Naruto: The Abstract Strategist of the Akatsuki

Chapter 114 Sasuke's Inner Struggle

"...You guys were definitely doing that on purpose, weren't you?"

Boruto held the bed sheet, grimacing as he wiped the chili sauce off his face.

"What do you think? Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely. Kid, you'd better confess yourself. We're only showing leniency because of your relationship with Naruto; otherwise, you'd be in the dark room of Konoha's interrogation department right now."

Jiraiya withdrew his smile and spoke to Boruto with a stern face.

"That's right, you killed Asuma-sensei. Even if you are Naruto's son, if you don't give an explanation, I will avenge Asuma immediately."

Shikamaru also expressed his stance, taking out a lighter he had retrieved from Asuma's body and burning a lock of Boruto's hair.

"Boruto, speak, but don't mention unimportant things, and avoid revealing too much unnecessary information."

Sasuke patted Boruto on the shoulder.

He didn't know why Boruto did this, but he already had some guesses.

"...Where exactly did I slip up?"

Boruto collapsed onto the bed with a distressed expression.

"Still worrying about that? Okay, let me ask you a question: have you ever cheated?"

Jiraiya sat down on the edge of the bed and asked Boruto.

"Cheating? Of course not... uh hehe, yes."

Boruto was about to deny it outright when he remembered how he had been caught cheating in front of everyone during the Chunin Exams. Everyone in the village, people from other villages, including Sasuke who was standing next to him, had seen it, and he suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

"We've been discovered, haven't we?"

"Yes, but it wasn't discovered at first; it was only at the very end..."

"Everyone noticed it from the beginning."

Sasuke interrupted Boruto.

Seeing Boruto looking at him in surprise, Sasuke turned his head away: "At least the other four Kage have noticed. I'm only keeping quiet for your father's sake."

"You have too many facial expressions. If you were in front of an interrogation expert like Ibixi, he wouldn't need to do anything; he could tell at a glance that you're hiding something."

"Alright, we've answered your questions. Now it's your turn to solve ours."

Jiraiya crossed his arms and just looked at Boruto.

"Okay, I'll confess."

Boruto breathed a sigh of relief. Although the process was quite different, the result seemed to be the same.

He can finally stop agonizing over it all by himself.

"Sasuke-san, Jiraiya-san, Shikamaru-san, actually it's like this..."

Boruto recounts how his memories are fading and how Momoshiki told him he must correct history, or his sister and friends will disappear.

After confessing, Boruto felt much more relaxed.

"I don't know what to do. Although Momoshiki killed the person, 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 do bear some responsibility."

After Boruto finished speaking, he knelt on the bed, awaiting his fate.

Jiraiya didn't speak immediately, but instead looked at Sasuke.

"I also have some feelings about this, but I'm not as affected as Boruto."

Sasuke gave his approval.

As Momoshiki said, Sasuke himself exists in this era and will only change because of future changes, but will not disappear.

On the other hand, Sasuke's chakra was stolen by Urashiki, and he also consumed a lot of his eye power, so his strength has been greatly weakened.

"What I wanted to ask is, are the things Boruto said about the future true? Don't worry, if history really needs to be corrected, you can always use your illusion magic to erase that memory for us."

Jiraiya asked Sasuke for confirmation.

"That's right, the Third Hokage did die in the Konoha Crush plan. He used the Reaper Death Seal to seal Orochimaru's hands."

Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then continued, "As for Sarutobi Asuma, I wasn't in the village at the time. I heard he died at the hands of Hidan from the Akatsuki organization not long after, leaving behind an unborn daughter..."

"etc!"

Shikamaru, who was feeling down, suddenly realized something was off when he heard the end of the story.

"You mean Asuma-sensei left behind an unborn child? But Asuma and Kurenai-sensei haven't even officially started a relationship yet!"

As Shikamaru finished speaking, he suddenly stood up and looked at Boruto, who was kneeling on the bed.

Ino wasn't there for this mission, so the three men in the team chatted about some typical male topics.

Asuma mentioned this to him while they were soaking in the hot springs, and even asked Shikamaru, who was good at thinking, for some advice. Shikamaru laughed and refused, saying that this had nothing to do with intelligence.

Therefore, Shikamaru can be certain of this.

"What?! I killed him too early? No, I mean, Momoshiki killed him too early?!"

Boruto was stunned, clutching his head in his hands. "It's over, it's over, does that mean the future is gone?"

This is a double entendre.

"Don't worry, it's just a personal impact; it won't wipe out the entire future."

Jiraiya offered a word of comfort.

"No, I meant Mirai-neechan, Sarutobi Mirai is gone~"

Boruto clutched his head, looking somewhat distraught.

What happened to him saying he was saving his future family and friends?

How could I have nipped my future sister in the bud... uh, nipped her in the bud?

"Uh, is that the future?"

Jiraiya looked embarrassed; he hadn't expected Boruto to be referring to a person's name when talking about the future.

After Boruto finished wailing, Jiraiya looked at Sasuke, who was silent and sullen, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Uchiha Sasuke, say what you want to say. Let's solve this together. I believe you won't be alone in the future."

"Um."

Sasuke nodded, sighed softly, and looked out the window with a melancholy look in his eyes. "According to Boruto, and based on the information I've gathered these past few days, this era has been rewritten too much by that guy named Bai Mo."

The best way to correct this is to kill most of the people who are supposed to die in the future, and then use illusion magic to alter their memories, thus ensuring that the future remains unchanged as much as possible.

"Including me, right?"

Jiraiya looked serious.

"Well, based on the current situation, the person who was supposed to kill you won't kill you now."

Sasuke nodded.

His concern about Jiraiya's life and death stemmed primarily from his bond with Naruto. Naruto and Jiraiya had a deep connection, so he would also care about it.

But there was one person who, besides Naruto, was the only person he cared about most in this era.

Yes, of course it's not Sakura.

Instead—Nissan.

According to intelligence, Itachi probably won't die at his hands again.

Will the weasel die of illness?

With Itachi's abilities and wisdom, even if he had died a little later, it would have been enough to change the course of the battle.

Furthermore, Itachi might be able to break his genjutsu, and Itachi even has Shisui's Kotoamatsukami.

In Sasuke's mind, his brother was obviously very powerful and had to be taken seriously.

But is it precisely because of this that he had to kill Nissan with his own hands again?

Sasuke was filled with inner turmoil.

"Mr. Sasuke, Momoshiki said that once Urashiki arrives, we can cooperate with him to deal with the person disrupting this spacetime, and then correct the spacetime."

He would criticize and educate the students, telling them not to change the past, to let them return to their original timeline, and to do things differently...

Boruto pressed his head with one hand and repeated Momoshiki's words in his mind.

Upon hearing this, Sasuke, who had been somewhat confused, paused for a moment, then his eyes hardened.

What kind of wonderful future was it originally? Was it worth protecting?

Why would he kill Nissan for such a future?

Based on the intelligence he collected, he felt that the future of this timeline seemed more promising under Bai Mo's influence.