Meanwhile, Jiraiya was likewise hurrying toward Konoha. He was now certain: Uzumaki Naruto was the child of prophecy, the one who would transform the Ninja World.
Looks like the me of the future didn't guide Naruto onto the right path. That won't happen this time—hahaha…
Konoha Village, Ninja Academy.
The heavenly screen had only just vanished; the stifling silence lasted less than three seconds.
"Uzumaki Naruto!!!"
A roar brimming with fury and pain exploded through the room.
Uchiha Sasuke's black pupils shrank in shock. Like a provoked leopard he sprang at the bewildered, aggrieved Naruto beside him.
Caught off guard, Naruto took a heavy punch to the face and staggered to the ground.
"How dare you… how dare you transplant a Sharingan!!"
Sasuke straddled him, eyes blood-red, fists raining down, voice twisted with rage: "I'll kill you! The Uchiha's honor is not to be defiled!!"
Fresh from the agony of the clan's massacre, the Sharingan was agony, strength, and the final, sacred symbol of his family.
Seeing future-Naruto pluck a Sharingan from his arm and use a forbidden Uchiha technique was, to him, more unbearable than watching Naruto destroy the world.
"Agh! That hurts, bastard Sasuke!"
Yelling in pain and now furious himself, Naruto blocked frantically. "That wasn't me! I didn't do it! That's the jerk you meet in the future, not me!!"
Naruto felt utterly wronged—he'd done nothing, yet everyone blamed him and Sasuke was beating him senseless.
But Sasuke, blinded by grief and clan pride, wouldn't listen to a word.
He needed his fists to vent the torment inside.
"Stop it, Sasuke! Stop!" Iruka finally shook off his shock and rushed to haul the raging boy away.
Clambering up bruised and bleeding, Naruto glowered at Sasuke, held fast by Iruka. His blue eyes shone with hurt, anger, and bewilderment.
Though restrained, Sasuke's glare burned with undisguised hatred and murderous intent.
Between ragged breaths he hissed, "Uzumaki Naruto… just you wait."
This was far from over.
The rest of the class, startled by the sudden brawl, kept dead silent, looking at Naruto with even greater fear and distance.
Across the room, every member of the Akatsuki Organization turned eyes—greedy, probing, wary, eager—toward Uchiha Itachi.
"Fufufu…" Orochimaru broke the hush first.
Golden vertical pupils gleamed as though he'd found a rare treasure; his long tongue flicked over his lips in a chilling laugh.
"Who would have thought… the Uchiha Clan still hides such a wonderful jutsu. Izanagi—turn reality into illusion, reverse life and death… it's practically a second life for oneself."
His words sent bigger ripples through the other members.
Kakuzu's green eyes glinted as he calculated the astronomical sum such a jutsu could fetch—or how many extra lives it would give him to earn even more.
"A technique that alters reality? Another ultimate art?"
Even the taciturn Scorpion emitted a hoarse, cryptic sound from within hiruko.
Zetsu's pitcher-plant body swayed; the black and white halves of his face looked eerier than ever.
These Rogue Ninja at the apex of the Ninja World were well-informed, yet none had heard of a cheat-like lifesaving jutsu such as Izanagi.
Even Orochimaru, famed for coveting every Ninjutsu, had been ignorant of it—proof of its secrecy and priceless value.
Uchiha Itachi remained expressionless, as though those scorching stares didn't exist.
Yet beneath the Akatsuki cloak his body was coiled, the power of his Mangekyo Sharingan ready to strike.
Alarm bells rang in his mind: Izanagi's exposure had thrust him into deadly peril.
He who carries a gem is guilty of owning it—he knew that rule well.
Fortunately, Pain - Deva Path stood like a statue before them; the absolute pressure of those Rinnegan eyes kept any more direct impulses in check.
Until the leader spoke, no one dared move against a full member.
Orochimaru clearly didn't intend to drop the matter.
Again he wet his face with that unsettling tongue and stared at Itachi, proposing outright: "Itachi, keeping such a magnificent jutsu to yourself is a waste. Would you consider trading it for some of my forbidden techniques… or anything else that interests you?"
Uchiha Itachi stayed silent, offering no answer.
But he lifted his head sharply; crimson Mangekyo Sharingan met Orochimaru's gaze, cold killing intent and potent ocular power pressing forward—a warning.
To the Sharingan- and immortality-obsessed Orochimaru, however, the threat only poured oil on the fire.
"Heh…" Orochimaru chuckled, even more excited.
Eyes fixed on those gorgeous, perilous Mangekyo irises, he murmured with sick infatuation, "Truly… beautiful eyes."
The praise sounded less like awe at power than covetousness for an item soon to be in his collection.
Uchiha Itachi felt a chill; he knew his position in the Akatsuki had just become far more dangerous.
But he didn't care.
The vanishing of the heavenly screen brought no peace; it only opened the curtain on real strife.
Konohagakure, still reeling from the Uchiha massacre, now faced even fiercer pressure from outside.
On the Hokage's desk, mountainous piles of documents were not mission reports but increasingly harsh letters of inquiry from the Four Great Shinobi Villages.
Some even carried expressions of "deep concern" from Land of Fire ministers and nobles.
Every accusation pointed to one person—Uzumaki Naruto.
"Eliminate Uzumaki Naruto, or place him under joint custody of the Five Great Ninja Villages!"