"...No, you've mistaken me for someone else..."
Uchiha Sasuke turned his head abruptly. After casting a hurried glance at the figure, he quickly averted his gaze as if burned.
Uzumaki Naruto stood to the side and sighed helplessly. He hated this kind of secretive, riddle-like way of communicating—where everything was clearly understood, yet everyone insisted on acting like strangers.
"Aunt Mikoto," Uzumaki Naruto decided to speak up directly, "this person is from another future world. In terms of blood relations, he can be considered your child."
"!!"
Uchiha Sasuke had not expected Uzumaki Naruto to state such a shocking truth so bluntly. He lunged forward, pressed his hand tightly over Uzumaki Naruto's mouth, his voice full of panic.
"Stop talking!"
Uchiha Mikoto, standing not far away, was stunned after hearing this answer. If an ordinary child had said this, she would have assumed they were joking.
But Uzumaki Naruto, a child who had matured too early, had never been one to speak nonsense. However, this answer was simply too inconceivable, and Uchiha Mikoto felt she needed more evidence to believe such a bizarre claim.
In fact, before this, Uchiha Mikoto had guessed that this mysterious person might be related to Uchiha Itachi—even though her eldest child had made such a cruel choice that night, as a mother, she could never fully let go of her concern for that child.
Just as Uchiha Sasuke was frantically covering Uzumaki Naruto's mouth and Uzumaki Naruto was struggling, in the chaos, Uzumaki Naruto suddenly reached out and ripped the large hat that covered half of Uchiha Sasuke's face right off!
Although Uchiha Sasuke immediately reached out to retrieve the hat and put it back on, under the dim streetlights, Uchiha Mikoto had already clearly seen the stranger's face.
"We... look so much alike..."
Uchiha Mikoto sighed softly without realizing it. Uchiha Sasuke's movements froze instantly; he realized that things were spiraling in an irreversible direction.
Uchiha Sasuke's appearance was indeed very handsome, which was largely due to him inheriting his mother's beauty. This also explained why he was occasionally mistaken for a girl when he was younger.
Seeing that the situation had reached this point, Uzumaki Naruto decided not to keep up the charade. "Alright, now, Nizhu Zi, are you going to honestly admit your identity and have a proper talk with Aunt Mikoto and Uncle Fugaku, or should I tell them your identity later and let them worryingly search everywhere for you?"
Uchiha Sasuke ignored that strange nickname and slowly stood up. With someone pushing things along, the repressed emotions in his heart finally broke through the shackles of reason.
He stared at the woman before him, who was all too familiar, took a deep breath, and lifted his hand to remove the hat completely, revealing a face that, while weathered by time, remained delicate. Under the glow of the streetlamp, that face bore a startling resemblance to Uchiha Mikoto, only marked by a few more traces of the years.
Uchiha Mikoto stared blankly at the face that resembled her own so closely. This person not only looked extremely similar to her but also displayed an incomprehensible sense of guilt when facing her.
If not for the mismatch in age, and the fact that she was certain she didn't have a son this old, Uchiha Mikoto would have almost thought this was her own biological child... Hadn't Uzumaki Naruto just said the word "future"?
Just then, Uchiha Sasuke suddenly felt a warm current flowing into his body from his arm; it was the sensation of Chakra being rapidly replenished. He turned his head in surprise to look beside him, only to see Uzumaki Naruto just withdrawing his hand from Uchiha Sasuke's arm, speaking in a calm tone.
"Don't tell me you don't even have the strength left to activate your Sharingan. If you've made up your mind, then bring out the evidence."
"..."
Uchiha Sasuke remained silent for a moment, then finally closed his eyes. When he opened the only visible eye again, it displayed an eerie and powerful pattern—it was not an ordinary Tomoe Sharingan, but an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
"!"
Uchiha Mikoto covered her mouth instinctively. As an Uchiha, she had an innate, sharp perception of Ocular Power. This eye not only radiated an unprecedentedly powerful force, but more importantly, it brought Uchiha Mikoto an indescribable sense of familiarity and intimacy.
