Should I continue being a villain in the ninja world after transmigrating?

Before Chapter 118 Mission

"Do you think the person you saw is the Sasuke we know?"

Kakashi repeated it twice before Naruto's seemingly frozen brain slowly started to move.

He blinked slowly, like a dormant machine just starting up.

"What are you saying, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto's voice was hoarse. He clutched his head, his expression pained, and cried out, "Sasuke is dead! He's dead, right in front of me, Kakashi-sensei! Why...?"

Kakashi lifted Naruto, who was burying his head in the sand like an ostrich, and said, word by word, "Naruto, you are Sasuke's most important and special friend. You have a unique bond between you. You must think carefully about whether there was anything unusual about the Sasuke we saw."

Naruto's expression faltered slightly. He looked at Kakashi's extremely serious expression, pondering the meaning behind Kakashi's words, and finally tried to think about it.

Kakashi's words not only stunned Naruto, but also surprised Tsunade and Jiraiya who were standing nearby. They exchanged a glance, but seeing Naruto's current state, they remained silent for the time being.

Seeing that Naruto had fallen into his own thoughts at Kakashi's request, Tsunade gave Kakashi a look, and Kakashi quietly followed Tsunade and Jiraiya to the corridor outside Naruto's room.

Tsunade glanced at Naruto, who was still sitting on the bed in a daze, and frowned slightly. She said to Kakashi, "Kakashi, what did you mean by asking Naruto just now? If you just wanted to give Naruto false hope, then I can only say that it is an extremely foolish idea."

Kakashi shook his head and said, "I'm not trying to comfort Naruto. I've been thinking about this for a long time now, and when I keep recalling Sasuke's behavior, I feel like there's something slightly off. I don't even know if it's just my imagination. So, I hope Naruto can make a judgment about my guess."

Jiraiya frowned, his expression somewhat disapproving, and said, "Perhaps other things can be faked, but the Mangekyou Sharingan and Susanoo unique to the Uchiha clan are absolutely genuine. Those exaggerated powers are something we, who fought Sasuke, know all too well, don't we?"

“But didn’t Zeref and Mavis’s change of perception across Konoha also exceed our understanding?” Kakashi said in a deep voice.

That's true, and Tsunade and Jiraiya also began to ponder it.

At this moment, Naruto, who was sitting on the bed, finally reacted. He rushed out, ran to Kakashi, and said urgently, "Kakashi-sensei, what did you mean by what you just said?!"

As he spoke, Naruto stared intently at Kakashi's expression, making sure he wasn't joking: "Kakashi-sensei, could it be that the one we met wasn't Sasuke?!"

Kakashi didn't avoid Naruto's gaze. He looked at Naruto and said, "This is just my guess, but Naruto, I need you to think about it carefully and provide evidence for my guess."

Naruto couldn't help but grab his hair, forcing himself to calm down.

In fact, he only had a short time with Sasuke. He had just returned to Konoha and had just met Sasuke when he was suddenly attacked by Sasuke. Everything that followed happened too fast for him to even think.

All Sasuke could recall now, besides the imposing purple Susanoo, was the brief moment before his attack.

The images in his mind replayed frame by frame, finally settling on the moment he first saw Sasuke.

In the corridor, the familiar black-haired boy casually raised his head and met his eyes. A strange look, seemingly surprised and eager, flashed in his eyes, but in the next instant, only familiar pride and indifference remained in the black-haired boy's eyes.

The appearance of that strange look was fleeting, so brief that Naruto didn't even have time to think about it. Only now, when Naruto forced himself to recall it, did that strange look resurface.

Was the person I saw back then really Sasuke?

This thought kept growing stronger in my mind.

Naruto gritted his teeth and said to Kakashi, "...I'm not sure. I didn't even get to say more than a few words to Sasuke, but the moment I saw him, I don't know why, my first feeling was strange. I initially thought it was because I hadn't seen Sasuke in so long..."

"Kakashi-sensei, if that wasn't Sasuke, then is the real Sasuke still alive?!" Naruto looked at Kakashi anxiously, like a drowning person grasping at a last straw.

Faced with Naruto's expectant gaze, Kakashi, though reluctant, still spoke the truth: "It's just a possibility."

But the possibility was enough. Naruto clenched his fist and turned to run away.

Jiraiya swiftly grabbed Naruto by the collar and asked, "You brat, what are you up to now?"

"Perverted Sage, let me go!" Naruto struggled desperately, shouting, "Since that Sasuke was fake, the real Sasuke must still be with Orochimaru. I'm going to find him!"

Tsunade's forehead veins throbbed as she punched Naruto on the head, instantly knocking him down.

"Idiot! Do you even know where Orochimaru is? Wake up!"

......

Unaware that Konoha was already suspecting his "death," Sasuke was carefully preparing his luggage and getting ready for a mission.

Ellie, who arrived uninvited, leaned against Sasuke's bed without any sense of boundaries, and pouted, saying, "How cunning, he actually went to Lord Zeref to ask to go on a mission together."

Sasuke, who had gradually gotten used to Aili's harassment, sneered and deliberately provoked, "What, are you jealous?"

Knowing that Sasuke was trying to provoke him, Eri still raised his eyebrows and immediately said, "It's just that Lord Zeref is magnanimous. Don't think so highly of yourself, hmph!"

As he spoke, Eric narrowed his eyes and teased, "If you say a few nice words, I might consider protecting you while we're on a mission~"

Slowly rolling up the scroll in his hand, Sasuke said in a cold tone, "I am responsible for my own life and death."

These words reached Itachi Uchiha's ears as he approached, and upon seeing the scroll in Sasuke's hand, Itachi instantly understood: "Are you going on a mission, Sasuke?"

Playing with a handful of kunai he'd picked up from the ground, Eric chuckled lazily, "Yeah, this time we're going to catch the Three-Tails. Oh dear, I've heard tailed beasts are really dangerous."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "That guy, Eli, he was talking about a secret mission before, but now he's told us everything. He was just playing me for a fool."

Three-Tails? Zeref is also going to capture a Tailed Beast?

Itachi Uchiha's brow twitched. He didn't have time to think about Zeref's purpose. He looked at Sasuke and said, "I'll go with you."

Sasuke, having carefully put away one scroll and picked up another, didn't even glance at Itachi Uchiha, coldly and simply saying, "Don't even think about it."

Uchiha Itachi said calmly, "Then I'll go find Zeref." With that, he turned to leave.

The next moment, a kunai came flying from behind. Itachi Uchiha quickly turned his head to avoid the weapon that was aimed at the back of his head. The kunai grazed Itachi's hair and embedded itself deeply into the wall in front of him.

Slowly turning his head, Itachi Uchiha met Elli's seemingly smiling but threatening gaze.

"Lord Zeref's orders cannot be questioned by you two brothers again and again."

"What if I send Itachi to Zeref again, and Zeref thinks I'm being nosy?" Eric couldn't help but wonder.

Faced with Ellie's blatant threat, Itachi Uchiha did not back down at all. Sasuke's safety was his bottom line, and no one and nothing could touch it.

"Enough." Sasuke interrupted the increasingly tense atmosphere between the two, repeating to Itachi Uchiha once more, "This mission has nothing to do with you!"

Sasuke's determination was obvious. After a moment of silence, Itachi turned and left.

......

In Konoha, Tsunade summoned Kakashi and shared the information she had just received: "We have a lead on the Three-Tails' whereabouts, and we've also discovered traces of Orochimaru's subordinates in the vicinity."