Sasuke slowly stood up, his face looked better. It was as if the frail, sickly boy from earlier had vanished entirely, replaced by the burning fire of vengeance that held his body upright.
The remaining warmth on Karin's shoulder was taken away by the night wind, and her eyes dimmed slightly.
Thanks to Sasuke's serious injuries, this was the closest she had ever been to Sasuke.
But Sasuke wasn't the type to dwell on sentiment. He drew out the Kusanagi Sword by the firelight, and the sharp blade reflected his sharp eyes.
His determination burned even fiercer, and his back straightened instantly.
The Kusanagi Sword is not a single sword, but a category of swords.
He sheathed his sword, glanced at Jugo and Karin again, and spoke, "The purpose of this trip to Kumogakure has already been made clear. In order to find that person, we must pick up our pace starting tomorrow."
"Pick up the pace?" Karin was startled and quickly said, "No way, Sasuke, your injuries…"
"Don't worry about me, I know my own body." Sasuke began unwrapping the bandages on his hand and threw them into the fire with a cold look.
"I need to see for myself who is impersonating me. If it turns out to be someone sent by Uchiha Madara, I won't let them off so easily."
"You mean that masked man? He claims to be Uchiha Madara, but there are inconsistencies in his words." Karin frowned and said, "It's clear he's just trying to use us… or rather, trying to use you."
"I know." Sasuke's expression remained indifferent, "If he had no ulterior motive, I wouldn't believe a word he says. But even if his words are half-truths, that still means half of it is real."
"He wants me to capture the Hachibi from Kumogakure. Most likely, he just wants me to stir up chaos. Konoha has already branded me a Missing-nin, and now Kumogakure has been attacked by someone impersonating me."
"Then…" Karin hesitated, "I've heard that the more tails a Biju has, the stronger it is. Can we really take on Hachibi with just us?"
Hearing this, Jugo lifted his head and glanced at Sasuke.
"Forget capturing the Biju for now. We need to find out who's been impersonating me first." Sasuke gritted his teeth and said, "That person must know a lot about me. Otherwise..."
"Could it be someone from Konoha?" Karin quickly pieced things together, and looked at Sasuke and said, "The ones who know you best are either them or Orochimaru's people."
"Konoha?" Sasuke thought back to his encounter with Naruto and the way he had reacted to him, then he shook his head and said, "Konoha is just a distant memory now. They've probably forgotten about me."
Sasuke wouldn't mind if Konoha had truly forgotten him. After all, there was nothing left between them but deep-seated hatred. He had left without hesitation, severing all ties. But even so, there was still some lingering resentment in his heart.
Even if he refused to admit it, the thought gnawed at him… he had been their comrade, hadn't he? Even if they failed to stop him when he defected, hadn't they at least tried to look for him over the years?
'Those guys were always preaching about treasuring their comrades, but when they saw me again, there was no reaction at all. Naruto had changed a lot, but his attitude towards me had been so casual.'
'Damn it.'
This was completely different from what Sasuke had imagined. Reuniting with former comrades in opposing factions, wasn't it supposed to be bittersweet, full of conflict and emotion?
But that day… Naruto had acted as if they had just run into each other at a marketplace, treating it like a mundane encounter. Most of his attention had been focused on settling the score with Suigetsu, and after their fight, he had just left.
'Did he even take the news back with him? Or had time truly washed everything away? Did even Sakura and Kakashi no longer care whether I lived or died?'
"Forgotten?" Karin didn't know much about the inner workings of Konoha, but she didn't dwell on it either. It was normal for people in the Shinobi Village to be forgotten after leaving.
What's more, Sasuke had defected directly, so no matter how handsome he was, his memory wouldn't be kept alive for long.
"Could it be someone from Orochimaru's side? Even though Orochimaru is dead, Kabuto should still be active." Karin said with a frown.
