"Sasuke, if I'm not mistaken, your seat isn't here, is it?" Iruka, clutching his teaching materials as he entered the classroom, glanced at Sasuke sitting to Naruto's left and couldn't help but comment.
If he remembered correctly, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke weren't exactly on friendly terms, were they?
Sasuke, sporting several bandages and visible bruises on his skin, replied, "It is now." With a cool, detached expression, he added, "I already swapped seats with someone else, and they agreed."
Iruka: "…"
Wasn't seat swapping supposed to be arranged by him, the teacher? But the class's top genius always got special treatment. After a moment's thought, Iruka let it slide.
"You're such a fake…" Naruto muttered under his breath. He clearly remembered this smug guy nearly crying last night when Teacher Akainu "rejected" him.
Glancing around, Naruto noticed several girls glaring at him fiercely. Tch! Why was this jerk so popular with the girls? Grumbling to himself, he couldn't resist asking, "Why do you have to sit next to me?"
Sasuke crossed his arms, letting out a soft huff but saying nothing.
Feeling snubbed, Naruto yawned. Still, having someone willingly sit close to him was a new experience, so he switched topics. "Is your brother really gonna wipe out the clan?"
Sasuke's face visibly darkened. He lowered his gaze to the desk, fists clenching under it. "That's what… Teacher Akainu said. It's Uchiha Itachi, my brother's, 'future evil.' I won't let him succeed. I'll prove he's wrong."
"But…" Thinking of the massive gap between himself and Itachi, Sasuke's mood sank. He was certain that following [Absolute Justice] would grant him great power—Uchiha Izumi was proof of that. But how long would it take? And even if he gained that strength, could he really stop Itachi?
"Don't worry!" Naruto grinned, hands behind his head. "Justice is never alone! Even if you can't beat Itachi, I'll help you. The two of us together—how could we not take him down?!"
"Hmph…" Sasuke thought Naruto was naive, clueless about the Uchiha's true power. Yet, for some reason, his words stirred something in Sasuke's heart.
Clack! A piece of chalk suddenly dropped, snapping Sasuke's attention to the front. He was stunned to see Iruka frozen at the podium, his expression blank, movements halted like a glitched puppet.
A white feather floated down, brushing past Iruka's nose. Sasuke's jaw dropped as he realized Iruka was asleep—standing up, snoring with his eyes closed!
Thud! Another sound made Sasuke whip around. A classmate behind him had collapsed onto their desk, fast asleep. And it wasn't just one! As white feathers drifted down, Sasuke's eyes widened in shock—everyone in the class, except him, was out cold!
"What's going on?!" Sasuke shot to his feet, turning to Naruto beside him.
"He's… asleep too?!"
Sasuke was floored.
Footsteps echoed, and Sasuke spun toward the classroom door, his pupils shrinking.
"Bro… brother…"
Uchiha Itachi strode in, his face impassive. "Sasuke, you've made the wrong choice. You shouldn't have chosen this path to an uncertain future."
"Where… am I?" Naruto looked around, bewildered. He was in a strange, damp, dimly lit place, with odd doors lining both sides of a long corridor.
"Wasn't I in the ninja academy?" he mumbled. A terrifying roar startled him, and he spun around, freezing. Behind him were towering iron bars, caging something monstrous.
"Grrr, kid, you look delicious! Come closer—let me eat you!" a deep, rumbling voice boomed. Naruto looked up, stunned.
"A… a giant fox…" His eyes widened as realization hit. "You're the Nine-Tails sealed inside me by the Fourth Hokage?!"
"Thanks to your emotional outburst a few days ago, the Fourth's seal weakened," the Nine-Tails, Kurama, growled, lowering its massive head to glare at Naruto. "Otherwise, meeting you like this wouldn't be so easy."
Naruto snapped out of his shock. "You wanted to meet me?"
Kurama's eyes narrowed with a sinister grin. "Look up, kid."
Naruto did, gasping as he saw the ninja academy classroom projected above him. He spotted Sasuke—and another ninja, about Izumi's age.
"Your buddy's in trouble," Kurama said, its voice dripping with temptation. "The one who put everyone to sleep? That's your friend's brother. Are you just gonna sleep through this and let him die?"
"That's… Uchiha Itachi?!" Naruto's shock deepened.
