Naruto: This Uchiha is too innocent.

The next morning, before dawn, the gray sky seemed to be shrouded in a faint melancholy.

Outside Kusagakure Village, two figures swiftly swept past, silently leaving the tranquil village, while the villagers remained deep in their dreams, completely unaware of what had happened.

Meanwhile, atop the towering industrial tower in the village, two figures clad in black robes stood silently, watching the departing figures. The one in the lead, his swirling eyes fixed on the boy's retreating back.

"We're just going to let them go like that?" Konan asked softly, a hint of confusion in her voice. "Why didn't you invite them to join Akatsuki? If it were you, perhaps they..."

"Hyuga Ame might be tempted, but Uchiha Sora would never join Akatsuki," Pain replied calmly. "He and I are the same kind of people."

"The same kind of people? Wouldn't it be easier to work together?" Xiao Nan asked doubtfully.

Payne shook his head slightly. "On this path, there can only be one victor. He and I are ultimately enemies."

"..." Konan was silent for a moment, unable to comprehend what Nagato and Uchiha Sora were thinking. She pursed her lips and continued, "But Sora is almost blind, how can he be your enemy?"

"Eyes?" Payne's tone remained calm and composed. "Those I respect will never be forgotten because of their eyes."

Konan sighed, her heart filled with helplessness. "Since you're destined to fight each other, why let them leave Kusagakure? Is it really a good idea to let such a powerful enemy leave so easily?"

Payne slowly turned his head, his gaze shifting from the receding figure to Konan's face. He asked with a half-smile, "Konan, if I were to become his enemy, whose side would you be on?"

"Of course it's you," Xiao Nan replied without hesitation. "No one in the world is more important than you."

"What if I were to kill Sora?" Payne pressed.

"..." Konan fell silent. She recalled the moments she had shared with Uchiha Sora over the past two months, pursed her lips, and finally spoke, "I will stop you."

"Hahaha." Payne suddenly burst into laughter. He turned and walked towards the office building. "Perfect."

Xiao Nan caught up with him and asked, puzzled, "Aren't you angry?"

"Why should I be angry?" Payne retorted, his tone revealing a hint of ease. "In fact, this is the happiest moment I've felt since Yahiko's death."

Why?

"Because..." Payne slowly raised his head, gazing into the distance as if searching for something, "Nan, your focus is not entirely on me. You have your own judgment, your own thoughts, and you will not completely obey my orders, which is very good, as good as it gets."

As he spoke, he casually waved his hand, and an invisible force surged forth, dispelling the clouds and revealing the blue sky hidden in the dark clouds.

"It's only when you're like this that I feel I haven't gone down the wrong path..." Payne murmured softly.

……

Outside of Kusagakure Village, the vast forests rustled in the strong wind.

Uchiha Sora and Hyuga Ame were rushing towards Konoha at top speed. All that had happened earlier had rendered their means of contacting Konoha ineffective.

After more than two months of no news, they really had no idea how the village would view them.

Hinata Ame remained relatively calm about this, after all, she had almost no interpersonal relationships in the village, and the concern from the main family for her? That was nothing but a ridiculous fantasy.

But Uchiha Sora is different; his friends, family, and clan are all worried about him.

Suddenly, in a single instant, it was as if an invisible giant hand gripped Uchiha Sora's heart tightly and squeezed it hard!

"Pfft!"

Uchiha Sora felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, his pupils dilated instantly, and he instinctively clutched his heart, spitting out a mouthful of black blood uncontrollably! His body lost all strength, his feet slipped, and he plummeted straight down from the tree branch!

"Ku!" Hyuga Ame exclaimed from behind, her voice filled with terror. She quickly used a Body Flicker Technique to catch Uchiha Ku steadily in mid-air.

"What happened?!" Hyuga Amane's pupils trembled as she immediately noticed the black bloodstains soaking into Uchiha Sora's collar. The shocking color terrified her. "Black blood? Why are you vomiting blood?!"

She was completely panicked. This was the first time she had ever been so flustered since she could remember. Even when she shielded Uchiha Ku from a knife two months ago, she was not as emotionally agitated as she was now.

At this moment, Uchiha Sora in her arms was deathly pale, devoid of any color, as if she were about to die. She could even clearly feel the body temperature in Uchiha Sora's arms slowly dissipating.

