Chapter 76: The Idea of Evolving the Sharingan — Regarding Sasuke

Ever since Sasuke had come looking for him and claimed that he had heard Uchiha Izumi’s voice on the night of the massacre, Naruto had been considering one thing.

Should he leave Sasuke alone, or should he bring him into their fold?

Leaving him alone was too risky.

But bringing him in wasn’t exactly reassuring either.

At the end of the day, Sasuke was simply too weak.

He had no way of keeping a secret.

As for silencing him permanently, that was out of the question. The Sage of Six Paths probably wouldn’t agree to it.

Sasuke had no conflict with them. In fact, their goals were essentially the same, so Naruto was more inclined to recruit him.

But he still couldn’t completely trust him.

The only solution was the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

Only then would Naruto be able to truly trust Sasuke.

And only then would he be willing to help him.

Since Naruto intended to recruit him, forcibly placing the seal on him would be the worst option.

It would be best if Sasuke willingly accepted it.

But getting Sasuke to volunteer was another matter entirely.

Recently, Naruto had begun building up his goodwill with Sasuke.

They went to school together.

Naruto dragged him home to eat snake soup.

He brought him lunch.

Whenever Sasuke had a question, Naruto answered it.

He had even helped Sasuke awaken the One-Tomoe Sharingan that had erupted during the night of the massacre.

At the same time, whenever they were together, Naruto deliberately revealed certain things in front of Sasuke, subtly guiding his thoughts and making him believe that he had discovered some incredible secrets on his own.

Naruto also guided his hatred.

He wanted Sasuke to understand that they were all in the same boat.

That way, Sasuke would willingly accept the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

To prevent anything from going wrong, Naruto kept an eye on Sasuke during class. After school, Minato Namikaze would monitor him as well.

A Flying Thunder God Seal had also been placed on Sasuke.

With all these precautions, there was no room for accidents.

Originally, Naruto had expected it to take at least a year or two.

He simply hadn’t expected Sasuke to be smarter than he thought.

He had already figured out some of the problems in such a short time.

"All right!"

Looking at the cursed seal on Sasuke’s tongue, Naruto nodded in satisfaction.

From today onward, Sasuke was his number-one henchman.

Of course, Sasuke was still weak right now.

He still needed to be trained.

Suddenly, Naruto sensed something.

He turned his head and saw Sasuke’s body go rigid.

Thud!

A moment later, Sasuke fell off the sofa and hit the floor.

Watching Sasuke twitching on the ground, Naruto was speechless.

The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal that Minato had modified had one advantage: the caster could sense it being activated.

And the real purpose of placing the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on Sasuke wasn’t to prevent Sasuke from revealing their secrets.

As long as Sasuke knew that they were all on the same side, Naruto still trusted his character.

What the seal was truly guarding against was Sasuke being forced to reveal their secrets.

The moment that happened, Naruto would be able to sense it and react immediately.

Because if someone was forcing Sasuke to reveal their secrets, that would mean Naruto himself had already come under suspicion.

Without thinking too much about it, Naruto formed a hand seal.

Sasuke suddenly felt his body relax.

The stiffness gradually disappeared.

After a while, Sasuke finally recovered and climbed back to his feet, still shaken.

Naruto smiled and asked,

"Was it fun?"

"I was just testing it."

Sasuke’s expression darkened.

Then he asked suspiciously,

"Does that mean I can’t talk about you anymore?"

Naruto explained,

"The seal has its own restrictions. You can talk about things that don’t matter. But if you try to say something you shouldn’t, you’ll sense it."

Sasuke tested it again.

"Naruto is the Nine-Tails’ jinchuriki."

Nothing happened.

After muttering a few more things to himself, Sasuke figured out the rule.

As long as he tried to reveal something he wasn’t supposed to—such as, "Uchiha Izumi awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan"—he would immediately feel the seal activating.

If he tried to force the words out, his entire body would become paralyzed the instant he made a sound.

After testing it several times, Sasuke turned around and asked,

"Then you can tell me the truth about the massacre now, right?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke and said meaningfully,

"Are you sure you’re ready to know? Once you do, can you really remain calm in front of your enemy?"

Sasuke clenched his fists tightly.