"See that seal on the gate?" Kurama continued. "Tear it off, and I'll give you power strong enough to break his genjutsu and defeat him with one hand."
"Look at this chakra!" Kurama unleashed a surge of crimson chakra, flooding the sealed space. "Rip it off, and it's all yours!"
"I don't want that jerk getting hurt by Itachi," Naruto admitted. "Even if I don't like him much, he believes in Teacher Akainu's [Absolute Justice], just like me. But…"
Clenching his fists, Naruto glared at Kurama. "You caused the Nine-Tails disaster years ago—you're the embodiment of evil! If I need evil's power to save that jerk, I refuse! You're not helping out of kindness—you've got an ulterior motive. If I let you use me, it'll lead to something awful, won't it? I'd end up hurting everyone in the village, right, Nine-Tails?!"
Kurama's ferocious expression flickered with disbelief, then rage at being outsmarted by a seven-year-old. "You little brat!!!"
It lunged with a massive claw, but the seal held firm, keeping it at bay.
Naruto stepped back. "I don't need your power. By following [Absolute Justice], I'll get strength from its gifts."
"Brat! You don't get to refuse what I offer!" Kurama snarled, its massive fang nearly as big as Naruto. Crimson chakra seeped through the bars.
"Feel my power! You'll get addicted—this is way stronger than some nonsense 'justice'!" The chakra surged toward Naruto, the seal on the gate trembling as if battered by a storm.
Naruto: "!!!"
In the classroom, white feathers drifted down.
"Guh… cough!" Sasuke clutched Itachi's arm, desperately trying to pry it off his throat. But Itachi's grip was like iron, unyielding even to Sasuke's full strength. Suffocation turned his face red, then bluish.
Itachi lifted Sasuke's small frame off the ground with one hand.
"Sasuke, Akainu's [Absolute Justice] isn't for you. It clashes with the Leaf's Will of Fire. Its existence will only plunge the village into endless conflict," Itachi said, his three-tomoe Sharingan glowing crimson.
"Look at Danzo Shimura, killed by him. Look at the Shimura clan, wiped out. Look at our clansmen who died by his hand, and the fear he instills in the Leaf's people."
"My foolish little brother… why do you always disappoint me? If you insist on following Absolute Justice, I'll make you kill someone yourself. Once your hands are stained with blood, you'll lose the right to claim justice. Only then will you walk the true, correct path."
"And when justice abandons you, you'll witness how I slaughter the Uchiha clan to the last."
"Of course…" Itachi's voice darkened. "Some of what I've said, you'll never recall. You'll only live on, consumed by hatred, scraping by like a stray dog."
Sasuke's wide eyes widened further. "Guh… cough! Uchi… ha… Itachi!" Each word was a struggle, his face flushed with effort. "You're… really… insane!"
A faint single-tomoe Sharingan flickered in Sasuke's eyes.
Itachi's lips curled into a smile so subtle even Sasuke, inches away, barely noticed. 'Sasuke, this hatred is what you need. It'll awaken the true power in our Uchiha blood. Compared to that, Akainu's Absolute Justice is nothing. The path I've chosen for you is the right one. Forgive me, Sasuke… one day, you'll understand my intentions. Even if you don't, it's fine. I do this for your sake, not for your approval.'
Despite his calm exterior, Itachi's heart churned with as much emotion as Sasuke's. He closed his eyes briefly, suppressing tears of self-inflicted pain.
When he opened them, Sasuke was on the verge of passing out, eyes rolling back. Itachi loosened his grip slightly.
Suddenly, a small hand shot out from the side, grabbing his wrist.
"…Hm?!"
BOOM!!! A deafening explosion rocked the ninja academy, startling the already tense Leaf ninjas, especially the academy teachers.
"The noise came from Iruka's class!"
As they rushed over, abandoning their own classes, they spotted a figure slumped unconscious on a tree branch, dressed in Root gear.
Before they could process it, a wall in Iruka's classroom shattered! A figure burst out amid the debris, seemingly another Root ninja, followed by another figure charging through.
Was that… a red fox?!
"Wait!" One teacher's pupils shrank as he stared at the "red fox's" back. "That's not… Uzumaki Naruto, is it?!"
