Naruto, what kind of Hokage would you be if you didn't roll around!

"I killed him with my own hands, avenging my parents and clansmen, and ending my hatred!"

The mysterious masked man said, "You're absolutely right."

"However, behind that blood-soaked night, an even more cruel and chilling truth lies hidden..."

"Now, I will tell you everything."

Sasuke's soul seemed to go blank for a moment.

We await the truth.

……

"Sasuke!!!"

In a hospital ward in Konoha Village.

Naruto jolted awake from his bed, gasping for breath as if he'd just had the worst nightmare...

"Naruto-kun?"

“What…what happened?!”

A pair of gentle eyes came closer, gazing at me with a mixture of doubt and concern.

Naruto glanced at her, and suddenly felt a little relieved.

The one who was taking such good care of him was, of course, Hinata.

"Hinata, I...I just had a dream!"

"No, no, this isn't a dream!"

"That was the information transmitted after my shadow clone dissipated!"

Naruto suddenly realized what had happened and immediately jumped off the bed, ready to run out of the ward.

"Naruto-kun! What's going on?!"

Naruto, without turning his head, said, "It's Sasuke! Something's happened to Sasuke!"

Hinata was slightly taken aback, and hurriedly followed after him.

In the Hokage's office.

Tsunade was discussing with everyone the plan to rebuild Konoha and the subsequent purge of the Akatsuki organization.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and Naruto, panting heavily, came into view.

"Naruto?"

"What’s wrong with you?!"

Tsunade frowned.

Although Naruto defeated Pain, he used the Great Rasengan twice in Sage Mode and exhausted the chakra in the Yin Seal. Coupled with the injuries he sustained in the battle, Tsunade forced him to be sent to Konoha Hospital for treatment and recuperation.

But at this moment, he couldn't care less about anything else.

"Grandma Tsunade, that lecherous sage, no... this is terrible!"

"Sasuke, he..."

Jiraiya's heart sank immediately.

"Naruto, slow down, what happened to Sasuke?!"

At that moment, Hinata caught up and gently took Naruto's trembling hand.

"Naruto-kun, don't panic, what's wrong with Sasuke?"

Naruto felt the warmth emanating from the palm of his hand, and his anxiety subsided somewhat.

He nodded and recounted everything that his shadow clone had sensed and experienced.

"The Great Toad Sage said that in the future, I must make a choice to save the two most important people to me..."

"I thought I had avoided all of this by using shadow clones, but I never expected..."

Jiraiya looked at Naruto, sighed, and walked over to pat him on the shoulder.

"Naruto, you've done your best, there's nothing to blame yourself for..."

"In fact, the entire ninja world should be extremely grateful to you."

Naruto refused to raise his head.

"Perverted Sage, I'll be just as happy and proud to be able to return to the village and save you and everyone else, but what about Sasuke..."

"Blame me……"

"I thought that Sasuke killing Itachi meant that the decision had been made, so I let my guard down."

"Unexpectedly, that masked man saw through the flaw and kidnapped Sasuke..."

"How stupid of me! If Itachi was destined to be killed by Sasuke anyway, then what kind of calamity is this?!"

Jiraiya and the others understood what he meant.

In Konoha Village, Jiraiya was indeed facing a life-or-death crisis at the time.

Because Pain was about to unleash the Shinra Tensei.

After that, Jiraiya went to pursue Pain alone, and based on the information he obtained later, it is not impossible, and even very likely, that he died at Pain's hands.

But Sasuke is different.

Even if Naruto's shadow clones hadn't gone, he most likely wouldn't have died at Itachi's hands.

Putting aside one-on-one battles, Sasuke did indeed defeat Itachi Uchiha and even killed him.

If Naruto's shadow clone hadn't arrived, Mei Terumi wouldn't have listened to him because of his previous kindness, which means...

The people from Kirigakure and the Dawn Alliance will swarm in.

No matter how powerful Itachi Uchiha was, he would never have been able to escape when faced with Mei Terumi, Might Guy, Yamato, Darui, Kurotsuchi, and so many other powerful and skilled fighters.

However, he will die at the hands of someone else, not at the hands of his assistant.

In other words, the battle between Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha was not Sasuke's ordeal to begin with.

Because he will not die no matter what.

At this moment, Naruto blamed himself for not realizing this.

