Naruto: Zanka No Tachi

Chapter 31: NZNT: Chapter 31

”Orochimaru-sama, what do you mean by this?” Yusuke said coldly, staring at Orochimaru who had suddenly attacked him.

Yusuke didn’t believe that Orochimaru would turn against him here. After all, his strength was no less than Orochimaru’s, and there was no point in fighting him.

Orochimaru stopped attacking and performed a sword-swallowing stunt, returning the Kusanagi sword to his belly.

”Yusuke-kun, the cursed seal contains half of the Nine-Tailed Fox’s Yin Release chakra, right?”

”I went to see the Fourth Hokage’s son. The Eight Trigrams Seal on his stomach only has half of the Nine-Tailed Fox’s Yang Release chakra.”

”I’m very curious. On the night of the Nine-Tailed Fox Rampage, how were you able to get half of the Nine-Tailed Fox’s Yin Release chakra from the Fourth Hokage and Kushina?”

Staring intently at the Two-Yi Seal on Yusuke’s left chest, Orochimaru asked Yusuke with interest.

The Two-Yi Seal, because it had sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox, had become very clear. It wasn’t as dim as it was when it was first formed.

Seeing that Orochimaru had discovered his secret, Yusuke said slowly, ”It was just a lucky coincidence. You’re not going to tell the Third Hokage about this, are you?”

Orochimaru laughed, his hoarse voice very unpleasant.

”Orochimaru-sama, please keep your voice down. Your experiments have been making a lot of noise lately. I don’t want anyone to discover that we’re close.” Yusuke said calmly.

Stopping his creepy laughter, Orochimaru looked at Yusuke and said, ”Yusuke-kun, this place isn’t for people like us!”

”The so-called ’Will of Fire,’ the so-called ’bonds,’ have restrained how many talented people?”

”Come with me and leave the village. I already have a very suitable base. I believe that if we work together to develop forbidden jutsu, we can definitely transcend the realm of ordinary ninjas and reach the extraordinary!”

As Orochimaru spoke, he spread his arms, as if he were looking towards the future.

”Of course, don’t worry. With your strength and talent, you won’t be my subordinate. We’ll be completely equal!”

Orochimaru looked at Yusuke sincerely, waiting for his reply.

”I’m sorry, but I have no intention of leaving the village,” Yusuke said, rejecting Orochimaru’s proposal without hesitation.

Yusuke hadn’t expected that Orochimaru was here to invite him to defect from the village.

Although Orochimaru’s invitation was very sincere, with equality as a prerequisite, Yusuke had too many people in the village that he couldn’t bear to leave. He couldn’t just leave.

Hearing Yusuke’s answer, Orochimaru looked very disappointed, ”Yusuke-kun, you truly can’t escape the entanglements of the mundane world?”

”With you like this, your strength might just stop here.”

”A person’s ambition determines the height they can reach!”

As he spoke, Orochimaru’s body gradually turned into an illusion and slowly disappeared into the air.

”Yusuke-kun, I’ll be in Konoha for a while. If you change your mind, it’s not too late!”

Yusuke shook his head, looking at the spot where Orochimaru had disappeared. He turned and slowly walked towards the Uchiha clan headquarters.

”If I had no ties, maybe I would really cooperate with Orochimaru and pursue the purest power?”

Yusuke couldn’t help but think to himself.

Time flew by. Three months passed.

After Yusuke defeated Shisui in the previous competition, his reputation reached its peak in the Uchiha clan. After all, the ninja world was a world where strength spoke for itself. Many clan members who had been dissatisfied with Yusuke before had become respectful towards him during this time.

At the same time, the title of ”Flame Sword” was known to everyone in Konoha. Many people in Konoha had watched his battle with Shisui. Yusuke’s strength was rumored to be incredible.

Shisui, who had been defeated by Yusuke, also saw his reputation rise instead of fall. Shisui had also displayed near-Kage-level strength in this competition. Although he was defeated by Yusuke, no one would consider him weak.

With the two masters, ”Flame Sword” and ”Shunshin Shisui,” the Uchiha clan’s declining reputation had risen again in recent years. But it also made the major ninja clans very wary.

During this period, nothing major happened in Konoha Village. The villagers were all busy rebuilding the village.

The only major news was that Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, had returned to the village and was stationed there, which reassured the villagers who had just suffered the Nine-Tailed Fox Rampage.

Konoha Hospital, the ward where the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was staying.

Jiraiya looked at his disciple, who was lying unconscious in bed, and felt a pang of self-blame.

”If I had been in Konoha Village at that time, Minato wouldn’t have been under so much pressure. He wouldn’t have ended up like this,” Jiraiya sighed.

”Jiraiya-sama, it’s not your fault. No one could have predicted that the Nine-Tailed Fox would suddenly attack the village,” Kakashi said beside him, trying to comfort Jiraiya.

”I hope we can find Tsunade as soon as possible. If she were here, she would definitely be able to wake up Minato. Once Minato wakes up, we’ll be able to know what exactly happened that night.”

Hearing Jiraiya’s words, Kakashi frowned, ”Are you saying that something else happened that night?”

Jiraiya nodded affirmatively, ”Yes!”

”With Minato and Kushina’s strength, they shouldn’t have been unable to deal with a Nine-Tailed Fox. This isn’t simple!”

Jiraiya said seriously, analyzing the situation.

After they finished talking about Minato’s injuries, Kakashi asked, ”By the way, Jiraiya-sama, the Fourth Hokage’s child, the Third Hokage sent him to the orphanage first. Are you going to go see him?”

