When Naruto woke up again, he saw Kushina sitting next to him. The former Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki had a tired face, as if he hadn't rested for a long time.
"Mother… ?"
Naruto said in confusion, "Am I back to Konoha?"
Hearing Naruto's voice, it took Kushina a while to react. She quickly raised her head to make herself look more energetic.
Then he said angrily, "Yeah, how could you, a brat like you, end up like this when you go out on a mission?"
Naruto chuckled. He didn't want to tell what happened before, nor did he want to tell what he saw about the man who called him his brother and called 'Uzumaki Menma'.
Because this will definitely make Kushina worried. His deal with the other party came at the cost of his own life. Now that he has lost a quarter of his life, he must not tell Kushina about this.
"Kakashi-sensei didn't tell you? Oh, by the way, how long has it been since I came back?"
"It's been two days..." Kushina looked a little worried. "Jojo and Sasuke who were with you woke up not long after they returned to the village. You were the only one who slept for so long. Even Tsunade-sama couldn't tell what happened to you." ”
"Grandma Tsunade can't detect it, doesn't that mean I'm fine!" Naruto said with a smile.
"Okay, I won't disturb you anymore. I also want to inform the ANBU that you have woken up."
Kushina shook her head. Orochimaru also came before when Naruto was unconscious and told Kushina that she hoped to let him find her after Naruto wakes up.
Kushina couldn't guess what Orochimaru wanted to do, but since Orochimaru had said so, he couldn't refuse.
After all, Orochimaru is the fifth Hokage of Konoha. Although Kushina is no longer a ninja, she is unlikely to refuse Orochimaru's request as long as she still survives in Konoha.
And Orochimaru probably also wanted to know the situation. After all, according to Kakashi, he had no idea what happened next, so the other three children had a need to ask.
… … …
When Kushina left, Naruto sat up on the bed in a daze. At this time, he thought of everything that happened in the Land of Waves, and he just felt like it was a dream.
Such a powerful demon was killed by himself
He thought that after he agreed to the deal with Menma, when the powerful power poured in, there seemed to be another personality controlling him. Naruto could only vaguely recall what happened, as if From that moment on, my body no longer belongs to me.
Is this the price he's talking about? Trade your soul for power
"Are you scared?"
At this time, Naruto felt that the same feeling as before came back. At this moment, time was stretched infinitely, the second hand of the clock in the room almost stopped, and everything stopped.
Menma, who looked exactly like him, appeared in the room. He skillfully pulled a chair to the bedside and sat down, looking at himself quietly.
"Afraid? What are you afraid of?"
This time Naruto did not marvel, but asked instead, "Are you afraid that my life will be taken away by you? Now that I think about it, I am indeed a little scared. If you take my life, then my mother will be very sad."
"She is the only son like me."
Naruto's voice was a little deep, and then suddenly became brisk again
"By the way, I still don't know who you are? Why do you look like me?"
"Naruto Namikaze, Menma Uzumaki...actually it wasn't supposed to be like this." Menma raised his head and said softly
"If the world line develops normally, it should be Uzumaki Naruto and Namikaze Menma, but the two people who were originally supposed to be opposites became this kind of relationship after changing their last names..."
He shook his head, "I am a ghost, a ghost floating in history and destiny. My birth was caused by the wrong world line. So to you, I am still a devil. As long as we reach our deal, I can take it away." Your body takes over your existence.”
"Replacing my existence..." Naruto was stunned. "Is that how you say it?"
"Sooner or later you will need my power. You will either sacrifice your life or lose everything you value." Menma replied calmly, "No matter what choice you make, it will be beneficial to me, so I don't need to choose." .”
"That's it..." Naruto lowered his head and suddenly smiled, "Then let's have a test and see if I can lose my body to you! I remember you called me brother before, right? So let's Let’s have a battle between brothers!”
"Competition?" Menma chuckled, "You will understand later that this cannot be described as a competition."
"Then let's wait and see!"
Naruto clenched his fists. When he looked up, he found that Menma had disappeared at some point.
Only the chair he pulled over earlier proved that someone had just come...
… … …
"elder brother!"
Itachi had just returned home from his mission when he saw Sasuke leaning in front of the door, looking expectant.
Itachi walked over, touched Sasuke's head and asked, "Didn't I remember that you went to do the ninja trial? Why, did you finish it so quickly?"
He had just completed an ANBU mission, and he only knew that Sasuke was going to the Land of Waves, but he didn't expect that when he got home, Sasuke was already waiting for him.
Is he successfully completing the task and waiting for his praise
Itachi was already thinking about how to reward Sasuke in his mind. As for whether Sasuke would fail the trial, he had never thought about it. Although Sasuke was not old enough to graduate from the ninja school, he was actually no worse than a genin or even a chuunin.
"Speaking of this, brother, I want to tell you something."
Sasuke took Itachi back to the house and sat down, and began to talk about the strange fruit he ate after arriving in the Land of Waves. He continued to talk about the attack of the Fire Cloud Evil God, and how he and others were given it by someone who didn't know who. He was rescued and later sent back by Kakashi.
"Strange fruits and powerful demons?"
After hearing this, Itachi's face darkened. Sasuke was not performing a test to become a ninja. Even Kakashi, an elite jounin, almost died there. Even Jiraiya-sama's life was in danger.
"Don't worry about that yet!" Sasuke began to become excited. "Now that I have eaten the Shayaki fruit that Kakashi said, my strength has increased a lot! Now even you may not be my opponent!"
"Really, then I really have to congratulate you." Itachi kept what Sasuke said before in his heart, and then said with a smile.
"Sasuke wants to spar with me, so let's go outside."
After saying that, he stood up and walked outside.
