After Kei signed off, he named the Naruto world he inhabited the C-137 Universe.
As for why he had chosen that name, there was no need to explain it to Gen’nosuke and the others.
He was the boss, after all!
After Uchiha Kei signed off, Nanga immediately turned into a casual tea party.
The Snake Sage went over every major and minor event of the past decade with Gen’nosuke and the others, without holding anything back.
After all, they were sage summon beasts capable of hearing everything happening throughout the shinobi world.
Nothing important in this world had escaped their ears.
As a result, Uchiha Itachi, who was still hanging from the ceiling beam, learned a great many secrets he probably should never have known.
It turned out that the legendary Uchiha God, Uchiha Madara, had only died a few years ago.
During those ten years, he had caused quite a stir throughout the shinobi world.
It also turned out that the person responsible for attacking Konoha on the night of the Nine-Tails’ Attack, thereby making the Uchiha’s situation in Konoha so miserable, was none other than the famous dead-last of the Uchiha Clan—
Uchiha Obito.
That was a personal grudge between Obito and the Fourth Hokage.
It had nothing to do with the Uchiha Clan as a whole.
At the same time, the shinobi world was now facing an unprecedented crisis that required every shinobi to stand united.
Whether it was the Akatsuki’s hatred toward Konoha, with its legendary Sage’s Eyes, or Uchiha Madara’s schemes, Konoha at its current strength could not deal with either threat alone.
In fact, even the Five Great Nations combined might not be able to handle them easily.
As long as these matters were reported to Konoha, the Uchiha’s situation would improve dramatically.
The misunderstandings between the two sides could also be resolved.
After all, once everyone shared a common enemy, there was no conflict that could not be set aside.
The Third Hokage had no choice but to believe this.
Ryūchi Cave was one of the Three Great Sage Regions, after all.
And the consequences of ignoring testimony backed by Ryūchi Cave were simply too much for the Third Hokage to bear.
After understanding all this, Itachi became cheerful.
Ever since Shisui’s death, this was the first time Itachi had felt such a strong desire to live.
The sunlight breaking through the clouds in the sky was dazzling.
The bright future just within reach represented victory.
It was the dawn of hope!
Even though it was already two-thirty in the afternoon.
"Sasuke, your big brother will fight to give you a prosperous Uchiha Clan, just like that place called Nanga!"
This was Uchiha Itachi’s ambition.
But Gen’nosuke, the nominal leader of the group, had been listening absentmindedly the entire time.
His attention had always been focused on Uchiha Itachi.
Especially after hearing that this guy might have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, Gen’nosuke’s gaze became cold.
"He was captured so easily by a clansman with only a Two-Tomoe Sharingan. This guy definitely has ulterior motives!"
The desire to kill someone was difficult to hide.
Especially ever since Kei had been able to identify who was speaking simply by hearing Itachi’s voice, Gen’nosuke had constantly been looking for an opportunity to kill him.
He had already fabricated enough nonexistent crimes to give Itachi a perfectly respectable reason to die.
There was no particular reason for it.
He simply disliked him.
"Some people are guilty simply by being alive!"
"Especially a Mangekyō owner who was so easily defeated by a clansman with a Two-Tomoe Sharingan. Whatever the reason behind that defeat, he’s still someone who deserves to die!"
"People with impure motives deserve no better treatment than useless trash!"
Of course, Uchiha Joseph could never be allowed to hear those words.
Otherwise, he would teach Gen’nosuke how to behave.
So although Gen’nosuke behaved impeccably in front of Kei, almost like an obedient child, those who knew him well understood that if he caused even a little less trouble, the shinobi world would not be nearly this chaotic.
At the very least, the area southwest of Konoha would not be nearly so chaotic!
After the Snake Sage finally finished dragging out his little storytelling session, Gen’nosuke once again hooked an arm around Shishirō’s neck.
"Shishirō-san, what do you think? Have you considered what I proposed?"
"We can’t just sit here waiting for the boss to figure out a way to get us home. We came all the way to this world. We can’t possibly return empty-handed!"
Shishirō had worked with Gen’nosuke for many years.
He could see through Gen’nosuke’s intentions at a glance.
And he had no intention of cooperating.
"Gen’nosuke, don’t cause trouble. You know how much the boss cherishes his subordinates. If even one person he brought along is missing, he’ll castrate you!"
Gen’nosuke, however, was completely unfazed.
As for Shishirō’s warning, he wasn’t worried in the slightest.
Oboro would deal with that sort of thing.
"So I’ve decided to operate separately with you."
"We’ll have Taku-sensei stay here and defend Nanga with everyone else. What do you think?"
The moment he heard that, Shishirō broke free of Gen’nosuke’s embrace.
That bastard really was planning to cause trouble!
Whenever he and Gen’nosuke acted alone, nothing good ever came of it.
Gen’nosuke caused trouble, and Shishirō cleaned up afterward.
Gen’nosuke flirted with women, and Shishirō covered for him.
