CHAPTER 9: Shin Uchiha

"..." Sasuke intently looked towards the left arm that Orochimaru and Karin collaboratively created using the cells of Six Path Madara's bisected lower half. Using both his Sharingan and Rinnegan, he can easily see and feel the overflowing Six Paths power being emitted by the said cultivated left arm. It felt like if he ever decided to have it installed to supplement his missing limb and the Six Paths Chakra within that arm was able to meld with his own Six Paths Chakra properly, he will be able to reach, no, he might even surpass Six Path Madara's full power.

The only problem was that... Sasuke can sense that the said left arm might also contain Madara's will and consciousness. And if he let his guard down, it might corrupt him just like how Madara corrupted Obito before.

On the other hand...

"...Karin." Sakura muttered towards Sasuke's former Team Taka member.

"...Sakura-san." Karin also said to the Uchiha's Team 7 teammate.

The two women walked towards each other with a serious expression. Naruto and Suigetsu had comical sweat on their faces. Jugo gave a puzzling reaction, while Sasuke and Orochimaru simply ignored the two girls.

"It's been a while, Sakura-san."

"You haven't changed a bit, Karin."

The two smiled at each other. While the smiles were seemingly sweet between the two, Naruto and Suigetsu can easily imagine a shadow of a red tiger and a pink dragon behind them, glaring at each other.

"How have you been? Are you taking care of Sasuke properly? Is it tiring for you? If you're getting tired of doing so, I'll take care of him for you." Karin said with a big smile.

"No. Not really. In fact, it was Sasuke-kun who's taking good care of me. He always appreciated my cooking so much that he even said that he would always prefer to eat them ~every day~." Sakura returned the big smile to the red-haired girl.

"Are you sure about that? I've heard that Sasuke was outside of the Village most of the time. So your statement regarding your cooking is a bit far-fetched. And since you're not accompanying him during his missions outside your Village, I don't think Sasuke would mind if I'll be the one to tag along."

"Having someone with him during his solo missions would only slow him down. And besides, solo missions are SOLO missions. I'm not stupid enough to include myself in a 2-man cell if the said missions are meant to be taken in SOLO."

The two girls bickered with each other without removing the big sweet smile on their faces. Naruto and Suigetsu further made comical sweats, as if already expecting the two girls to begin physical confrontation once they ended up losing the will to settle things with mere talks.

"..."

"..."

The two continued their dangerous exchange of smiles... then... after a few seconds of silence...

"Haaaa..."

"Haaaa..."

The two girls gave a long sigh at the same time, earning an intelligent 'eh?' from Naruto and Suigetsu. The two girls once again smiled at each other, but this time, without any animosity between the two.

"Is it over? What happened?" Naruto asked Suigetsu.

"I don't know. It's them. You'll only end up having seizures trying to understand women." Suigetsu replied.

"Since we are on this topic, then I'll have something to say." Sasuke then said, this time, his expression is gentler than his usual stern one. "Orochimaru, I'll be taking Karin as my 2nd wife. It'll still be her decision to continue working with you. But in any case, I'll still have her be as my wife."

"Gah!" Once again, Naruto and Suigetsu had their mouths hanging. Even Orochimaru wasn't able to hide his surprise while Sakura simply sighed comically as if already expecting the sudden statement from Sasuke.

Naruto immediately looked towards Sakura with a worried expression. However, much to his surprise, Sakura seemed to have already come to terms with it. It seemed like Sasuke and Sakura have already discussed and somewhat finally have an agreement regarding it. So it will now all depend on how the relationship will work between Sakura and Karin.

Karin, on the other hand, found herself staring into nothingness with the color of her face much redder than her hair and with visible steam popping out of her head. What she just heard from Sasuke made her seem like her reasoning had just evaporated to the clouds.

"..." Sasuke smirked, as he seemed to enjoy everyone's reaction due to what he just said.

"Oi, Sasuke." Naruto said to his friend as if trying to ask him something.

"What of it?" Sasuke asked. "Sakura and I have already talked about it. I know that I will be unfair to her. And even for Karin in that matter. But that simply was how just the situation on hand currently is."

"They have the right to get angry, or even reject marrying me if they won't be able to accept and come to terms with it themselves. And I'll accept and respect whatever their decision may be. But the two of them, Sakura and Karin, were the two women who genuinely loved me despite all the crimes I did back then. I even attempted to kill both of them on separate occasions at some point due to my blind hatred. And this will be the only way that I know on how I can reciprocate what they feel for me."

