Chapter 348: The Return of Dark Shunhi
Only Naruto and Shikamaru were present in the Hokage's office, and the atmosphere was unusually heavy.
After all, a village's Hokage had defected, and to make matters worse, Naruto's close friend had taken his first love and left the village as well.
"...Shikamaru, just announce to the public that the three of them have gone on a mission."
Since Boruto, the Eighth Hokage, had defected, it now fell to Naruto, the Seventh Hokage, to temporarily handle the village's affairs.
"But Naruto, we can't keep using that excuse forever. We really do need to deal with this soon."
Shikamaru looked at Naruto as he spoke.
At the moment, the village was divided into two factions—one that believed in Mitsuki, led by Boruto and Mitsuki himself, and another that didn't, led by Shikamaru and Sasuke.
It was clear that both factions revolved around Mitsuki. If Mitsuki were eliminated, the factions would naturally reconcile.
Shikamaru's meaning was obvious: he was urging Naruto to make a decision regarding Mitsuki.
"Shikamaru, Mitsuki is still a member of the Hidden Leaf Village. Besides, he willingly joined S.H.I.E.L.D. as a spy for the sake of the village…"
Naruto's face still showed hesitation. After all, as the reincarnation of Asura, kindness and compassion were in his nature.
"We can't say for sure whether Mitsuki has truly remained loyal during his time undercover. It's possible S.H.I.E.L.D. has already discovered him, brainwashed him, and is now using our trust in him to sabotage the village. And Naruto—sacrificing a few to protect the many has always been the nature of politics."
Shikamaru wasn't wrong. Judging by the village's growing internal split, eliminating Mitsuki quickly would indeed be the wisest course.
"Let me think about it a little longer..."
Shikamaru knew he couldn't push Naruto too hard, so he simply nodded and left the Hokage's office to handle the public announcement.
Outside the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Sasuke, where are we going?"
Though she was happy Sasuke trusted her, Sakura was still reluctant to just walk away from the village where she'd lived her whole life.
"I don't know…"
"Sasuke, you want to return to the Leaf too, don't you? And our daughter, Sarada—she probably doesn't want to leave the village either… Sasuke, let's go back."
What Sasuke couldn't let go of wasn't the village—it was Naruto.
"Yeah. But first, we need to find Mitsuki. Once we prove your innocence, we'll go back."
A sharp eagle cry rang from above. A summoning hawk descended onto Sasuke's shoulder.
"What's that?"
"Information from the Leaf. I asked Shikamaru to look into Mitsuki's whereabouts." Sasuke explained while unrolling the intel. "Let's go. Mitsuki hasn't left the Land of Fire yet."
...
Boruto looked warily at the person who had suddenly appeared before him.
Given the current situation, even if Naruto himself showed up, Boruto wouldn't lower his guard.
"Boruto, long time no see." Dark Shunhi looked at Boruto. "Looks like you still haven't resolved the Ninja Act issue."
"Even as Hokage, I have no real power."
That was one reason. The other was that ever since he took office, he'd been overwhelmed by one crisis after another, leaving no time to deal with the Ninja Act.
"Boruto, you—"
Halfway through his sentence, Dark Shunhi suddenly stopped and looked past Boruto's shoulder.
Boruto turned around in response to his gaze.
"Uncle Sasuke… Aunt Sakura…"
Seeing the two all-too-familiar faces before him, Boruto instinctively pulled Mitsuki behind him.
"Uncle Shunhi?!"
Sakura looked at Dark Shunhi in surprise.
Why would Uchiha Shunhi, who had been obsessed with making ramen in the village, appear outside the village now?
"That's not Uchiha Shunhi."
Sakura, who'd been at Konoha Hospital all this time, didn't know—but Sasuke, who had been helping Naruto deal with various formidable enemies, knew that this enemy was from another ninja world.
Unlike this world's Uchiha Shunhi, the one before them—Dark Shunhi—possessed immense power.
The question now was: should they prioritize Mitsuki, or Dark Shunhi?
"Uncle Sasuke, why are you here?"
Boruto asked while carefully adjusting the chakra inside his body, ready to enter combat mode at any moment.
"Boruto, you should get out of here. I'll hold off Sasuke and Sakura for you."
Dark Shunhi stepped forward, activating his Super Saiyan mode.
"…Okay. Be careful."
Boruto glanced at the completely combat-inept Mitsuki behind him, then nodded.
...
"Now it's just the three of us."
Once Boruto had led Mitsuki away, Dark Shunhi turned to face Sasuke and Sakura.
"Sakura, be careful when the fighting starts."
Seeing the grim look on Sasuke's face, Sakura instinctively nodded.
The battle began. Dark Shunhi's figure vanished in an instant, and with incomprehensible speed, he landed a kick on Sakura, sending her flying before she could react.
He had chosen to target Sakura instead of Sasuke because Sasuke's Rinnegan could track his movements.
Though worried about Sakura, Sasuke didn't split his focus. Instead, he concentrated solely on his own battle with Dark Shunhi.
"Chidori Stream!"
Infusing lightning chakra into his Kusanagi Sword, Sasuke engaged Dark Shunhi in close-quarters combat.
The explosive sound of lightning clashed with the ripping roar of the wind.
"Sasuke…"
Though her body could recover quickly, the pain was still real. After being kicked away by Dark Shunhi, Sakura lay on the ground for a long time before she could recover.
At a glance, it seemed like Sasuke and Dark Shunhi were evenly matched, but in truth, every one of Sasuke's attacks was dodged and countered.
Eventually, Sasuke exposed a flaw. Though he quickly summoned his skeletal Susanoo to protect himself, he was still knocked back several meters.
Sakura rushed forward to support him.
"Are you okay, Sasuke?"
"Yeah."
Sasuke nodded, taking a few quick breaths as he stared down Dark Shunhi.
It was clear—Dark Shunhi hadn't even revealed his full strength yet.
"Sakura, I'll cover you. You'll be the one to deliver the final blow."
Sasuke whispered.
"Okay."
With sword in hand, Sasuke charged once again. Dark Shunhi calmly pulled a shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and easily deflected Sasuke's vertical slash, knocking the Kusanagi Sword aside before launching a side kick at him.
Heavenly Hand Power!
Just as the kick was about to connect, Sasuke activated his Rinnegan ability.
In a flash, Sasuke's body switched places with the Kusanagi Sword flying through the air.
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