"This is a power that can truly make you stronger,"
Sakura looked straight into Naruto's eyes, her expression more serious than ever.
"Memorize everything on it. And then… don't tell anyone. Not even Kakashi-sensei."
The moment he heard become stronger—especially power that might help him bring Sasuke back—Naruto's eyes lit up instantly. Without the slightest hesitation, he nodded hard.
"I get it! Thank you, Sakura!"
As the Sky Screen showed Naruto holding the stone tablet and immersing himself in the vast inheritance of the Divine Technique, the shinobi world first fell silent—
Then exploded into even more violent discussion.
"So that's how it is! So that's the truth!"
"No wonder! No wonder Naruto Uzumaki was absurdly strong in the first Sky Screen!"
"Destroying the world—shattering Sasuke Uchiha's Susano'o with a single punch… so he learned Divine Technique too!"
"Two Divine Technique users… my god!"
"Team Seven… what kind of monster breeding ground is this squad?!"
"That Hatake Kakashi—what kind of karmic virtue does he have? Don't tell me the weakest one on the team is actually the instructor!"
"Naruto!"
Naruto's face was full of gratitude, so earnest that Sakura seriously felt like slapping him just to calm herself down.
Sasuke Uchiha stared fixedly at the stone tablet glowing faintly in Naruto's hands on the Sky Screen, then at Sakura herself. The shock in his heart was indescribable.
She had actually shared such a precious opportunity—
With the dead last?
Time flowed on.
The images occasionally flashed scenes of Naruto and Sakura training bitterly in the Divine Technique.
However, Naruto's progress was clearly much slower.
Perhaps it had something to do with that crimson light Sakura had received first.
One day, the two had just found a secluded place and were about to begin their usual training—
Suddenly.
An enormous, cold, overwhelmingly oppressive chakra swept across Konohagakure like a raging storm!
"This chakra is—?!"
Naruto snapped his head up.
Sakura's face changed instantly, her voice trembling with disbelief.
"Sasuke…?"
Before they could think any further—
A gigantic, condensed blade of purple chakra, packed with destructive power, descended from the sky like divine punishment and slammed straight into the heart of the village!
BOOOOM—!!!
The earth shook violently as smoke and debris shot skyward!
Amid the deafening collapse of buildings and the screams of panicked civilians, a horrifying chasm was carved straight through the prosperous Hidden Hidden Leaf Village or Konoha—splitting it in two.
"Konoha… I, an Uchiha, have returned!"
A cold, hate-filled voice rang clearly throughout the village plunged into chaos.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto and Sakura exchanged a look, both seeing the shock reflected in each other's eyes.
Without another word, they vanished in twin blurs, racing toward the village—toward that chakra presence that felt both familiar and utterly alien.
The view shifted to the main gate of Konohagakure.
A colossal purple Susano'o stood there, towering like a demonic god descended upon the world, radiating suffocating pressure.
It was Sasuke Uchiha.
Countless Leaf shinobi surged forward like a tide, kunai, shuriken, and all manner of ninjutsu raining down upon the Susano'o—
Only to prove utterly futile.
Like ants shaking a tree, they couldn't even cause a ripple.
Standing within the crystal on Susano'o's forehead, Sasuke's eyes were cold as ice. Faced with attacks no better than gnats, he didn't even bother to move deliberately.
With a casual swing of Susano'o's arm, a massive shockwave blasted dozens of shinobi away, sending them crashing to the ground, unmoving.
"You have one chance to live,"
Sasuke's voice echoed from within Susano'o, thick with killing intent.
"Come at me again, and I won't hold back."
"Sasuke Uchiha! What do you think you're doing?!"
A deep, aged yet steady voice rang out.
Dressed in battle armor and wielding the Adamantine Staff, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, appeared amid the ruins under ANBU protection, his expression grave as he faced the towering Susano'o.
Sasuke's gaze locked onto Hiruzen instantly. His killing intent nearly solidified as he roared like a beast:
"What am I doing? I'm here for revenge! The revenge of the fallen Uchiha!"
An ANBU couldn't help but shout,
"What does this have to do with the Third Hokage?! The one who massacred your clan was Itachi Uchiha!"
"Shut up! You're not worthy of saying his name!"
As if a taboo had been struck, Susano'o instantly drew its bow.
A condensed purple chakra arrow shot out like lightning—
Piercing straight through the ANBU's chest and killing him on the spot!
"The Uchiha tragedy—every single one of Konoha's higher-ups shares responsibility! Especially you, Sarutobi Hiruzen!"
"I'll expose your hypocrisy here in Konoha, kill you all, and then destroy this village!"
Roaring in fury, Sasuke raised Susano'o's massive chakra blade high overhead, cleaving downward with a force that seemed to split the heavens!
Hiruzen's face changed drastically. While rapidly forming hand seals and using the Body Flicker to evade the mountain-splitting strike, he shouted sternly:
"All jōnin and below—immediately organize the evacuation of civilians! Do not make meaningless sacrifices! As long as I live, I will not allow you to destroy Konoha!"
BOOM!
The chakra blade crashed down, the ground rupturing once again and leaving behind a bottomless scar.
The battle had begun.
The entire Hidden Leaf plunged into its greatest crisis since the Nine-Tails' Attack.
"Well said—but can you actually do it?"
Sasuke's cold laughter dripped with contempt as Susano'o's assault grew even more ferocious.
Facing a near-complete Susano'o, Hiruzen and the ANBU were truly helpless.
Their attacks couldn't break its defense, while any single swing or arrow from Sasuke—sometimes even the aftershock alone—meant death or crippling injury.
Relying on decades of battlefield experience, the elderly Hokage barely held on. Sparks flew as the Adamantine Staff clashed with chakra constructs, illuminating the strain etched across his face.
As the massive chakra blade gathered power once more, carrying unmistakable killing intent and coming straight down toward the visibly exhausted Hiruzen—
This strike seemed impossible to avoid.
"Third Grandpa!"
Naruto's eyes split with panic.
At that critical instant—
BANG!!!
A pink figure appeared in front of Hiruzen as if she had teleported.
She used no ninjutsu.
No hand seals.
She simply clenched her fist—
And punched straight into the Susano'o blade capable of cleaving mountains apart.
There was no blinding light.
No earth-shattering explosion.
Only an impossibly deep, muffled impact.
The unstoppable chakra greatsword was knocked violently off course by that seemingly insignificant fist, grazing past Hiruzen and slamming into the ground beside him—
Carving yet another massive trench as the resulting gale sent everyone's clothes snapping wildly in the wind.
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