Chapter 449: The Wheel of Time
Even in this Land of Fire where all four seasons felt like spring, the July air was heavy with a restless, burning heat.
Masahiko offered Chiyo a brief word of greeting before completely flaring his sensory abilities. A moment later, his brow furrowed as he muttered: "Nothing. The main body is hiding incredibly far away..."
"Masahiko Uzumaki, you truly managed to live all the way into this era. It is only now, standing face-to-face with you, that I finally dare to believe it." A gentle female voice drifted out, leaving Masahiko frozen entirely on the spot.
"Chiyo, you..." He really hadn't expected that bastard to actually dare let Chiyo retain her conscious free will.
"Masahiko Uzumaki, I have never once manipulated Chiyo Uchiha. Every single action she took previously was completely of her own volition. It shouldn't be surprising either; after all, just like me, she shares a deep and bitter hatred with you!"
Masahiko pursed his lips, really wanting to say 'Old friend, you've hated the wrong person', but regarding this particular matter... how on earth was he supposed to explain it?
The Great Ancestor has carried countless black pots throughout his life, so one more won't make a difference! Masahiko thought to himself. However, this other pot was one he truly didn't want to carry. "Chiyo, what deep and bitter hatred do we share? How come I have no idea about it?"
"To think you actually don't know? This hatred is anything but small." Chiyo Uchiha reached her hands back, tying up her flowing, dark-blue hair. The three-tomoe in her remaining right eye spun at high speed, morphing into three hollow circles that rotated to link firmly together.
So she really awakened the Mangekyo? This shape... is quite unique. Masahiko muttered to himself, a thoughtful expression flashing across his face. "Hatred can be unknotted. Let me resolve these treacherous lowlifes first, and then the two of us can take our time to chat."
"Masahiko Uzumaki, you won't get that opportunity." A female ninja among the Six Paths of Pain spoke up.
Masahiko shot a glance at her, finding her quite familiar. She was a character who had appeared in the original story...
I think her name is Fuka, capable of draining chakra through a kiss. Right, excluding the movies, that brat Naruto's very first kiss with the opposite sex was given to her! In his past life, Masahiko had read an online post regarding 'Naruto's romantic fortunes'. Before Hinata, a full four or five beautiful girls had actually kissed Naruto; as a single dog, Masahiko held a deeply vivid impression of that fact. So she was the one who drainedTenten's chakra...
Pondering for a moment, Masahiko gently shook his head: "If you truly possessed the confidence to keep me trapped here, your real body would have shown its face. Why bother hiding completely outside the range of my senses? Enough nonsense! Whatever tricks you have up your sleeve, hurry up and use them. It's Chiyo's Mangekyo ability, isn't it?"
The Six Paths of Pain rapidly scattered to the left and right, leaving Chiyo's gentle, beautiful face directly opposing Masahiko. Simultaneously, her Mangekyo locked onto him: "Aren't you going to dodge? The genius of the Uzumaki clan."
A grin curled onto the corner of Masahiko's mouth: "It really has been many years since someone addressed me as a genius..."
"Shinrin (The Wheel of Time)!"
Following Chiyo's low shout, the scene before Masahiko's eyes warped instantly. The mountain forests were replaced by desolate, barren earth.
This was a deeply familiar battlefield, and standing in front of him was an equally familiar person—an eleven-year-old Chiyo Uchiha!
And Masahiko... was also eleven years old!
"To think you could actually pull me into a Genjutsu, impressive. Recreating the scene of our duel from back then? Quite nostalgic." Masahiko smiled. "We'll have plenty of opportunities to reminisce, but right now is a bit inappropriate."
Ching!
Chiyo drew her long blade: "Rest easy, Masahiko Uzumaki. No matter how much time passes in here, the time in the outside world remains unchanged."
With those words, she charged forward with her sword in hand: "In that battle back then, we didn't actually determine a winner. Let us fight one more time!"
