Naruto: The Beautiful Uchiha is Actually Me?

Chapter 197 Behind Me... Is there anything there?

"Subdivided flats! Subdivided flats!!"

Yan Yi's emotions collapsed instantly. He shouted the other person's name, but Ban Jian could no longer sense any trace of Yan Yi.

This is my first time! This is the first time ever!

However, this moment was too brief, catching Yan Yi somewhat off guard. She failed to seize this unique instant and continue making more attempts.

Banjian casually tossed the fruit pit into the woods outside the cave ahead, braced himself with his hands behind him, and began to look up at the sky.

Through the gaps in the bushes, he could see the white clouds drifting slowly across the sky, but at that moment, Itama felt something was strange...

Come to think of it, he's always had that feeling. Whenever he's alone, he always feels a strange sense of peace.

Whether he was cultivating or at home, his attention was never truly empty, so he couldn't perceive many details. But when he sat alone in the cave, breathing in the fresh air among the trees and feeling the cool mountain breeze blowing in his face, everything around him became quiet.

Only now, as his thoughts wander, does he begin to feel a subtle, elusive emotion.

Just like the moment he ate the apple, at least for the instant the sweetness of the apple spread across his tongue, his mood reached its peak, and it was this active consciousness that allowed him to capture a faint, elusive aura in that instant.

The aura seemed familiar, but it vanished in an instant, and Itama couldn't think of much more.

However, at this moment he also began to think that he had never felt afraid when he was alone, as if... when he was alone, he was not alone.

Why is this?

"Could there be some invisible, intangible little fairy who's been silently protecting me all along?" Itama muttered to herself, then blushed slightly and gave an embarrassed, self-deprecating laugh. "Ah, how could that be? How childish..."

Yan Yi stared blankly at the wooden door, feeling as if all the pent-up grievances he had accumulated over a long period were about to explode. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, his expression finally turned into tears of overwhelming emotion.

But he didn't waste any more time on that. While Itama was still alone, Yan Yi tried to continue touching him with his own consciousness...

Telepathy? Perhaps this seemingly naive and ridiculous thing actually works...

Failure, no response...

Failed again, still no effect...

Yan Yi stayed by the boardroom until the very end, even until the boardroom succumbed to drowsiness and fell asleep...

......

This is an endless dream, and itama is walking alone on a familiar road in his clan's territory.

"Huh? Second Brother, what are you doing?"

Suddenly, Banma noticed that his second brother seemed to have grown up quite a bit. Just as he was wondering about it, his "second brother" turned around and looked at Banma with an incredulous expression.

"Tobirama? You...you're still alive? How could this be..." Tobirama's voice trembled, and his eyes widened.

Itama was completely bewildered... What? Still alive? I've been perfectly fine all along! What happened to my second brother...?

Just as he was about to ask further questions, the surrounding scenery seemed to blur, and the depths of the dream seemed to begin to freeze...

The Tobirama Senju before them had a blurred and indistinct face, his armor began to disappear, his height decreased, and he eventually transformed into the familiar appearance of Itama...

"Second brother...? What's wrong?"

Tobirama didn't speak, but shook his head and looked behind Itama, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Itama turned his head, but saw nothing. Behind him was a void like a broken cliff, pitch black and empty.

He looked around in confusion. His second brother had suddenly vanished, replaced by an unfamiliar village...

"Where am I? Huh? Is this the Senju clan's territory? Eh? When did Big Brother grow his hair long..." Itama jogged towards Hashirama's direction.

"Big brother! How...how did you suddenly grow so tall?" Itama gasped for breath, his eyes full of confusion.

Hashirama turned around, his eyes revealing the same shock as his second brother had just seen... "Fourth brother Itama...? Why... are you still alive?"

"Huh...? I... shouldn't I be alive...?"

Itama was starting to panic. Just now, and now... why do his older brothers always say such strange things?

A deep voice rang out, and a man with black, frizzy hair and long hair that covered one eye walked out from behind Hashirama. His eyes were sharp as knives, and Itama couldn't help but take two steps back after just one glance at him.

"Hashirama, what are you daydreaming about? We need to go participate in...%&... now, hurry up, they're waiting for us..."

What are you going to participate in?

Itama didn't hear clearly, but when his attention was focused on the man in black with black hair and black eyes, the name Uchiha immediately popped into his head...

Why?! Why is my older brother with the Uchiha clan?!

Itama couldn't even speak. Hashirama smiled slightly, gently patted Itama's head, glanced behind Itama, and then turned and left, leaving a bewildered Itama behind.

Behind me...?

When the board turned around, it saw nothing but emptiness.

Looking around, the village seemed so unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar. Had I seen it somewhere before? The faces around me were blurry, indistinct...

The air seems to have gotten colder...

The scene became blurry again, and Itama continued walking forward... Unknowingly, he arrived at the familiar Senju clan's territory.

Just as Itama was about to look around, an excited voice suddenly came from beside him: "Itama? You...you're not dead! You're alive!!"

"Huh...?" Itama was stunned for a moment, then turned around and saw the brown-haired boy. After a full two seconds, he finally spoke in shock, "Third brother...? Your...your hand?!"

Banjian was startled. He saw that his third brother, Wajian's, right arm was empty, and his sleeve was still fluttering in the wind.

Watama glanced at Itama with a puzzled look, then stretched out his only remaining left arm and put his hand on Itama's shoulder.

"Banban...you're not doing well? Haven't you had enough rest?"

"Something's not right with me? Me? Aren't I one of my brothers...?"

Before Itama could finish speaking, Watama glanced behind Itama, then gave him a pained but understanding smile, without offering any further explanation.

Faces began to blur, and the figure of Watama became illusory until it completely disappeared from Watama's sight.

"Is anyone behind me?"

Itama turned around, but still saw nothing...

But then Banma realized that the road ahead had disappeared, leaving only emptiness, just like the space behind him.

The air seemed to have frozen, and it was so cold it made you shiver...

"Where am I...? I feel like... something important is missing..."

Itama stared blankly at the surrounding emptiness, trying to find a direction to move forward. But unfortunately, no matter which direction he looked, he couldn't see any path that could be called a "direction".

Just as he was at a loss for what to do, the surrounding void began to shift, and a very familiar yet unrecognizable aura suddenly appeared before Itama's eyes...

"Who are you?" Itama asked.

There was no one in front of me... and not a sound.

The distant void seemed to begin to flicker... Itama only paused for a second before a large number of fragments of memory, like shattered glass, streaked past him like shooting stars.

"What is this?" Itama asked again.

Still no one responded.

The surrounding debris was flying too fast for him to see clearly, but were all those images of himself? His blurred vision only deepened his confusion...

Where do these memories come from? I clearly didn't experience many of them, but that sense of déjà vu... it's as if I really did experience them.

Kaka-

A sound like shattering glass rang out, and Banjian looked toward the source of the sound... The distant void seemed to be shattering, and at that moment, he suddenly felt himself being pulled out of the void by a powerful force.

"what!!"

The boy's shouts echoed through the cave. Itama suddenly sat up, his eyes filled with tears, as if the bizarre and fantastical scenes from his dream were still vivid in his mind.

Is this... a dream?

Why would I have such a dream?

That's strange...