After finishing his meal, Uchiha Sasuke learned about the conversation between his older brother and Uzumaki Boruto. He was momentarily speechless, glanced at Boruto, and said, "Do not dwell too much on victory or defeat. After all, even I, your teacher, could not defeat my older brother back in the day."
Uzumaki Boruto sighed. Uchiha Sasuke patted his head, recalling recent events.
This timeline was truly something to cherish. He had family, he had clan members. If only he could have grown up in this timeline, how wonderful that would have been. He would have been willing to give up all his power, his Rinnegan, even his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Unfortunately, what was not his would never be his. He took one last look at the furnishings of the room, glanced at Uchiha Itachi, and spoke, "Brother, we should go back."
Uchiha Itachi was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Alright." He then continued washing the dishes, as if nothing was different from before.
Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Boruto walked out of the room. Then, an intense wave of chakra fluctuation occurred. A flash of white light shone, and their figures vanished into nothingness.
Uchiha Itachi then put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hands and walked into the courtyard. A gentle breeze blew, stirring his long hair. A falling leaf drifted down from a tree and landed in his palm.
"Konoha," he murmured. He then walked out of the courtyard, heading towards Fugaku. He needed to inform Uchiha Fugaku and his mother, Uchiha Mikoto, about this matter.
After learning about it, Fugaku's expression did not change much. He then said, "Go comfort your mother. I imagine she will be quite upset knowing this."
Itachi stood up and went to tell Uchiha Mikoto. Mikoto was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "He left? That's fine too, after all..." At this point, Mikoto could not bring herself to say the final words, "He has his own life to live."
Although it was not the Sasuke from this timeline, the feeling of that deep blood connection still pained her immensely. How much suffering had Sasuke endured? He had only enjoyed a few good days before having to return. What mother could accept that?
Itachi remained silent. After waiting for his mother's emotions to settle, he spoke, "Mother, we should inform the Hokage about this matter."
Uchiha Mikoto nodded. Itachi obediently withdrew, turned around, closed the door behind him, and walked towards the Hokage's villa.
At this time, Ryun was training in the Eight Gates Released Formation within the villa's private training ground. He had now developed it up to the seventh gate, the Gate of Shock. "Morning has the Evening Elephant, day has the Tiger!" A golden, fierce tiger emerged, emitting a roar that shook all beasts, ultimately causing an explosion.
This explosion also woke Tsunade, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion. She opened her eyes, her body instantly appearing in the training ground. She looked at the large crater that had been created and at Ryun, whose body was emitting blue steam.
She was slightly stunned, then spoke, "Husband, is this, the Eight Gates?"
Hearing the voice, Ryun turned around, withdrew his imposing aura. The blue steam vanished, and Ryun appeared as if nothing had happened as he walked up to Tsunade. "That's right, this is the Eight Gates Released Formation."
Tsunade's eyes lit up. "Amazing!" She immediately hugged Ryun. Even Tsunade, who had absorbed chakra pills, could not cause such massive damage with a single move.
Moreover, judging by the aura, this was taijutsu damage. Reaching this level was not easy at all.
"This secret technique, I've heard that reaching the fifth gate, the Gate of Closing, qualifies one as a Jonin. But husband, yours must be beyond the fifth gate!" Tsunade's eyes sparkled.
Ryun nodded. "The seventh gate, the Gate of Shock, along with its matching technique, Daytime Tiger." He smiled, then assessed his own physical strength. Originally, his physique, enhanced by Sage Mode and Sage Body, was already comparable to a Super Kage level physique.
Even in hand to hand combat with the Third Raikage, he would not be at a disadvantage and could even overpower him. Now, after training in the Eight Gates, he felt his physique had reached the level of the Sage of Six Paths.
It would not be the slightest bit inferior to that of the Ōtsutsuki clan. Only the eighth gate, the Gate of Death, remained untrained. Because the commotion from the Gate of Death was too grand, a single misstep could tear through Konoha Village, causing tens of thousands in damages.
It was clearly unsuitable to use within Konoha. However, since this was a version without side effects, presumably, opening it on the battlefield would be the same.
Tsunade's eyes lit up again. "My husband is so amazing!" Then she suddenly frowned. "As for the eighth gate, let's not train it. I've heard that once the eighth gate is opened, the user will undoubtedly die."
Her eyes held gravity and worry. Ryun nodded, offering no further explanation. At that moment, a servant came to report, "Uchiha Itachi is currently waiting at the gate."
