Sakura Haruno fell silent once more.
Her hands clenched tightly into fists, nails digging so deep they were almost piercing flesh.
She thought of Naruto's bright, carefree smile—
of his seemingly brainless optimism,
of the way he stubbornly shouted again and again that he would become Hokage…
If all of that—
his kindness, his perseverance, his boundless forgiveness—
had been shaped under the influence of some external force…
"…You know where that chakra comes from, don't you?" Sakura finally asked.
Hawk-Eye nodded, his face filled with undisguised disdain.
"It's a chakra that keeps reincarnating. Has been for who knows how long.
The entanglement of fate starting up again—honestly, it's exhausting."
"Reincarnation… chakra?" Sakura looked utterly confused.
Hawk-Eye lifted his head and gazed at the sky, letting out a quiet sigh.
"This world runs much deeper than you think.
There's a lot you don't know yet. You'll understand—slowly."
Sakura nodded thoughtfully. Then her eyes hardened with resolve as she looked straight at him.
"Is there a way to deal with it? That chakra.
Even if… it can't be destroyed—just removing it would be enough."
Hawk-Eye looked at her with mild surprise, clearly not expecting such decisiveness.
After a moment of thought, he answered:
"It's very difficult. That chakra is deeply intertwined with his own chakra—
even with his very life force.
Forcefully removing it would come at a… very high cost."
But when Sakura heard "very difficult" and "high cost"—
and not "impossible"—
She smiled.
A smile of relief, mixed with iron resolve.
"Then that means—there is a way."
The moment those words left her mouth—
The Sky Screen vanished completely.
Once again, it had ended.
The shinobi world, after a brief silence so suffocating it was almost unbearable,
exploded.
"Not again! Not again with this cliffhanger nonsense!!"
"So what happens next?! What happened after Sakura left with that Hawk-Eye guy?!"
"Is that really what you're worried about right now?!
Doesn't that chakra revelation scare the hell out of you?!"
"Yeah! Subtly altering a person's thoughts over time?!
What kind of cursed technique is that?!"
"Chakra can do that?! I've trained my entire life—how have I never heard of this?!"
"Reincarnation? Chakra that carries will across lives?!
Am I insane, or is the world insane?!"
"That's terrifying… If even hatred can be twisted into forgiveness,
can a person still be considered themselves?"
Shock, fear, disbelief, and the collapse of long-held worldviews echoed everywhere.
What the Sky Screen revealed at the very end was far more chilling
than any powerful jutsu or brutal battle.
This had gone far beyond conventional understanding of chakra and ninjutsu.
The entire shinobi world was thrown into turmoil.
Konoha Village – Hokage's Office
The atmosphere was heavy—like molten lead pressing down on the room.
Tsunade's face was dark with fury. Her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white.
She suddenly looked up, staring out the window, her voice trembling with delayed realization and anger.
"I knew it… I knew it!"
"I always thought Naruto's heart was too kind—
kind to the point of being abnormal!"
"Learning the truth about his parents,
enduring years of rejection from the villagers—
and yet he carried almost no resentment, only an even stronger desire to be acknowledged…"
"At the time, I thought it was incredible—strange, but I didn't think deeper."
"So that's it… That's the reason."
She recalled the moment she had told Naruto the truth—
that he was the Fourth Hokage's son,
that he was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
Even then, something had felt off.
The speed at which Naruto accepted it,
the complete lack of shadow in his heart,
his unwavering optimism—
It had been too perfect.
But then—
Rage surged.
Tsunade slammed her palm down, shattering the sturdy desk into splinters.
"Reason my ass!!!"
Her roar shook the room.
"This is what it comes down to?!
The son Watergate and Kushina died to protect—
having his mind influenced from birth by some unknown, twisted chakra?!
What kind of sick joke is that?!"
She whipped around, eyes blazing as they locked onto Jiraiya, who stood nearby in grim silence.
"Jiraiya! You've been with him, teaching him, watching him—
did you really not notice anything abnormal?!
That damn 'reincarnating chakra'?!"
Jiraiya slowly raised his head.
The usual carefree grin was gone, replaced by exhaustion, shock, and suppressed fury.
"I… I thought it was just his nature.
That it was the goodness Minato and Kushina left behind…"
"I did feel he was too forgiving at times…
but I never imagined… never imagined it could be that."
The room sank into an even deeper silence.
A chill settled over the two Sannin.
"Then we check him," Tsunade finally said, her voice firm and absolute.
"Inside and out. Thoroughly."
"No matter the cost—we must uncover the truth about that chakra."
Jiraiya nodded heavily.
This concerned the child he saw as his own grandson.
He would not stop until the truth was laid bare.
"…Wait."
Tsunade's expression darkened further, as if a crucial piece had just clicked into place.
Her voice dropped, icy with understanding.
"There was something I could never reconcile."
"Someone as kind as Naruto—
someone with almost no darkness in his heart,
someone who could forgive injustice and hold no hatred…"
"How did that Naruto become so extreme in the first Sky Screen's future?
To the point of shouting about destroying the entire shinobi world?"
"…Now I think I understand."
Jiraiya froze.
Then, like lightning striking his mind, realization hit.
"…You mean—Sakura?" he gasped.
Tsunade nodded heavily, her face grim.
"Yes. Sakura Haruno."
"I've run the scenarios countless times."
"Following the original path, even after learning his origins,
Naruto would grieve—but only for a while."
"Then he'd become even more determined to become Hokage,
to inherit his parents' will, prove himself,
and earn everyone's acknowledgment."
Jiraiya nodded slowly.
After spending so much time with Naruto, he knew—it was exactly like him.
Tsunade's expression grew even darker.
"Even if—even if—he later learned that Sakura had been cornered by Danzō and the village,
that her parents died horribly,
that she was ultimately driven to defect…"
"With his personality, the most likely outcome wouldn't be revenge."
"He would try to find her.
Bring her back."
"And then work tirelessly to become Hokage,
to change the village from within,
and give her what he believed was a 'fair resolution.'"
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