Tsunade frowned and said, "Naruto, if what you said is true, that Sasuke was taken away by that man who called himself Uchiha Madara, but he said he wasn't interested in you, only in Sasuke, then I'm afraid he wouldn't have killed Sasuke..."

"Otherwise, we wouldn't have gone to such lengths."

Nara Shikaku nodded: "The Hokage is right."

"To be honest, Naruto, if your description is true, it seems that Madara Uchiha actually admires and values ​​Sasuke quite a bit. Rather than wanting to kill him, it's more like he wants to win him over..."

Kakashi added, "I think so too."

"Naruto, don't worry, Sasuke should be fine."

"At least not in the short term."

Naruto retorted, "Kakashi-sensei! Does that mean that in the long run, Sasuke will still be in danger?!"

Kakashi: "...Well, if you put it that way, even if he didn't want to kill Sasuke, it's still very possible that he could bewitch him, use him, or win him over."

"Just like Orochimaru back then."

Naruto clenched his fist tightly.

"Therefore, we must rescue Sasuke as soon as possible!"

Tsunade nodded: "You don't need to tell me that."

"Jiraiya, Kakashi, compile all the intelligence you gathered about Akatsuki's base as soon as possible!"

"Now that Nagato is dead and the information about Amegakure has been leaked, it is estimated that the remaining Akatsuki members will no longer gather there. We can only place our hopes on other bases for the time being."

Shizune frowned and said, "Lady Tsunade, I'm afraid they won't do the same at the other bases either..."

"I understand, but we have no other choice but to try anything!"

"……Yes."

Jiraiya's eyes suddenly lit up.

"There's someone who might know Sasuke's whereabouts..."

Naruto was both surprised and delighted, and hurriedly asked, "Who?!"

Jiraiya smiled slightly.

"And this person will probably help too, because..."

"Sasuke can also be considered his disciple."

Kakashi's heart skipped a beat: "Lord Jiraiya means..."

"The White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave?!"

"As expected of Kakashi, his reaction is incredibly fast."

"The White Snake Sage's sage techniques can perceive all traces and movements in the ninja world. He might not reveal other secrets if you ask him, but Sasuke is his successor from Ryuchi Cave, and an unprecedented successor at that..."

Naruto was overjoyed: "Then what are we waiting for?!"

"You lecherous immortal, let's set off immediately!"

Tsunade said, "Going to Ryuchi Cave will take quite a bit of time..."

Kakashi suddenly said, "Perhaps we don't need to go again."

"Lord Hokage, are you able to contact Kabuto Yakushi or Jugo?"

Tsunade was taken aback, but quickly understood what he meant.

A slight smile played on her lips: "Of course!"

"Haiyi!"

Yamanaka Ino nodded: "I understand, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi frowned and said, "A secret technique of the Yamanaka clan? However, even if Kabuto and Jugo have left Ryuchi Cave, they are probably still quite far away, even if it's Inoichi..."

Yamanaka Inoichi smiled and said, "I can send a message even to the entire ninja world, but it will consume more chakra and I'll suffer some backlash..."

Everyone understood that it was far more than just a little bit...

But now that things have come to this, all we can do is give it our all.

Yamanaka Inoichi immediately went to the intelligence department with the others, used a special chakra amplification device to enhance the effectiveness of his secret technique, and then immediately began the search.

His face was grave, and the veins on his face were bulging, clearly indicating that he had given it his all.

Even more surprisingly, a line of blood trickled down her nose...

Naruto stared at him anxiously, almost wanting to search in his place...

"Found him! Lord Hokage!"

Just when everyone was worried about whether Yamanaka Inoichi could hold on any longer.

He finally smiled and shouted loudly.

"That's great, Haiyi!"

How should we convey this to them?

Jiraiya said, "Tell them that Sasuke has been captured and may be in mortal danger. He is the only successor of Ryuchi Cave, and there may be no one like him before or since. I hope that the White Snake Sage will take this into consideration and tell us where to go to rescue him."

"Don't worry, the White Snake Sage knows what happened, so all you need to do is emphasize Sasuke's importance to him and to Ryuchi Cave..."

Yamanaka Ino nodded and quickly contacted Yakushi Kabuto.

Kabuto was slightly taken aback, then laughed.

"Negotiation?"

"I'm actually quite good at this kind of thing..."

After all, he was a spy by training; concealment, disguise, spying, investigation, acting, and negotiation were all his forte, making it a perfect fit for his profession...