...You guys definitely did that on purpose, didn't you?
Boruto grimaced while wiping the chili sauce off his face with a bedsheet.
"What do you think? Confess and be leniently dealt with; resist and be severely punished. Kid, you'd better confess yourself. We are only being lenient because of your relationship with Naruto, otherwise, you would be in the dark room of the Konoha Interrogation Division right now."
Jiraiya stopped smiling and said to Boruto with a straight face.
"That's right. You killed Asuma-sensei. Even if you are Naruto's son, if you don't give us an explanation, I will avenge Asuma immediately."
Shikamaru also showed his stance, taking out the lighter he had picked up from Asuma's body and burning a strand of Boruto's hair.
"Boruto, speak. But don't mention irrelevant things. We still need to avoid revealing too much unnecessary information."
Sasuke patted Boruto on the shoulder.
He wasn't sure why Boruto did this, but he already had some guesses.
"...Where exactly did I slip up?"
Boruto looked frustrated and slumped onto the bed.
"Still worried about that? Fine, let me ask you a question: Have you ever cheated?"
Jiraiya sat down on the edge of the bed and asked Boruto.
"Cheated? Of course not... Uh, hehe, yes, I have."
Boruto was about to deny it outright, but then he remembered being exposed for cheating during the Chunin Exams in front of everyone—the entire village, people from other villages, and even Sasuke beside him—and he immediately felt embarrassed.
"You were found out, right?"
"Yeah, but I wasn't found out at first, only at the very end..."
"Everyone found out right from the start."
Sasuke interrupted Boruto.
Seeing Boruto look at him in surprise, Sasuke turned his head away: "At least the other four Kage noticed. They only kept quiet to save your father's face."
"You have too many micro-expressions. If you were put in front of an interrogation expert like Ibiki, he wouldn't even have to do anything; he'd know you were hiding something just by looking at you."
"Alright, we've answered your questions. Now it's your turn to answer ours."
Jiraiya crossed his arms and stared at Boruto.
"Fine, I confess."
Boruto breathed a sigh of relief. Although the process was much different than expected, the result seemed to be the same.
He could finally stop agonizing over it alone.
"Sasuke-san, Jiraiya-san, Shikamaru-ojisan, the truth is..."
Boruto explained how his memories were becoming increasingly blurry, and how Momoshiki told him he had to correct history, or his sister and friends would disappear.
After confessing, Boruto felt much lighter.
"I don't know what to do. Even though Momoshiki was the one who killed him, if I hadn't chosen to run away, Momoshiki wouldn't have been able to take over my body while I was conscious, so I definitely bear responsibility."
After Boruto finished speaking, he knelt on the bed, awaiting judgment.
Jiraiya did not speak immediately; instead, he looked toward Sasuke first.
"I also have some feelings in this regard, but I haven't been affected as much as Boruto."
Sasuke confirmed it.
Just as Momoshiki said, on one hand, Sasuke himself existed in this era, and would only change if the future changed, not disappear.
On the other hand, Sasuke had his Chakra stolen by Urashiki and had consumed a lot of ocular power, so his strength was currently significantly weakened.
"I want to ask, are the things Boruto said about the future true? Don't worry, if history really needs correcting, you can ultimately use your Genjutsu to erase these memories for us."
Jiraiya sought confirmation from Sasuke.
"That's right. The Third Hokage did die during the Konoha Crush Plan. He used the Reaper Death Seal to seal Orochimaru's arms."
Sasuke hesitated here, "As for Asuma Sarutobi, I wasn't in the village at that time, but I heard he died soon after at the hands of Hidan of the Akatsuki Organization, leaving behind a posthumous daughter..."
"Wait!"
Shikamaru was feeling sorrowful, but upon hearing the last part, he suddenly noticed something wasn't right.
"You said Asuma-sensei left behind a posthumous daughter? But Asuma and Kurenai-sensei haven't even confirmed their relationship yet!"
Shikamaru stood up abruptly at this point and looked at Boruto kneeling on the bed.
Ino hadn't come on this mission, and the three men in the team had just been discussing some men's topics.
When they were soaking in the hot spring, Asuma had mentioned this to him and wanted the quick-witted Shikamaru to give him advice, but Shikamaru had laughed and refused, saying that this had nothing to do with intelligence.
Therefore, Shikamaru was certain about this point.
"What?! I killed him too early? Ah, no, Momoshiki killed him too early?!"
Boruto was also stunned, holding his head in his hands, "It's over, it's over, doesn't that mean the future is gone?"
This was a double entendre.
"Don't panic. It's just one person's influence; it won't cause the entire future to disappear."
Jiraiya offered a word of comfort.
"No, I mean Mirai-neechan, Sarutobi Mirai is gone~"
Boruto held his head, feeling somewhat broken.
He was supposed to be saving his family and friends in the future, wasn't he?
How did he personally strangle Mirai-neechan in the cradle... er, strangle her in the demon orb?
"Uh, so that's the 'future' you meant."
Jiraiya looked awkward; he hadn't realized that the 'future' Boruto mentioned was a person's name.
After Boruto's wail of despair, Jiraiya looked at the silent Sasuke, thought for a moment, and spoke: "Uchiha Sasuke, say whatever you're thinking. Let's solve this together. I believe the future you is no longer alone."
"Mm."
Sasuke nodded, sighed slightly, and looked out the window with a melancholic gaze, "According to what Boruto said, and the intelligence I've gathered these past few days, this era has been rewritten too much by that person named Bai Mo."
"If we want to correct it, the best way is to kill most of the people who were supposed to die in the future, and then use Genjutsu to modify memories, which would maximize the chances of the future remaining unchanged."
"Including me, right?"
Jiraiya's expression was serious.
"Mm. Based on the current situation, the person who was supposed to kill you won't kill you now."
Sasuke nodded.
His concern for Jiraiya's life or death mainly stemmed from his bond with Naruto; Naruto and Jiraiya had a deep bond, so he cared about it a little.
But there was one person, besides Naruto, whom he cared about the most in this era.
Hmm, it certainly wasn't Sakura.
And that was—Brother.
According to the intelligence, Itachi probably wouldn't die by his hand anymore.
Would Itachi die from illness?
Given Itachi's abilities and intellect, even dying a little later would be enough to change the course of the war.
Moreover, Itachi might be able to break the Genjutsu he cast, and Itachi even possessed Shisui's Kotoamatsukami.
In Sasuke's heart, his Brother was clearly very formidable and had to be taken seriously.
But precisely because of this, would he have to kill his Brother with his own hands again?
Sasuke's heart was filled with internal struggle.
"Sasuke-san, Momoshiki said that once Urashiki arrives, we can cooperate with him first, eliminate the person who is disrupting this timeline, and then fix the timeline.
He would criticize and educate Urashiki not to change the past, let them return to their original timeline, and then things would proceed as they should..."
Boruto pressed one hand to his head and repeated Momoshiki's words from his mind.
As soon as these words came out, Sasuke, who had been somewhat confused, froze for a moment, and his gaze became determined.
What kind of wonderful future was that original future? Was it really worth protecting?
Why should he kill his Brother for the sake of such a future?
Based on the analysis of the intelligence he had gathered, the future of this timeline, under the influence of Bai Mo, felt much more hopeful.
....
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