His quiet words reached the other teachers, who froze in horror. Memories of the Nine-Tails disaster seven years ago flashed through their minds. Many had lived through that night, some nearly dying, and the trauma lingered.
"This is bad!!!"
Nearby, "Lord Akainu, there's some commotion over there," Jiro said, its cat ears twitching. It leapt high off Izumi's shoulder, nearly knocking her over as it landed.
Jiro's face was serious. "Looks like the ninja academy. Seems like two ninjas are fighting there."
"The academy?" Izumi barely had time to complain about Jiro's weight. "It's a school day, isn't it?"
"Follow me, newbie," Akainu said, heading toward the academy.
"Hey! Wait up, Senior!" Izumi called, scrambling after him.
As part of the Uchiha Police Force, Akainu patrolled the Leaf to maintain order when he wasn't executing justice. A disturbance at the academy demanded his attention.
"It's probably not related to Naruto or Sasuke, right?" Izumi muttered, worried, as she struggled to keep up.
Jiro scoffed, "Meow, with those kids' strength, how could they cause this kind of ruckus?"
"But… Naruto's a Jinchuriki," Izumi hesitated.
Jiro's face stiffened, yanking Izumi's hair. "Newbie, shut that jinxed mouth! Do you know what happens if a Jinchuriki loses control?"
Izumi's expression darkened, her voice low. "My father died in the last Nine-Tails disaster… My three-tomoe Sharingan awakened that night…"
Jiro: "…"
Meow! How'd I forget that?! Damn it!
"Nine-Tails… Jinchuriki…" Itachi retreated, landing on a rooftop overlooking Naruto, wreathed in red chakra.
Itachi frowned. This was unexpected. Naruto was under his genjutsu—how had he woken up? And how was he unleashing such intense chakra?
"Is the seal suppressing the Tailed Beast loosening?" But something felt off. Naruto didn't look out of control. Despite the wild chakra, there was a glint of rationality in his eyes.
"This… it's like he's borrowing the Tailed Beast's chakra deliberately!" Itachi was stunned. He didn't know much about Jinchuriki, but he understood this required a deep bond between host and beast.
"It's strong, but at your age, you can't fully wield it. And even if you're rational now, there's always a risk. Better sleep it off." Itachi's three-tomoe Sharingan spun, morphing into his Mangekyō.
As their eyes met, Mangekyō genjutsu surged into Naruto.
"Mangekyō Sharingan…" In the sealed space, Kurama's eyes narrowed, then it shook its head slightly. "No, it's different from that Mangekyō from back then."
Kurama could break Itachi's genjutsu by disrupting Naruto's chakra, but recalling the brat's defiant attitude, it growled in irritation.
"Hmph!" With a scoff, Kurama let Naruto's eyes roll back as he collapsed, unconscious.
"Cough!" Itachi coughed, the Mangekyō's strain leaving him lightheaded even after a single genjutsu. He glanced at the alarmed academy teachers and the gaping holes in Iruka's classroom.
Reluctant but aware the commotion would draw attention, he murmured, "Some things need to happen sooner, but there's still a year's buffer. We've got time, Sasuke. You can't escape…"
Releasing the genjutsu, Itachi vanished.
As he did, Sasuke stumbled out of the classroom, clutching his throat and leaning against the wall, coughing. "Cough… dead-last… cough…"
Dizzy from suffocation, he staggered to the corridor, staring at the two massive holes in the wall. Looking through one, he couldn't see the deranged Itachi but spotted Naruto collapsed nearby.
"Damn it… why'd you butt in, dead-last? It wasn't your business… cough!" Despite his grumbling, Sasuke struggled toward Naruto.
By the time he reached him, Naruto was surrounded by academy teachers.
"You're…" One teacher turned, recognizing Sasuke. "The genius kid from Iruka's class, Uchiha Sasuke?!"
Sasuke: "…"
"Genius" stung his nerves. If he were truly a genius, how could he have been so helpless against Itachi, nearly choked out with no resistance? The real genius…
Sasuke's mind flashed to Naruto, wreathed in eerie red chakra. His pale face flickered with complex emotions, then a spark of anticipation. If even a dead-last like Naruto could gain such power from [Absolute Justice], what about him?
"What happened in Iruka's class? Where's Iruka?" the teacher pressed.
