At this moment, ninjas from the Land of Earth—Hidden Stone Village—gathered one after another before the suddenly appearing image.
They tried ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, but nothing could damage or interfere with it. After confirming there was no danger, they ended up clustering together in small groups to watch—
"That's the Tsuchikage-sama!"
"Yeah! That's definitely the Tsuchikage-sama!"
"Who the hell is that masked guy?! How dare he act so arrogant in front of our Tsuchikage-sama?!" A Stone ninja fumed. "Hmph! Just some coward who won't even show his real face!"
"Hey, who's the one talking to the masked man?"
"That's Mifune of the Land of Iron. I've seen him before."
"Ah, Tsuchikage-sama!" The gathered ninjas all bowed in unison.
[In the image, a short old man with a bulbous nose floated in midair with his hands behind his back. The masked man's voice sounded strangely familiar to him—but the owner of that voice should have died at the hands of the First Hokage long ago.]
[Masked Man: "Reviving the Ten-Tails, and activating a certain jutsu."]
[The man in the image asked him, "A certain jutsu? What is it? What exactly are you trying to do?"]
["A large-scale genjutsu that projects my eye onto the moon—" The image zoomed in on the masked man. Through the single hole in his orange spiral mask, a crimson three-tomoe Sharingan gleamed with near-mad obsession for that jutsu.]
Sharingan! That masked man is from Konoha!
The watching ninjas instantly gained a crucial piece of information.
["Infinite Tsukuyomi! Casting genjutsu on everyone on the ground. I will control everyone within the illusion, making the world a single whole." As he spoke, a faint smile of longing for an ideal world crept into his voice.]
[The image shifted from the blood-red moon to the opposite side. The people facing the masked man all appeared to be the current Kage of each village and their trusted aides—except for the Hidden Mist of the Land of Water and the Hidden Sand of the Land of Wind, who were unfamiliar faces.]
[Without giving them time to exchange information, the masked man continued indulging in his vision of a perfect illusionary world. "A world without barriers, without disputes—everything becoming one with me."]
["Unifying everything—that is my Eye of the Moon Plan!!"]
[The moment he finished speaking, ninjas of the Land of Lightning—Hidden Cloud Village—heard their own hot-tempered boss appear in the image. The Fourth Raikage, A-sama, roared, "Are you kidding me?! How could we possibly hand the world over to someone like you?!"]
[The young man beside the Raikage added, "An illusory peace is nothing but a lie. Peace only has meaning when it's achieved in the real world!"]
[Ninjas from the Hidden Sand and Hidden Leaf stared at the red-haired young man in the image. The bright red kanji for 'love' on his forehead—could it be…?]
But why was Gaara qualified to participate in a Kage-level meeting?!
That monster was supposed to be the Sand's secret weapon!!
And most importantly—why was the Gaara in the image completely different from the Gaara they knew?
"No way… that monster…" Someone muttered in front of the Sand Village's image, voicing what the others were thinking.
The person beside him continued, "He's almost like…" like a normal ninja, just like them. He even carried the presence and broad perspective of a leader—almost like a Kazekage.
Peace?
Words like that… could they really come out of that monster's mouth? What kind of cheap prank was this?!
[The image gave them no more time to think or curse. A beautiful kunoichi dressed in alluring aqua-blue attire snapped back at the masked man, "That's right! What meaning is there in living in such a fake world?! No hope, no dreams—just running away from reality!"]
[Onoki of the Two Scales said, "Unifying the world, huh. I do recall Danzo saying something similar before. But what you're describing isn't unifying the world so much as creating a world that belongs only to you."]
[The masked man let out a cold chuckle. "Then what have you Five Kage accomplished? You should have understood long ago… this world has no hope!! Hope exists alongside giving up—it's nothing more than a lie meant to deceive. Hand over the remaining Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails and assist my plan, or else there will be war."]
[The leaders of the villages, of course, rejected the masked man's unreasonable demand.]
[The masked man issued his final warning. "Even if I don't possess overwhelming personal power, I hold the power of the tailed beasts I've gathered so far. You stand no chance of winning."]
["We will not abandon hope," the village leaders declared without backing down.]