"You, you, I, how can I help you..." Her lips trembled, her voice quivering.

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she exclaimed, "Nagato, yes, Nagato! His eyes can definitely save you!" With that, she hurriedly hugged Uchiha Sora, turned around, and ran wildly towards Kusagakure.

At this moment, Uchiha Sora felt like he couldn't even breathe, and his consciousness gradually blurred, as if someone had really hit his heart.

Sensing Hinata's panic, he remained calm, for he knew what had happened.

The punishment for killing Hanzo, though late, has finally arrived!

The system wasn't lying; failing the mission to rescue Hanzo really would result in punishment for him.

And this punishment was incredibly severe!

"So... what is this? The punishment is to kill me?" This thought inexplicably surfaced in his mind.

His current state is strange. The excruciating pain just now made him feel suffocated, and he felt that even the most cruel ancient tortures were nothing compared to this. But now, he is numb like never before, as if his body no longer belongs to him and all his senses are slowly leaving him.

"Am I going to die? This is so pathetic... What's the point of this inexplicable time travel?"

As darkness fell, the sky grew brighter, but at this time, the sky would only grow brighter. What truly began to sink into darkness was not the sky, but his increasingly chaotic thoughts.

"go back……"

"What?" Upon seeing this, Hyuga Ame hurriedly pressed her ear close to his lips. Uchiha Sora's voice was too faint, like a candle flickering in the wind, and she could hardly hear it.

"Go back to...Konoha, Nagato...can't save me...no one...can save me, take me...back to...Konoha..." This time, Hyuga Ame finally heard clearly.

She was struck as if by a bolt of lightning, her entire body instantly frozen in place. A bone-chilling coldness spread rapidly from her spine to her entire body, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. Tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes, falling drop by drop onto Uchiha Sora's face.

"What on earth happened? What are you hiding from me? Aren't we comrades fighting side by side? Why won't you tell me anything?!" She could no longer suppress her grief and completely lost control of her emotions, roaring at Uchiha Sora with all her might.

For the past two months, she has been firmly under Konan's control. Since the battle at Huangtupo, she has been completely unaware of everything that has happened around her. She completed her mission inexplicably. Even the fact that Uchiha Sora went blind was told to her by Konan. And now, Uchiha Sora is about to die?!

But Uchiha Sora had already fallen into a coma, and no matter how she called out, there was no response. No one could tell her what had happened.

……

As the morning sun rises over Konoha, its heavy gates also rise.

Today was Ritsuta Yamashiro's turn to be on duty, so he changed into his ninja outfit early in the morning and stood guard at the gate.

"Captain, everything is normal."

"Okay." Yamashiro Ritsuta nodded. "Guard your positions and use the Cloud Piercing Arrow if anything happens." Yamashiro Ritsuta systematically assigned tasks to his subordinates.

Actually, guarding the gates of Konoha is a very easy job. Few people would be foolish enough to invade Konoha, let alone invade through the gates.

Therefore, the so-called Konoha security guards mostly do real security work, which is to record people entering and leaving Konoha.

Meanwhile, Ritsuta Yamashiro, the head of the security team, was even more relaxed. He found a recliner, lay down on it, and just like now, he found a good spot to take a nap.

However, this tranquility was broken half an hour later.

"Captain, a presence is rapidly advancing towards Konoha!"

The communicator came through his subordinate's voice, but Yamashiro Ritsuta? He had already woken up before the communicator rang.

The main reason was that the aura was so eye-catching, making no attempt to conceal it, clearly telling you that I was coming.

Ritsuta Yamashiro arrived at the gates of Konoha, his face grim as he gazed into the distance.

"This aura... seems to have reached the level of a Jonin. I hope it's not a hostile visitor..." He squinted and gazed into the distance.

Five or six people around him were already on high alert.

Soon, a figure appeared at the end of the road, moving at an extremely fast speed, approaching this side...

"Two people? One seriously injured? The other..." Ritsuta Yamashiro said in a low voice, then suddenly his eyes widened, and he raised his hand to signal his men to put down their weapons.

"Not an enemy, but a ninja from the Hyuga clan." Yamashiro Ritsuta saw the Byakugan eyes of the newcomer.

Soon, as Hyuga Ame approached, Yamashiro Ritsuta also saw clearly the person behind Hyuga Ame. He widened his eyes slightly, "Uchiha Sora?"

