Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

The middle-aged Sasuke turned his head to the side and gently shook his head.

The sunlight in the office seemed to dim at that moment.

In this suffocating silence—

"Knock knock."

A clear and polite knock on the door suddenly rang out, forcibly pulling everyone's thoughts back to reality.

Naruto took a deep breath, sat down, and his voice regained some of the composure befitting a Hokage.

"Please come in."

The door was pushed open from the outside, and two figures dressed in plain-colored kimonos walked in.

The elderly man at the head had a solemn face, his long white hair was neatly tied back, and his pure white eyes held the majesty unique to the main family of the Hyuga clan.

He is none other than the current head of the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Hiashi.

Following behind him was his second daughter, Hyuga Hanabi, who also wore a look of unease.

"Father-in-law?" Naruto stood up in surprise when he saw the person who came.

"Lord Seventh Generation."

As always, Hiashi Hyuga's address was formal. He nodded slightly to Naruto as a sign of respect, then his gaze swept over Sasuke, Sakura, and the others present, his brows furrowing even more.

"It seems I've come at the wrong time; you appear to be discussing important matters."

"No, it's okay." Naruto immediately shook his head. "Did something happen?"

He knew that unless it was something important, given Hyuga Hiashi's personality, he would never personally come to the Hokage's office.

"Ah."

Hiashi Hyuga nodded, and without further pleasantries, got straight to the point.

"Just now, we felt an extremely strong sense of being spied on inside the Hyuga clan's residence."

"Spying?" Shikamaru frowned. "Is it a sensory-type ninja? The village's been in turmoil lately because of the Chunin Exams..."

"Do not."

Hiashi Hyuga's voice turned low, "If they are sensory ninjas, they cannot escape the detection of our Byakugan."

"After that, we immediately activated the highest level of alert within the clan, and I personally led a team to conduct a thorough search of the entire clan territory."

Hinata Hanabi added from the side, her voice icy: "But we gained nothing."

"Nothing gained?" Naruto's expression also turned serious.

Hiashi Hyuga nodded slowly, watching Naruto continue to add.

"Yes, nothing. Even with my eyes, I couldn't find any trace of the intruder, neither the flow of chakra nor any physical traces."

These words made everyone present feel a sudden sinking feeling in their hearts.

The Byakugan of the Hyuga clan is known as the strongest reconnaissance bloodline limit in Konoha, especially in the hands of Hiashi Hyuga, the head of the main clan, whose perceptive abilities are beyond doubt.

Who could be this spy that even he couldn't detect?!

"Is that Sasuke?!"

An urgent voice suddenly rang out in the office.

It's Naruto.

He blurted it out almost instinctively, immediately linking this strange event to the recently vanished "young Sasuke."

This question startled Hiashi Hyuga, who had just been speaking.

He subconsciously turned his head and looked at the silent middle-aged Sasuke with an extremely confused expression.

"Seventh Hokage, what's wrong...?"

"what......"

Naruto also reacted instantly. Looking at Hiashi's bewildered eyes and then at the calm middle-aged Sasuke beside him, he waved his hands anxiously.

"No, no, what I mean is..." He scratched his head incoherently, trying to explain, but the more he tried, the worse it got.

"That shouldn't be possible."

Just then, Shikamaru, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

He interrupted Naruto's embarrassment and calmly analyzed, "Although it's hard to believe, we have just confirmed that another 'past' Uchiha Sasuke has indeed appeared in the village."

"but......"

Shikamaru's eyes sharpened. "According to Sasuke, that 'him' is around fifteen years old."

"No matter how extraordinary his talent may be, it is absolutely impossible for him to disappear without a trace under your disdain."

"Not to mention, they managed to evade the entire Hyuga clan's detection."

Shikamaru's analysis also reflected the sentiments of most people present.

Yes, after all, they are the Hyuga clan, the strongest reconnaissance eyes in Konoha.

How could a teenager possibly...?

However, just when everyone thought so, a deep voice refuted it all.

"Do not."

The middle-aged Sasuke finally spoke, "He and I were completely different beings back then."

"Don't use the version of me you know to judge him now."

"..."

Meanwhile, young Sasuke had already left Konoha.

Hiashi Hyuga's judgment was correct; he was indeed the spy, and that person was him.

A barely perceptible wisp of spiritual energy quietly dissipated from Sasuke's fingertips.

The 26th of the Binding Path - Curved Light.

A Kido that isn't considered high-level has only one function: to weave one's spiritual pressure into a nearly transparent veil, covering the body and achieving perfect invisibility by distorting the trajectory of light.

This is not a particularly sophisticated technique. Against opponents of the same level, one can always detect subtle fluctuations in spiritual pressure if one is observant.

The reason why Hyuga's "Byakugan" is so powerful is that it can see through the flow of chakra and see through all physical disguises.

However, Hiashi and his companions were far weaker than Sasuke, so in their eyes, Sasuke was probably just a non-existent piece of air.

His interest in the Hyuga clan was merely a whim.

He recalled the preliminary rounds of the Chunin Exams, the so-called "destined duel" between Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga.

Fratricide within the same clan, the main family and branch families—a fate bound by the "Caged Bird" curse...

So he wanted to come and see.

Let's see if the "future" created by Naruto Uzumaki, who overcame "himself" and successfully became the Seventh Hokage, has truly changed.

That idiot who boasts about wanting everyone's approval and changing everything...

Has this oldest and ugliest "tumor" that has taken root in the Hyuga clan's body truly been removed?

But unfortunately, the "caged bird" is still here.

Just as he had seen in Hyuga Neji in the past.

Nothing has changed.

.........

The so-called peace, the so-called future.

It's nothing more than repainting the decay of the past with a brand-new wallpaper called "peace."

Beneath the wallpaper, the wall remained riddled with holes and rotten, long since eaten away by termites.

The Hyuga clan's distorted system of main and branch families still exists, and the tragedy of the "caged bird" continues.

And then there's Naruto Uzumaki, who became the Seventh Hokage...

He turned a blind eye to it.

Changing an ancient family that has been passed down for thousands of years is no less difficult than waging a war.

That would shake the village's "stability" and touch upon those deeply entrenched "interests".

Therefore, he chose to compromise, just like Hiruzen Sarutobi did back then.

For the sake of that ridiculous "big picture," for the sake of that hypocritical "peace," they tacitly allowed this darkness to continue to exist.

"..."

Sasuke finally understood.

This future world is no different from his world.

And Naruto Uzumaki, who overcame "himself" and eventually became Hokage, was nothing more than another person he once hated.

This kind of future... is utterly boring.

Sasuke Uchiha's figure quietly disappeared at the edge of Konoha Village. He began to wander like a aimless ghost on this land of the future.

Soon, he arrived at the capital of the Land of Fire, or rather, the place where the daimyo lived.

This is the true heart of the country, a place where power and wealth converge, and also the furthest place from the world of blood and fire of the ninjas.

The capital was far more prosperous than Konoha was in his memory.

The street is paved with smooth bluestone slabs, and lined with shops on both sides, with luxurious silk signs hanging on them.

The air was filled with the sweet aroma of fine incense and delicate pastries, which, together with the elegantly dressed pedestrians, created this glamorous scene.

Sasuke found a spot on the roof of a teahouse and sat down. He silently activated his Sharingan and indifferently surveyed the area below.

Then, he saw it.

I saw several nobles dressed in fine clothes sitting around an open-air tea table. On the low table in front of them were expensive tea sets, but their faces were full of weariness from being used to everything.

"...This year's new tea is still a bit lacking in flavor."