Just as Sasuke's rage was reaching its peak, a hesitant, uncertain voice drifted in from beside him.
"Um… didn't the Sky Screen say before that… Danzō… was killed by me?"
The speaker was none other than Naruto Uzumaki, who only moments ago had still been drowning in guilt over Sakura's parents.
He scratched his head, trying hard to recall the details from the very first Sky Screen.
"But hey—at least Sakura's okay!"
Sasuke's surging fury abruptly stalled. His expression froze.
Only then did he remember—
in the first Sky Screen, that darkened, world-ending future Naruto had indeed mentioned killing Danzō Shimura with his own hands.
Which meant…
The revenge target Sasuke had just sworn to kill himself
had already been taken care of by this dead-last in the future?
That strange feeling—of being beaten to the punch, of having one's goal snatched away—mixed with his lingering anger toward Naruto and years of rivalry, made Sasuke's face flush red, then pale.
In the end, all those emotions condensed into the most direct action possible—
"DAMN IT, NARUTO!!"
With a low snarl—whether from embarrassment, frustration, or sheer instinct even Sasuke didn't know—he lunged straight at Naruto.
"W-Whoa!! Sasuke, what are you doing?! I was talking about the future me! What does that have to do with me now?!"
Caught completely off guard, Naruto was tackled to the ground, and the two immediately started wrestling—just like old times.
The Sky Screen did not end.
The scene shifted again, as if fate itself were turning the lens back toward Konoha.
Hawk-Eye stood beside Sakura Haruno, both of them gazing at the village from afar.
From this moment on, that place had nothing to do with her anymore.
"That blond kid," Hawk-Eye suddenly said, his voice as calm as ever.
"He's someone you care about?"
Following his gaze, Sakura saw that familiar, anxious figure. She nodded, her tone complicated.
"Yeah. He's very important to me. A close friend."
"How close?" Hawk-Eye pressed, golden eyes sharp as blades.
Sakura was puzzled by the question, but answered honestly.
"Very close. We're teammates—we've been through life and death together. Why?"
Hawk-Eye gave a slight nod.
"Good. Then forget it."
"Forget it?" Sakura grew even more confused.
"What if… he were just an ordinary friend?"
Hawk-Eye's gaze turned instantly cold, his voice devoid of warmth.
"Then I would kill him."
"What?!" Sakura nearly jumped in shock, staring at him in disbelief.
"W-Why?!"
Hawk-Eye looked back toward Konoha, as if piercing space itself to lock onto a specific presence.
Then he spoke, his tone laced with undisguised disgust.
"That kid is wrapped in a chakra aura I find extremely—extremely—repulsive."
Sakura froze for a moment, then realization dawned.
"The… Nine-Tails? Naruto has the Nine-Tails sealed inside him. Is it because of the Kyūbi's chakra?"
"The Nine-Tails?" Hawk-Eye glanced at her sideways, contempt clear in his eyes.
"A slightly stronger fox, that's all. I wouldn't even bother counting it—just a few slashes, at most."
Now Sakura was truly confused.
"Not the Nine-Tails? Then… what other chakra does Naruto have?"
Hawk-Eye fell silent for a moment. Instead of answering, he asked a question.
"If someone killed your parents—what would you do?"
Pain and hatred instantly surged into Sakura's eyes.
"Kill them," she answered without hesitation.
"No matter the cost."
"Then," Hawk-Eye continued,
"if someone destroyed your village a few days ago—killed countless people, some you knew, some you didn't—what would you do?"
Sakura went silent.
She thought of Danzō.
She thought of the Third Hokage's hypocrisy.
But a few days ago… before all of this had happened…
In the end, she still answered:
"I… would kill them too."
Hawk-Eye nodded, his voice calm yet definitive.
"Good. That's a normal reaction."
Sakura froze—then suddenly understood.
Her pupils shrank sharply, her voice trembling.
"Y-You mean… Naruto… isn't normal?"
Hawk-Eye let out a cold chuckle, one filled with scorn for a certain kind of naïveté.
"Let me put it this way."
"If someone killed his parents, but later offered a 'reasonable' excuse—
something like 'for the greater good' or 'no other choice'—that kid would most likely… eventually forgive them."
He paused, then continued in the same flat, merciless tone.
"And if someone destroyed the village he cherishes, slaughtered his comrades—
as long as they showed enough 'repentance,' or talked about dreams, peace, or some other excuse—
he might still choose to forgive them… maybe even reconcile."
"T-That's impossible!" Sakura's face changed drastically, her voice rising in shock.
"The hatred of losing one's parents can never be forgiven! And Naruto—he values his comrades more than anything!"
"I'm just giving examples," Hawk-Eye interrupted coldly.
"But broadly speaking… that's how it is."
Sakura stood there, completely stunned.
This utterly shattered her understanding of Naruto.
That stubborn, straightforward boy who constantly talked about 'keeping his word' and 'his comrades'—
how could he become someone with no bottom line, someone who forgave hatred so easily?
Suddenly, Sakura seized on the key point and asked urgently:
"Then that chakra you said you hated… you mean—?"
Hawk-Eye nodded. A trace of understanding flashed in his golden eyes.
"Exactly what you're thinking."
"That deeply hidden chakra constantly influences him—subtly twisting his thoughts and will."
"It doesn't control him directly. Instead, it continuously feeds and amplifies an extreme version of 'understanding' and 'love,' filling him with a… distorted, principle-less kind of so-called compassion."
Sakura fell silent, a chill creeping up from the depths of her heart.
This was far more terrifying than direct mind control.
Because it was silent. Gradual.
So subtle that even the person affected might believe those thoughts were truly their own.
Finally, she spoke hoarsely:
"Isn't that… just a puppet?
Just a more hidden one…"
Hawk-Eye didn't answer directly.
But his silence was answer enough.
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