["Very well," the masked man replied indifferently. "The Fourth Great Ninja War—hereby declared!"]
[Under the shocked expressions of the Fourth Raikage, the Third Tsuchikage, and the others, he stood up. "Then I'll see you next time… on the battlefield."]
[With that, the masked man vanished into the spiral vortex of his right eye.]
[The image ended there.]
A mere three minutes of footage plunged the entire world into silence for several seconds.
"Quick! Go notify the Third Hokage immediately!" Ibiki snapped back to his senses and urged the Konoha ninjas beside him. That was what led to the scene of them bursting into the Hokage's office.
…
Inside a dark cave, multiple rogue ninjas with Kage-level and even super Kage-level strength had gathered.
Itachi Uchiha: "…"
Kisame Hoshigaki: "…"
Sasori of the Red Sand: "…"
Deidara: "…"
Kakuzu: "…"
Hidan: "…"
Konan: "…"
Pain (Nagato): "…"
Tobi (Obito): "…"
Aloe (Black and White Zetsu): "…"
The information was too chaotic, the points to complain about too many. For a moment, none of these elite missing-nin knew what to say…
The youngest, Deidara, broke the silence first. He stared at Tobi, the Akatsuki's unofficial member, in shock.
"Hey! That eye of yours is a Sharingan, right?! I can't believe you're related to 'Itachi'! You never told us—so uncool, hmm!" Deidara thought for a moment, then turned to Itachi. "He's not your little brother, is he? Seriously, you two don't look alike at all." He even gave a firm "Hmm" to affirm his judgment.
Still lost in thought about the Eye of the Moon Plan, Itachi Uchiha: "…"
Me? Madara's little brother? Forget it. Sasuke is way cuter. I'll use this chance to pass intel to the Third and go check on him.
Suddenly having his plan exposed—and being mistaken as Itachi's younger brother, dropping a whole generation—Obito Uchiha: "…"
Bullshit! By seniority, he should be calling me uncle! If you count Madara's side, he should be calling me ancestor!
Pain, Konan, and Kisame—who knew "Tobi" was "Uchiha Madara": "…"
That age gap is a bit much…
And Sasori, who wanted to stop his pig-headed teammate but was too late: "…"
Is he an idiot?
Seeing a purple-glowing iron tail block him, Deidara looked at Sasori in confusion. "Danna?"
"Brat, if you don't want to die, shut your mouth." The pleasant voice, filtered through Hiruko, became hoarse and low.
"Why, danna? It's clearly Tobi and his brother who are weird! Hmm."
"…." Itachi didn't want to provoke that eerie "clansman" and risk implicating Sasuke. He glanced at "Madara," signaling him to explain.
But before Obito/Madara/Tobi could speak, the finally-caught-up Hidan suddenly slammed his scythe into the rock beside "Tobi"!
"Hey, hey, hey!! What the hell is this Eye of the Moon Plan anyway?! It sounds like—"
Hidan shot Tobi a sideways glare, the murderous aura of a missing-nin flaring out!
With his plan disrupted, Obito was ready to kill him and replace him when Hidan scowled and shouted, "You're not trying to steal believers from Lord Jashin, are you?! You are, right?! Hey!!"
"…"
The air froze.
Sighing inwardly, Kakuzu changed the subject. Completely uninterested in whatever grand plan they had, he looked at Pain. "Alright, Leader. Why did you call us back this time? Is there a mission to announce?" His peripheral vision, however, stayed on the Akatsuki reserve member, "Tobi."
"Hmm…" Pain pondered for a moment. His expressionless face showed none of Nagato's current awkwardness. "As stated in that projection, our next plan is—"
Hidan: "Eye of the Moon?" I told you, don't steal believers from Lord Jashin!
"Shut up, idiot!" Kakuzu stretched an arm out, yanking his teammate back, and motioned for the leader to continue.
Pain: "Our next plan is to collect the Tailed Beasts." To be honest, this was the first time he'd heard of the "Eye of the Moon Plan" himself.