Masahiko paused, then gave a light nod. Reaching into a shinobi tool pouch he hadn't worn in n-years, he pulled out a kunai and met her advance.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
As weapons clashed, the kunai in Masahiko's hand flipped in a dazzling blur. It hovered briefly right in front of Chiyo's throat before he smoothly withdrew it.
"Over these past hundred plus years, I haven't experienced an immense number of battles, but I have to have made some progress. Recreating the battle from back then—if I still couldn't beat you, I would have truly lived in vain. Speaking of which... do you truly harbor hatred toward me in your heart?" Masahiko asked in a low whisper.
Chiyo Uchiha's movements froze. Letting out a sigh, she took a few steps back: "Regarding the events of back then, who was right and who was wrong can no longer be clearly parsed out. However, I have long since passed away, and this grievance should have faded into nothingness rather than being exploited by people with treacherous intent. That guy's real body is located on a barren mountain over twenty kilometers northwest of our current battlefield."
Masahiko let out a chuckle: "I knew it would be like this. Your personality... I gathered quite a bit of understanding about it from various sources back then. A barren mountain twenty kilometers away is a bit broad of a radius, but it's better than nothing."
Chiyo raised her long blade once more, pointing it at Masahiko: "One more clash. Kill the version of me inside this space, and you can step out."
Masahiko smiled and shook his head. For Chiyo to be able to drag him—with his Level 10 Yin attribute—into a Genjutsu was already incredibly remarkable. Shattering a Genjutsu space was a very simple matter for him.
However, watching Chiyo charge forward once again, Masahiko still met her with kunai in hand.
At the exact instant their weapons were about to clash, Masahiko abruptly withdrew his kunai, allowing Chiyo's long blade to slash cleanly across his body without a shred of resistance.
"You..." A look of shock appeared on Chiyo's face.
"Setting aside who was right or wrong back then, you were the one who drew the short straw anyway. Taking another slash from you can serve as a bit of compensation." Masahiko's body slowly began to dissolve.
"This is my Genjutsu..."
"It's fine. Have you forgotten that I am the strongest genius of the Uzumaki clan? Exactly how strong I am after living for over a hundred years is something you cannot imagine." Masahiko raised his eyebrows. "Let the past grievances fade away along with this slash. As for other matters... we'll talk about them down the line. There will be plenty of time!"
Chiyo's dark-blue hair fluttered, a highly complex expression washing over her face. "Masahiko Uzumaki, how can you still be this stupid after living for over a hundred years?"
Masahiko: ???
As his body dissolved completely, the space fabricated by the Genjutsu naturally fractured and shattered layer by layer. Masahiko's consciousness returned squarely to his real body. The positioning of the Six Paths of Pain and Chiyo in front of him hadn't shifted in the slightest, proving that the events that transpired within the Genjutsu space had indeed occurred in a mere instant.
Masahiko knit his brows as he appraised his surroundings, completely failing to figure out why Chiyo Uchiha had called him stupid. That was something he absolutely refused to admit...
"Chiyo Uchiha, did the Genjutsu succeed?" the Preta Path spoke slowly.
Chiyo's body gave a subtle pause, her face full of helplessness: "It succeeded. Masahiko Uzumaki, exactly what am I supposed to say about you? Always so... unpredictable!"
As she spoke, the Mangekyo Sharingan in her right eye rapidly dimmed, turning into the exact same ash-white color as her left eye. Both of her eyes were completely blind!
A Genjutsu executed at the cost of her entire ocular power? Masahiko knit his brows slightly, sensing that the situation was anything but simple...
Right at that moment, Masahiko suddenly noticed that the other people in his field of vision were slowly growing taller. No—it was he who was turning shorter!
Name: Masahiko Uzumaki
Age: 11 years old (+)
"The Wheel of Time, the Wheel of Time! To think it was this kind of Wheel of Time? This is truly... spectacular!"
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