”Naruto, huh?” Jiraiya smiled slightly. ”Of course, I’m going to see him. Let’s go now.”

”Huh? Is this your book, Jiraiya-sama?”

As they were about to leave, Kakashi noticed a pink-covered book on the cabinet next to the Fourth Hokage’s bed.

Jiraiya smiled proudly, ”This book was written by me. I just finished the first volume! This one is for you. I believe that as a real man, you’ll love it!”

Kakashi thanked him and picked up the book to take a look. The words ”Make Out Paradise” were printed on the cover.

”It looks like a very heartwarming book,” Kakashi thought to himself, putting the book into his ninja vest.

”By the way, Jiraiya-sama, there are some things I want to ask you about training. It’s about my Sharingan.”

”Alright, let’s talk as we walk.”

Not long after Jiraiya returned to the village, it was time for the new class of the Ninja Academy to start. Izumi and Itachi were both of age to enter the Ninja Academy.

Although Kabuto was two years older than them, Yusuke also registered him. He would apply for early graduation after a while. He would officially become a genin through the village’s formal process.

On the first day of school, many people gathered at the entrance of the Ninja Academy. Besides the new students, there were even more parents accompanying the new students.

Because Izumi and Itachi were entering the same year, Yusuke, Uchiha Izumi, and Uchiha Fugaku and his wife all came to the scene.

Looking at Izumi, who was standing among a group of children, Yusuke couldn’t help but sigh, ”Little Izumi is growing up so fast.”

Uchiha Izumi, who was beside Yusuke, laughed, ”You’re such a kid. You’re looking at your sister like an old father looking at his daughter.”

Although Yusuke was only fifteen years old now, he was a time traveler. His actual mental age was older than his current mother, Uchiha Izumi.

For all these years, hadn’t Yusuke been doting on Izumi like an old father doting on his daughter?

Yusuke smiled, ”As the saying goes, an elder brother is like a father. What’s so strange about that?”

At the entrance ceremony, the Third Hokage gave a speech in person. He talked about the history of Konoha Village and the glorious deeds of the previous Hokage. He also emphasized the Will of Fire. When the Third Hokage finished his speech, the entrance ceremony was over.

The new students officially began their basic ninja training. The parents also left the Ninja Academy one after another.

Six months after Izumi, Itachi, and Kabuto entered the academy, they all applied for early graduation. Because they had already trained with Yusuke for a long time, they had all met the requirements for early graduation.

Izumi and Kabuto stayed with Yusuke to continue training. Yusuke wasn’t comfortable with Izumi going out on missions. And Kabuto was Yusuke’s most valuable assistant in developing jutsu. Although he was still young, he could already provide Yusuke with a lot of help.

As for Itachi, he wanted to gain some practical experience on missions. He joined a standard four-person ninja team.

The team leader was the Jonin, Mizunoto Yuki. Besides Itachi, the team also had two genin who were two grades higher than him, Izumo Tenma and Inari Shinko.

Itachi carried out many missions in this team. Although he didn’t integrate into the team at first, as the number of missions increased and the difficulty of the missions continued to grow, the cooperation between Itachi and the other three teammates became more and more tacit. They also became friends.

However, the good times didn’t last. During a guard mission, Itachi’s team was attacked by a mysterious person. The team leader, Mizunoto Yuki, and the genin, Izumo Tenma, were killed. The genin, Inari Shinko, was seriously injured.

The mysterious person didn’t seem to want to harm Itachi. Itachi was only slightly injured in this battle. But the deaths of his captain and teammates stimulated Itachi’s spirit, allowing him to successfully awaken his Sharingan.

Standing in front of his captain’s and teammate’s grave, Itachi thought about the meaning of life again.

When he had just returned to the clan after failing the mission, his father hadn’t cared about the deaths of his teammates. He had only praised him for awakening his Sharingan at such a young age.

At this time, Itachi only felt a great deal of frustration in his heart.

”Itachi, I didn’t expect you to face the sadness of your comrades’ death at such a young age.”

With a sigh, a voice rang out behind Itachi.

Hearing this familiar voice, Itachi turned to look at the person who had spoken.

”Sensei, how did you get here?”

Yusuke walked forward, patted Itachi on the head, and smiled, ”You’re a good kid, but you’re too sentimental. You worry too much.”

”Sensei, have you ever had a comrade die on the battlefield?” Itachi looked up at Yusuke.

”Of course, during the Third Great Ninja War, I saw too much of it. People become numb. It doesn’t affect them anymore,” Yusuke looked into the distance, as if reminiscing about the past.

Yusuke comforted him, ”Being sentimental is useless. Cherish the people around you. Strive to become stronger. Only then will you have the power to change your fate.”

Hearing Yusuke’s words, Itachi was silent for a long time. Then, he suddenly asked Yusuke, ”Sensei, do you think the village or the clan is more important?”

”I thought you would keep that question bottled up inside.”

Yusuke smiled. He found a stone step nearby and sat down. He beckoned to Itachi, signaling him to sit beside him.

”So, Itachi, what do you think is more important?”

Itachi hesitated for a moment before answering, ”In my opinion, the village is more important.”

Yusuke wasn’t surprised by Itachi’s answer. In the original story, Itachi had chosen to destroy his own clan for the sake of the village.

”If one day, the village and the clan have a very serious, irreconcilable conflict, would you sacrifice the entire clan for the sake of the village?”

Hearing Yusuke’s question, Itachi was stunned. He didn’t know what he would choose to do at that time.

Patting Itachi on the shoulder, Yusuke smiled and asked, ”Have you heard of the ”Trolley Problem”?”

”The Trolley Problem?”

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