"Sasuke-kun..."

"Sasuke..."

The two girls gave a soft smile after hearing Sasuke's words. The two of them knew more than anyone that Sasuke is an awkward person in terms of expressing his true feelings, thus, also wasn't good at understanding the feelings of those around him. Yet him being able to say those words made them realize that their respective feelings still reached him in some way, to the point that it made him feel guilty for doing those horrible things against them in the past.

"And besides, you also already have another girl aside from Hinata, right?" Sasuke said with a neutral smirk towards Naruto, making the blonde jolt comically. "So we're just the same. In the end, we have no choice but to abide by that law. But we must prioritize first and foremost, ourselves and the Village, in regard to complying with that law. I don't intend to become their pawn. But that doesn't mean I'll not consider the feelings of those who value me as who I am right now."

"While I may not still like it that much, it seemed like we'll become comrade-in-arms starting right now," Sakura said to Karin.

"Are you really okay with it, Sakura?" Karin asked earnestly, her facial expression entirely different from the one she used to have as it displayed some sort of concern for her.

While they might be rivals for Sasuke's affection, Karin also considered Sakura as a close friend. Sakura saved her during the time when she was mortally injured during Sasuke's fight against Danzo. And Sakura did so while crying in front of her after personally experiencing Sasuke's growing darkness by then firsthand. At that time, both of them were attempted to be killed by Sasuke. But at the same time, both of them can't just let him go, respectively. So in a way, Karin doesn't have any ill will against Sakura, aside from their rivalry for Sasuke's attention.

"I'd rather have to deal with you than deal with those nobles from other countries aiming for Sasuke thru arranged or political marriage." Sakura smiled. "Like what Sasuke has said, you're just like me. We didn't give up on him during his darkest hours. So I'd rather have you be his 2nd wife than those nobles."

"So I'm the 2nd wife?" Karin muttered. "But you're still not married, right? So I still have a good chance for Sasuke to reconsider and make me her first wife!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, you masochist!" Sakura comically replied to Karin this time.

"It seemed like those two will get along pretty fine." Suigetsu said with a smirk. In a way, he's happy that Karin was able to reach Sasuke in some form or another.

"Ehem… Moving on..." Orochimaru lightly coughed while clearing his thoughts and getting everyone's attention. "What about it, Sasuke? It would be in your best interest if you'll have that arm installed into your missing limb." Orochimaru said with a smirk.

"I need to ask beforehand," Sasuke replied. "What is the intent of the creation of that left arm, specifically since it was constructed from the cells of Six Paths Madara's?"

"Because Naruto's right arm was created from pure Hashirama's Cells." Orochimaru replied.

"What does it have to do with my right arm? I mean, I am not against Sasuke having restored his left arm. But Tsunade-baachan already had created a left arm with a structure more-or-less similar to my right arm. Why does it have to be a left arm created from Six Path Madara's cells in your case?" Naruto asked the Sannin.

"That is because of you and Hashirama's being compatible 'anomalies' in more ways than one," Orochimaru replied to Naruto. "You may not notice it yet. But due to both you and the 1st Hokage being the Ashura Otsutsuki's reincarnation, your genetic make-up, Chakra, DNA, and everything else was nearly the same. Basically, the two of you have the same Chakra Origin. So the Chakra between the two of you will meld seamlessly."

"However, Hashirama himself can be categorized as an 'anomaly among the anomalies'. His Chakra, life force and cells, and all were in an entirely different category. After performing various experiments and such this entire time concerning his cells, you can say that Hashirama is only human because he was born as a human. But everything else about him wasn't that of a human."

"Just imagine, a single man with Chakra potency surpassing those of Bijuus, can fight and overpower a Majestic Attire-Susanoo clad, full-powered Nine Tails, with that Susanoo itself was created by Madara's own Chakra whose power also can be considered as beyond Bijuu level. It defies every law and logic that has already been established regarding Chakra levels and potency. And we're merely talking about his Chakra levels alone."

"..." Naruto and Sasuke intently listened to Orochimaru's words.

