Just thinking about being dragged into that strange dimension made him tense up. The only escape he could imagine was using the Body Flicker Technique to get out, but if that really worked, would Aburame Torune and Yamanaka Fu have been pulled in so easily?
That suction had to be overwhelmingly strong. There was no dodging it.
It was a power that simply couldn't be countered. No wonder this monster once built Konoha alongside the First Hokage.
And the terrifying part was that the First Hokage actually defeated someone like this.
How strong had Senju Hashirama been? The thought alone was incredible. Uchiha Madara's overwhelming power only highlighted the First Hokage's absurd strength.
"Is that what Sasuke looks like when he grows up?"
Uchiha Itachi watched the adult Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Karin inside the Kamui space, and he couldn't help smiling.
He'd never seen even the current Sasuke with his own eyes, not since the night the Uchiha Clan fell. Everything he knew came from scattered reports left behind by his contacts in Konoha. They had told him Sasuke was doing well, that he'd become the top student of the academy.
But years into the future? He never expected to live long enough to see that.
Seeing Sasuke now gave him a quiet sense of relief.
His little brother really would grow from a helpless chick into a soaring hawk. He'd no longer need an older brother to shield him from storms. Of course, why Sasuke had to face storms at such a young age was its own tragedy.
And the girl beside him? Was she Sasuke's girlfriend?
Red hair.
So she was from the Uzumaki Clan?
Itachi immediately started examining Uzumaki Karin with the critical eye of an older brother assessing a future sister-in-law.
A line of text from Kaede Kitahara flashed across the screen.
[Honestly, Sasuke's looks during his Sunny Sasuke era were top-tier. One of the famous Uchiha Laughing Four. No wonder he had Uzumaki Karin and Sakura wrapped around his finger. Even after Sasuke literally stabbed Karin without a shred of mercy, she still loved him. That face is just too powerful. But the funniest thing is that Uzumaki Boruto's idol is Uchiha Sasuke. When he was a teen, Boruto even dressed in that Uchiha-cool style, like a rebooted Sunny Sasuke. And Uchiha Sarada's idol is Uzumaki Naruto instead. Fate is wild.]
Itachi blinked, then frowned.
Uchiha Laughing Four?
What kind of ridiculous label was that?
Given Kaede Kitahara's terrible habit of handing out random nicknames, it was obviously not a compliment. And the Uchiha Clan barely had enough members left to form a group of four anyway.
Well, if they counted Kaede Kitahara as an honorary member, they barely reached the number.
Itachi's first reaction was happiness. Two girls in the future liked Sasuke, and one of them still liked him even after being stabbed. That meant the Uchiha Clan at least had a hope of revival, and Itachi's earlier guess was right. The red-haired girl was indeed an Uzumaki, named Uzumaki Karin.
Red hair was the trademark of the Uzumaki Clan. As for why Uzumaki Naruto was blond, well… the Fourth Hokage's genes were frighteningly strong.
But then Itachi frowned again.
Why was future Sasuke so extreme?
Why was he stabbing his own girlfriend?
What kind of tradition was that?
Who had he taken after?
If he stabbed his own family, how was the Uchiha Clan supposed to rebuild?
Next, Itachi saw Uzumaki Boruto and was briefly confused.
Who was this kid?
But then he understood. Boruto idolized Sasuke. And that phrase—Uchiha-cool style—made even someone like Itachi laugh under his breath. What kind of description was that supposed to be?
Then came another new name: Uchiha Sarada. Someone Itachi had never heard of, yet she idolized Uzumaki Naruto. That meant…
Itachi's eyes narrowed in thought.
Sarada was probably future Sasuke's daughter.
And Boruto wasn't an Uzumaki orphan at all. He must be Uzumaki Naruto's son.
It made perfect sense. Their fathers were teammates. The idea that their children admired each other felt entirely natural.
And if that was true, then Sasuke lived. He survived his darkest years, came back to Konoha, got married, and had a child named Uchiha Sarada.
Even after something as extreme as all Five Kage mobilizing to hunt him, Sasuke still returned home in the distant future.
"Good."
Itachi whispered to himself.
He did feel a pang of disappointment that the child wasn't a boy. Not because he preferred sons, but because daughters eventually married out. In the ninja world, they took their husband's surname.
How was the Uchiha Clan's name supposed to carry on?
Why didn't Sasuke have more children?
Didn't he understand the entire clan's future depended on him?
Still, he wondered what this little niece looked like. He wouldn't live to see her birth, but maybe this diary would let him glimpse her someday.
In that moment, he was grateful he had received a copy of Kaede Kitahara's diary.
He carried heavy sins and fully expected to die. His head was prepared for Sasuke's blade. But buried beneath all that guilt was a small, very human curiosity.
He wanted to see the future he'd carved out for the Uchiha Clan.
"Oh? Boruto and Sarada see each other as idols? Interesting."
Hatake Kakashi smiled faintly as he read the floating text.
It was hard to imagine those two brats ever becoming fathers one day. The thought of their kids idolizing each other, given how little the two got along now, was honestly amusing.
But when Kakashi saw Sasuke stabbing Karin, he frowned.
Something terrible must have happened in the future.
Sunny Sasuke sounded like he'd committed a lot of unforgivable acts.
Uchiha Sasuke's own face cycled between red and purple. He'd just been praised for being handsome, and in the next breath, the commentary dropped a hammer on him.