UK:GSW Chapter 353 – Sasuke Knows the Truth, but Is No Longer Extreme
"This… is another Hidden Leaf… a parallel world… another world…"
"And… the Uchiha…"
On the rooftop of a tall building in the new district of the Hidden Leaf, Uchiha Sasuke gazed down at the village in the distance. His Sharingan was open, and his face was filled with shock. With the Sharingan's extraordinary insight, he could clearly make out many details within the village.
Beyond the unfamiliar yet bustling districts, what struck Sasuke the most was the sight of Uchiha clansmen all over the village. The Uchiha here still lived in the core area of the Leaf, holding a vast stretch of land in the very center—something Sasuke had never experienced.
After all, in Sasuke's world, by the time he was old enough to understand things, the Uchiha had already been pushed to the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf due to the Nine-Tails' attack. How could that compare to the Uchiha district in this world?
Standing in this city—so different from his memories and more like Gotham City from the illusion world than his own Leaf Village—Sasuke felt conflicted. He could not understand how two versions of the Hidden Leaf could be so different, especially when this one, even being twenty years in the past compared to his own, was far more advanced than the Leaf of his time.
The realization left him with a sense of lament and wistfulness, his gaze growing more and more complicated.
Seeing this, Uchiha Kei said, "Don't be puzzled. This change is my doing. Because of me, this Leaf was able to develop so well, and the Uchiha could live this kind of life they never dared to even dream of before."
At that, Sasuke gave Kei a look of speechless disbelief, mixed with a "hard to put into words" expression—because such blatant self-praise was hard to endure.
But… he also felt envy. Even without knowing the full truth about his own world's Uchiha massacre, his instincts told him that this world's Uchiha were living far better lives—fulfilled, happy, nothing like the Uchiha of his memory who acted as though the world owed them billions.
If this prosperity truly was brought about by Uchiha Kei, then maybe he did have the right to boast… though Sasuke thought it would be better for someone else to say it, while he himself stayed modest.
Sasuke silently complained in his heart.
If Kei knew Sasuke's thoughts, he would have scoffed and said, "As they say, what's the point of being rich if you can't flaunt it? It's like wearing brocade at night, my friend." Then he would have added that he didn't use to boast like this because people didn't realize how different things would have been for the Leaf and the Uchiha without him.
Even if people understood he brought prosperity, without a clear comparison, they could only guess at the benefits. But now, with the truth about parallel worlds spreading in certain circles, everyone understood far more clearly than before—and Kei could rightfully say that today's Leaf existed thanks to him, the "weightlifting champion" of Konoha.
For Sasuke, this was even more poignant—his own world's Leaf was backward and ignorant, the Uchiha were wiped out, and it couldn't compare to this thriving city. He felt envy, jealousy, and longing.
Why didn't his world have an Uchiha Kei?
Truly… too unfair.
Sasuke's feelings grew increasingly tangled. Though Kei didn't leave him with a good impression—he found the man arrogant—Kei had given him the power he had always dreamed of, enough to face Uchiha Itachi. And he had brought this Leaf into an era of unprecedented prosperity for the Uchiha clan.
Real name envy.jpg
But as the proud "cool guy" he was, Sasuke kept his thoughts to himself, maintaining his cold and handsome façade as he silently looked down at the Leaf below.
Then, Kei spoke again: "In a while, this world's Fugaku will take over as clan head. Well? Want to attend the succession ceremony?"
Hearing that familiar yet distant name, Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. He didn't react outwardly much, but the tomoe in his eyes began spinning rapidly, betraying his intense emotions.
That was his father's name—and if his father was alive, so was his mother.
Then Sasuke thought of someone else. His eyes shifted again, the tomoe linking together and quickly transforming into his unique hexagram Mangekyō Sharingan, nicknamed the "chrysanthemum eye" by many fans. A shadow of malice crossed his brow.
Clearly, he was thinking of his "dear older brother"—the clan head in name in another world—the "weasel" Uchiha Itachi.
When the Batman illusion ended and his memories returned, the hatred toward Itachi for wiping out the Uchiha clan returned as well.
Even after seeing the Uchiha's happiness in this world, Sasuke still wanted to kill him.
Or rather, seeing the Uchiha's prosperity here made his hatred even deeper—if the clan could live so well, why did Itachi destroy them? That man… unforgivable!
Kei had no objection to that sentiment. In his eyes, Itachi deserved death. No matter the hidden reasons, the moment he slaughtered his parents and annihilated the clan, he became irredeemable.
However, to prevent Sasuke from someday learning the truth and suddenly running off to join the Akatsuki, Kei decided to tell him everything now.
Some truths, learned earlier, lead to very different results.
So Kei said, "Sasuke, the Itachi in this world is just a little kid. He hasn't done anything yet, and he won't—there are plenty of people here who could grind him into the dirt, even if he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Also, the relationship between the Uchiha and the Leaf here won't force him down the path of destroying the clan. On the contrary, his future will involve joining the Uchiha workforce, laying bricks for the greatness of the Uchiha and Konoha."