Sasuke's hoarse voice answered, "Genjutsu. The whole class was put to sleep except me and… Uzumaki Naruto."
As the teacher opened his mouth to ask more, he caught sight of outsiders entering the academy. It was the Uchiha Police Force—and Uchiha Akainu!
The teachers recoiled. Akainu's reputation, though slightly improved, still instilled fear. They watched as Jiro darted forward, pressing a paw to Naruto's neck.
"Meow, Lord Akainu, the Uzumaki kid's alive. There's some wild chakra leaking from him—Nine-Tails chakra, if I'm not mistaken," Jiro said professionally. "He's under a Sharingan genjutsu, but it shouldn't harm him. Just knocked him out. Looks like the Tailed Beast went wild, and some passing Uchiha put him to sleep, meow."
Akainu approached, lifting Naruto like a sleeping golden fox cub.
"He… the dead-last didn't lose control… cough!" Sasuke's raspy voice cut in. Looking up at Akainu, he said, "Teacher Akainu, the dead-last… he stopped Uchiha Itachi to help me. Itachi broke into the academy, trying to use his Sharingan to make me kill someone. He said if I did, [Absolute Justice] would abandon me…"
Izumi's hand snapped to her blade, eyeing the marks on Sasuke's neck. Piecing together his words, she gritted her teeth. "Uchiha Itachi's beyond saving!"
Sasuke continued, "At the critical moment, the dead-last, who was asleep under genjutsu, woke up. He had all this red chakra and drove Itachi off."
Sasuke didn't exaggerate or downplay Naruto's actions. Despite a twinge of jealousy, he felt a strange gratitude. Without Naruto's intervention, he might've been forced to kill, losing [Absolute Justice].
"What a beast, meow!" Jiro's claws popped out in anger. "Treating his own brother like that—does he have a brain? I should've risked my life to take him out back then! And that Uchiha Shisui—if he hadn't vouched for that monster, he wouldn't be here now, meow!"
"Meow! I wish I could use that Impure World Reincarnation to drag Shisui back and make him see what his precious 'monster' is doing!"
Jiro didn't actually know the technique—it had only heard of it from Akainu.
"Don't worry," Akainu said, glancing at the shaken Sasuke. "Even if he forced you to kill, [Absolute Justice] wouldn't abandon you. It wasn't your choice—you'd be his tool, not the killer. If [Absolute Justice] abandoned someone for that, who'd stand for justice? Don't let that beast's extremist views sway you. Someone so extreme sees everything in extremes."
Sasuke froze. Oddly, hearing Jiro and Akainu call his brother a "beast" didn't anger him. The term felt… fitting. And Akainu's words eased his fears.
In the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen, exhausted from recent troubles, stared in shock at Itachi kneeling before him. "Itachi… what's this about?!"
Itachi kept his head bowed. "I'm here to confess, Lord Hokage. I accidentally caused the Jinchuriki to lose control… or maybe not quite lose control…"
Hiruzen: "!!!"
Akainu and Naruto were bad enough—now Itachi too? Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Hiruzen frowned. "Itachi, what happened?"
Itachi recounted everything—cause, events, outcome—without hiding a thing. Hiruzen found himself unable to reprimand him. Itachi's actions were for the Leaf, aiming to ensure Sasuke's future devotion to the village. His selflessness was faultless.
If Hiruzen had to nitpick, Itachi's methods were too extreme. Putting a seven-year-old through that—wouldn't it leave psychological scars?
Naruto's "loss of control" was an accident, though. "Rational 'loss of control'…" Hiruzen mused, hands behind his back. "It sounds like he's starting to harness the Tailed Beast's power. That requires control, or we'd have another Nine-Tails disaster."
Naruto was on the path to becoming a true Jinchuriki—far earlier than Hiruzen's plan to guide him post-graduation. Itachi's provocation had accelerated things.
"But Itachi, you targeted Sasuke. Why was Naruto affected?" Hiruzen asked, puzzled.
Itachi paused, then guessed, "Maybe… their bond. They both follow Absolute Justice."
"A bond…" Hiruzen puffed his pipe, feeling a headache. Why did Naruto have to bond with an Uchiha? He'd have preferred a Sarutobi.
"Lord Hokage," Itachi interrupted. "Under Akainu's influence, the Uchiha are growing uncontrollable. Shisui's become more radical, and many moderates are either joining the radicals or showing interest in [Absolute Justice]."