"Besides, I've had this nagging feeling that Orochimaru is still alive. I don't have any proof, but my instincts tell me…"
Halfway through her sentence, Karin's brows furrowed even more.
"Orochimaru is dead. There's no point in discussing this further." Sasuke cut her off forcefully, "As for Kabuto, I doubt he has the time to be messing around with Kumogakure."
"Then who could it be? They impersonated you and went to fight Kumogakure. They obviously wanted to hide their identity." Karin stared at the fire, "They want Kumogakure to resent you, to provoke conflict… who would benefit from that?"
"Uchiha Madara." Jugo, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised his head and said a name.
"Right! It could be Uchiha Madara!" Karin's eyes lit up, and she said quickly, "He's the only one with a clear motive!"
"Uchiha Madara?" Sasuke fell into deep thought, gripping the hilt of his sword. After a long pause, he finally muttered, "No matter who it is, don't let me catch them… or I will chop them into minced meat!"
"A-choo!"
"A-choo!!"
"A-choo!!!"
Naruto sneezed multiple times in a row as he lounged on the sofa. With so many girlfriends, he had no idea who was badmouthing him for being heartless.
Sniffling slightly, he didn't pay it much mind.
If he wanted to support his puppet, Yugito in ascending to the Raikage's position, then Kumogakure had to descend into chaos… preferably from the inside out.
Having one of his own people become the Raikage would make things much more convenient in the future, as pulling strings would be a lot easier.
Kumogakure was highly developed in Lightning Release chakra technology, experiencing a technological boom. If he could take control of Kumogakure, it would greatly benefit his plan to hunt down the Otsutsuki.
More importantly, from a moral standpoint, he was doing this to save the world. At the very least, it was for the future of Kumogakure, so that humans would never be enslaved.
On a more personal level, he wanted the authority of the Raikage in his hands. And it would be best if the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages would follow his lead instead of constantly waging senseless wars.
Naruto just wanted a century of peace, and once he passed away, they could fight however they wanted.
Coincidentally, Hashirama had the same idea, using his overwhelming power to suppress the Shinobi World.
Naruto also thought this was a good approach, but his waist was too stiff to bend, so he could only endure the pain of letting the Five Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages to bow to him instead.
It would be great if there was world peace.
It was a tedious process, but he was doing it for the future of humanity. Standing at the moral high ground, Naruto could only pity Yondaime Raikage.
If the man had no intention of stepping down, then he'd just have to die.
Anyway, Kumogakure was already looking for an excuse to go to war. Rather than waiting for them to provoke the Fourth Shinobi World War, it is better to nip the threat in the bud.
"What's wrong?"
Yugito just happened to come out of her room, wearing light clothes with no hint of reservation. She slipped on her sandals, grabbed a drink from the kitchen, and glanced at him.
"Nothing, just someone thinking about me." Naruto waved his hand and didn't care. He couldn't rest tonight because he had a mission in the second half of the night.
"Are you sure you want to take action tonight?" Yugito leaned lazily against the kitchen doorframe, mimicking Naruto's habit by staring at him lazily with her eyelids slightly raised.
"Why? Is Samui dangerous?" He was stunned for a moment.
"Not exactly, but if you kidnap her, someone will notice by morning." Yugito gestured toward the window and reminded, "The Anbu of Kumogakure are no pushovers. Their intelligence network covers a wide range. It is basically impossible to conceal a Jonin disappearing from her home for days."
"I won't need days, a single night is enough." Naruto shook his head, but did not elaborate on what methods he had.
"Suit yourself, just giving you a heads-up." After saying that, Yugito shrugged casually, put down the glass, and went back to her room to sleep.
Watching Yugito's retreating figure, Naruto smirked slightly, though his fist clenched instinctively. He knew she was cooperating with him out of necessity, not conviction.
'Just wait. One day, I'll make sure you truly believe in me.'
…
Late night.
Feeling that the time was right, Naruto slipped out of the window without a sound and headed straight for Kumogakure's central residential district.