"But..." Black-Robed Sasuke hesitated. What Kurama said sounded reasonable, but something still felt off.
"There's no *but* about it." Kurama waved his little hand and said, "Let me ask you a simple question. If you have a dream where you turn into a butterfly, are you the butterfly, or are you still yourself?"
"Of course I'm still myself," Black-Robed Sasuke answered without hesitation.
"Is that so?" Kurama grinned. "Then why don't you ever consider that your whole life is actually just *a butterfly's* dream? That in this dream, the butterfly has become Uchiha Sasuke, and while dreaming, it simply forgot who it was. But when it wakes up, it's still just a butterfly."
"Did you dream of the butterfly, or did the butterfly dream of you?" Kurama lowered his head and asked, "Which one do you think it is?"
Black-Robed Sasuke was completely stunned.
It... it kind of made sense.
But why did it still feel wrong somehow?
Sasuke stood to the side, watching with an exasperated look. "Kurama, stop messing with him. What does this have to do with what we were actually talking about?"
"Isn't that right?" Kurama tilted his head with a grin. "Sasuke, think about it—if I told you that the original plan for you was to follow Itachi's arrangements, defect to Orochimaru, grow stronger, kill Orochimaru, then kill Itachi, join the Akatsuki to destroy Konohagakure, and finally fight Naruto in a battle where both of you are badly injured… would you believe that's real?"
Sasuke was silent for a moment before answering, "If it weren't for you and Naruto, I might have ended up on that path. But there's no 'what if' in life..."
"But that story does exist, and it cannot be changed." Kurama lowered his head, his tone heavy. "A story called *Naruto*. You and Naruto are the main characters, and I'm just an extra living inside Naruto."
"Why do I know so much? Why do I know about the Ōtsutsuki clan, the Ryūmyaku, places I've never been to? Why do I understand this world so well?"
"A creature that has lived in the wild for thousands of years—why would I know so much about humans?"
"Why do I sometimes say strange but interesting things?"
"Sasuke, have you never been curious?"
Kurama grinned at Sasuke, his eyes gleaming with a mysterious light.
But Sasuke… completely ignored his attempt to mess with him. "The old me might have been confused by what you just said. But Kurama, no matter what kind of person you are, no matter what kind of memories you have, you are still Kurama. That won't change."
Tch. Failed to fool him.
Kurama clicked his tongue in frustration.
This guy is way too cautious now. It's going to be harder to trick him in the future.
"Well said!" Naruto landed beside Sasuke, his smile as bright as the sun. "No matter what connection this *Naruto* story you're talking about has with us, it doesn't matter. We're not just characters in some story—"
"We are who we are."
"Heh." Kurama looked satisfied as he lifted his head. "Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming of Zhuang Zhou—it doesn't matter. As long as you remember that you are yourself, that's enough."
Then, he turned toward the black-robed Naruto and Sasuke, who were frozen in shock, and frowned. "These two haven't gone through my training. Their mental endurance is seriously lacking."
"You scared them too much," Sasuke shrugged.
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well… it was scary, but Kurama wasn't wrong."
He slowly walked up to the black-robed Naruto and Sasuke, crouching in front of them with a serious expression. "You are real. Even if your memories are fake, the emotions inside you—your anger, frustration, hatred, even love and friendship—those things are real."
"You don't like us because you believe our presence will destroy this world. That feeling is real."
"So if that's the case, why doubt yourselves?" Naruto smiled warmly. "If your old memories were fake, then go create new, real ones."
Naruto and Sasuke—the Naruto and Sasuke of this world—were the same person yet completely different.
Because their memories were different, their thoughts were different, their perspectives were different.
The only thing they shared was a name.
Just like a question someone once asked—
If a person clones themselves, and the clone has the same memories, the same thoughts, the same way of thinking… are they the same person?
Yes, because in every way, they are identical.