This eye fused two auras she was all too familiar with—the Ocular Power characteristics of her two children, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Satsuki.
"You... what is... your name?" Uchiha Mikoto's voice trembled slightly as she asked this crucial question.
Uchiha Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan slowly faded away, and he replied in a low voice, "Uchiha... Sasuke..."
"Uchiha Sasuke..."
Uchiha Mikoto murmured the name repeatedly. This name was all too familiar to her—it was originally the name prepared for Uchiha Satsuki. Back then, Uchiha Fugaku had insisted on using this name, but since a girl was born, they had to modify the name slightly.
Future world... parallel Universe... these concepts sounded so incredible, but Uchiha Mikoto ultimately chose to believe her intuition as a mother, as well as the undeniable real-world evidence before her.
"...Pfft... Hahahaha..."
However, looking at this adult version of her "son" before her, Uchiha Mikoto couldn't help but chuckle. The thought that her daughter in another world was actually a boy, and one who had traveled back from the future—a plotline that only appeared in novels—made her feel it was both absurd and funny, and laughter spilled from her lips uncontrollably.
"You... are you the future Uchiha Satsuki? No, the Uchiha Sasuke from a world where you are a boy?" Uchiha Mikoto confirmed, still carrying a lingering smile, the corners of her eyes slightly moist from laughter.
Although being laughed at to his face by his mother made Uchiha Sasuke feel very embarrassed, he still nodded solemnly.
"Then... then, in that world, is Uzumaki Naruto a girl?"
Uchiha Mikoto asked curiously, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Let me guess, could it be Uzumaki Naruko?"
"...No," Uchiha Sasuke's voice was somewhat dry, "Uzumaki Naruto is about the same as in this world."
"Eh? Alright, that's a real pity." Uchiha Mikoto gently wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, then carefully examined this face that was both familiar and strange.
She had to admit, if she had given birth to a son back then, he would probably look exactly like this—inheriting her own contours, yet carrying the resolute temperament unique to Uchiha Fugaku.
After the laughter eased the originally heavy atmosphere, Uchiha Mikoto restrained her smile and just gazed gently at Uchiha Sasuke, asking softly, "You're already an adult... but that reaction just now was very unusual. What happened on your side?"
"...I'm sorry."
A hoarse, choked-up voice was squeezed with difficulty from Uchiha Sasuke's throat. He fought back the tears, refusing to let them fall, but his voice trembled uncontrollably.
"...Is that so,"
Uchiha Mikoto immediately understood the deeper meaning behind Uchiha Sasuke's apology, but she didn't want to know the reason why her other-world self had passed away. After confirming that the person before her was indeed her child, her heart was filled only with overflowing affection, "It seems you've had a very hard time living on your own."
"Yeah..."
Uchiha Sasuke lowered his head deeply, not letting his mother see his expression, which was on the verge of breaking down.
Uchiha Mikoto stepped forward slowly, examining Uchiha Sasuke carefully. Suddenly, she noticed an unnatural anomaly on Uchiha Sasuke and reached out to grab his empty sleeve. Uchiha Sasuke instinctively took a step back, but Uchiha Mikoto still made contact—there was nothing inside, no sensation of an arm.
"...This... must have hurt, right? I'm sorry..."
Upon realizing this reality, Uchiha Mikoto's voice trembled involuntarily, and a feeling of heartache swept through her heart like a tide. She didn't ask "how did you lose it," but rather "does it hurt." This was not just asking about the pain of the wound itself, but also about the unknown pain and loneliness experienced when losing that arm.
Uchiha Sasuke did not answer directly, but simply gripped his mother's hand tightly with his only remaining hand, "Mom... I'm sorry... I... I failed to protect you..."
Once emotions began to leak, they were like a burst dam that could no longer be stopped. This was especially true for the Uchiha, whose source of power was intense emotion.
The guilt, longing, and pain that had been repressed in his heart for many years finally found an outlet for release.
Standing to the side, Uzumaki Naruto watched this scene quietly. He quietly took a few steps back, deciding to leave this space to the mother and son who had reunited across time and space.
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