become the theme of their lives. Watching their heroes leave, one by one, left them all sighing with sorrow. Was Konoha wrong, or were they? No one knew.
Tsunade and Jiraiya soon received the latest intelligence. A mysterious powerhouse from the Seireitei had appeared in Sunagakure, not only saving the Kazekage but also repelling the Akatsuki.
But what she found even more unbelievable was Kakashi's death and resurrection. He had been declared dead, his body had gone cold, yet he had appeared outside of Konoha. After the incident, Tsunade had someone confirm it. Kakashi's body was still there.
This meant that what Orochimaru and the others had resurrected was likely Kakashi's soul.
"The Seireitei has control over the soul!!!"
Bang! Tsunade slammed her fist on the table, shattering it. "Well done, Uzumaki Naruto. Well done, Seireitei. So you're finally making your move?" she gritted out. "They can even manipulate souls!!" Her voice was filled with horror.
The soul was a mysterious plane of existence. Konoha had conducted research on it in the past, but the only significant progress had been the forbidden jutsu, Edo Tensei. The Second Hokage, during his research, had realized the dangers of soul manipulation and had shut down all related projects, sealing or destroying all findings except for the forbidden jutsu itself. No one knew what he had seen that had frightened him so much. But from that day on, the Second Hokage had terminated all human experiments and strictly prohibited them. Everyone who knew the details of the experiments was dead.
Now, it seemed the Second Hokage might have already touched upon the phenomenon of soul mutation back then. And Naruto's Kekkei Genkai could influence the soul, causing it to mutate. Minato, Haku, and even Orochimaru had likely all been modified by Naruto.
"What is Naruto's goal? Why is he modifying souls?" Tsunade couldn't figure it out. But one thing was certain: Naruto was the greatest enemy of the ninja world.
"List Kakashi as an S-rank missing-nin," Tsunade said, slumping into her chair, looking as if she had aged ten years.
Jiraiya silently lit the Third Hokage's pipe. The thick smoke stung his eyes, almost bringing tears. But after a few more puffs, he got used to it. He watched the smoke curl into the air, and his mood seemed to lighten slightly. From Minato to Naruto, and now even Kakashi had defected. It made Jiraiya begin to doubt himself.
"Sasuke has met with Kakashi. I imagine he must be confused. I'll go check on him," Jiraiya sighed, heading for the door.
Tsunade watched his lonely figure with a heart full of sorrow and sympathy. She walked to the window and looked out at the bustling village, but all she felt was a desolate chill. It felt as if Konoha had become much bleaker.
Sasuke sat alone in his deserted family compound, staring blankly at the fallen leaves. Today, he had suffered another blow. Even Kakashi had defected. He was lost. Why was everyone leaving? That man... why had he joined that mysterious organization? What was the truth behind the Uchiha massacre?
"Sasuke, so this is where you are," Jiraiya's somewhat flippant voice sounded beside him. Sasuke turned to see the Toad Sage slowly approaching, his wooden sandals making a crisp sound on the ground. He looked relaxed.
"Jiraiya-sensei," Sasuke said, turning his gaze away and hugging his knees. "What should I do now?" he asked, his voice filled with confusion.
Jiraiya had already heard about Sasuke's encounter with Itachi. He could understand his student's feelings. He sat down beside him and said softly, "Look forward, Sasuke."
"Look forward?" The familiar words made Sasuke look up in confusion.
"Yes. Look forward. Walk your own path, and walk it with determination. You are the Child of Prophecy I believe in, the one who can change the ninja world," Jiraiya said with a hearty laugh. His student and grand-student defecting was indeed painful, but he would not let it make him doubt himself. Instead, he would walk his own path with even greater resolve.
"Become the pillar of Konoha, Sasuke!" Jiraiya patted his shoulder. "The future of Konoha is yours."
Hearing Jiraiya's words, Sasuke nodded forcefully.
"The Seireitei? What a dangerous organization," Pain said from within the Akatsuki's hideout, having just received the latest intelligence. "The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is more troublesome than I imagined. It seems I will have to handle him myself."
"But the Seireitei has many Kage-level shinobi as well," Konan said with a frown, worried.
"We will proceed with the capture of the other Tailed Beasts first. After that, we will invade the Seireitei," Pain said after a moment of thought.
Within the Seireitei.
Kakashi crossed the border and immediately felt the abundant spiritual particles in the air. He closed his eyes in surprise. Even the control of the Reiatsu within his body felt more effortless.
"Welcome to the Seireitei, the land of the Wandering Souls," Haku said with a faint smile, giving Kakashi a tour. The humans within its borders had all been transformed into Wandering Souls, and the internal rules had been mostly established. There were no great clans; everyone lived and worked in peace. Those with a talent for combat could join the Shinigami squads. The completeness of the system the Seireitei had already established surprised Kakashi.
