Whoosh~
Bang!
Several black flashes fell from the sky.
Puff, puff, puff!
They embedded themselves in the path of the Chidori Current, diverting all the lightning into the ground.
Sizzle!
Sasuke looked up as a dark figure appeared.
Naruto also stumbled, looking up.
"Who is it?"
Yamato, Sakura, Sai... Orochimaru, Kabuto... all looked up.
"Hey, long time no see, little Sasuke. You're not asking me for action figures anymore, haha."
Satoru performed several cool moves in the sky, landing precisely in front of Naruto. Further ahead were the Kunai he used to block Sasuke's lightning.
He showed Sasuke a middle-aged man's smile.
"Sensei Satoru..." Naruto's eyes widened.
"Why are you here?"
"Haha, Hokage-sama was worried, so he sent me to check. It seems I came at the right time."
Satoru laughed.
In the distance, Yamato heard Satoru's words, and his entire good-natured face immediately fell: "Hokage-sama doesn't trust my strength..."
Sasuke retracted his Chidori Current, placing his hand on his kusanagi blade: "Captain Satoru, you are not my target."
His Sharingan spun, constantly guarding against Satoru's genjutsu.
"Oh? Seeing how much Naruto cares about you, are you really not coming back to Konoha?" Satoru asked.
He twirled a Kunai in his hand, looking as if he would drag Sasuke back if he didn't agree.
"You know nothing of the Sharingan's power."
Clang!
Clang, clang, clang!
Satoru's Kunai flew in his hands, no matter how Sasuke's kusanagi blade attacked, he couldn't break through.
"Don't be so violent. I didn't say I was going to drag you back. I just wanted to warn you,
don't lay a hand on your Konoha comrades, or I won't let you off."
Clang, clang!
Sizzle~
With his Sharingan pushed to its limit, Sasuke noticed that the opponent's taijutsu was very similar to the techniques he encountered in the combat environments during his graduation.
"Now!"
Under the Sharingan's incredibly strong dynamic vision, all of Satoru's movements seemed like slow motion to him.
So incredibly slow.
Chidori Current erupted from the kusanagi blade, directly hitting Satoru, paralyzing him. He placed his blade on Satoru's neck.
"I'll let you off this time. The next time we meet..."
Sasuke recalled the first time he met this Old Weirdo.
He was only a few years old then.
He was happy to get an Itachi action figure.
The time he got the action figure was a relatively happy time for him.
During various missions, only the action figure accompanied him... But all that was in the past.
From now on, there would only be the past of hatred... He slowly prepared to lower his kusanagi blade.
"Sasuke, wake up."
Just then, Orochimaru's voice rang in his ear.
When he came to his senses, there was no blade at his neck. Satoru stood smiling in front of him.
Naruto and the others also looked shocked.
In his hand, the kusanagi blade was indeed in the position to be at a neck, but there was no one there.
Beside him, Kabuto and Orochimaru had also landed next to him.
Placing their hands on his shoulders.
"As expected of you, Konoha's genjutsu master, Acting Hokage!" Orochimaru looked at Satoru, licked his lips, and smiled.
Upon hearing this, Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, and his pupils contracted.
"You are also very impressive, to be able to break the jutsu I cast on Sasuke and even use it on yourself."
Satoru praised him.
Kabuto: "As expected of Sensei Satoru, this genjutsu is too powerful. I'm afraid Sasuke's brother, Uchiha Itachi, wouldn't be your match in this regard."
Hearing Itachi's name, Sasuke's pupils trembled again.
Satoru smiled and looked at Orochimaru: "Sensei Orochimaru is the true genjutsu master of Konoha. Itachi merely inherited the Kekkei genkai, which enhances his genjutsu abilities, but there's still a gap between him and Sensei Orochimaru."
"Hehe, interested in cooperating? Your goal is Akatsuki, right? Coincidentally, our goal is also to weaken Akatsuki's power."
Orochimaru was indifferent to his praise, instead proposing cooperation.
Satoru glanced at the fallen Naruto and the others, then looked at Sasuke: "It seems you truly have no intention of returning to Konoha. Then I won't force you. After all, Sensei Orochimaru and little Kabuto are here. I can't fight you all for a rogue ninja. My mission is to protect the Nine-Tailed."
At these words, even Naruto's side found it unbelievable.
"Sensei Satoru..." Naruto wanted to speak.
"Naruto, you are the one who acknowledges him. Bring him back yourself with your own efforts.
If I capture him, Sasuke might be locked in Konoha's dungeon,
then, as a rogue ninja, be whipped by his Village comrades, and perhaps even used for experiments."
Satoru whispered in Naruto's ear.
Naruto's pupils contracted.
He wanted to say that even if he had to break Sasuke's arms and legs, he would bring Sasuke back.
But looking at Sasuke's eyes... Naruto wavered.
"Sasuke, it seems your training is not enough. You still need to work harder." Orochimaru spoke.
Kabuto: "Let's go. We don't know if there are any more Konoha pursuers behind us."
Orochimaru and Kabuto supported Sasuke, who was stunned by the genjutsu, and gave Satoru a deep look.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Then they slowly disappeared from their sight.
This left Sakura and Yamato in the distance bewildered.
Naruto's eyes also trembled as he watched Sasuke leave.
His fists clenched.
Tears streamed down onto the muddy ground.
"Sensei Satoru."
"Sensei Satoru."
Sakura and Yamato greeted him, then began to treat their injuries.
And Sai, who was lying in the distance.
His eyes watched Satoru.
"This person's emotions seem different from Naruto and the others." Sai recalled what Naruto had told him these past few days.
Although he didn't understand emotions much, from the conflict in his conversations with Naruto and the others, it should be different.
After they had all treated themselves, Satoru used Pupil Setting Hand, and a giant Satoru carried them into the sky.
"Let's go back."
On the back of the Satoru, a man and a woman looked back with complex emotions.
And Yamato was still muttering, seemingly about Tsunade not trusting his abilities or something.
And even sending out Satoru... An unknown place.
Orochimaru leaned against a large rock, seemingly waiting for something.
Soon, he looked behind him.
A figure was getting closer and closer.
"I've been wanting to see you again for a long time, Satoru."
Orochimaru said.
"It's hard for Lord Orochimaru to still remember Konoha's secret signal." Satoru said.
Just now, Orochimaru had sent him a secret signal, wanting to talk to him.
Out of boredom, he decided to come and see what Orochimaru wanted.
"Your abilities are very powerful. What are you doing holed up in Konoha?" Orochimaru said meaningfully.
Satoru was taken aback: "Oh, you think with abilities as strong as mine, being holed up in Konoha means I have some ulterior motive, right? Of course, I'm just spending time with my wife and children by the warm hearth!"
"Oh, I forgot, Lord Orochimaru, you're also a single dog. I shouldn't have said that."
"..."
Orochimaru was speechless.
However, with Satoru saying that, he was half-convinced.
According to the will of fire promoted by the Third Old Man, this was very possible.
But wasn't it too simple??
Was he overthinking it?