If they kept this up, Shishirō didn’t know whether Kei would actually castrate Gen’nosuke.
But if Gen’nosuke left another romantic entanglement behind in this alternate world, Shishirō suspected that Oboro might castrate him instead.
And she might not even care about Zhu Juan’s face when she did it!
"Enough, Gen’nosuke. What exactly are you trying to do?"
"I’m not going along with your madness. It’ll make the boss unhappy."
Shishirō invoked Uchiha Kei’s name in an attempt to put an end to Gen’nosuke’s plans.
Gen’nosuke didn’t mind being rebuffed.
He merely spread his hands.
"Shishirō, didn’t you hear what the Snake Sage said?"
"The Sharingan in this world is practically plug-and-play. Kakashi transplanted a Sharingan right there on the battlefield and successfully turned the tables on his enemy."
"Apart from consuming a little too much chakra, the Sharingan here has practically no drawbacks!"
Apparently, things differed slightly between the various timelines.
At least in the C-137 Universe, the Sharingan had severe side effects.
Without Uchiha blood, the Sharingan was nothing but a burden.
Unless one possessed Nanga’s modification techniques.
Gen’nosuke pointed at Uchiha Itachi.
"We don’t know whether we can bring these people back to our world."
"But their eyes can definitely be brought back."
"You know how badly Nanga wants to increase the Uchiha population."
Then he deliberately adopted a mocking tone to provoke Shishirō.
"Don’t tell me you don’t want to help the boss solve his problems?"
Knowing full well that Uchiha Itachi possessed his own Mangekyō Sharingan as well as one of Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan eyes, Gen’nosuke discussed the matter without the slightest concern.
The implication behind his words was obvious.
He wanted to go to Konoha and wipe out the Uchiha Clan.
He was deliberately trying to provoke Itachi.
Shishirō wasn’t about to fall for it.
What good would Konoha’s thousand or so Uchiha even be?
High risk, low reward.
It wasn’t worth the trouble.
If they really wanted Uchiha blood, they could simply massacre the Land of Rivers again.
One trip could yield five or six thousand red-eyed Uchiha descendants.
That would be far more worthwhile.
"Gen’nosuke, use your pig brain and think about this carefully."
"If you bring back a pair of ’ōyamatsumi’s’ Mangekyō eyes and Fugaku finds out, he’ll fight you to the death."
"That wouldn’t be good for Uchiha unity!"
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Itachi was shocked.
His father had a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan too?
Why had he never revealed them?
Could it be that his father had the same thoughts as him?
How could Gen’nosuke not understand this?
Bring back a pair of ōyamatsumi’s eyes.
Was he going to give them to Fugaku so he could create an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?
Or was he going to give the eyes to someone else?
Neither option served Nanga’s interests.
But Kei had taught them well.
If you wanted to achieve your objective through negotiation, you had to ask for an outrageous price.
If you wanted to tear down a house and the other side refused, you could instead ask to open a window.
They might agree to that.
That was precisely what Gen’nosuke was doing with Shishirō.
Gen’nosuke pointed at Uchiha Itachi.
"Then what if I only take Uchiha Itachi’s eyes?"
"This Itachi awakened Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. That’s completely different from the Tengu-Devil techniques awakened by our Itachi."
"Nobody should be able to tell the difference."
"That shouldn’t affect the stability of the Uchiha Clan, right?"
So that was what all of Gen’nosuke’s antics had really been about.
He was targeting Itachi.
But as the saying went, a dog that barked didn’t bite.
Anyone who openly discussed gouging out another person’s eyes right in front of them could understand that this wasn’t actually an assassination plan.
It was intimidation.
Gen’nosuke was making his hatred of Uchiha Itachi blatantly clear.
Itachi naturally saw the hatred in Gen’nosuke’s eyes.
What he couldn’t understand was why someone would hate him so intensely without any reason.
"Mr. Gen’nosuke, why do you hate me so much?"
"We’ve barely spent any time together."
At those words, Gen’nosuke dropped his flippant attitude.
His face filled with disgust.
"Every Uchiha who betrays his own clan and sides with outsiders deserves to die."
"You’re not the first, and you probably won’t be the last."
"But I hope I can at least send people like you to their deaths with dignity."
"And then use the last bit of value remaining in you to make some contribution to Nanga’s prosperity."
As he spoke, he pointed at Itachi’s eyes.
The meaning was obvious.
For someone like Itachi, the only value he had left was those eyes.
Itachi understood.
To these people who possessed what they considered the glory of the Uchiha, his closeness to Konoha was not a form of balance.
It was betrayal.
Traitors were never popular anywhere.
But the hatred directed at him was excessively forceful.
Had Nanga never suffered a loss?
Had they never compromised?
Itachi had never experienced such a thing himself, so naturally he couldn’t understand it.
If he had never known that a place like Nanga existed, he might have been able to argue with Gen’nosuke logically.
But after learning of the existence of the sacred Uchiha homeland—the Nanga Shrine—Itachi found himself lacking even the confidence to argue.