"His life force and regenerative capability were so broken, that he can regenerate dangerous damages similar to that of Edo Tensei, albeit a bit slower, with just the mere strength of his life force without using any jutsu, that even Tsunade's Byakugou barely matching up to his regeneration in comparison. That was the very reason itself why his cells themselves were considered 'alive' even if they were cut out away from Hashirama's own body, even after his death, and were used for various experiments, including by myself and Uchiha Madara."

"Also, the final anomaly to his very existence is his Mokuton Kekkai Genkai. His Kekkai Genkai, supported by his powerful Chakra, was enough to subdue the Bijuus like ordinary mere pets. His Mokuton itself was brimming with life force. Unlike Yamato's Mokuton, Hashirama's Mokuton not just absorbs, but also produces natural energy itself. In other words... he can access Senjutsu and enter Sage Mode by either absorbing natural energy OR simply converting fragments of his own massive Chakra to Senjutsu. That's why Hashirama can easily enter Sage Mode in a heartbeat. Connecting everything... All that I can summarize about Hashirama was..."

"...his power is that of the Shinju. No. He, himself, is the incarnation of the Shinju. The God Tree itself in human form... A gene that was passed down from Ashura directly to Hashirama with none of his previous predecessors being able to harness it except for him. And the only explanation I can think of was that during the time of Ashura's conception, the Sage of the Six Paths still have the Juubi sealed within him. In one way or another, some form of the Juubi's fragment has been transferred to Ashura, then to his descendants, without knowing how to unlock it, or even knowing about it in the first place. And only Hashirama was able to unlock it thru some unknown means, with him not even knowing it."

"...!" Naruto and Sasuke got surprised. That itself explained why Hashirama was broken-powerful.

"But still, what does it have to do with my right arm?" Naruto once again inquired.

"Uzumaki Naruto... Just like Senju Hashirama, is a descendant and also a reincarnation of Ashura Otsutsuki. Both of you somewhat inherited something from Ashura in some form or another." Orochimaru said. "Hashirama inherited the 'Shinju' part of Ashura's power. However, in your part... I believe, that what you have inherited from your Ashura genes was the ability to adapt your Chakra into various forms, hence, the reason why your Bijuu transformations were entirely different from the other Jinchuurikis' transformations, yet at the same time, very reminiscent to that of Ashura's own Chakra Modes and Chakra Avatar transformations."

"The very moment Hashirama's cells were attached to you thru that right arm of yours, every cell within your body gradually began its metamorphosis due to the ability of your Chakra to adapt to additional Chakra Origins being installed within you. Due to Ashura Otsutsuki's influence, Hashirama's powerful DNA and the adaptive capabilities of your DNA allowed both your cells to meld into one another seamlessly; resulting in your very own DNA evolving into similar to that of Hashirama. And that's not counting the unique properties of your own cells as an Uzumaki. So your cells now have powerful DNA akin to the 1st Hokages."

"And with both yours and the 1st's Chakra reaching on equal levels, then melding together that will create an entirely different, yet much more powerful DNA than the both of you individually. You're basically a Jinchuuriki of your own Chakra. And it can be interpreted that Hashirama's cells now pale in comparison to the current properties of your own cells, Naruto. But I believe that you already knew at least that much since you've undergone and completed your training with the Toad Sages, am I right?"

"Yes, I already knew at least that much." Naruto simply answered, opting Orochimaru to continue.

"But here is the catch." Orochimaru continued. "You're currently the Jinchuurki of all the Tailed Beasts, a feat that should be impossible for an ordinary Shinobi since even a single Bijuu could easily cripple even those who should be compatible to become a Jinchuuriki. Yet you were able to house all one of them without any difficulty."

"And basically, you now have the power and life force of the Shinju due to having Hashirama's DNA, further amplified by your own DNA that has already been adapted and now with properties surpassing that of the 1st's. The Shinju is the true form of the Ten-Tails. Basically, if Hashirama is the embodiment of the Shinju due to his Mokuton and powerful Chakra, then it can be interpreted as being the Jinchuuriki of all the Bijuus, you have physical characteristic as that of the Gedo Mazo. Or to put it simply, you're the embodiment of the Gedo Mazou itself... due to being the vessel of all the Bijuus, Uzumaki Naruto."

"And since all the Bijuus are within me, basically, if I happen to go all out right now, you're saying that I have the potential to rival that of Kaguya Otsutsuki's power, Chakra-wise… is what you're trying to say?" Naruto answered seriously.

