"Let go of me! I don't want to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan now. I'll open my eyes through my own efforts. I don't need your help!" Sasuke's expression turned even more flustered. Sakura's words made him feel increasingly uneasy. There's no way she actually cares—he'd been burned too many times before to believe that.
No time left!
Invisible energy invaded Sasuke's mind. Sakura's cheeks twitched unnaturally—the power of the Mind Stone triggered residual energy fluctuations from the Power Stone lingering in the wounds across her right half-body, sending sharp waves of pain through the injured area.
Inside the Inner Space, Sasuke sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and head bowed. Above him floated a phantom screen replaying the illusions he had experienced.
Compared to the unease shown by Itachi and Shisui, or Fugaku Uchiha's sorrow and Mikoto Uchiha's hidden hope, the others didn't seem overly affected—well, it wasn't their problem anyway.
"Naruto... you and Sakura..." Kushina Uzumaki's eyes sparkled as she looked at Naruto resting his head in Sakura's lap, the two appearing unusually close.
"Hehehe," Naruto chuckled foolishly, not quite sure what to say. Eventually, Sakura stepped forward with an exasperated look and redirected Kushina's attention.
"Uh, Kushina, let's check on Sasuke's condition first!"
Kushina didn't call out Sakura's obvious topic shift but instead gave a very satisfied smile before turning to watch the illusion above Sasuke's head.
"Hey Naruto, you and Sakura don't seem to be in great shape," Minato Namikaze quickly noticed something off about the two, frowning immediately.
"They ran into Orochimaru. Your son tried to play hero and got pierced straight through the heart by Orochimaru's sword. Then your future daughter-in-law flew into a rage, unleashing some extremely powerful force that drove Orochimaru away. But she suffered serious backlash herself—in case I'm not mistaken, her entire right side has been severely damaged!"
Thanks to the bond between beast and host, Nine-Tails saw everything unfold firsthand, accurately reading Sakura's condition.
"What?! That bastard Orochimaru dared to attack you?!" Kushina exploded in anger, her chakra surging wildly. Countless chains of chakra used for Adamantine Sealing Chains sprouted from her back, even making Nine-Tails flinch back—it had seen these chains tear through fellow beasts before. Best not get caught in them.
"Kushina, don't worry, we're fine!" Sakura shot Nine-Tails a sharp look and gently tried to soothe Kushina. "We'll recover in just a couple of days!"
"That's right, Mom. I have super strong vitality. This tiny injury isn't anything to worry about!" Naruto quickly chimed in.
"How can you say that isn't serious?" Kushina pulled aside Sakura's sleeve, revealing the heavily scarred arm beneath, her face filled with sorrow. "You're so stubborn, enduring such a severe wound like this!"
"Well, it's really not that bad. It's just because the energy hasn't faded yet, so it looks scary. Once the energy in the wound goes away, a little Mystical Palm Technique will fix it right up. Compared to Naruto getting stabbed straight through the heart, my injuries are already really minor!"
Sakura smiled as she thought about how Naruto had shoved her aside without hesitation back then. That warm feeling in her chest instantly made the pain on her right side feel bearable.
"Naruto has strong vitality; I'm not worried about his injuries. But yours are so serious! You're not like him—you can't recover quickly. How could I not worry?"
Just looking at her forearm, Kushina Uzumaki could already picture how bad the rest of her right side must be. Filled with both pity and anger, she cursed Orochimaru out in her mind. If she ever got the chance, she'd make sure to beat that guy within an inch of his life.
"Hehehe, Mrs. Kushina, let me tell you a secret. From a certain perspective, I can't die. These injuries are only painful for a little while."
Sakura smiled. The power of the Infinity Stones made her practically immortal. So, another plan—one specially made for Naruto and the others—was already forming in her mind.
Chapter 181: This Is the Last Time, Sasuke! [Part 1]
While they were chatting, Sasuke officially entered the illusionary world. In the scene, young Sasuke kept bugging his older brother, Itachi Uchiha, to teach him shuriken throwing. Most of the time, all he got was an amused but slightly helpless smile from Itachi and the same reply—"Next time, Sasuke." Each time his older brother gave him a noogie, little Sasuke would glare at Itachi with puffed-up cheeks before dejectedly waiting for the next "next time" to come.
"Sasuke was such a cute kid—he really liked clinging to Itachi!" Mikoto Uchiha chuckled, covering her mouth. Sometimes even the parents envied the deep bond between these two brothers, Itachi Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha.
"I guess you could say I ghosted Sasuke quite a few times," Itachi Uchiha said somewhat awkwardly, giving a faint laugh. Back then, every time he told Sasuke "next time," he used to end it with a special noogie. Eventually, it just became a habit.
Cut after cut played out before them, showing Itachi caught between Konoha and his clan, unable to choose what to do. Seeing how much pressure rested on someone so young, everyone fell silent.
The images continued forward until Shisui appeared in the vision.
"Wait? My story appears here too?" Shisui asked, clearly surprised.
"Of course it does. From a certain perspective, you were the one person who deeply influenced Itachi's life," Sakura replied mysteriously, smiling. "After all, you're the eternal 'White Moonlight' in Itachi's heart!"
"'White Moonlight'?" Shisui twitched his lips. Though he didn't fully understand what that phrase meant, something about it just felt... off.
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