Chapter 478: Returning to the Village
"Eh?!"
Sakura and Naruto were startled, but Kakashi was much calmer, scratching his hair and saying, "Dead..."
"Speaking of which, whether Danzo Shimura counted as Hokage is still a question..." He said with a straight face, "After all, he was only recognized by the Daimyo and hadn't passed the Jonin trust vote yet."
The latter was actually more important.
"At the Five Kage Summit, Danzo used Kotoamatsukami to manipulate Mifune in a vain attempt to become the leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces. The nature of this matter is very bad, putting Konoha in a very passive diplomatic position." Kakashi continued, "Plus Danzo's reputation is very bad, so he definitely wouldn't have passed the Jonin trust vote. Afterward, the official Sixth Hokage will be re-selected."
"High probability it will be me." The white-haired young man added silently in his heart.
However, I'm not interested in the position of Hokage at all... Kakashi thought with a bitter face.
"So?" Naruto wasn't interested in these political things and asked directly.
"So Danzo doesn't count as Hokage anymore." Kakashi knew Naruto wouldn't understand, pointing straight to the key point, "On the contrary, we still have to pursue his crime of using Kotoamatsukami to manipulate the Daimyo to cheat the Hokage position... and other serious crimes."
"In short, although it's somewhat inappropriate for Haruno Sakura to kill him... given the tense situation now, it has to be this way."
The implication was—Danzo is dead?
Let him be dead. Good riddance.
Besides, no one can cross worlds to arrest criminals.
"On our side, Danzo has already been taken down by Hokage-sama." Sasuke explained the ins and outs of the situation over there with a smile, and listed many of Danzo's crimes. In the end, Danzo was arrested, and his Root was uprooted. The result was gratifying, except that it made him work overtime in the Anbu for many days and caused a small tantrum—which was the reason he appeared here.
Ninjas from two worlds happily roasted Danzo together.
The conclusion was that Danzo deserved to die ten thousand times, and Sakura-chan did a great job; of course, no one would ask boring questions like "why didn't you arrest him earlier".
Then Haruno Sakura narrated the battle process just now, skimming over the battle with Danzo, focusing on the ninjutsu used by Sasuke and the masked man.
"Susanoo and Amaterasu? Matches the description from Gaara and the others." Kakashi analyzed, "As for that Madara Uchiha, listening to your description, his jutsu is very dangerous..."
"Worthy of being Madara!"
The ability of that mysterious person's Mangekyo made the white-haired young man a little concerned—Kakashi had an inexplicable sense of déjà vu about it.
"Just claiming to be Madara, I don't think he really is Madara." Haruno Sakura curled her lips and said disdainfully, "Even if his strength has declined, Madara Uchiha's spirit of looking down on the world back then should still be there. But in my battle with him, I didn't feel that aura."
She had suspected his identity since the first time she traveled across worlds and met the masked man.
Haruno Sakura found it hard to believe that the once peerless Madara Uchiha would now live in such a wretched way, hiding his head and tail.
Kakashi was pondering when suddenly a few more people arrived here.
"Kakashi, what happened?"
Yamato's voice arrived before the person.
Then when he landed on the ground and saw the people on the field clearly, he was instantly like Kakashi and the others before—
Dumbfounded.
"Sasuke!" Kiba shouted, pointing at Sasuke standing swaggeringly beside Kakashi, "You are actually here!"
"T-Two Sakuras?" Lee rubbed his eyes hard, feeling his vision blurred.
Yamato's thinking was chaotic for two seconds, calming down after a long while: "Kakashi, what is going on?"
"I need an explanation."
The wood constructed by Wood Release in his hand stretched out restlessly, aiming at Sasuke, with a solemn expression.
Sai also took out his brush, looking at Sasuke covetously.
"You don't need to be so nervous, he is not a dangerous person." Kakashi sighed, "Let me explain."
"You may not believe it when I say it..."
Blah blah blah.
Kakashi spent a lot of saliva explaining, and the four barely believed this rhetoric.
—After all, this statement was indeed a bit fantastical.
If not for two identical Haruno Sakuras standing in front of them, Yamato and Sai from Anbu would probably never accept the otherworld theory.
"Are you also Sasuke? A bit different from the Sasuke on our side." Lee walked up to Sasuke and said, "I always wanted to fight Sasuke once, unfortunately, he defected... But sparring with Sasuke from another world should be good too! Is it okay?"
"You have exactly the same personality as the Lee on my side." Sasuke laughed, "I sparred with him a few times, he is a good opponent... If there is time, of course, I have no problem. Wonder how many gates you can open?"
"You will be surprised." Lee smiled mysteriously.
Kiba pulled Sai, who had been quietly acting as a background board, cheekily approached the girls, looked at Haruno Sakura, said "Indeed cuter than Sakura," and then was stomped fiercely by Sakura...
"Although we are convinced by you," Yamato casually returned Yoru to Sasuke while saying to Kakashi, "whether others will accept your statement is uncertain."
