Chapter 281

He was even indistinguishable from an ordinary person.

But this Hashirama Senju before him,

though smiling on his face,

gave Future Sasuke not the slightest sense of courtesy or deference.

Merely standing before Hashirama Senju,

Future Sasuke felt his heart pound and his flesh tremble!!

The instant Hashirama Senju appeared,

every hair on his body stood on end!!

His body continuously screamed warnings!!

It felt as if Hashirama Senju carried something utterly terrifying that threatened him!!

Looking at Future Sasuke,

then at Madara Uchiha,

Hashirama Senju's gaze swept back and forth between the two.

He seemed to have discovered something profoundly intriguing.

In his perception,

the aura deep within Sasuke Uchiha's soul was identical to the aura deep within Madara Uchiha's soul,

even feeling as if they were the same person!!!

Hashirama Senju naturally knew this could not be coincidence.

"Madara, don't you think this guy resembles you? He even looks a bit like Nagato."

"Could he be your father's illegitimate son?"

Hashirama Senju said with a smile.

"Hmph! Who cares about his origins."

"When I catch him myself, he'll confess everything willingly!!"

Madara Uchiha stared at Future Sasuke, eager to strike,

and if not for Hashirama Senju standing beside him,

he would have already lunged at Future Sasuke!!

He had a premonition,

that this mysterious man before him,

possessed strength equal to his own!!

Though he had not yet fought him, Madara Uchiha trusted his instinct!!

【Jiraiya: It seems a battle between Future Sasuke and Madara Uchiha is inevitable—but I wonder what he came to this timeline to do?】

【Orochimaru: No matter his purpose here, his original plan must already be disrupted… He probably never expected his whereabouts would be discovered so quickly by the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha…】

【Tsunade: If he were an ordinary person, it wouldn't matter… but Future Sasuke's strength is clearly not simple—otherwise he couldn't have performed time-space travel. A ninja this powerful wandering freely in our land? No one can feel safe.】

【Tobirama Senju: All Uchiha seem so repulsive—once they grow up, they all look the same, with gloomy faces!】

【Shikamaru: I wonder how far Future Sasuke has developed his Sharingan? This Madara Uchiha is far stronger than I imagined.】

Seeing Madara Uchiha's posture ready to attack,

Future Sasuke took a deep breath and shouted loudly.

"Wait!!"

"I cannot reveal my origins to you directly right now."

"I have my own reasons—I hope you can understand."

"You only need to know: I am not here to destroy the Land of Fire, nor am I your enemy."

"I came here specifically to help you."

Hashirama Senju signaled with his eyes for Madara Uchiha to hold off for now.

He nodded, urging Future Sasuke to continue.

Staring at this First Hokage who differed utterly from his memories,

Future Sasuke felt immense pressure.

But he knew fighting these two now

would be the worst possible move!!

Facing Madara Uchiha alone, Future Sasuke still had strong confidence.

But with both Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju before him,

Future Sasuke had no confidence at all!!

If these two captured him and used any means to extract the information from his mind…

The thought made him shudder.

"I cannot tell you much."

"But I can tell you this…"

"An enemy has already targeted the Nine-Tails."

"And this person is extremely powerful—at least stronger than I am now…"

"Probably… stronger than both of you combined."

"When he comes personally to capture the Nine-Tails, the two of you may not be his match. If he gets the Nine-Tails, the consequences will be catastrophic—potentially causing massive destruction to your world!!"

"By the time he comes personally to capture the Nine-Tails, the two of you may not be his match—if he gets the Nine-Tails, it will cause extremely serious consequences, even massive destruction to your world!!"

Hearing Sasuke Uchiha's words,

Madara Uchiha frowned!!

Future Sasuke had said so much,

yet it was no different from saying nothing at all.

He had not told them where either of them came from,

not even given them their names,

only warned them that someone might come to capture the Nine-Tails,

and that the enemy's strength surpassed even his and Hashirama Senju's.

【Deidara: Why is everyone so interested in Tailed Beasts? Is someone else after the Tailed Beasts like us, the Akatsuki?!】

【Kakuzu: Too bad… the Tailed Beasts are so powerful, so many want them, yet no one offers bounties to capture them?】

【Hidan: Heh! Even if the Tailed Beasts are strong, they're nothing before the Evil God!! With the Evil God's blessing, I can easily capture all of them!!】

【Pain: They all want the Tailed Beasts, but only we can gather all nine!! Those who dare oppose the god have only one path—defeat!!】

【Deidara: …】

【Kakuzu: …】

【Hidan: …】

…

The Akatsuki,

Itachi Uchiha watched Future Sasuke on the screen,

his entire focus fixed on him.

How had his younger brother become like this?

Just from Future Sasuke's appearance and aura,

Itachi Uchiha knew he must have suffered terribly these past years.

Future Sasuke bore an immense burden!!!

This state was just like his own and Shisui's in the past!!

Itachi Uchiha understood this feeling all too well,

for even now, he remained in this same state.

What had Sasuke endured in the future?

This was what Itachi Uchiha most wanted to know,

yet it seemed his plan had succeeded!!

Sasuke Uchiha had lived long enough to see Naruto Uzumaki become Hokage,