Little Naruto always loved competing with the popular Sasuke, immediately jumping out and shouting: "I don't need YOU to protect me, I'm telling you!!"
The #1 Most Unpredictable Ninja wasn't just talk—Naruto threw shuriken at the mirror and the Allied Shinobi Forces on the other side!
This action exceeded everyone's expectations!!
Iruka: "NARUTO!!!"
Everyone else jumped in fright, afraid that a war would instantly break out inside Konoha's Ninja Academy! Injuring Konoha's new generation of sparks!
"Ding, ding, ding-ding..."
"Uh..." "Hey!!" "Be careful!!" "Naruto!!!"
Clearly, everyone's worries were excessive.
Because those four shuriken—
One shuriken was caught by Shisui Uchiha.
One shuriken nearly hit Sasuke's face, scaring the girls behind him half to death.
One shuriken pinned Shikamaru's sleeve to his desk.
One shuriken flew past Iruka's hair and smashed into the blackboard...
In short, not a single shuriken made it to the Allied Shinobi Forces' side.
"..."
"..."
The Allied Shinobi Forces were speechless...
"He's six years old, right? Still can't throw shuriken properly?"
"Whose kid is that? His throwing form is all wrong..."
"Didn't you just hear? They called him 'Naruto'!"
"Naruto?! Isn't that—"
The expressions of the Allied Shinobi Forces became very strange, one after another.
Not sensing any killing intent from the other side, the Konoha Police Force ninja relaxed slightly.
Fugaku Uchiha: "What do you want?! Appearing suddenly in Konoha—are you here to start a war?!"
He questioned the Allied Shinobi Forces on the other side of the mirror, while threatening with his Sharingan those ninja wearing Iwagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure uniforms.
"Uh, we..." Someone from the Allied Shinobi Forces tried to express they meant no harm, and that they also didn't know what was happening.
At that moment, Itachi beside Fugaku Uchiha noticed a figure that caught his attention.
He looked at Fourth War Sasuke in the mirror and asked:
"Sasuke...?" In the pre-massacre timeline, 11-year-old Itachi suddenly asked: "Are you Sasuke?"
Fourth War Sasuke: "!!!"
While shocked at being recognized, Sasuke Uchiha on the Fourth War battlefield felt his heart tighten as painful, bitter emotions welled up in his eyes! He never imagined his teenage brother would recognize him in the crowd with just one glance.
Even in such an absurd situation, his brother still...
"Sasuke?" Fugaku Uchiha turned his head to look at Itachi and then at the confused little Sasuke behind him.
Only then did he realize Itachi was calling to someone on the other side of the 'mirror.'
Fugaku looked toward the other side of the 'mirror,' at the crowd wearing Konoha ninja uniforms. Among them were only two young people dressed differently.
This appearance so similar to his youngest son's, combined with his eldest son Itachi's question, made him also address the black-haired, white-clothed youth with a purple rope tied around his waist: "Is it really... Sasuke?"
Sasuke's heart stabbed with pain. The word 'Father' formed in his throat, but it hurt too much for him to call out.
...
Pre-Uchiha Massacre timeline—
"Sasuke?! Why did Sasuke suddenly become an adult?! If that's Sasuke, who's that blonde guy next to him?!" Little Naruto in the classroom took advantage of everyone's distraction to squeeze in front of the mirror again. "Ah! That one over there kinda looks like Sakura!"
"Get back here, you dead-last!!"
"Don't call me dead-last!! You bastard Sasuke!!"
"You! Anyway, don't cause trouble for my brother and father!"
Allied Shinobi Forces: "..."
Emmmm...
They quietly glanced at the blonde youth who was leading them adults, standing at the front lines against the Ten-Tails.
So that really is the Konoha Ninja Village from many years ago!
...
Fourth Great Ninja War timeline—
"Fugaku-san, is that you, Fugaku-san?"
Minato Namikaze approached the mirror wall. The situations on both sides were like a live video call connection.
Seeing Minato Namikaze, who should have died six years ago in the Nine-Tails attack, Fugaku Uchiha was startled.
"Fourth Hokage?!" Fugaku Uchiha exclaimed in surprise.
Hearing his idol mentioned, little Naruto stopped bickering with little Sasuke and turned around, staring intently with those azure eyes at the blonde man on the other side of the mirror.