Sasuke couldn't wait to catch up, and the two stood apart in the courtyard, getting into fighting postures together.
Sasuke took a breath and quickly formed the fire escape seal. The next moment, a fireball spit out from his mouth.
Art fire escape ho fireball!
Itachi dodged with a teleportation technique, but found that the corners of Sasuke's mouth curved. With a wave of his hand, the fireball that had been dodged by him suddenly turned around and continued to rush towards him.
Can the burning fruit control flames
Itachi formed the seal at a speed that could not be caught by ordinary people's eyes. The next moment, a water dragon gathered around him and took shape. The water dragon opened its huge mouth and swallowed the fire ball, causing it to make a muffled sound inside the water dragon.
At this time, Sasuke was also ready for the next wave of attacks. He shouted low, and countless flame rays as thin as needle tips shot out from his fingers, like a rain of fire coming, and Itachi could only continue to dodge.
"Brother, you are too careless! I won this game!"
Itachi was shocked when he heard this. At this time, he found that there were threads all around him at some point. Sasuke puffed up his mouth and spit out flames, letting it quickly surround Itachi along the threads.
"Surrender, Itachi."
Sasuke said quite complacently.
… …
In the room, watching Sasuke lying on the table confidently say this, Itachi smiled helplessly, then stood up and closed his Sharingan, and set it to wait five minutes after he left. Sasuke's illusion is lifted.
When he walked out of the room, his expression changed to his usual indifference. He was going to ask his father and Brother Zhisui what was going on.
At this time, his father and brother Zhisui should both be in the police force, which was convenient for him.
However, when he arrived at the Konoha Police Department headquarters, which was engraved with the Uchiha clan emblem, he only saw Shisui who was busy.
He had replaced Fugaku as the new police captain a few years ago, and Fugaku was the head of the Uchiha clan full-time. However, this was the place where he had worked for more than ten years, and Fugaku still often visited the police force. The Ministry of Affairs came to help Shisui.
It's a bit rare that he's neither at home nor at the police station this time...
"The patriarch has gone to the newly established Kassel Academy. The Hokage and Mr. Anger have been there for a long time recently. There must be something to do with the patriarch this time."
Zhisui was also very happy to see Itachi back. He took Itachi back to his office and said this on the way.
Thanks to the chaos in the world ten years ago, the barriers between Konoha and the Uchiha clan have almost disappeared. Of course, the main reason is that Orochimaru, who doesn't mind this, was replaced as Hokage. Almost all the old people with old ideas were excluded by him. Outside the power level of Konoha, otherwise the Hokage would not have summoned the heads of the Uchiha clan to discuss anything before.
But in recent years, this kind of thing is very common.
"Do you have anything to ask the clan leader?" Zhishui asked
"No, it's not something that I'm particularly anxious about. And I've already thought about asking you to inquire."
Itachi sat upright opposite Shisui and said in a deep voice, "You must have heard about what happened to Sasuke before, right?"
It is unlikely that Shisui would not understand such a major matter, and it is also related to Jiraiya. After all, he is considered a high-ranking member of the new generation of Konoha and a disciple of Jiraiya. He should know this both emotionally and rationally. times.
Shisui smiled and said, "I knew it was related to Sasuke. Yes, I already knew about it when Kakashi-senpai just came back, but I couldn't get away from going to the Land of Waves, and Teacher Since I still choose to stay there, I probably have my own arrangements, so if I go there rashly, I might disturb him."
Speaking of this, he looked embarrassed again
If he had been without an official position before, he would have applied to the Hokage to go to the Land of Waves anyway after learning about this incident.
But now he is the captain of Konoha's police force and is the core force responsible for protecting Konoha's local security. If he leaves his post without permission, then if Konoha is in any danger, then he will be a sinner.
After the reconciliation between the Uchiha clan and the Hokage clan, most of the Anbu's security protection work for the village was accepted by the Uchiha clan. The current Konoha security force is a real security force. Like before, it was actually the police responsible for trivial matters. It is obviously inconsistent with the military profession of ninja.
Because in the past, ANBU was also accused of being responsible for the security of the village, which made the Uchiha clan seem more embarrassed.
Itachi also understood this very well, so he didn't say anything more, but asked again
"One more question, that is the fruit that Sasuke ate. Do you have any guesses?"
"I have discussed this with the clan leader..." Zhisui frowned slightly, leaned back and said slowly
"We think Kakashi's guess is probably correct. The fruit that Sasuke ate was the Shashao Fruit that Ace mentioned. We just don't know if there is only one fruit... "
When the Shichibukai was born, Itachi was still very young, but after being a ninja for so many years, he had some understanding of what happened back then. After all, as the son of the Uchiha clan, he had many news channels.
So he said with some confusion, "If according to what the Shichibukai said, Ace represents the D clan, I thought the burning fruit would be the power of this clan."
Just like the Uchiha clan has the Sharingan, it is not surprising that a family as old as the D clan can still be a member of the Shichibukai. There is something unique about the family.
"It may not always be a burnt fruit."
Shisui chuckled and said, "If everyone in the D clan was a Shashao fruit, then there would be no need for Ace to emphasize this point in the first place. He could just talk about controlling flames."
"...This is also the case." After being reminded by Shisui, Itachi said thoughtfully, "You mean that in addition to the burning fruit, the D family has other fruits? After eating them, you will gain something different from control. The power of fire to burn fruits?”
"It's just a guess, but I personally think it's very possible."
At this point, Shisui felt a little troubled again. He spread his hands and said, "No matter what, we have no way to verify it. Those who know something about the D family and its members are all dead. No matter how much we guess, we can't get it." Answered."
Itachi nodded noncommittally. If he could get other fruits, he might have some understanding of the burning fruit at the moment Sasuke ate it.