A question surfaced in his heart.

If it really was the Hokage... would I still be able to remain calm?

He wasn’t sure.

In fact, he had already more or less determined that the Hokage was somehow involved.

But roughly figuring it out and knowing the complete truth were two different things.

For now, it was still only a suspicion.

As long as there was no evidence and the truth hadn’t been exposed, he could still face the Hokage calmly.

But if he became completely certain...

He couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to keep his composure.

Understanding what Naruto meant, Sasuke asked,

"Then what should I do?"

Naruto waved his hand.

"First awaken the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Then reach the strength of an Elite Jonin. We’ll talk about it after that."

He said it so casually that it sounded as if a Three-Tomoe Sharingan and Elite Jonin-level strength were nothing more than vegetables at a market stall.

Sasuke’s face immediately darkened.

Seeing his reaction, Naruto asked in surprise,

"You think that’s difficult?"

"Even if you meet those conditions, all you’ll be able to do is stand in front of Uchiha Itachi and throw a couple of harsh words at him."

"You want to exchange a few blows with him?"

"Then multiply your strength several times before you even think about it."

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Just how strong is he?"

Naruto thought for a moment before answering,

"Right now, there are no more than three people in Konoha who can defeat him with absolute certainty."

"And there are two of you?"

A dark line appeared across Sasuke’s forehead.

"Two... Don’t tell me you’re counting the two of you?"

Naruto immediately gave him an expression that said, Good. You’re finally getting it.

Did that mean the two of them were stronger than the Third Hokage?

Sasuke suddenly felt that he needed to abandon the idea that Naruto never exaggerated.

Without dwelling on that issue, Sasuke continued,

"Then how am I supposed to improve my strength? Can you guys..."

As he spoke, he glanced toward the kitchen.

He felt that the truly powerful one was probably Uchiha Yuan.

And he was also an Uchiha.

Of course, Sasuke already understood that the most important thing was whether Naruto was willing to agree.

At that moment, Uchiha Izumi walked out carrying the dishes.

"Dinner’s ready. Whatever you’re talking about can wait until afterward."

Naruto nodded.

"Let’s eat first."

After dinner.

Naruto took Uchiha Izumi and Sasuke to the Land of Waves.

Sasuke was instantly stunned.

Shadow Clone disguise!

Space-time ninjutsu teleportation!

The movements were incredibly practiced. Anyone could tell Naruto was a repeat offender.

Of course, the Shadow Clone and the repeat offender part weren’t important!

What mattered was that Naruto actually knew space-time ninjutsu!

Remembering what Naruto had just said, Sasuke felt his resolve begin to waver.

At that moment, Naruto asked,

"Sasuke, do you want to awaken the Two-Tomoe Sharingan?"

The moment he heard "Two-Tomoe Sharingan," Sasuke immediately came back to his senses.

He nodded heavily.

"I do!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke with a faint, knowing smile.

"It might hurt a little."

Sasuke answered firmly,

"No matter what it is, I can endure it!"

Seeing his determination, Naruto smiled.

Then he turned toward Uchiha Izumi.

"Izumi, help Sasuke remember everything properly."

Uchiha Izumi gave Sasuke a sympathetic look.

Sasuke froze, completely unable to understand what she meant.

Then Uchiha Izumi suddenly activated her Sharingan!

Sasuke’s vision spun.

The most painful memories buried deep within his heart appeared before him once again.

His most respected older brother held a blade in his hand, stabbing it into the bodies of his clansmen again and again.

And finally...

The blade pierced the bodies of his parents.

Scene after scene from the past continuously replayed before his eyes.

One hour later...

"No! Stop! Stop! I don’t want to see this anymore!"

The veins on Sasuke’s forehead bulged.

His face was twisted with agony.

The scarlet One-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes was covered in blood vessels.

Sasuke had completely descended into madness.

Naruto, who had been watching Sasuke the entire time, furrowed his brows tightly.

He always felt that Sasuke’s Sharingan was on the verge of evolving.

But it was still missing something.

Was the stimulation insufficient because these were events Sasuke had already experienced?

A thought suddenly crossed Naruto’s mind.

What if I unlock Sasuke’s sealed memories...?

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