"Fourth... Hokage...?"
This generation of young ninja had all grown up hearing the heroic tales of the Fourth Hokage. No one didn't admire the great hero who sacrificed himself for the village! Even little Sasuke, little Itachi, and Shisui were the same.
"The Fourth?!" "But the Fourth Hokage already..."
"He looks exactly like the one on the Hokage Rock!" "It really is Lord Fourth!"
"He looks so strong!" "Yeah! And super handsome!!!"
After all, they were just kids and lacked some sense of crisis.
The Third Hokage who'd just rushed over, along with Kakashi in his ANBU uniform behind him, had their eyes wide open!
"Minato?!"
The Third Hokage was shocked, with guilt in his eyes.
ANBU Kakashi almost cried in that instant! Everyone close to him had left him!! Heaven knows these past years he'd constantly wondered why it wasn't him who died!
"Sensei? Is it really Sensei?!" The young ANBU's voice was hoarse beneath his mask.
"Whoa! It's Kakashi-sensei in an ANBU uniform!!" Fourth War Naruto exclaimed as if discovering a new world. "Look, Sakura, Sasuke! It's Kakashi-sensei, y'know!!"
Y'know... y'know...?
This strange verbal tic made everyone except little Shikamaru—who'd already guessed it was Naruto—realize the blonde youth's identity!
N-no way?!
Little Sakura and Ino in the Ninja Academy widened their eyes. That handsome guy on the battlefield is Naruto?! That idiot Naruto?!!
He got THAT handsome when he grew up?! No way!!
'N-Naruto-kun...' So... so cool...
"Hey! Hinata! Hinata?!!" Little Akamaru cushioned little Hinata's fall. 6-year-old Kiba Inuzuka was exasperated. "Why'd she pass out again?!"
More ninja who heard 'the Fourth Hokage is back' rushed to the Konoha Ninja Academy.
Those who'd been saved by Minato during the Third Great Ninja War, and those who'd personally witnessed the killing god prowess of the 'Yellow Flash,' were moved to tears!
Calls of 'Lord Minato' and 'Fourth Hokage' showed Minato Namikaze's standing in the hearts of Konoha's ninja.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Minato, what's going on? Weren't you already..."
"Yes, I've already died, Lord Third." Minato gestured for him to look at his eyes. "Right now, I've appeared in the living world through the Reanimation Jutsu developed by Lord Second."
"Reanimation Jutsu?!!" The Third Hokage was shocked. "That's a forbidden technique that disturbs the dead—it should have been sealed away by Lord First long ago!"
"Because of your student Orochimaru, we were revived to fight against Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha." The Second Hokage crossed his arms, being concise while his tone carried some dissatisfaction with Orochimaru.
"Lord Second?!!"
The camera turned, and others not only saw Minato Namikaze but also First Hokage Hashirama Senju, Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, and...
"Besides Lord Second! Even Lord First Hokage is there?!!"
"What kind of battle would require both previous Hokage to be reanimated?!!"
"Wait! Why does Lord Third Hokage also have Reanimation eyes??!"
The Konoha ninja inside the Academy were shocked that the Third Hokage in the mirror was also a reanimated corpse. This meant in the future, the Third Hokage had also died and been summoned back to the living world by Orochimaru using the Reanimation Jutsu.
"That Orochimaru..." The Third Hokage in the Academy thought of his once most favored student and sighed. Then he remembered the Second's words: "Lord Second just said to fight against who? Madara Uchiha and..."
Behind the Third Hokage, ANBU Kakashi of course also heard that name!
His pupils contracted, breathing rapidly, his chaotic mind constantly questioning whether he'd heard wrong.
Fugaku Uchiha, hearing those two names, also showed an expression of disbelief.
"Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha are long dead..." He asked Minato Namikaze, "Were they also brought back with the Reanimation Jutsu?"
"Madara Uchiha was indeed reanimated, but—"
"Obito, he..." Minato said in a heavy voice: "It seems he didn't die back then."
The camera rotated, focusing on the reanimated Madara Uchiha in battle armor, and wearing the purple Warring States-style Uchiha clan uniform—Obito Uchiha!
ANBU Kakashi: "!!!"
O...BI...TO...!
...