"…!" Everyone, even Sasuke, was stunned after hearing Naruto's revelation. While Orochimaru already expected this much, he still felt some beads of sweat running down his face as well after hearing the conclusion from Naruto's mouth himself.

"But that's not all... You…" Orochimaru said.

"Stop." Naruto replied to Orochimaru before the Sannin could continue. "Basically, due to your hypothesis regarding this Shinju and Gedo Mazo thing, with both of their properties now within active within my own body, you need Sasuke to have that left arm from Six Paths Marada's cells installed into him so that he can also acquire a power level to rival that of my full power. Am I right?"

"Indeed. But that still is a decision for Sasuke to decide." Orochimaru and Naruto then looked towards Sasuke, who also still happened to have visible sweat forming on his forehead due to Orochimaru's revelation of Naruto's potential current power level.

"…" Sasuke then collected himself, then sighed. "I'll think about it for now. We still have a mission to complete. I'll have you know my decision after that."

"Very well…" Orochimaru smirked towards Sasuke.

Sasuke then began walking away in the direction of the exit of Orochimaru's laboratory. Sakura hesitated but immediately followed, then Jugo, Karin and Suigetsu also followed suit, leaving Naruto and Orochimaru in the laboratory.

"Why did you have to say that?" Naruto asked Orochimaru in a serious tone.

"Sasuke has as much potential as you, and I don't want him limit to his growth just because he already has the Rinnegan." Orochimaru replied. "It was said that Ashura inherited the Six Paths's body and life force, while Indra inherited the Six Path's eyes and Chakra. And your body was growing in conjunction to that. Sasuke's on the other hand, needs to increase the power of his eyes for you to be able to fight on par against the Otsutsukis. So I need to say that much for him to seriously think about it."

"But what if he strays his path once again due to your meddling?"

"Do you have that little faith in your friend?"

"Don't twist your logic in me."

"Both of you are the current embodiment of my ideals," Orochimaru said to Naruto. "For me to see the ending of the path that both of you decided to take, I need the two of you to unlock your full potentials that were still sleeping deep within you. And I won't become this offensive against the two of you if there's no threat looming on the horizon. Basically, you two are my test subjects. And I want to see the end result of the experiments and hypothesis that I am expecting from the two of you."

"And here I thought you've changed for the better."

"I just accepted that I am a mere human being, not some reincarnation of some powerful being who can do things that I can never hope to do. In the end, all I can do is leave it to those who should be capable of doing so."

Naruto and Orochimaru looked towards each other with serious eyes, before deciding to follow the group who exited the laboratory earlier…

-Scene Change-

'Sasuke-kun…' Sakura muttered as she was looking towards Sasuke. The three of them were once again riding on Sasuke's Rinnegan-empowered hawks on the way to Shin Uchiha's hideout according to the map that Orocimaru gave them.

The Uchiha never spoke another word since they left Orochimaru's laboratory. Making Sakura somewhat worried about him.

'But still… I already knew that the 1st's cells and DNA have such powerful properties. But to think that Naruto's cells were compatible to him, and now his cells also have the same property as Hashirama due to this reincarnation thing… I still don't know what to say…' Sakura mused within her mind.

"Sakura." Sasuke spoke in a gentle voice. "Don't worry about me. I know what Orochimaru intended to tell me. I just need some time to think."

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura replied.

"For now, let's just focus on defeating Shin Uchiha before things went worst," Sasuke said, this time, giving a side-glance smile towards his fiancée.

"…" Sakura then returned the smile. She was afraid that Sasuke might get jealous of Naruto's power and growth yet again. Yet for her to see him smiling like that after the earlier conversation with Orochimaru was so refreshing for her.

"…" Naruto, on the other hand, already knew by himself everything that Orochimaru have mentioned regarding the relationship between his' and Hashirama's cells. Because not only that his Chakra and the 1st's didn't just meld together. They meld and augmented each other. If Hashirama is the Shinju, and he is the Gedo Mazo, with all the Tailed Beasts existing within him, one could say that he was literally, by all means, a pseudo-Ten Tails right now.

And that's not all, and even he was afraid of what he's capable of if he ever went full power.

But for now, there's a mission at hand. They need to stop whatever Shin Uchiha was plotting, then think from there on while moving forward…

"I believe that you'll make the right decision in terms of the installation of your left arm, Sasuke." Naruto said while looking at the back of his friend and rival.

