Just as Sasuke's rage was reaching its peak, a hesitant, uncertain voice drifted in from beside him.
"Um… didn't the Sky Screen say before that… Danzō… was killed by ?"
The speaker was none other than Naruto Uzumaki, who only monts ago had still been drowning in guilt over Sakura's parents.
He scratched his head, trying hard to recall the details from the very first Sky Screen.
"But hey—at least Sakura's okay!"
Sasuke's surging fury abruptly stalled. His expression froze.
Only then did he rember—
in the first Sky Screen, that darkened, world-ending future Naruto had indeed ntioned killing Danzō Shimura with his own hands.
Which ant…
The revenge target Sasuke had just sworn to kill himself
had already been taken care of by this dead-last in the future?
That strange feeling—of being beaten to the punch, of having one's goal snatched away—mixed with his lingering anger toward Naruto and years of rivalry, made Sasuke's face flush red, then pale.
In the end, all those emotions condensed into the most direct action possible—
"DAMN IT, NARUTO!!"
With a low snarl—whether from embarrassnt, frustration, or sheer instinct even Sasuke didn't know—he lunged straight at Naruto.
"W-Whoa!! Sasuke, what are you doing?! I was talking about the future ! What does that have to do with now?!"
Caught completely off guard, Naruto was tackled to the ground, and the two imdiately started wrestling—just like old tis.
The Sky Screen did not end.
The scene shifted again, as if fate itself were turning the lens back toward Konoha.
Hawk-Eye stood beside Sakura Haruno, both of them gazing at the village from afar.
From this mont on, that place had nothing to do with her anymore.
"That blond kid," Hawk-Eye suddenly said, his voice as calm as ever.
"He's soone you care about?"
Following his gaze, Sakura saw that familiar, anxious figure. She nodded, her tone complicated.
"Yeah. He's very important to . A close friend."
"How close?" Hawk-Eye pressed, golden eyes sharp as blades.
Sakura was puzzled by the question, but answered honestly.
"Very close. We're teammates—we've been through life and death together. Why?"
Hawk-Eye gave a slight nod.
"Good. Then forget it."
"Forget it?" Sakura grew even more confused.
"What if… he were just an ordinary friend?"
Hawk-Eye's gaze turned instantly cold, his voice devoid of warmth.
"Then I would kill him."
"What?!" Sakura nearly jumped in shock, staring at him in disbelief.
"W-Why?!"
Hawk-Eye looked back toward Konoha, as if piercing space itself to lock onto a specific presence.
Then he spoke, his tone laced with undisguised disgust.
"That kid is wrapped in a chakra aura I find extrely—extrely—repulsive."
Sakura froze for a mont, then realization dawned.
"The… Nine-Tails? Naruto has the Nine-Tails sealed inside him. Is it because of the Kyūbi's chakra?"
"The Nine-Tails?" Hawk-Eye glanced at her sideways, contempt clear in his eyes.
"A slightly stronger fox, that's all. I wouldn't even bother counting it—just a few slashes, at most."
Now Sakura was truly confused.
"Not the Nine-Tails? Then… what other chakra does Naruto have?"
Hawk-Eye fell silent for a mont. Instead of answering, he asked a question.
"If soone killed your parents—what would you do?"
Pain and hatred instantly surged into Sakura's eyes.
"Kill them," she answered without hesitation.
"No matter the cost."
"Then," Hawk-Eye continued,
"if soone destroyed your village a few days ago—killed countless people, so you knew, so you didn't—what would you do?"
Sakura went silent.
She thought of Danzō.
She thought of the Third Hokage's hypocrisy.
But a few days ago… before all of this had happened…
In the end, she still answered:
"I… would kill them too."
Hawk-Eye nodded, his voice calm yet definitive.
"Good. That's a normal reaction."
Sakura froze—then suddenly understood.
Her pupils shrank sharply, her voice trembling.
"Y-You an… Naruto… isn't normal?"
Hawk-Eye let out a cold chuckle, one filled with scorn for a certain kind of naïveté.
"Let put it this way."
"If soone killed his parents, but later offered a 'reasonable' excuse—
sothing like 'for the greater good' or 'no other choice'—that kid would most likely… eventually forgive them."
He paused, then continued in the sa flat, rciless tone.
"And if soone destroyed the village he cherishes, slaughtered his comrades—
as long as they showed enough 'repentance,' or talked about dreams, peace, or so other excuse—
he might still choose to forgive them… maybe even reconcile."
"T-That's impossible!" Sakura's face changed drastically, her voice rising in shock.
"The hatred of losing one's parents can never be forgiven! And Naruto—he values his comrades more than anything!"
"I'm just giving examples," Hawk-Eye interrupted coldly.
"But broadly speaking… that's how it is."
Sakura stood there, completely stunned.
This utterly shattered her understanding of Naruto.
That stubborn, straightforward boy who constantly talked about 'keeping his word' and 'his comrades'—
how could he beco soone with no bottom line, soone who forgave hatred so easily?
Suddenly, Sakura seized on the key point and asked urgently:
"Then that chakra you said you hated… you an—?"
Hawk-Eye nodded. A trace of understanding flashed in his golden eyes.
"Exactly what you're thinking."
"That deeply hidden chakra constantly influences him—subtly twisting his thoughts and will."
"It doesn't control him directly. Instead, it continuously feeds and amplifies an extre version of 'understanding' and 'love,' filling him with a… distorted, principle-less kind of so-called compassion."
Sakura fell silent, a chill creeping up from the depths of her heart.
This was far more terrifying than direct mind control.
Because it was silent. Gradual.
So subtle that even the person affected might believe those thoughts were truly their own.
Finally, she spoke hoarsely:
"Isn't that… just a puppet?
Just a more hidden one…"
Hawk-Eye didn't answer directly.
But his silence was answer enough.
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