But also no, because the moment they see the world from different angles, the thoughts they generate in that instant will be different. At that moment, they become two separate individuals instead of one.
"So don't doubt yourselves." Naruto extended his hands to them, his smile as warm as ever.
The black-robed Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances, then smiled. Each of them reached out and grasped one of Naruto's hands, allowing him to pull them up.
They took off their masks and removed their black cloaks, revealing faces identical to Naruto and Sasuke's, hidden in the darkness.
Seeing this, Sasuke let out a small chuckle. His gaze shifted as his purple Rinnegan glowed, breaking the Nine-Tails' Genjutsu.
Even though she had been controlled, the Nine-Tails had still heard their conversation. She silently moved behind the Naruto and Sasuke of this world, looking at the two with curiosity and a hint of surprise.
"Looking at it this way, we really are kind of cool, huh?" Naruto grinned shamelessly.
The Naruto of this world crossed his arms and turned away. "Hmph, I'm a little cooler than you. With your personality, there's no way you could attract girls."
The Sasuke of this world chuckled. "That's just how he is. He doesn't mean any harm."
"I know, tsundere." Sasuke nodded, already very familiar with this type.
Seeing this, the Nine-Tails also laughed. A look of relief spread across her massive fox face. "Finally… I get to see you all smile
again."
"You're way too soft." Kurama looked at her with disdain.
The Nine-Tails just smiled and said nothing.
As if remembering something, Kurama turned to them and asked, "By the way, besides telling you we'd destroy this world, did that masked man say anything else?"
The Naruto and Sasuke of this world exchanged a glance before Naruto finally spoke. "He also told me that the Sage of the Six Paths hid a source of power in Konohagakure. This power could help us destroy you. He offered to help confirm if it was real."
Sasuke frowned. "What's the point of that?"
"No idea." The Sasuke of this world shook his head. "In the end, all he did was locate the burial sites of Konohagakure's past Hokage, then he left. We haven't seen him since."
"He sure had the guts to show up in front of us." Kurama sneered.
Even though Obito was just a lingering thought, meaning they couldn't attack him, they could still use Six Paths power to test him out. That guy was from that world, after all. He probably didn't show up again because he was afraid of being exposed.
"So why is he doing all this?" Naruto was confused.
"Who knows?" Sasuke shrugged.
Amid the ruins of Konohagakure, two Narutos, two Sasukes, and two Nine-Tails faced each other. The night sky above shimmered with silver light, as if an invisible bridge connected them.
No… it wasn't the starlight. It was light coming from Naruto, Sasuke, and Kurama.
"This is…" Naruto looked at his glowing arm in surprise. Then he turned to Sasuke, only to see that he was also glowing. The light drifted off them in tiny specks, rising slowly and fading into the night sky.
Sasuke smirked. "Looks like you don't have to worry about us destroying this world after all."
He could feel it. He and Naruto were disappearing—fading away from this world.
Yes… this was a real world, not just a Genjutsu.
With that thought, Sasuke smiled at the Naruto and Sasuke of this world. "Take care."
Naruto thought for a moment, then smiled and waved. "Take care."
"Tch." Kurama glanced at the light on his body, clearly annoyed. He turned to the Nine-Tails and said, "Stop being so soft from now on. And also…"
"You can become light too!" Kurama said seriously.
"Hmm…" The Nine-Tails gave a polite smile. "Take care, other me."
"That's so boring…" Kurama muttered under his breath.
The Sasuke of this world took a deep breath, then flashed a bright smile. "Take care, other me."
After saying that, he even lightly nudged this world's Naruto with his elbow.
This world's Naruto turned his head away as if annoyed. It wasn't until the light was nearly gone that he finally spoke in a low voice. "It's not like I don't want to say goodbye or anything… It's just that the mood calls for it, so… yeah, take care."
The light carried away the smiles of the four people and two foxes, turning into scattered glimmers that faded completely under the starlight.
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