"It seems we'd better keep our identities secret... have to wear masks, Sasuke." Haruno Sakura laughed, "Fortunately, we won't stay here for too long, will go back in a day or two at most."
The bond of the original world was still pulling her, wanting to take her back; but Haruno Sakura's strength had improved greatly compared to last year, so staying here for one or two more days was not a big problem.
"Let's go back to Konoha, we can talk while walking." Kakashi nodded and said.
After Haruno Sakura shared the stories and intelligence from their side, Kakashi and Naruto also talked about what happened here.
Until before the Chunin Exams, the stories of the two worlds were roughly the same. Afterward was the biggest divergence point—the incident of Sasuke defecting to Orochimaru.
Then Naruto followed Jiraiya to travel and practice, Naruto returned to the village after more than two years, Team 7 was joined by Sai, battle with Sasori, battle with Orochimaru, battle with Hidan and Kakuzu, then Jiraiya died in battle in the Land of Rain, Pain invaded Konoha, Five Kage Summit convened.
"Seems the source of change lies in Sasuke's defection!" On the way back, Naruto muttered.
"No, I think the root cause should be in Haruno Sakura with different personalities and strengths..." Kakashi intuitively thought of this. He glanced at Haruno Sakura listening quietly and didn't say the guess in his heart.
Haruno Sakura had been listening seriously.
She only found out what happened in the Shippuden story here, which was really unbecoming of a transmigrator. Actually, she didn't remember the part of Sasuke's defection in the original work very clearly now—after all, many years had passed.
"I don't quite understand... why the me here chose to defect. For power?" Sasuke said doubtfully, "But one can practice in Konoha too, right?"
Kakashi's Lightning Release and Sharingan were both suitable to be his mentor.
Moreover, White Fang's strength was not worse than Orochimaru, right?
In the previous battle, Sasuke didn't see where the himself of this world was stronger. Sasuke was fully confident that after practicing for a not long period and getting familiar with the power of the Mangekyo, he would surpass this one-year-older self from another world in strength.
So, he was puzzled by that Sasuke's choice.
"This is all my problem..." Kakashi sighed rarely, saying melancholically, "As the teacher of Team 7, making all this like this is my responsibility."
Mentioning the blackened Sasuke, everyone's mood became heavy again.
Lee, Kiba, and Sai glanced at Kakashi silently, but were speechless, not knowing what to say.
"I once made false promises to you, but didn't have the ability to fulfill them. Having such an incompetent and terrible teacher like me, I'm really sorry..." He said depressedly.
"No, Kakashi-sensei," the first to comfort him was actually Sasuke, he said calmly, "The defection of Sasuke in this world is his own problem... Kakashi-sensei, I always thought you were an excellent master."
Kakashi was stunned, slightly moved.
"Thank you."
"The Sasuke of this world reaching this point today is not just one person's responsibility. But discussing this now is meaningless." Haruno Sakura glanced at the two and commented lightly, "The key is still to stop his actions and redeem his mistakes before Sasuke makes a big mistake."
"The time Sasuke and I can stay is very short, can't help you much... Although we defeated him several times just now, how much effect those words said to him will have is hard to say. So his matter still has to be solved by you."
Naruto was silent for a while, raised his head and said firmly: "Leave Sasuke's matter to me to solve, you guys don't worry about it."
"How to solve?" Haruno Sakura raised her eyebrows, "You want to fight him one-on-one, then perish together?"
Naruto remained silent.
"Don't shoulder everything alone, you have companions! Learn to use the strength of companions—" Haruno Sakura said, looking at the particularly delicate and weak Sakura beside her, and her words got stuck.
"...At least you have to learn to trust the strength of companions, don't be hot-headed and act on impulse!" Haruno Sakura sighed and said.
Kakashi and others also turned their heads, looking at Naruto.
"I know, I know!" Naruto squeezed his face and smiled stiffly, "I will think clearly before acting!"
Haruno Sakura suddenly found herself feeling sorry for the Naruto of this world.
She opened her crimson lips, wanted to say something more, but stopped; her thin lips touched, but finally didn't say anything.
Walking and talking like this, the distance between the group and Konoha gradually shortened.
On the way, they met several waves of people wearing masks, all Root members who regained freedom due to Danzo's death and the invalidation of the Curse Seal. Under Sai's suggestion, they temporarily came under the command of the next Hokage Kakashi and returned to Konoha to await arrangements.
There were also a few Danzo loyalists who were completely brainwashed by Root. After learning that the pink-haired short Anbu killed Danzo, they rushed over aggressively, and then—
With a few bangs, Haruno Sakura casually sent this group of Danzo's loyal dogs to meet Danzo.
These few moves only revealed the tip of the iceberg of Haruno Sakura's strength, but it was enough to awe Yamato and other ninja who hadn't seen Haruno Sakura fight.
The next day, Haruno Sakura and her group returned to Konoha.
"Here... is Konoha?"
Haruno Sakura frowned tightly, looking at the scene in front of her, gasping.