The real Ninja World, after a brief hush, erupted into even fiercer debate.
"Ah!" Someone slapped their thigh in frustration. "That Uchiha boy—why did he go soft at the crucial moment? If he'd just finished the job, there'd be none of this mess. We could've nipped the future world-destroying crisis in the bud!"
The remark instantly won nods from a slice of the crowd.
"Exactly! Hesitation never built greatness!"
"Mercy to a foe is cruelty to yourself—doesn't he get that?"
"If he'd killed Uzumaki Naruto then, we might've saved a hundred thousand Ninja lives!"
This cold, results-first logic began to spread: Sasuke's moment of mercy had supposedly sown the seed of later catastrophe.
Yet a counter-voice rose at once, deeper and grimmer.
"What do fools know? Remember what Uchiha Sasuke said up there last time!"
"He said—'Naruto pulled me out of the darkness!'"
"Had Sasuke actually killed Naruto at the Valley of the End, he'd have severed his last chance at ever returning to the light!"
"He'd have drowned forever in hatred—maybe falling even faster and harder than that so-called World-Destroying Naruto."
"A Sasuke devoured by vengeance, with no one left who could stop him—do you think he'd be easier to handle than Uzumaki Naruto?"
The retort was a bucket of icy water; the kill-him crowd fell mute.
Right—if Sasuke had landed that fatal blow, could he still become the man who would stand beside the Five Kage to stop the world's end?
Unlikely.
He'd be a vengeance-ghost, more twisted, more ruthless, not a ray of light left inside.
Such an Uchiha Sasuke might threaten the Ninja World no less than "World-Destroying Naruto."
Every choice at a crossroads spins a wholly different future.
By sparing Naruto at the Valley, Sasuke kept the last glimmer of his own humanity—and left himself the slimmest thread of possible redemption.
And Naruto's desperate attempt to hold him back, though it failed, planted the seed of "bonds" deep in Sasuke's heart.
Some day, when despair hits, that seed might be what drags him out of the abyss.
Inside the Hokage Office, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi drew deeply on his pipe as he listened to the outside arguments through the crystal ball.
He weighed the same dilemma.
Crush the bud, or leave room for salvation?
The balance was excruciating.
Tsunade, arms folded, snorted at the heavenly screen. "Idiots, every one. True darkness comes only when you give up on yourself."
Jiraiya sighed, eyes conflicted. "Bonds… they can be the rope that saves you—or the noose that strangles you. Naruto, Sasuke… where will your path lead?"
The screen rolled on.
On one side, Uchiha Sasuke, after grueling travel, finally reached Orochimaru's lair; under the serpent's greedy stare he lowered his proud head, beginning his forging in the devil's den for the power of vengeance.
On the other, in Konoha's hospital, Uzumaki Naruto awoke, Leaf forehead protector in hand—no anger, no bitterness.
He merely wiped it clean and tucked it away with reverence.
His eyes blazed with resolve as he vowed:
"Sasuke… you didn't kill me and you left my forehead protector… that means you still see me as your friend, right?"
"Wait for me. I'll grow stronger, find you, and bring you back!"
"And then I'll personally tie this forehead protector around your head again!"
That simple, heartfelt conviction—believing utterly in their bond even after "betrayal" and grave injury—shone through the screen.
Many who had just asked why Sasuke didn't kill Naruto now averted their eyes, cheeks hot.
Against Naruto's crystal-pure faith, their cold cost-benefit math looked sordid and small.
But the moment of shame was short-lived, swallowed by fresh rage at Konoha.
"Why?"
A Hidden Sand Ninja roared at the sky. "Such a good kid, so loyal—why will your Leaf drive him to destroy the world?"
"What did Konoha do to him?"
"Exactly! One gives his life for a friend, the other still trusts after being 'betrayed'—and Leaf turns one into a rogue, the other into a world-ender?"
Accusations crashed toward Konoha again.
Earlier jibes had mocked its governance; now there was raw moral condemnation.
Konoha, you are the problem!
Refute us if you dare!
Fourth Raikage A was blunter still, proclaiming to the world:
"Monkey Hiruzen of Konoha—every one of you higher-ups—listen up!"
"If you Leaf fools can't raise children, send them over! Hidden Cloud will do the job!"
"Hidden Cloud produces no Rogue Ninja—ever!"
Kumogakure had just slapped Konoha in public—hard and disdainful.
"Well said, Lord Raikage!"
"Right! Cloud stands united!"
"Leaf only wastes geniuses!"
Cheers exploded inside Hidden Cloud Village.
Other villages, shocked but amused, watched Konoha burn and quietly weighed what profit they might skim.
Back in the Hokage Office, news reached Hiruzen; his face went beyond ugly—twisted with fury, humiliation, and helpless silence.
The Raikage had ground Konoha's—and his—face into the dirt.
Tsunade skimmed the Anbu report and said coldly, "Don't sulk; he's right. We did fail those kids."
Hiruzen's face froze; he nearly barked, "Impudent student!"
But he swallowed it—because shouting would only prove he'd failed even his own pupils.
Jiraiya tried to smooth things over. "Let's just watch the screen, huh? Watch the screen…"