Ryun raised an eyebrow. He hadn't gone to find Itachi yet, but Itachi had come to him. Interesting. In that case, he would meet him.
He smiled and said to Tsunade, "Wife, you go back and rest first. I'll be right back."
Seeing this, Tsunade nodded and returned inside the villa.
Ryun took a towel from the tray a servant was holding and wiped the sweat from his body. He then walked towards the front gate. He had originally planned to summon Itachi today to ask about him and Ju.
Now that he had come on his own, aside from that matter, there must be something else. Since that was the case, he couldn't leave him waiting. He would receive him.
Ryun quickly walked to the villa entrance. Itachi stood perfectly straight, his gaze profound, an aloof aura emanating from him. If there were any other young girls from Konoha present, they might fall for him instantly.
Seeing his pretentious appearance, Ryun rolled his eyes and invited him in. "What is it?"
Itachi spoke. "Sasuke has left."
Ryun was shocked. Uchiha Sasuke died? That couldn't be right. Sasuke was only seven or eight years old, how could he die? Then he quickly realized, oh, it was the young adult Sasuke.
Ryun looked at the calm Itachi. "Shall we talk in the study?"
Itachi nodded. This was Ryun's home, so anywhere was fine.
The two then went to the study. Ryun still sat in his boss chair, then gestured for Itachi to sit on the sofa. "Having learned about your brother's experiences in another timeline, how do you feel?"
Itachi pondered, then spoke. "I feel proud of him."
A smile tugged at Ryun's lips. His eyes stared directly at Itachi. "Itachi, you know that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking how *you* feel? If you had done those things, would you regret them?"
Ryun's words fell into Itachi's ears. For a moment, Itachi's heart was like a calm lake into which a stone had been dropped, creating ripples. "I, would regret it." He confronted his own heart, then continued.
"But I would still choose that path. After all, the village comes before the family. If father had launched a coup, perhaps the Uchiha clan could have survived. But Konoha would definitely have been carved up by other villages. Rather than that, it would be better to..."
He looked up at Ryun. Ryun sighed. He had to say, Itachi was still that Itachi. He himself certainly couldn't do it, slaughtering his entire clan with his own hands.
"Actually, you've fallen into a misconception. If you carefully analyzed the situation in Konoha at that time, you should know that under the Third's leadership, Konoha went from prosperity to decline. The desire for power made people unable to extricate themselves, unable to forget."
"Even if an exceptionally talented person appeared, they would, in order to consolidate their own power, eliminate them. As for Minato, his mind was simpler. He only knew about becoming Hokage to protect the villagers, not about building his own political faction."
"Therefore, in that timeline, Namikaze Minato was merely Sarutobi Hiruzen's proxy, not a true Hokage. If he had firmly decided to protect the Uchiha clan, perhaps the clan would not have been driven to extinction."
Once Ryun started on this topic, he said more than he intended. Suddenly, he shook his head. "Why am I telling you this? After all, those are things that didn't happen in your own timeline. Don't think about it."
"However, I want you to know that sometimes, you don't need to be so selflessly devoted. Having some selfish desires is fine, no one will say anything about it, as long as you are strong enough!" Ryun told Itachi the essence of the world, the reality of things.
Itachi was silent, then looked at Ryun. Recalling what he had heard about Ryun, he had his own selfish desires, his own assets, and he displayed these openly.
No one called him greedy, no one called him lustful, and no one in the village called Ryun a hedonistic monster. Although he was the leader of the shinobi, he did not live according to the world's definition of a shinobi.
In his eyes, comfort was most important. Living in the eyes of others was not being one's true self at all. Because of this, when the various clans mentioned Hokage Ryun, it was with praise. Few spoke of his other flaws.
Compared to the shinobi of the ninja world who had been like killing tools for so many years, Ryun was more like a person, a person of flesh and blood, with his own thoughts.
His mindset resonated with nearly 80 percent of people, making them feel the authenticity of Hokage Ryun, not like the self promoting, shinobi glorifying Third Hokage.
The actions of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, were like distancing himself from the masses, from the shinobi, governing the village with the perspective of a politician. What benefited him, he kept. What did not benefit him, he eliminated.
Such a person would only make people fear his power and obey, but he would lose the support of the people, the support of the shinobi, even the shinobi clans.
Countless times, the clans wanted to change the Hokage, but in the original story, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo used various means to force deaths, defections. How absurd.
Itachi did not speak. He was deeply pondering Ryun's words. It seemed that in that instant, a shackle named "shinobi" suddenly shattered.