"Again with that Water Release jutsu!"
Sasuke's pupils contracted. Seeing an identical "Sasuke" leap out of the mirror and unleash the same technique made his mood plummet.
A blinding flash followed.
When the light faded, Sasuke fell to one knee, unwilling expression twisted across his face. Threads of lightning still flickered weakly over his body.
He had doubted earlier whether provoking Naruto's shadow clones would even work—if their positions were reversed, Sasuke certainly wouldn't have taken the bait.
But to his annoyance, Naruto's clone actually did step forward. Sasuke thought he could surprise him with a new technique… yet Naruto had clearly been waiting for exactly that.
"Good thing I coated myself with Chidori first… otherwise… tch. Guess I'm still not as devious as Naruto."
He muttered in irritation while hastily using Medical Ninjutsu to treat his wounds.
"Still going?"
A Naruto walked up with an unreadable tone.
"I don't believe your jutsu can copy every attack without any drawbacks."
Sasuke stood. His tone was calm, but his Sharingan swirled with suppressed frustration.
"So you want to continue?"
Naruto asked again, his voice flat.
Sasuke's eye twitched. He glanced at the Naruto before him, then at the dozens of clones in the distance. After a long silence, his Sharingan faded back to black.
"…I give up."
Naruto nodded. He raised a hand, and all the clones dispersed with a series of bang bang bang puffs of smoke.
Sasuke froze for a second.
Something was wrong.
Only one Naruto remained.
Which meant the real Naruto wasn't even here—because normally, Naruto's clones never dismissed themselves at the end of training unless the real one was present.
No wonder this Naruto felt slightly off.
"Where's your real body?"
"Not here," Naruto said casually. "Finish healing and clean up. Since you chose to end training early today, I'll send you back afterward."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"Your real body is doing what?"
"If you insist on knowing, I'll tell you."
Naruto met his gaze without warmth.
"My real body is studying the Byakugan. And speaking of that—your Sharingan hasn't evolved in a long time. Have you forgotten your goal?"
"How could I forget?!"
Sasuke snapped back—but his voice soon weakened.
"It's just that my eyes…"
"You'll be twelve next year. Think about Uchiha Itachi—he awakened the Mangekyō at thirteen."
Naruto's tone didn't soften at all.
"I know what you're trying to do. You're hoping pressure in combat will trigger the evolution of your Sharingan like before. That is one way to awaken it… but you're confusing cause and effect."
"Desire is desire. Results are results. They are not the same in essence."
Sasuke frowned.
"Of course I know that. It's just—"
Naruto shook his head.
"Looks like you need a bit more… stimulation."
Rain Village
Rain hammered down relentlessly.
Kakuzu strode through it, a suitcase in hand, stopping beneath a towering steel building. He glared at the angel-like statue guarding the entrance.
"Next mission."
Groooan—
The heavy doors opened. A cool voice floated out, followed by a woman with lavender-blue hair.
"Kakuzu, Pain wants you to be more discreet during missions. Being too high-profile will hinder the organization's development."
Konan stepped forward calmly.
"Go tell that to the cult fanatic."
Kakuzu clicked his tongue, annoyance clear.
"I already warned Hidan," Konan replied. "He said you tried to kill him multiple times during the mission."
She accepted the suitcase from him, handing over a scroll.
"This is your next assignment."
"He won't die that easily," Kakuzu muttered while unrolling the scroll. "Hm? A mission in the Land of Taki?"
Konan nodded.
"Investigate the whereabouts of the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki while you're there."
"So Akatsuki is resuming the hunt for Tailed Beasts? That's not exactly profitable."
"No," Konan said lightly. "Same as before—just reconnaissance. With your familiarity with Takigakure, this shouldn't take long."
Kakuzu snorted.
"That depends. That lunatic likes wasting time with his rituals."
Konan sighed faintly.
"Just be careful. Konoha and Iwagakure still have agents hidden in the Land of Taki."
Land of Snow — Remote Glacier
Naruto's real body stood among over a hundred shadow clones. Each held a perfectly smooth pale-blue orb—water-natured Rasengan variants. Their surfaces pulsed with thin layers of shimmering droplets.
"So this Water-style Rasengan is silent… but it feels kind of underwhelming…"
Vrrrrr—!
A harsh whine erupted as each clone formed a Wind-style Rasengan in their other hand.
Naruto flickered away, reappearing atop a cliff tens of meters away.
BOOM!
The ground quaked. Every clone vanished simultaneously, replaced by towering spiraling pillars of water bursting skyward—each dozens of meters tall.
"Water Tornadoes? I only wanted to test the power… how did this turn into a combined technique?"
Naruto studied the water-attribute Rasengan in his hand.
He was about to slam it into a frozen cliff when—
The separate tornadoes began merging.
A deep rumble echoed across the glacier.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. He waved casually and vanished. Moments later, only a single massive waterspout remained—over sixty meters wide, roaring violently across the glacier.
Naruto hovered a hundred meters in the air behind gleaming silver wings.
"Compared to other Jinchūriki, Naruto… I think you're the most free," the voice of Matatabi murmured.
"You use shadow clones to avoid unnecessary trouble. You can travel anywhere with space–time ninjutsu…"
"That depends on how you look at it," Naruto replied, dismissing the Water Rasengan. "Matatabi, you think I'm really that free?"
He descended and landed lightly in the snow.
Inside his seal, he found Matatabi looking unusually gloomy—while Kurama and Isobu were nowhere to be found.
"What happened?" Naruto asked.
Matatabi's tail flicked irritably.
"Han tried taking a walk outside the village. Ōnoki stuck him into a secret confinement chamber. Now we're sitting on steps staring at rocks."
Naruto chuckled.
"So that's why you think I'm free?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Matatabi huffed. "You get to do whatever you want."
Naruto shook his head.
"That's not freedom."
"Oh?" Matatabi tilted her head. "Then what is?"
Naruto looked up, his gaze bright and clear.
"Real freedom is not doing what you don't want to do.
That's the freedom I want."
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