"Right now, our Shinigami squads have a total of one hundred members, and the Shinigami Academy has nearly five hundred students. We are serious about overthrowing the ninja villages," Minato said, looking at Kakashi with a solemn expression. "We need you to truly let go of the past and fight for the Seireitei. Our future enemies will not be simple."
"Don't worry, Sensei. I've already made up my mind," Kakashi said with a relaxed smile. He touched the Zanpakuto at his waist with a hint of nostalgia.
"You know, you're quite handsome without the mask," Minato said, ruffling Kakashi's hair, just like he used to when he was their team leader.
For a ninja, hiding one's identity and completing missions was paramount. The mask had served to hide Kakashi's face and was a symbol of his identity as a ninja. At the same time, it was a tool to hide his emotions, a symbol of his escape from the past. Now, to abandon the mask was to make a clean break with his past and his identity as a ninja.
Under Minato's guidance, Kakashi quickly integrated into life in the Seireitei. He met Naruto. But the Naruto before him was completely different from the elegant boy he remembered. Naruto's hair was slicked back, his eyes were sharp, and a confident smirk played on his lips. Just a single glance was enough to feel an immense pressure, to make one's very soul tremble.
After a brief greeting, Minato continued the tour. Seeing Kakashi's strange expression, he smiled. "Feeling the pressure?"
Kakashi nodded, still shaken. The current Naruto and the gentle Naruto of the past were too different.
"That's because Naruto has become the acknowledged ruler of the Pure Land, so he exerts a pressure on all souls," Minato explained.
"The ruler of the Pure Land??"
"Yes. It's likely an ability of his Zanpakuto. In any case, the Pure Land is our domain now," Minato said with pride.
Let alone Minato, even Naruto himself didn't fully understand the true ability of his Zanpakuto. He sat on his throne, quietly stroking the blade. The only known ability was to travel through space. He could freely travel to parallel worlds, and even... to the real world of the Shinigami.
"I wonder how things are progressing in the parallel world," Naruto murmured to himself. In his plan, the parallel world was not useless. It could serve as a backup world for the Seireitei. He had even already chosen its administrator.
Parallel World - Mount Myoboku
"Naruto, how did you suddenly get so good? You're mastering every ninjutsu so quickly," Jiraiya said with a laugh, watching the parallel Naruto.
"Because the Nine-Tails has started to cooperate with me," this Naruto replied with a gentle smile.
"You bastard! Just you wait until I break this seal, then you'll be sorry!" inside the seal, Kurama grumbled resentfully. He didn't know what the Naruto from the other world had done, but ever since the Chunin Exams, a new power had been added to his seal, making it unbreakable. Let alone breaking it, he couldn't even leak a sliver of his chakra. And this Naruto could draw on his chakra whenever he wanted. He had been completely reduced to a power bank.
"Rasengan!" The parallel Naruto easily formed a Rasengan and slammed it into a tree. With an explosion, a huge hole was blasted through the trunk. He elegantly brushed the dust off his clothes and murmured thoughtfully, "Perhaps I can incorporate other chakra nature transformations to create a new form of the Rasengan. Its current power is still insufficient, and it can't be thrown, which reduces its flexibility. Against a strong opponent, it would be impossible to land a hit."
Watching this calmly analytical Naruto, Jiraiya had a moment of déjà vu. For a second, he thought he saw that Naruto.
"You're already doing great, Naruto," he said, shaking his head to clear the thought and smiling at the boy.
"It's not enough, Jiraiya-sensei. It's far from enough," this Naruto replied with a gentle smile. "This much power is not nearly enough to protect Konoha." The warm sunlight fell on his elegant, gentle face, and for a moment, he overlapped with the Naruto from the Chunin Exams. But for some reason, there was a sense of dissonance, like a poor imitation.
But one thing was certain. This Uzumaki Naruto was changing. Jiraiya's eyes flickered.
Parallel World - Otogakure
The parallel Sasuke was training under Orochimaru's guidance. He had defected a few months ago and, following Naruto's instructions, had come to Orochimaru's Village Hidden in the Sound to become his student. He had also brought with him some research on the soul.
Orochimaru was naturally willing to teach his future vessel everything he knew, generously imparting his most secret techniques. In terms of teaching ability, he was actually better than Jiraiya. He had a natural charisma.
But everything changed after he began to study the soul research that Naruto had sent with Sasuke. He now spent nearly twenty-four hours a day in his lab, obsessively studying every aspect of the soul.
"The soul... perhaps it is another path to immortality, and a safer, more advanced one than changing bodies."
"I wonder if my other self has already discovered the evolution of the soul!!" Orochimaru's face was a mask of fanaticism. "If I ever get the chance, I must go to that world."