"Mr. Gen’nosuke, I know that the Konoha you know is a Konoha that suppresses the Uchiha."
"But Konoha has many unavoidable difficulties."
"Konoha itself isn’t bad. It’s simply being controlled by a small number of evil people."
As he spoke, Itachi’s Mangekyō Sharingan began to turn.
This was the first time he had revealed his Mangekyō openly since awakening it.
"If you are willing to tell Konoha what the Snake Sage told us, and allow the Uchiha to secure a place for themselves in Konoha..."
"I am willing to give you my eyes."
Itachi spoke sincerely.
He had already prepared himself to sacrifice his own eyes in order to ease relations between Konoha and the Uchiha.
He wanted to give his little brother a happy new life.
It was very Uchiha Itachi.
But Bloodwind, who had just learned that he had defeated a Mangekyō Sharingan user, suddenly jumped up again.
He was simply too awesome!
Sure, there had been a lot of water in that battle.
Itachi hadn’t fought with his full strength.
But neither had Bloodwind.
The two factors canceled each other out.
So Bloodwind had still won!
With a battle record like that, perhaps he could finally speak loudly in Nanga from now on.
Uchiha Bloodwind was so excited that he practically jumped for joy.
He even began lecturing Gen’nosuke.
"Lord Gen’nosuke, you should evaluate Konoha rationally!"
"How can you assume that because some people in Konoha are bad, everyone else must be good?"
Bloodwind said it with such solemn conviction that Gen’nosuke initially thought his subordinate was actually opposing him.
Then came the twist.
It nearly made Gen’nosuke cough up blood.
He stared at Bloodwind.
The look in his eyes seemed to say:
Kid, you’re right.
I like you.
When we get home, I’ll have your sister-in-law find you a girlfriend.
Then Gen’nosuke looked at Itachi’s enormous pinwheel-shaped Mangekyō.
He activated his own Eight-Tomoe Sharingan.
Although they were both Mangekyō-level Sharingan, Gen’nosuke’s ocular power far surpassed Itachi’s.
The suppression was so overwhelming that Itachi’s eyes seemed like the giant pinwheels of a child—naive and laughable.
The piercing ocular pressure was so intense that Itachi found it difficult even to keep his eyes open.
Gen’nosuke, holding an overwhelming advantage, pointed at his own eyes.
"See these eyes?"
"Eightfold Hell, Samsara’s Desolation, Great Dark Heaven."
"Every single dōjutsu represents one of my failures."
"But they also bear witness to my growth."
Great Dark Heaven came from the incident involving Hong Malu.
Samsara’s Desolation was the humiliation Pakura had brought him when he had foolishly brought that ungrateful woman back to Nanga.
The people of Nanga had mocked Gen’nosuke for a long time because of it.
And Eightfold Hell was the failure Oboro had given him after their marriage.
All of these experiences constantly reminded the vain Gen’nosuke that he had become an Uchiha who refused to accept defeat.
He was unwilling to lose.
"So, young Itachi, don’t assume the Mangekyō Sharingan is worth much."
"It isn’t enough to buy me off."
"They are merely medals commemorating my failures during this operation."
"What I want isn’t your eyes."
"I want the achievement of succeeding at something for once!"
As he spoke, Gen’nosuke activated his dōjutsu, Eightfold Hell.
Itachi hurriedly concentrated his ocular power to resist.
But even so, his body still felt as though every last bit of strength had been drained from it.
The next moment, his entire body went limp.
Only then did Itachi understand.
Not all Mangekyō Sharingan were the same.
Before a dōjutsu of this level, an ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan was practically worthless.
This was the true Heavenly Eye capable of seeing through the Three Realms.
This was a world-shaking ocular technique.
After teaching Itachi a lesson, Gen’nosuke continued.
"You people will eventually become stepping stones on my road to success!"
It seemed Gen’nosuke had firmly decided to cause a scene.
But before he could finish showing off, someone grabbed him by the hair.
Then slammed him hard into the ground.
The person holding Gen’nosuke was Shishirō.
He had also activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
His eyes had only recently awakened, so their ocular power was inferior to Gen’nosuke’s.
But Shishirō knew something very clearly.
Gen’nosuke wouldn’t dare hit him back.
After all, Shishirō was his wallet.
He was also the man who covered for Gen’nosuke whenever he went womanizing.
Gen’nosuke couldn’t afford to offend him.
At the same time, Shishirō wanted to demonstrate Nanga’s current military strength.
He wanted those outside Nanga who harbored ulterior motives to restrain themselves.
He wanted the outside world to understand one simple principle:
Nanga was allowed to hit you.
You were not allowed to covet Nanga.
Shishirō intended to strictly follow the boss’s orders and protect every Uchiha he had brought here.
At that very moment, the Third Hokage sensed the commotion coming from Nanga.
He raised his hand and halted the forces advancing toward the area.
His personally led operation might be ending before it had even begun.
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