He had investigated Uchiha Sora for a long time and was naturally very familiar with him. Unfortunately, in the end, all he found out was that Uchiha Sora was likely the one who killed the Sunagakure scout ninja. Apart from that, he found nothing else. As time went by, he stopped investigating Uchiha Sora.

"Unconscious? Or dead?" He squinted, stood in the middle of the doorway, and raised a hand. "Friend, please stop and cooperate with the investigation."

He thought this would stop Hinata Ame, but to his surprise, the latter showed no sign of slowing down.

He was slightly startled, and said in a deep voice, "My friend, although you are a disciple of the Hyuga clan, please cooperate... Holy crap!"

He was startled because Hinata Ame's eyes were so cold, like those of a dead person, and the chill emanating from him made him shiver.

"Stop her." Ritsuta Yamashiro immediately gave the order, and his men immediately formed a human wall at the main entrance.

"Get out of the way." Finally, Hinata Ame spoke, her voice seemingly rising from the depths of the underworld, a surge of immense chakra erupting around her.

"Or die."

Sensing the terrifying aura, several of his men turned to look at their boss. Yamashiro Ritsuta smirked, feeling utterly incompetent as the head of security.

"Alright, alright, let her in and report it. Let the Hyuga and Uchiha clans worry about this," he said, stepping aside.

The Hyuga and Uchiha clans are both powerful clans. He's just a lowly Konoha security guard. If he can't afford to offend them, can't he at least avoid them?

And so, Hyuga Ame returned to Konoha with Uchiha Sora.

……

Uchiha clan territory, Momonosuke's residence

"Master, the young master is back."

The shadow appeared in front of Momonosuke and whispered a report to the leader.

With a thud, Momonosuke stood up abruptly. "Where is Sora now?"

"The hospital." Shadow hesitated for a moment. "Young Master's condition... is very bad."

Momonosuke didn't hear the first part of that sentence. He rushed out after hearing only the first half, shouting, "Madam! Shisui, we have news of Sora! Come with me to pick him up! Sora is back!"

shadow:……

The main family of the Hyuga clan,

Someone else reported the same thing.

"Master, Hyuga Ame has returned."

Hiashi Hyuga nodded slightly. "Where is she?"

"Hospital."

"The hospital? She's injured?"

"No, it's Uchiha Sora who's injured, and Hyuga Amane is at the hospital watching over him."

Hiashi Hyuga remained silent for a long while before finally asking softly, "How is Uchiha Sora doing?"

The fact that Hyuga Ame returned to Konoha without reporting back to him on her first visit made him think that Uchiha Sora's situation was unusual.

"I heard that Tsunade, the Junin, has already gone there."

"Tsunade?" Hiashi Hyuga fell into deep thought. "Never mind Hyuga Ame for now."

"Keep a close eye on Uchiha Sora's situation."

"yes!"

One family in the past,

Yuhi Shinku also received the news that Uchiha Sora had been sent to the hospital immediately. He looked sullen and seemed to be thinking about something.

"The situation is extremely bad; death could happen at any moment?"

After a long while, he sighed, looked back at the closed door, and saw that Kurenai was still sleeping.

"Never mind, I won't tell Hong yet."

Uchiha Sora's return to Konoha attracted the attention of many forces, and at the same time, news of his injury and unconsciousness also spread.

……

Hospital,

Uchiha Sora lay quietly on the hospital bed like a paper doll, lifeless.

Beside him stood Tsunade, her face ashen.

"How could this be? This doesn't make sense."

Tsunade murmured, a look of confusion flashing in her eyes.

"Tsunade, what's wrong with my son?" Seeing her like this, Momonosuke was also anxious.

Since arriving at the hospital, he had received news that Uchiha Sora had collapsed and that the hospital had no means of treatment!

They then quickly invited Tsunade over.

Tsunade remained silent. Hearing Momonosuke's anxious question, she slowly rose, shook her head, and spoke softly amidst his pale face:

"He had no wounds on his body, neither internal nor external."

Momonosuke stared wide-eyed at his son, who was barely breathing, and he immediately panicked.

"How could he not be injured? Look at my son's condition, this is just blatant lying!"

Tsunade fell silent again, a look of heartache flashing in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do..."

At the doorway, Hinata Ame, who had been leaning against the wall listening silently, trembled, covered her face, and slid down weakly...