Hiruzen's brows tightened. This was one of his recent worries. If the Uchiha launched their not-so-secret coup, the Leaf would face internal chaos, leaving it vulnerable to other villages itching for a Fourth Great Ninja War.
"I'll handle it, Lord Hokage," Itachi said softly. "You don't need to worry about the Uchiha affecting the Leaf."
Hiruzen's heart skipped, recalling rumors of Itachi's clan massacre a year from now. "Itachi…" he said gravely, "some things don't need such drastic measures. Only a few Uchiha truly threaten the Leaf."
He'd considered culling some troublemakers, but wiping out the clan? Too far. "Itachi, you don't need to go to extremes. The Uchiha are still useful to the Leaf."
"…Understood, Lord Hokage," Itachi replied, hiding a flicker in his eyes. He stood and left.
'Sorry, Lord Hokage. I knew you, who love the village, wouldn't allow this. But if I don't act, it'll be too late. The Uchiha are a serious threat…' Itachi thought as he exited.
He didn't need others' understanding. "The path I've chosen for the Leaf, the Uchiha, and Sasuke… is the right one."
Muttering, Itachi looked up, passing a bearded ninja who glanced at him in surprise for half a second. If I'm not mistaken… that's the Hokage's second son, Asuma.
Staring at the empty office doorway, Hiruzen puffed his pipe, pondering how to rein in the Uchiha. Then an unexpected figure appeared.
"…Asuma?!" Hiruzen blinked. "Weren't you in the Fire Country capital?"
Asuma closed the door, leaning against the wall. "Old man, I told the Daimyo everything."
Hiruzen paused but didn't scold him, asking, "What was the Daimyo's reaction? Did he say anything?"
"He's furious," Asuma said. "He wants his son's killer to pay."
Hiruzen shook his head. "If I moved against Akainu, the Leaf would fall into chaos. If the Daimyo sent you to push me, I'll pretend I didn't hear. Asuma, don't underestimate Akainu. He could plunge the Leaf into a crisis rivaling the Nine-Tails disaster."
Hiruzen had considered eliminating Akainu—every bold scenario, even his own suicide. But the cost of clashing with Akainu in the Leaf was too high, like Hashirama and Madara choosing to fight at the Valley of the End, not in the village.
Asuma's eyes flickered with concealed disappointment. He pulled out a cigarette, holding it unlit. "Old man, you misunderstand. The Daimyo isn't asking you to kill Akainu. He knows your position and can't force a Hokage. I'm just offering a suggestion."
"Since Akainu's causing you headaches in the Leaf, why not let this tiger loose? Send him on missions outside the village."
Hiruzen blinked.
Asuma continued calmly, "He's an Uchiha Police Force member, but also a Leaf ninja. Ninjas take missions from the Hokage, right? You kept him in the village to intimidate certain people, and you've succeeded—they're scared. Or rather… most of them are dead by his hand."
"Since your goal's achieved, why not let him go? If Akainu pursues his [Absolute Justice] outside the Leaf, in the Fire Country, it's not your problem anymore. The nobles, bureaucrats, and the Daimyo can deal with the headache."
Hiruzen's frown didn't ease. "Asuma, what are you planning?"
"The Daimyo wants Akainu dead but knows he can't do it himself," Asuma replied. "He wants Akainu to make enemies across the Fire Country, ideally becoming a national pariah. Then someone might kill him."
Asuma tossed a document to Hiruzen, who caught it. It bore the Daimyo's handwriting.
"Old man, the Daimyo isn't asking you to deal with Akainu—just to let him loose to pursue his [Absolute Justice] in the Fire Country. In return, he'll increase the Leaf's funding by thirty percent next year. Can you agree to that?"
Hiruzen was silent for a few seconds. "It's a naive plan, relying on too many coincidences. Even if I send Akainu out, the Daimyo's goal is unlikely to succeed." He paused, voice heavy. "But is it really that simple, Asuma?"
Asuma countered, "Old man, don't you trust me? Sure, I don't always agree with you, but have I ever lied to you?"
Hiruzen took a deep breath. Out of trust in his son, or perhaps guilt over Asuma's rebelliousness, he said, "…Fine."