At that, Sasuke's misdirected anger toward this world's young Itachi eased slightly. But then he caught a key detail in Kei's words and quickly turned to him.
"You just said… the relationship between the Uchiha and the Leaf forced Itachi to destroy the clan? What do you mean? What's the truth?"
Kei looked at him. "Didn't your world's Orochimaru ever tell you about the poor relationship between the Uchiha and the Leaf before the massacre?"
Sasuke was silent for a moment. "He told me. He said that before the massacre, the Uchiha weren't doing well in the village, and they had deep conflicts with the Leaf—caused by their pride."
Rubbing his chin, Kei said, "That's what he told you? Well, he's not wrong. Without change, without integrating into the Leaf, the Uchiha were indeed arrogant and good at making enemies. Frankly, their continued existence was mostly thanks to their strength."
"But as one of the Leaf's founding clans, the villagers knew the Uchiha's nature. To say that alone caused a total rift is oversimplified."
"The real reason for the final break was the chain reaction from the Nine-Tails' attack."
Sasuke stared at him, tense, sensing that he was about to learn the hidden truth.
Kei then explained everything—how after Konoha's founding, the Uchiha had been restricted and suppressed due to Madara's betrayal, how every Hokage wanted the Uchiha to integrate into the village, but Danzo Shimura constantly targeted them.
Then came the Nine-Tails' attack. The beast was clearly controlled by a Sharingan, leading to suspicion of the Uchiha. With the Fourth Hokage and many others dead, the clan was thoroughly distrusted and pushed to the margins. Anger grew under continued suppression from the elders, and a rebellious faction within the clan began plotting.
In the end, the Uchiha planned a coup to kill the Hokage's faction and seize control of the Leaf.
While recounting this, Kei mocked Sasuke's father, Fugaku, for his indecisiveness—outwardly a hardliner, but in truth a "wait-and-die" type. Unlike those who chose a side and acted, he did nothing except hold endless clan meetings, and his greatest "action" was sending Shisui and Itachi to spy—only for both to be turned by the Hokage's side. Ridiculous.
The result: the coup failed before it began, and the clan was wiped out by Danzo and Itachi.
So, Kei concluded, it was all Fugaku's fault.
Sasuke clenched his fists, wanting to defend his father's honor. But hearing the detailed account and considering Fugaku's inaction, he couldn't refute it.
Kei was right—if Fugaku had been firmly in either camp, he could have saved part of the clan, whether by surrendering and preserving loyalists or by rebelling and sending some to safety. But instead, he did nothing.
In truth, "wait-and-die" was an apt description.
Sasuke's emotions were a tangled mess—anger, pain, sadness, conflict, hatred—all surging within him. His fists clenched and relaxed repeatedly, his eyes once again shifting into Mangekyō, showing his turmoil.
Seeing this, Kei said, "Don't overuse your Mangekyō. The more you use it, the worse your eyesight will get, until you go blind."
Sasuke was startled, quickly deactivating it and frowning as he touched his eyelid. "Mangekyō has such a side effect?"
Kei: "Of course. Unless you obtain the Eternal Mangekyō, you'll go blind. You didn't think that 'Sharingan's curse' talk was just a scare tactic in the illusion world, did you?"
Wasn't it? Sasuke wanted to say, but kept silent. Instead, he asked, "What is the Eternal Mangekyō?"
Kei didn't hide it and explained directly.
After learning, Sasuke's expression turned pained and angry. "So… Itachi wanted me to awaken Mangekyō so he could take it for himself and get the Eternal Mangekyō?"
Kei shook his head. "No—he wanted you to get the Eternal Mangekyō."
Sasuke: "???"
Kei then revealed Itachi's true intentions—how he wanted to protect Sasuke, arranged his life for him, and planned to die as a traitor in Sasuke's hands.
The truth made Sasuke's pupils quake—he almost reopened his Mangekyō.
But unlike in the original story, Sasuke now knew the truth earlier. He'd seen another possibility for the Uchiha's future. His mindset was entirely different.
Once he recovered, his face twisted with pain and anger, and he roared about Itachi: "That guy! That bastard! Why is he always like this? Always so self-righteous! Always thinking he's right! He went this far, and still wanted to arrange my life! What does he take me for? Some pet whose fate and life he can control at will?"
Kei spread his hands. "That's the Uchiha for you—'the clan of love.' The greater the love, the stronger they become… and the heavier the love weighs."
"…," Sasuke's face looked as if he had just swallowed something foul.
Still—unlike in the original, he didn't vow to destroy the Leaf, nor did the thought cross his mind.
Knowing the truth earlier changed everything—especially since, though his Batman memories were now distant, like a movie he once watched, the lessons he learned there still influenced him.
If nothing else, he'd learned that no matter how angry or pained, he couldn't let his thinking go to extremes. Once certain lines were crossed, there would be no more lines left—and he would become something unrecognizable, even to himself.
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