Chapter 423: Young Sasuke's Doubt: Why Do You Possess the Mangekyo Sharingan?
"If you refuse to surrender, then I'll just have to beat you into submission!"
The paved stone beneath young Sasuke's sandals shattered into a spiderweb of cracks. In a blur of motion, he closed the distance, materializing directly in front of the cloaked wanderer.
"Uchiha Style: Halo Dance!"
Crimson fire erupted along the length of his drawn blade, the intense heat warping the air. The older Sasuke merely shifted his weight, his footwork minimal but impossibly precise. The burning steel cleaved through empty space, grazing so close to the tip of his nose that the ambient heat curled a few stray strands of his dark hair.
Without missing a beat, the older Sasuke snapped his single arm upward, the heel of his palm striking the underside of the sword's hilt with brutal, calculated force.
A violent shockwave shot up young Sasuke's arm. The webbing between his thumb and index finger went entirely numb, his grip failing as the katana nearly tore itself from his grasp.
Yet, his combat instincts were razor-sharp. Riding the kinetic momentum of the parry, the boy twisted his body mid-air, his left hand blurring through a rapid sequence of seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A roaring sphere of superheated flames, expanding over three meters in diameter, erupted at point-blank range. The inferno instantly swallowed the narrow alleyway, completely engulfing the cloaked man and the blond boy standing behind him.
"Crap!" Boruto yelped, throwing his arms over his face as the blinding heat washed over them.
Deep within the roaring firelight, a silhouette shifted.
A single hand reached out, its fingers slicing through the very center of the inferno. With a casual, almost dismissive sweep, the massive fireball was physically torn in half. The flames parted like a curtain, washing harmlessly against the brick walls on either side, revealing the older Sasuke completely untouched by the blaze.
And there, gleaming beneath the shadow of his messy bangs...
A blood-red iris. Three black tomoe spun lazily within the crimson sea.
The Sharingan.
Young Sasuke's boots hit the ground, but his body locked up completely. The breath hitched in his throat.
He wasn't the only one. Atop the surrounding rooftops, the dozen Uchiha Military Police Force members who had already drawn their weapons for a secondary assault froze in their tracks. Their eyes widened behind their masks.
Was that... the Sharingan?
"You..." Young Sasuke stared fixedly into the older man's left eye, his aggressive sneer melting into a mask of pure bewilderment. "Are you a member of the Uchiha Clan?"
The older Sasuke remained utterly silent. His jaw set into a hard line. He had never intended to expose his dojutsu, but facing an entire squad of his own clan's elites in such a narrow space, protecting Boruto without causing lethal harm to his attackers required the precision only those eyes could provide.
"Answer me!" young Sasuke roared, the three tomoe in his own eyes spinning into a frantic blur. "If you are an Uchiha, why are you sneaking into the village like a rat?!"
He took a threatening step forward, his voice echoing off the stone walls.
"What is your name? Who are your parents? Which squad do you belong to?!"
The boy's mind raced, filtering through years of careful observation. While the Uchiha clan was massive, he knew the faces of the true powerhouses. More, awakening the three-tomoe Sharingan was a mark of absolute elite status. Every single clan member who possessed those eyes was recorded on the clan's high roster, their names celebrated and known to all.
Yet, this one-armed vagabond standing before him...
Young Sasuke scoured his memories, flipping through every face, every name, every rumor he had ever heard. Nothing matched.
'No such person exists!'
The conclusion hit him like a physical blow. His shock rapidly hardened back into murderous fury.
"Who exactly are you?" he snarled, his hand tightening around his sword hilt. "Why are you impersonating an Uchiha?!"
To the young prodigy, there was only one logical explanation. This intruder was either maintaining a flawless Transformation Jutsu, or worse, he was a rogue ninja who had murdered a clan member and transplanted their eye. To the proud Uchiha, the theft of their bloodline was an unforgivable capital offense. A sin punishable only by a brutal death.
"Impersonating?" The older Sasuke let out a faint, helpless sigh, shaking his head. "I am not impersonating anyone."
He looked down at the furious boy, his single visible eye cold and unreadable.
"It is just that... my name is something your current self is not worthy of knowing."
That single sentence was the spark that ignited the powder keg.
"Arrogant bastard!" young Sasuke spat, his pride stung to the core. "I don't care who you are! Daring to run wild in Konoha and stealing the sacred power of the Uchiha, you will die here today!"
He threw his hand up, signaling the elites on the rooftops.
"Everyone, attack together!"
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
In a split second, the narrow alleyway transformed into a death trap. Dozens of Uchiha elites blurred through hand seals in perfect, terrifying synchronization. A literal meteor shower of roaring flames and multiplying steel rained down from the heavens. The sky turned a blinding crimson, the sheer volume of the combined Fire Release jutsu incinerating the oxygen in the air. The terrifying heat warped the very atmosphere, turning the world into a rippling mirage of impending death.
"Waaah! We're actually going to die this time!" Boruto shrieked, his legs turning to jelly as he stared up at the apocalyptic sea of fire descending upon them. In an alleyway this narrow, dodging a bombardment of this magnitude was mathematically impossible.
The older Sasuke merely tilted his head back, watching the roaring inferno rush toward his face.
