Chapter 351: Extra Chapter 3: Binding Illusion
Akihara Kagura.
The name often comes with many suffixes.
Sly, deceitful, cunning, and possessing catastrophic power akin to that of a monster.
Whether it's about Konoha or major events in the ninja world, Akihara Kagura always plays a role, with many developments being subtly manipulated by his dark hand.
In front of others, Akihara Kagura always appears arrogant and reckless, seemingly brainless, but beneath this facade lies a terrifyingly cunning mind capable of plunging the entire ninja world into chaos!
Everyone in the ninja world believes…
If Akihara Kagura didn't exist, the ninja world wouldn't have so many troubles, and surely everyone could live in peace.
"..."
Uchiha Sasuke remembered.
The night before he arrived in this world, he attended a Five Great Nations meeting as the Hokage's assistant. Many people secretly ridiculed Akihara Kagura's atrocious deeds during the meeting and even criticized one of Konoha's Sannin, Jiraiya, for writing books to whitewash Akihara Kagura...
That old fool...
Could someone like Akihara Kagura really be whitewashed?
Which of the Five Great Nations' ninja villages hasn't suffered at the hands of Akihara Kagura?
Now…
He truly saw it…
Maybe this world is without Akihara Kagura.
Uchiha Sasuke finally found the biggest problem in this world. The absence of Akihara Kagura is the biggest problem. What would a world without Akihara Kagura be like?
Is this Akihara Kagura's doing?
Trying to show him what a world without him would be like?
What a joke! Could there be a worse situation than having an entire world manipulated by one person?
Surely…
It would be peaceful, right?
Uchiha Sasuke instinctively thought this ninja world must be quite good.
Faced with the confused looks of his Team 7 companions in this world, Uchiha Sasuke casually made up an excuse to brush off their suspicions: "Akihara Kagura... is the name I gave to a ninja crow... it often accompanied me during training..."
"..."
The members of Team 7 didn't suspect anything.
The name Akihara Kagura was very unfamiliar, and since Uchiha Sasuke had never left the village, mentioning the name so nonchalantly made it seem like Akihara Kagura really was just an ordinary ninja crow's name...
However…
Uchiha Sasuke couldn't help but start observing everyone present. Watching Uzumaki Naruto noisily asking for more ramen, and Hatake Kakashi lazily sitting beside him.
A world without Akihara Kagura…
What would Kakashi-sensei and Naruto be like?
It seems no different?
No…
There are differences.
Uchiha Sasuke's expression suddenly became complicated.
With the experience of the third leader of the Root, Uchiha Sasuke was no longer the naive boy. He immediately noticed some very subtle differences.
For instance, this world's Uzumaki Naruto excessively enjoys making noise, desperately wanting everyone's attention, hoping not to be ignored by his companions. Even when Naruto finishes his ramen and parts ways with everyone, his back looks particularly lonely…
For example, this world's Kakashi-sensei is excessively lax, even his eyes show a lack of motivation, speaking about everything with a careless attitude, as if living and dying makes no difference to him…
At the crossroads of the village.
Uchiha Sasuke stood at the center, watching his teacher and companions walking in different directions, his expression becoming increasingly complex.
This complexity…
Was suffocating for Uchiha Sasuke.
If his mentality was truly that of a twelve-year-old, he might not have noticed these things seeing Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto like this...
However, he could feel their emotions and knew some truths, and knew why they were like this…
Uzumaki Naruto had been shunned as a demon fox by the village since childhood, never feeling love, always alone, yet he's an idiot who warmly wants everyone to feel loved…
Hatake Kakashi lost his father at a young age, finally had companions he could trust with his life, Uchiha Obito and Rin, only for Obito to sacrifice himself to save him, asking him to take care of Rin in his last moments, yet Rin died at Kakashi's hands…
By the way…
This world's Hatake Kakashi might not know the truth about Rin's death, nor does he know that Uchiha Obito is still alive.
In the real world, Kakashi-sensei only knew Obito was alive through the 'coincidence' orchestrated by Akihara Kagura…
Uzumaki Naruto is the same…
This world's Uzumaki Naruto didn't have Akihara Kagura's care, nor did he have Karin as a childhood neighbor…
After all…
Karin was also brought to Konoha by Akihara Kagura.
