Chương 157: Chapter 157
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"Heh, trying to recruit them right under my nose, are we?" Yuikei, the only one in the group not from the Uchiha clan, chuckled as he folded his arms upon hearing Yamato's proposal.
On the opposite side, Akatsuchi, careful not to make eye contact with Yuikei, asked in a low voice, "Are you an Uchiha too?"
"I'm not."
Yuikei, who took great pride in being from the Hagoromo clan, immediately denied it without hesitation.
"That's good," Akatsuchi sighed in relief.
He wasn't comfortable talking without looking someone in the eye—it felt impolite.
Meanwhile, Jin, whose wife was Yuikei's sister, quickly voiced his loyalty, "Captain, you know where my loyalty lies."
Yuikei glanced at Jin and nodded casually. Who would've thought that despite Jin's wild and arrogant exterior, he was utterly obedient to his wife? Betrayal? That was simply out of the question.
Yamato, after hearing the exchange between Yuikei and Jin, quickly processed the situation in his mind: This man isn't from the Uchiha clan but is a shinobi from Jōmae Village. If the Uchiha willingly call him captain, he must be incredibly strong. Small villages aren't supposed to produce such figures—unless he's from the Hagoromo clan!
As the leader of this mission, Yamato had access to a wealth of intelligence gathered by the united investigation teams, including a key piece of information: the Hagoromo clan, once as renowned as the Uchiha and Senju, had mysteriously disappeared from the shinobi world. Rumor had it that they had settled in Jōmae Village.
Now it seemed that rumor was very likely true.
Moreover, considering Jin's attitude toward Yuikei, Yamato's suggestion of bringing them back to Konoha was clearly impossible.
Yamato sighed inwardly. The thought of the Uchiha and Hagoromo clans joining forces was unsettling. To make matters worse, there was also Gensou, whose abilities seemed unfathomable, leading them.
Sure enough, Izumi, who had been mostly quiet until now, spoke up with a firm rejection, "The Uchiha will never return to Konoha. We've had enough of being looked down on by its villagers, and we don't want to risk being labeled traitors again, facing another massacre."
Wait, what? There's something deeper here!
Kurotsuchi and the other Iwa shinobi perked up, ready to soak in the drama. Although they were working alongside Konoha for now, they didn't forget that they were still rivals. Hearing Konoha's dirty laundry? That was something they were eager to spread.
"Why?" Naruto, not waiting for Yamato to respond, asked anxiously.
He had been so happy when Yamato suggested that the Uchiha could return to the village. After all, that meant Sasuke would come back too.
But now, with Izumi rejecting the offer outright, Naruto couldn't understand. Why did people have to fight to the death? They were once family, so why couldn't they just reconcile?
"Idiot," Sasuke muttered from the side.
He had thought that over the past two years, Naruto's strength had increased, and maybe his mind had matured a little as well. But in the end, he was still the same—always seeing things through rose-colored glasses.
A shattered mirror, no matter how carefully pieced back together, could never be the same as before. Even if you managed to repair it, the cracks inside would always remain invisible yet ever-present.
The Uchiha, having endured one night of massacre, would never entrust their fate to Konoha again. Besides, compared to Konoha, the Uchiha already had a better place to pledge their loyalty.
Naruto fell silent.
He couldn't understand why Sasuke, Kurotsuchi, and so many others thought of him as foolish, naive, and unrealistic.
Yes, he didn't understand the world of adults.
But did that mean the adult world was right?
What was wrong with trying to exchange one sincere heart for another? Even if others didn't want to, couldn't, or wouldn't, he was willing to keep trying.
Yet, no matter how hard he tried, there were always obstacles in his way.
"So, just as Captain Yamato said, I have to keep growing. I need to become strong enough that no one can ignore me," Naruto thought, clenching his fists, his expression complicated.
At that moment, a sinister red chakra began leaking uncontrollably from Naruto's body.
"Disappointment, pain, helplessness—I can feel your intense emotions!" came a voice from deep within him.
"Boy, do you want to stop everything around you? Do you want everything to go your way? Power! You need more power!" In the dark, sealed space, the massive form of the Nine-Tails emerged from the shadows, its glowing eyes glaring through the cage as it tempted Naruto, "Tear off the seal on the bars, and I'll give you the power you need. Power that can change everything!"
"Power… I… I need power…" Naruto muttered, walking toward the cage instinctively.
In the real world, the ominous crimson chakra of the Nine-Tails began to envelop Naruto, covering his entire body.
"Naruto!"
Yamato, shocked by the sudden outburst of tailed beast chakra, panicked. He had no choice but to prioritize suppressing the chakra. Just as he prepared to use Mokuton to forcibly suppress the beast's energy, something unexpected happened.
Sasuke, Jin, and Izumi, sensing the change, turned toward Naruto. Their three-tomoe Sharingan activated simultaneously.
In the blink of an eye.
Drip…
In the damp, water-filled space of the seal.
Sasuke, Jin, and Izumi appeared beside Naruto.
Sasuke looked up and saw the massive beast behind the golden bars, its mere size enough to shock anyone. His eyes widened slightly.
"So this is the Nine-Tails…"
Seeing it with his own eyes, Sasuke had never imagined that the monster sealed inside Naruto would be so enormous.
"That revoltingly familiar scent! It's… the cursed Sharingan!"
The Nine-Tails, noticing the intruders, immediately turned to see the three pairs of eyes it despised staring at him.
Naruto, who had been under the beast's influence, snapped out of his daze as he saw Sasuke and the others. Looking around in confusion, he asked, "Huh? How did I get here? And Sasuke… why are you here too?"
Before Sasuke could respond, bubbles began to rise from the water, forming a gigantic fox head with slit eyes glaring coldly at the three intruders.
The naturally evil Uchiha!
The Nine-Tails had almost succeeded in luring Naruto, only to be interrupted by these three. And the beast hadn't forgotten the times it had been controlled by the Sharingan, leading to its two humiliating defeats.
One time, it had been beaten by Senju Hashirama and sealed within a jinchūriki. The second time, it had been split in half, with only one part of itself remaining in the real world.
Both instances could be traced back to the Uchiha.
Old grudges and new hatred swirled within the Nine-Tails as it lowered its head, ready to tempt Naruto once again…
(End of Chapter)
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