Madara had told him it was about fusing all the Tailed Beasts into the ultimate weapon so everyone could understand pain. But since "Madara" was still wearing the Akatsuki cloak in the image, he probably hadn't betrayed them…
What Pain—Nagato—didn't know was this—
Akatsuki was, in truth, the Red Moon of the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Everything had been part of a conspiracy planned a thousand years ago.
And "Madara" was just one small cog within it.
"Next, your task is to gather intelligence on all nine Tailed Beasts. Within three years, we will capture them all. Failure is not an option."
Deidara: "Ah! So that image really was the future! But then we failed, didn't we? We didn't catch the Eight-Tails or Nine-Tails! And boss, you're not dead, are you? Why was that Tobi guy the one declaring war?! Even me and danna would've been better than him, hmm."
Hidan: "Hah? Then you're probably dead too. Maybe you blew yourself up with your own bombs?"
"What did you say?! Ritual idiot! That's art, hmm!"
"Art, art—so annoying!"
"You're the annoying one with those useless, time-wasting rituals!"
"What did you say?!"
The gloomy cavern livened up thanks to the idiots' argument.
Sasori and Kakuzu: "…" These idiots still can't read the situation?! That "Tobi" is nowhere near as simple as they think.
"Enough." Pain cut off the arguing. "The Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails will be dealt with at last—by me personally." He swept his gaze around. "Any other questions? If not, dismissed." He and Konan still had questions for "Madara."
No objections. Everyone went to Kakuzu to collect new bounty lists before leaving.
Deidara and Hidan clearly wanted to keep talking to "Tobi" about the art of explosions and the greatness of the Jashin faith, but were dragged away by their teammates.
As expected, once they left, "Madara" was held back by Pain.
Zetsu, acting as if none of this concerned him, quietly sank into the ground. Worried about the future mentioned in the projection and the Fourth Great Ninja War, Itachi used genjutsu to send crows flying swiftly toward Konoha.
If only he had paused at Tanzaku Town along the way, he would've learned that the projection about the imminent Fourth Great Ninja War wasn't classified information at all—
Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan had already been publicly "executed" before the entire world.
—
Meanwhile,
At the Uchiha clan grounds.
Naruto stood behind Sasuke. "Why'd you run off like that? You finally got to see your mom, y'know," he said in a muffled tone. They sounded like two friends who had just argued, both too embarrassed to apologize first.
But in Naruto's heart, there was also happiness for his friend—mixed with longing and envy for family.
All this time, when it came to Sasuke, Naruto always wanted to talk to him, yet couldn't bring himself to start. And once he did, they somehow always ended up fighting within a few sentences. A strange kind of fate.
Sasuke stared at the lake, silent.
He was recalling the happiness that once existed here.
Kind clan members living together. When he was little, passing by would always earn him snacks from friendly uncles and aunties.
When his brother wasn't busy with missions, he would pick Sasuke up from the Ninja Academy.
Father always valued his brother more—but when talking with Mom, he mentioned "Sasuke" far more often.
On this lake, desperate not to lose to his brother, he had practiced Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique until his cheeks blistered.
And here, too—when he finally performed a perfect Great Fireball—his father, the clan head, had said—
"Good job… you really are my son."
"Hey! jerk Sasuke, don't tell me you're crying?!" Naruto's big face suddenly popped into Sasuke's view. The distance was so close that all Sasuke could see were round eyes filled with bright blue!
So his eyelashes are blond too…
Wait—no!
"Too close!!"
Sasuke sprang up.
Bang!
Forehead to forehead—they collided hard.
"Dead last! Why were you so close?!" Sasuke clutched his head. What the hell is his skull made of? It's like a rock! Is that why nothing ever gets through his head?!
"Ahhh!" Naruto was even more dramatic. He grabbed his head and rolled around on the broken wooden bridge. "You're the one, bastard Sasuke! That hurt like hell!! Ahhh, what's with my head today? It keeps getting hit…"
"Uh…" Seeing the glaring bandage among the blond hair—that was from when Naruto got hurt after reviving his mom. Sasuke awkwardly reached out. "S-sorry."
Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and pulled himself up. "Hey… you really Sasuke?" He blinked those big eyes at him. "Sasuke wouldn't cry, and he definitely wouldn't apologize! You didn't use a Transformation Jutsu, did you?"