-Scene Change-

"They're coming." The original Shin Uchiha muttered to the other Shin Uchiha kids. The ones who fought and were injured during their battle against Naruto before had now more-or-less back in shape and capable of fighting, but now there were more Shin Uchiha kids, ranging from a few hundred of sorts. However, the small, deformed creature with the same Sharingan similar to the other kids capable of space-time warping, was nowhere in sight within the vicinity.

"…" All the Shin Uchiha kids activated their Mangekyou Sharingan, and each of them was equipped with various bladed weapons, and all were marked by their Mangekyou ability to fully leverage the weapons at their fullest.

After all, they'll be fighting the current most powerful 3-man cell in the entire Shinobi World. And due to some poorly executed ambush against Sasuke and Naruto, they'll now have to face this inevitable predicament of fighting the three of them head-on…

…but they must succeed. They must win and triumph against them. As this will be their first step in reviving their own version of Akatsuki… and also… to execute their actual intended plan…

-Flashback-

"This is bad..." Shin Uchiha muttered to himself after the failed attacks and attempts to lure Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto in his attempt, together with his clones, to capture them and use them for his plans.

"That's right. You have already failed more than once, Shin." A low voice from a man spoke from the shadows, surprising Shin Uchiha.

"You are..." Shin's eyes widened upon hearing the voice and recognizing who was the person who just spoke to him.

Shin looked towards the direction where he just heard the voice. There stood two hooded figures: One of them is a huge man with an intimidating presence, and then the other is a woman with a petite figure, yet her presence alone made Shin realize that she was more powerful than the hulking figure behind her.

"Boro-sama... Delta-sama..." Shin said, lightly stuttering due to the presence of the two.

"The Organization accepted you since you defected Orochimaru's laboratory, and even funded you for this sole purpose. Yet you did nothing but failure." The female voice spoke with scorn towards Shin. "As an Outer, this will be your last chance to prove your worth to the Organization. Or else, we'll just have to eliminate you before you become a liability for us."

"I sincerely apologize... Delta-sama..." Shin said as he lowered his head. "Rest assured, this time, I will succeed on my plan without fail..."

"Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke must be eliminated... no matter what..."

The two hooded figures then disappeared before Shin Uchiha could finish his statement... making Shin grit his teeth in anger... as he no longer had a choice but to settle everything once and for all...

-Flashback End-

"Damn that Organization! You're the ones who approached me, yet you're threatening me like this?!" Shin clenched his fists, then looked towards the sky, towards the direction of the two peculiar huge birds rushing towards his hideout. "I don't need to prove anything to that Organization. I only intended to take advantage of the funds that you, yourselves, offered when you approached me. I will rebuild the Akatsuki with my own hands... And once I do, I'll make sure to handle that Organization myself... like what I'm about to do... to Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto..."

-Scene Change-

"According to Orochimaru's map, this is the area…" Sasuke said, looking towards a seemingly canyon-structured land that can now be easily seen as being camouflaged by some sort of Chakra barrier to repel long-distance detection.

"I can sense them within the barrier. And their number… is quite a lot." Naruto muttered, sensing their opponents thru Senjutsu without entering Sage Mode. "And each of them has their own active Mangekyou Sharingan capable of controlling metallic weapons upon contact."

"This will be interesting." Sakura cracked her knuckles. "It's been a while since we had a good fight."

"But still, my gut feeling was telling me that something is in there…" Naruto said with a serious expression. "A rocky terrain in the Land of Swamps… for Shin Uchiha to choose this location as his hideout… I think we're missing something very important…"

"If that's the case, then let's just end this as swiftly as possible. If something came up, let's simply deal with it on hand. If it's too much, retreat and regroup." Sasuke said as he dispelled his Rinnegan-summoned hawks while still suspended mid-air. "Naruto!"

"If you say so!" Naruto then threw a kunai attached with an explosive tag as the three of them were in free fall due to the disappearance of the summoned hawks. But unlike those regular explosive tags, this one had a much more intricate insignia embedded on it.

The very moment that the said kunai pinned itself on the camouflaged barrier, Naruto performed a single-hand seal.

"Ninpou: Gojouki Bakufuda (Intersecting Exploding Talismans)!"