Uchiha Sasuke couldn't help but think of Karin. She had always been a formidable rival to him, one he highly respected. How was this world's Karin doing?
Without Akihara Kagura…
That woman Karin should still be strong, right?
After all, she was his greatest competitor at one point!
Besides Karin…
There are many people and many things…
Everyone and everything in the real world is closely connected to Akihara Kagura, with the fate of all ninjas affected by him…
Who knows…
How the world would move forward without Akihara Kagura.
When Uchiha Sasuke was feeling uncertain about this world's future, something happened that reassured him.
Because after doing low-level tasks for a long time, Team 7 received a C-rank mission. They would escort a bridge builder, Tazuna, back to the Land of Waves!
In this world…
Some events seem to happen the same way as in the real world.
Even without Akihara Kagura, the world's future path seems unchanged, and they were still attacked by the Mist ninjas while escorting Tazuna!
Clang!
Two shurikens flew toward Team 7!
Uchiha Sasuke swiftly drew his ninja sword, skillfully juggling two shuriken between the blade before throwing them back along their original trajectories. They struck the hidden Mist ninja perfectly.
"Impressive…"
Hatake Kakashi praised with a slightly darkened gaze.
However…
Sasuke parted the grass and uttered a statement that made Kakashi's eyelids twitch uncontrollably: "Are the Mist ninja ambushing us to start a war with Konoha?"
"That… shouldn't be the case…"
Kakashi glanced at his subordinates. Considering their mismatched group, it seemed unlikely. Yet, with Naruto being the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, one couldn't completely dismiss the possibility of provoking a conflict.
But something felt off.
Kakashi quickly dismissed the notion of war, realizing Sasuke's words had led him astray. These two ambushing Chunin from Mist were certainly not here to incite a war.
"Ahem…"
Kakashi cleared his throat, refocusing his thoughts. He looked at Tazuna and spoke the truth: "These two aimed to attack us, likely because of the person we are escorting."
"…"
Sasuke also put aside his exaggerated thoughts.
No… it wasn't unreasonable. He was simply accustomed to speaking from the perspective of an advisor to the Hokage and the leader of the Root, often exaggerating matters to force others to agree with him—a tactic he learned from Akihara Kagura.
Sasuke quietly watched Kakashi question Tazuna to uncover the truth behind the Mist attack, while his thoughts drifted back to reality.
"Sasuke-kun… Sasuke-kun."
A young girl, Haruno Sakura, stood beside Sasuke, softly praising her admired companion: "Sasuke-kun, you're amazing! You even managed to deflect those shuriken!"
"…"
A bitter smile flashed across Sasuke's face.
Ha… just a simple trick.
"Hmph…"
Uzumaki Naruto, seeing the girl he admired swooning, couldn't help but mock Sasuke loudly: "That's just a basic trick, Sakura! I can do it too!"
"You idiot…"
Sasuke resisted the urge to knock on Naruto's head.
"Alright, you little brats…"
Kakashi clapped his hands, having uncovered the truth from Tazuna. He signaled his team to gather: "Tazuna-san is heading to the Land of Waves to build a bridge. This mission is actually B-rank, and we'll likely encounter ninja on the way. Do you want to accept Tazuna-san's invitation?"
"Of course!"
Naruto waved his fist nonchalantly: "If Sasuke hadn't acted so quickly, I would've beaten those guys who ambushed us!"
"Sure…"
Sasuke rubbed his forehead helplessly: "If you hadn't been too scared to move by their killing intent, I might've believed you."
"Jerk!"
The group continued their journey amidst bickering.
However…
Sasuke had already gleaned some information from their conversation. This world's Konoha wasn't like the Konoha in reality. Kakashi never mentioned the complex relationship between Mist and Konoha, only that they were enemy villages.
Evidently, Konoha's status here wasn't high. Without Akihara Kagura, there was no one capable of capturing the Mizukage single-handedly and forcing Mist to become a vassal of Konoha.
This Konoha was somewhat decayed and fallen.
Yet…
Mist didn't seem much better. They hadn't encountered any Mist attacks on their way.
"I thought it would be dangerous!"
Naruto, carrying his small backpack, looked somewhat unhappy: "I didn't expect to reach the Land of Waves so smoothly. I wanted to fight!"