Sasuke: "…" He was about to explode!
"You dead last!!"
"Ahh! You're calling me that again, you jerk!!"
Both of them crossed their arms, puffed up their cheeks, and turned their heads away, ignoring each other.
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!"
After a while—
"Um… I mean, thanks for today." Sasuke still didn't turn around, his tone stiff and awkward. "I-I owe you one…" One heavier than his own life.
"Hey, I'm talking about you…" Naruto complained. "You're way too awkward, little Sasuke!"
"What did you say?! Don't forget, I'm older than you!"
"By two months! Two months!!" Naruto held up his fingers.
"Huh?!"
Both of them froze.
"How does Sasuke's mom know my birthday?"
"How does my mom know your birthday?"
"Seriously, it wasn't you who told her? Don't be shy, I won't laugh, y'know."
"No way! Why would I bother remembering your birthday, idiot!!"
"Tch—" Naruto puffed out his lower lip and turned away angrily.
"Hey…"
"What?" Naruto replied reluctantly, clearly still upset.
"I'm serious. Thanks for this time…" His face burned hot—Sasuke knew he was blushing. "I'll definitely repay this favor!"
Naruto didn't really care, still turned away to show his mood.
"Hey, I said, dead—"
Before Sasuke could finish, Kakashi suddenly appeared, holding his little orange book in front of his face.
"Yo."
"Kakashi-sensei?"
"Kakashi!"
"Yo" Kakashi waved. "Making vows of eternal love here?"
Without fail—
"Pfft!"
"What are you saying, Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto shouted.
"Kakashi, you—!"
With a smiling dead-fish eye, Kakashi shook the book in his hand. "Relax, just joking. I happened to read something similar."
"Ahhh! I'm telling you! Kakashi-sensei, stop reading that kind of boring book all the time!" Naruto pointed at the book—Icha Icha Paradise.
Sasuke snorted coldly, shouldering an idol's worth of dignity. "You shameless jonin."
"All right, down to business." Kakashi put the book away. "Come with me back to the school. There's something important—Naruto, and Sasuke, you should prepare yourself too."
"Something important?! A mission? B-rank? A-rank? Don't tell me it's S-rank?!"
"Idiot. The Chunin Exams aren't even over. Where would an S-rank mission come from?"
"You're the idiot, bastard Sasu—"
"Well… I guess you could say it's a mission even tougher than an S-rank~"
"!!"
"!!"
"Naruto!" Kakashi's expression suddenly turned serious. "Next, I'm assigning you a super S-rank mission—"
Sasuke said, "Super S-rank?" That doesn't exist. And even if it did, there's no way genin like them would be doing it. "Why is it only assigned to that dead last? Kakashi, what are you planning? Say it clearly. What's the mission? Who's the client?"
Naruto pumped his fist. "Who're you calling dead last?! I'll finish this super—S-rank mission and show you, y'know!" He then turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, I'll take it! I accept the mission! Tell me what it is already!"
Kakashi calmly glanced at Sasuke, who was standing in front of Naruto, grilling him for details.
Their relationship's improved, huh.
"All right," Kakashi ignored Sasuke's impatience and looked at Naruto. "This super S-rank mission is—reviving someone."
"What?!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"??" Naruto tilted his head. "What do you mean, y'know?"
"Well… to put it simply, you're just ridiculously lucky, Naruto Uzumaki…" Kakashi sighed lightly. "That 'thing' said that since the three answer slots from the quiz weren't fully used, you accidentally answered correctly a second time…"
[Excess answer slots will automatically be converted into one resurrection opportunity. Respondent—Naruto Uzumaki—please take your position and select a revival target.]
After the Third Hokage and the others arrived, everyone heard the new prompt. Kakashi relayed its contents to Naruto and Sasuke. The "super S-rank mission" was, of course, just a joke—the one issuing the mission was Kakashi Hatake himself.
Because he hoped Naruto would revive that person…
Sasuke looked at Naruto, marveling at just how absurd the dead last's luck was.
Naruto, meanwhile, immediately brightened up. "Really, y'know?! Then who should I revive? I don't know any of them anyway, y'know."
—