Chapter 047: The sky has cleared, the rain has stopped, but Er Zhuzi... he dare not proceed

Naruto understood Sasuke’s temperament all too well.

Over the past few years, the pattern had repeated countless times: “The sky’s clear, the rain has stopped, and the second pillar is back at it again.” Every time Sasuke’s strength made a significant leap, he would burst into wild laughter, boasting about his improved abilities and insisting on challenging Naruto to a fight.

But this time, Sasuke was unusually well-behaved, showing no intention of starting anything.

“What’s wrong? Normally you’d get all puffed up and demand I put you in your place. Why are you so meek today?”

Naruto eyed Sasuke with curiosity.

Sasuke’s expression turned a little odd before he finally confessed with a sigh, “I’m not fighting. I can’t win. With these eyes, I can now see the future. And they showed me that even after gaining this Mangekyō ability, I still can’t beat you.”

He paused, then added, “At first, I didn’t really trust how accurate this power was. But the next second, you said the exact same words, in the same tone and with the same expression, as in the vision I saw. That convinced me completely.”

“How far ahead can you see?” Naruto asked.

“Ten seconds. Right now, in battle, I can only see up to ten seconds ahead,” Sasuke replied. “But if I have enough time to prepare and build up chakra in my eyes, I can glimpse up to ten days into the future, though the details are fuzzy.”

Perhaps the strain on his eyes was too great, for after fiddling with his Mangekyō for a bit, Sasuke closed them and joined Naruto and Aki in assessing his new abilities.

For his right eye, Sasuke chose the name “Ama-no-Iwato,” to honor his brother Itachi. He remembered that day clearly: of the many Mangekyō abilities Itachi possessed, the offensive one was called “Amaterasu,” and Ama-no-Iwato was the cave that could contain Amaterasu’s flames.

He’d memorized Tobi’s analysis of Itachi on that day. By naming his own power Ama-no-Iwato, Sasuke meant to show he had grown and could now understand some of his brother’s choices. He was willing to provide a safe and private space for Itachi, to shelter his brother’s vulnerabilities.

Through Ama-no-Iwato, Sasuke could alter the flow of time between fifty and two hundred percent, and only he could fully adapt to the chaotic change. When time slowed to half, only his speed remained normal while everyone else moved sluggishly. When time doubled, others would be overwhelmed by the sudden acceleration, but he could move as usual.

For now, the time manipulation wasn’t too extreme, so its effects weren’t yet terrifying. But in the future, as Sasuke’s ocular power grew and he could influence time by hundreds or thousands of times, the results would be truly fearsome.

As for his left eye, Sasuke named that ability “Divine Suspended Sword,” after a tale he’d heard in childhood about a sword hanging high in the sky—when it appeared, all living things would freeze, unable to move.

Sasuke felt the name was fitting. When he activated the Divine Suspended Sword, everything stopped; only he could move.

The only drawback was its short duration—currently, a mere five seconds. Prolonging it would exponentially increase the eye’s energy drain. Sasuke estimated that, after training, he might one day sustain it for over ten seconds, but any longer was beyond his imagination.

The final ability, which allowed him to see the future, he named “Maitreya.” Maitreya is the Buddha of the future, and prophecy is the power to see through what is yet to come—the future revealed.

After the initial excitement of unlocking the Mangekyō, Sasuke quickly calmed down and rested, for the next day was the graduation exam.

Even though Sasuke’s power now surpassed most jonin and was approaching the level of the village leaders, he still took the exam seriously—it was a major milestone in his life.

The test was originally supposed to cover just one of the three basic jutsu: Transformation, Substitution, or Clone Technique. But for reasons unknown, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly decided to change the requirements, making the students demonstrate all they had learned at the academy.

This expanded the scope of review several-fold. For ninjutsu alone, what had been just three techniques now included Concealment, Binding, and Rope Escape.

Concealment wasn’t some optical camouflage, but the art of hiding one’s presence. Binding was a method for capturing opponents, and Rope Escape was about freeing oneself from restraints if captured.

Naturally, the graduation rate plummeted.

But for Naruto and Sasuke, this was no obstacle. They were always pushing each other—well, Sasuke was mostly pushing Naruto—and their fundamentals were rock solid.

They passed the tests, received their forehead protectors, had their registration photos taken, and headed to the academy classroom to await team assignments.

At this time, the classroom was empty. The two of them picked a corner and sat down.

“Naruto, how do you think we’ll be assigned? There’s no way we’ll end up on the same team again, right?” Sasuke propped his chin on his hand. “I’ve looked over the files for all our year’s graduates. Only you and I are suited for the assault role. Would they really put both of us in one team? That would be overkill.”

Naruto shrugged. “It’s not impossible they’ll make an exception and let us be team leaders… I’d have no problem with that, anyway.”

“I could do it too… probably,” Sasuke said.

After a while, Sasuke continued, “If we’re not made teachers, who do you think will lead us? Maybe Kakashi will get me? He has Obito’s Sharingan—maybe the village thinks he can teach me to use my eyes. As for you, maybe Genma Shiranui will mentor you one-on-one? He was your father’s bodyguard and knows the Flying Thunder God technique. Maybe they want him to teach you its basics.”

“I think Konoha would love to see a new Yellow Flash rise,” Sasuke concluded.

Naruto shook his head. “Don’t be too optimistic. I don’t think they want a Jinchuriki becoming the next Hokage.”

“They probably don’t want me to know my parentage, either, afraid I’d grow resentful. Think about it—if someone else learned their father was Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, but still had to live as cautiously as I do, how much hatred would they feel?”

“‘Cautiously,’ huh,” Sasuke sneered silently.

What kind of cautious person would dare dress like the Fourth Hokage and beat up Danzo Shimura—tearing off one of his arms, no less?

Still, as far as the Konoha elders knew, Naruto was clueless about his origins. Maybe the ANBU’s intelligence showed nothing unusual in Naruto’s behavior, so the higher-ups felt reassured and lost interest.

But they’d made a fatal mistake.

They underestimated him; they thought Naruto was still just a student, ignorant of ninjutsu and disguise.

They had no idea how much he’d already done behind their backs!