"This smoothness is not a good sign…"
Kakashi shook his head, his gaze becoming more solemn: "The enemy won't just let us complete our mission…"
Whoosh!
A powerful gust of wind howled as a large ninja sword flew towards them. Kakashi kicked it away, and it embedded itself in a tree.
"The Kubikiribōchō…"
Sasuke immediately recognized the sword!
In the next moment!
A figure wrapped in bandages stood atop a wide ninja sword, slightly tilting his head to look down at a group of Konoha ninjas, his gaze cold and merciless.
"Isn't that the rogue ninja from Mist, Zabuza Momochi?"
Hatake Kakashi immediately recognized the identity of the newcomer.
Rogue ninjas from each village are typically registered and listed on wanted posters, especially a famous one like Zabuza Momochi.
"So, it's the renowned Sharingan Kakashi..."
Zabuza also recognized Kakashi. He wasn't concerned with Kakashi's great reputation; both of them were Jōnin, after all.
"And you've brought a bunch of troublesome kids!"
"..."
Uchiha Sasuke glanced deeply at Zabuza.
"Kid, what are you looking at!"
Zabuza looked back at Sasuke irritably, his killing intent spreading out, but it couldn't make Sasuke show any sign of fear.
"Hmm?"
Zabuza looked at Sasuke in some surprise, noticing that Sasuke's eyes were turning blood red: "This kid... that's... the Sharingan?"
"Yes..."
Sasuke smirked mockingly: "Maybe I should commend your courage for daring to look directly at the Sharingan, but your bravery is the only thing worth commending..."
"You little brat!"
A trace of unease flashed in Zabuza's heart.
"I'll take care of you first, then kill that old man!"
Zabuza dragged his large sword towards Team 7, kicking Uzumaki Naruto into the water to lure Kakashi into rescuing him, then controlled the water to trap Kakashi.
"Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu!"
With one hand immersed in the water prison, Zabuza maintained the technique, a hint of reassurance in his eyes: "As long as I can control Kakashi in time, the next step is to kill Tazuna and complete the mission. A bunch of kids can't cause any trouble..."
"That might not be certain..."
Zabuza could only see Kakashi's body curled up in the water prison, muttering: "My subordinates' strength might exceed your expectations..."
"Hmph, are you joking?"
Controlling Kakashi with one hand, Zabuza glanced back indifferently at his water clone's battle, sneering: "One water clone is enough to deal with those kids and the old man..."
Zabuza's water clone was very strong, kicking Naruto away and swinging his large sword at Sasuke.
However...
Sasuke didn't move at all, but Zabuza's water clone was suddenly immobilized!
"What is this..."
"Why can't I move..."
"Move, body!"
Zabuza's water clone couldn't move, and even his real body felt something was wrong, as if countless nails were piercing him!
"This is... Binding Illusion?"
Zabuza finally realized he was still standing on his large sword, and that this battle had never occurred.
"It seems you've fallen into a genjutsu..."
Kakashi sighed, the water around him breaking apart as if nothing had happened: "From the moment we saw you, Sasuke just glanced at you and trapped you in an illusion..."
"It should be said..."
"As expected of the Uchiha?"
Such a high-level genjutsu, even Kakashi couldn't perform it as effortlessly as Sasuke, and it had been a long time since he'd seen such a genjutsu expert.
"Go."
Sasuke lifted his head to look at Zabuza, his eyes blood red, directly hinting through the genjutsu: "Zabuza, kill the hidden person nearby..."
"There's someone else?"
Sakura Haruno and Naruto were startled!
"..."
Hearing this, Kakashi frowned slightly. This subordinate's power was a bit too strong, almost as if he enjoyed toying with people's lives.
"Yes."
Zabuza's eyes grew vacant.
Even with just the three-tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke's eye power was incredibly strong, easily setting a genjutsu suggestion. If he wanted, he could trap Zabuza in an illusion forever!
In the next moment!
Zabuza swung his large sword at a tree, forcing out a masked, beautiful figure hidden there!
"There really is someone!"
Naruto was astonished at the sight of the fight.
"..."
Kakashi looked at Sasuke, who appeared calm, with a sense of unease.
This subordinate's mind...
Was it excessively cold or excessively mature?
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