The special talisman exploded, destroying a huge part of the barrier. And on the instance, during the jutsus activation, the explosion also summoned multiple copies of the same exploding talismans, landing on the other parts of the barrier, then exploded once again. The explosion from the other talismans, once again, summoned their own set of additional exploding talismans, explode again while simultaneously summoning a new set of the same talismans, then rinse and repeat…

…thus creating an ever-expanding, serial converging explosion that destroyed most of the camouflaged barrier.

And as if to further the power of the explosion…

"KATON: GOUKA MEISSHITSU (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation)!" Sasuke kneaded and fired a massive Katon variant, targeting the still-exploding talismans.

The combination jutsu from Naruto and Sasuke created a massive explosion on the area, shaking the entire canyon and producing a few hundred feet mushroom cloud in its wake.

Team 7 then landed on the ground, and with a single Chakra-charged swipe from Sakura's right arm, cleared the smoke and dust around them. In that instance, they sensed huge amounts of shurikens and kunais aiming towards them, thrown by their opposition within the areas that were still being covered by the dust and smoke due to the earlier explosion.

And with Naruto releasing Chakra similar to the way Hashirama used to, the sudden Chakra burst blew away the incoming thrown weapons while cracking the ground at the same time. The gust created by the sudden Chakra burst from Naruto further cleared the dust and smoke, revealing multiple clones of Shin Uchiha kids in around hundreds in number. And just like what Naruto have said earlier, their eyes have already activated their Mangekyou Sharingan, and preparing for an all-out assault against them.

"So the oh-so-powerful heroes of the Shinobi World have finally graced us with their presence…" The original Shin Uchiha spoke as he stood a few hundred meters away from them in one of the elevated grounds of the hideout. "Who would have thought that my intended prey would voluntarily come here and challenge me…"

"So you're the real Shin." Naruto muttered with narrowed eyes towards the man. He's bald head was implanted with multiple Mangekyou Sharingan while donning a black cloak with red cloud markings, basically that of the Akatsuki's uniform.

"A remnant of the Akatsuki?" Sakura said after she saw their opponent's attire.

"We'll just need to make him talk." Sasuke said as he drew his sword. And using his Rinnegan's Amenotejikara, he disappeared and reappeared right behind the original Shin, then pointed his sword at the neck of the pretending Uchiha, surprising Shin himself. "There's nowhere to run. So we'll take our time and draw the truth out of you. From now on, you can speak only when you're spoken to."

Sasuke then looked towards the other Shin Uchiha kids.

"If any of you move a finger, I will not hesitate to shove my blade to your leader's throat."

"…" Sakura then prepared a fighting stance.

"Sasuke… you're going way too overboard. We're still dealing with kids here." Naruto said while looking Sasuke who was pointing his sword against Shin's neck with killing intent.

"Shin, a former test subject of Orochimaru. What is it that you're after?" Sasuke asked without letting his guard down.

"The evolution of humanity." Shin Uchiha immediately answered, however, he did so with a confident smirk.

"…" Sasuke then further pressed his blade to Shin's neck, its tip lightly cutting a small part of the pretending Uchiha's skin, making a trickle of blood come out of it in the process.

"Just like most of humanity, two individuals, a male and a female, will blend their genes together thru the method of reproduction, creating a new unique human with combined genes from both his parents. And a human created from such, will have to compete against another human in certain aspects of life. And those who will survive will have the right to reproduce with another one, creating another human of such, and that cycle goes on, with only those who have much superior genes surviving the ordeal." Shin continued.

"That itself, is the evolution of humanity. That is no different from my process of creating all these clones of myself. They act as my own means to evolve, allowing me to gain more and more power to create more jutsus. And using that power, create conflicts and wars, to make humanity fight for their own survival, and once again evolve further."

"That's why conflicts and wars are essential to this world. They were the driving force that made humanity evolve at a much faster rate. And someone must trigger those conflicts and wars. And that was the reason organizations, such as the Akatsuki, exists."

"Then you simply don't understand the true purpose of Akatsuki's existence," Sasuke replied coldly. "Then let me ask… why… on this specific location in the Land of Swamps, did you decide to establish your hideout?"

"Hou… so you somewhat have a hunch why I have stationed our hideout on this specific location." Shin smirked. "If that's so, then the more reason I must destroy the three of you and use your Rinnegan and Uzumaki Naruto's Bijuus as fuel to ignite the fire and burn the current peace you have back to the ground."