Yet, his gaze pierced through the blinding fire, locking onto the young, fierce faces standing atop the rooftops. His clan members. The very people he had lost, the ghosts he could only ever touch in the darkest corners of his memories in his own world. Alive. Breathing. Fighting with the pride of the Uchiha.
"Such... nostalgic enthusiasm," he murmured, a soft, almost imperceptible sigh escaping his lips.
Then, his demeanor shifted.
The three tomoe in his left eye spun violently, blurring into a complex, terrifying new geometric pattern. A blast of cold, overwhelmingly domineering purple chakra erupted from his body, cracking the stone beneath his feet.
"What is this chakra?!" young Sasuke gasped, taking an involuntary step back as the sheer pressure suffocated him.
In the next heartbeat, the purple chakra shot skyward, rapidly solidifying into a physical construct around the older man and the blond boy. Massive, ethereal purple ribs materialized out of thin air, curving inward to form an impenetrable cage of bone, firmly shielding the two of them at its epicenter.
The manifestation didn't stop there. Thick, glowing tendons wrapped around the spectral bones, instantly followed by layers of dense, chakra-forged muscle. A colossal, purple skeletal torso tore through the confines of the narrow alleyway, its sheer mass shattering the adjacent brick walls. The construct radiated a terrifying, god-like pressure that forced the surrounding Uchiha to their knees.
Susanoo: First Form.
The apocalyptic shower of Fire Release and shadow-cloned shuriken slammed mercilessly into the Susanoo's ribcage. The resulting explosions were deafening, a chain reaction of concussive blasts that shook the very foundations of the village. Thick black smoke and pulverized stone billowed into the sky, obscuring everything.
As the violent winds slowly dispersed the smoke and dust, the horrific truth revealed itself.
The purple skeleton stood absolutely unyielding.
Not a single crack marred its surface. Every ounce of flame, every razor-sharp blade, had been effortlessly negated by that singular layer of divine chakra. Atop the ruined rooftops, the elite Uchiha Military Police Force members stared blankly at the towering giant, their weapons hanging limply at their sides.
What was that...?
As proud members of the Uchiha clan, they knew exactly what it was. It was a legend whispered in the deepest archives of the Nakano Shrine. The ultimate power, accessible only to those who had awakened the pinnacle of their bloodline. The world of gods.
"Su... Susanoo!" young Sasuke's voice trembled, the words barely escaping his throat.
His eyes widened to the point of tearing, staring in absolute horror and awe at the one-armed man standing calmly within the glowing purple ribs.
'Mangekyo Sharingan.'
This nameless vagabond actually possessed the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan!
In the current era of the Uchiha clan, only two living people had achieved this mythical evolution: Uchiha Akira, the reigning Fifth Hokage, and Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head. There was absolutely no one else.
Yet now, this crippled wanderer who had materialized out of thin air wielded the exact same divine eyes?
"You..." Young Sasuke swallowed hard, his throat bone-dry. The arrogance had been completely stripped from his voice. "Who exactly are you?"
With a mere thought, the older Sasuke dispersed the Susanoo. The massive purple skeleton dissolved into wisps of fading chakra, leaving the alleyway eerily quiet. He swept his gaze over the stunned, paralyzed clan members on the rooftops, before finally letting his eye rest on the pale, shocked face of his younger self.
"As I said," he replied, his tone perfectly even. "I am merely a traveler."
He gently exhaled a breath of stale air. Looking at this terrified, fiercely proud past self standing before him, a complex storm of emotions churned within his chest. Regret, fondness, and a heavy sorrow he could never voice.
"Boruto, let's go."
Offering no further explanation, he spoke softly to the trembling blond boy behind him. Now that the Mangekyo Sharingan had been exposed, remaining in the village was tactical suicide. They had to evacuate Konoha immediately, long before the village's true apex predators, especially the Fifth Hokage, descended upon them.
"Huh? Oh! Right, okay!" Boruto snapped out of his stupor, scrambling over the rubble to quickly fall in step behind his master.
"Stop!!"
A sharp, desperate shout shattered the heavy silence. Young Sasuke fiercely stomped forward, refusing to yield. Wild, untamed Lightning Release chakra violently crackled to life around his body.
Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Zzzzt!
The piercing, high-frequency screech of a thousand chirping birds echoed throughout the ruined alleyway. Brilliant blue lightning pulsed wildly within the boy's palm, the harsh electrical glow illuminating his young, stubbornly defiant face.
"I don't care who you are!" he screamed over the screeching chakra. "Sneaking into Konoha while concealing your identity is a crime! As a member of the Uchiha Military Police Force, I absolutely cannot let you leave!"
The three tomoe in young Sasuke's eyes spun frantically, tracking his target with lethal intent. Witnessing that raw, unyielding defiance, the older Sasuke felt a sudden, jarring wave of disorientation.
'Truly... a nostalgic foolishness.'
The older Sasuke halted his steps. He tilted his head slightly over his shoulder, his visible eye devoid of any warmth.
"You cannot stop me," he stated, his voice carrying the absolute weight of a god rendering judgment. "Your current self is far too weak."
"Bastard!!" young Sasuke roared.
The Chidori in his hand flared with a blinding, lethal light. Pushing his physical limits, the boy transformed into a literal streak of blue lightning, charging recklessly toward the cloaked man with everything he had.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
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