"Then there's no need to discuss. You'll be imprisoned under the Shinobi Alliance jurisdiction. Don't even attempt to fight back." Sasuke said with a cold expression.

"And you sure about that." Shin then revealed his right arm which was fully constructed from several cutter blades and attempted to attack Sasuke.

"…!" Sasuke then pulled his sword, aiming to attack Shin as well however, much to his surprise, he can't move or even budge his sword from its current position. "His blood… has affected my sword…!"

Sasuke let go of his sword to dodge the incoming attack of Shin Uchiha. He then fired multiple shurikens towards the pretending Uchiha, only for Shin to block each attack with his projectile blades controlled by his Mangekyou. Shin then controlled Sasuke's sword and fired it at high speeds, aiming to stab Sasuke's neck, but the Rinnegan user dodged the sword's tip, then grabbed the sword by its handle, then swung the sword sharply downwards, removing Shin's blood on its blade, thus removing Shin's control over it.

It was then that Sasuke noticed that five younger Shin Uchihas were now surrounding him and attempting to attack him with various kinds of bladed weapons, including a fuuma shuriken, a kusarigama, chakram, and such. He deflected each attacks with his sword, only for the original Shin Uchiha to fire a large shuriken created entirely from his cutter-like projectile blades behind Sasuke as he leaped away from the Rinnegan user.

Right before the large shuriken landed into Sasuke, a Hiraishin kunai dashed and appeared right between the two. And in that instance, Naruto with Sakura appeared with Naruto capturing the dashing kunai with his left hand, then used the chakra blade that Sara returned to her sometime after their arrival at Konoha, equipped on his right hand to shatter the incoming large shuriken.

Sakura, on the other hand, punched the very ground with impact directed towards the other Shin Uchihas who attacked Sasuke earlier, sending them skidding backwards and destroying a large part of the platform where they were currently standing.

"Evolution of humanity, huh…" Sakura said as she cracked her knuckles.

"If that's your mindset to make humanity evolve, then all we need to do is to beat you to a pulp to destroy that twisted mindset of yours," Naruto said while glaring towards Shin.

"Like what you have said, there's no room for discussion," Shin smirked towards the trio as they were once again got surrounded by hundreds of Shin Uchihas. "The fragile peace that we have right now will halt the evolution of humanity. If you three will going to protect that peace, while all my intent was to make humanity evolve similar to Akatsuki's true purpose, then we'll just have to settle this once and for all, right here, right now."

"…hnn…"

"…heh…"

"…stop grinning like that, Naruto, also you, Sasuke. We're facing an army of Mangekyou users here!" Sakura complained comically to the two.

"Well, I can't just help it." Sasuke replied to Sakura with a confident smirk.

"To think that there was still someone like this who's willing to challenge me and Sasuke while we're fighting as a team… it's kinda amusing, Sakura-chan."

"Hey, I am also here as part of the team, you know!" Sakura further complained comically. "Anyways, I do get your point. Just don't get overconfident, you two."

"Heh…" Sasuke widened his smirk as he closed his eyes. "Naruto, let's have a match here."

"Fine." Naruto replied. "But there must be conditions."

"…" Sasuke looked towards Naruto.

"Don't kill the kids. Just knock them out." Naruto said while looking towards Sasuke.

"Alright. Then my condition will be, no Fuinjutsu." Sasuke said as he now looked towards the army of Shin in his direction.

"And Genjutsu." Naruto smirked as he also confidently looked towards the Shins in his field of view.

"Also, Kage Bunshin." Sasuke retorted. "If you're fine with those conditions, then we're good."

"Hey, you two! Just how do you intend to…" Sakura yelled towards Naruto and Sasuke.

"Handle the original Shin, Sakura. We'll take care of the others." Sasuke said even before Sakura could finish her statement.

"Huh… eh?! Just me?!"

"Let's go…!"

"Yeah!"

Both Naruto and Sasuke disappeared from their current location, then…

*Boom…!* *Clash…!*

Separate impacts were heard from one specific location of Shin's hideout as Naruto and Sasuke stood back to back, in fighting stance, intending to begin their assault against the army of Shin Uchihas…

"Damn those two… ignoring me like this… SHANNAARRROOOO!"