Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise

is an original story written by Shin Towada and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It is the third instalment of the Naruto Shinden series.

Prologue
After the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Sasuke set off on a journey in order to atone for the sins he committed, and later to pursue the mystery of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. Sasuke narrates how he once desired revenge against his brother, Itachi Uchiha, for murdering their clan and then against Konohagakure until he was stopped by his best friend, Naruto Uzumaki. In addition to seeking retribution for his sins, Sasuke seeks out to establish a new path so he can decide how he should protect the things most important to him.

Chapter 1

 * 1) In the aftermath of the war, the five great nations are enjoying peace. Konoha and Kirigakure have recently introduced a new training course for rookie ninja, which the Mizukage contributes to Naruto's desire to have the nations cooperate and spread cultural knowledge. The Mizukage, while content with the friendly relations among the nations, is only upset that she is approaching the age where she is too late to get married. The Mizukage, Mei Terumī, is impressed with Chōjūrō's maturity and considers naming him as her successor. A group of Kiri shinobi are on a ship and about to enter the Land of Lightning. Another boat mysterious veers to close to them and almost crashes into them until a mysterious person with red eyes attacks them. Despite their efforts to stop him, the stranger easily defeats them. Kumogakure shinobi receive the ship and find that the stranger has placed the Kiri shinobi under genjutsu. They recognise the stranger's red eyes as a dōjutsu and are attacked.
 * 2) Sasuke is travelling near the Land of Water and reveals he has been travelling for a few years already, seeking atonement and to research the reason why Kaguya was creating a White Zetsu Army. Sasuke narrates how he returned to Konoha after the war, but left soon after to start his journey of observing things about the world he overlooked. Sasuke receives a message from the Sixth Hokage that more than a hundred Kiri and Kumo shinobi have disappeared and the villages are requesting Sasuke's help. He accepts and decides to go to the Land of Lightning. While in the Land of Hot Water, he finds a bamboo village that appears deserted but he discovers people hiding after using his Sharingan. He is then attacked by an elderly villager named Iou, who accuses Sasuke of being a member of the Dark Thunder Group. Sasuke easily disarms him. Two children named Chino and Nowaki diffuse the situation and apologise to Sasuke, and Iou explains that the Dark Thunder Group are ninjas with red eyes who killed his daughter and seems to admire Sasuke, who is displeased that a criminal organisation is tarnishing his name. Iou, Chino, and Nowaki plead for Sasuke to stay so he can stop the Dark Thunder Group, which he initially rejects but then silently relents. The Dark Thunder Group learns of Sasuke's whereabouts and one member named Karyū decides to find Sasuke and kill him.
 * 3) In Konoha, Kakashi becomes increasingly worried about the disappearances, despite the best attempts of Konoha, Kiri, and Kumo trying to solve the mystery. Kakashi suspects a genjutsu user was behind it and wants Sasuke to assist due to his Sharingan and Rinnegan being able to cast out genjutsu. Shizune, Sakura Haruno, Naruto and Sai come into his office to inform Kakashi that Sai has been in touch with Sasuke and there are no updates on the disappearances. Sakura reveals that she was doing some research and discovered that there have been other disappearances involving Konoha shinobi, including a regular patron of Ino Yamanaka's family named Tadaichi. They are alerted that intruders managed to get through the village's interior barriers at the gates and explosions are set off, causing massive fires. Naruto, Sakura and Sai are joined with Shikamaru Nara, Chōji Akimichi, and Ino, and they converse on what information they have on Tadaichi's disappearance and those in Kiri and Kumo. They find the Barrier Team ninja battling the intruders, and Ino recognises one of them as Tadaichi. Sakura also recognises the other intruders as the missing Konoha shinobi. Before they can engage in a fight, the intruders use an explosion to retreat and everyone suspects the missing shinobi were under a genjutsu. The missing shinobi explode due to the injuries received from Tadaichi's explosion. Aoba Yamashiro arrives to alert them that there are more intruders, revealed to be the missing Kiri and Kumo shinobi. Kiri evacuates its residents after learning of the situation in Konoha. In Kumo, Darui wants to bring Killer B for help but the Raikage refuses. As Naruto and the others battle the intruders, Naruto's wife, Hinata Uzumaki comes to their aid and uses her Byakugan to see if the opponents are under a genjutsu, which she says it is unlikely. They suspect that a different type of chakra is controlling the opponents and they can't injure them or else they will explode. Naruto uses Shadow Clones to distract the opponents while Shikamaru uses his Shadow Imitation Jutsu and Hinata used her Gentle Fist to hit their chakra points and render them motionless. Aoba uses his sensory abilities to enter a Kiri shinobi's mind but is caught in a genjutsu trap, and Ino uses her Mind Body Switch Technique to save him, both passing out.
 * 1) In Konoha, Kakashi becomes increasingly worried about the disappearances, despite the best attempts of Konoha, Kiri, and Kumo trying to solve the mystery. Kakashi suspects a genjutsu user was behind it and wants Sasuke to assist due to his Sharingan and Rinnegan being able to cast out genjutsu. Shizune, Sakura Haruno, Naruto and Sai come into his office to inform Kakashi that Sai has been in touch with Sasuke and there are no updates on the disappearances. Sakura reveals that she was doing some research and discovered that there have been other disappearances involving Konoha shinobi, including a regular patron of Ino Yamanaka's family named Tadaichi. They are alerted that intruders managed to get through the village's interior barriers at the gates and explosions are set off, causing massive fires. Naruto, Sakura and Sai are joined with Shikamaru Nara, Chōji Akimichi, and Ino, and they converse on what information they have on Tadaichi's disappearance and those in Kiri and Kumo. They find the Barrier Team ninja battling the intruders, and Ino recognises one of them as Tadaichi. Sakura also recognises the other intruders as the missing Konoha shinobi. Before they can engage in a fight, the intruders use an explosion to retreat and everyone suspects the missing shinobi were under a genjutsu. The missing shinobi explode due to the injuries received from Tadaichi's explosion. Aoba Yamashiro arrives to alert them that there are more intruders, revealed to be the missing Kiri and Kumo shinobi. Kiri evacuates its residents after learning of the situation in Konoha. In Kumo, Darui wants to bring Killer B for help but the Raikage refuses. As Naruto and the others battle the intruders, Naruto's wife, Hinata Uzumaki comes to their aid and uses her Byakugan to see if the opponents are under a genjutsu, which she says it is unlikely. They suspect that a different type of chakra is controlling the opponents and they can't injure them or else they will explode. Naruto uses Shadow Clones to distract the opponents while Shikamaru uses his Shadow Imitation Jutsu and Hinata used her Gentle Fist to hit their chakra points and render them motionless. Aoba uses his sensory abilities to enter a Kiri shinobi's mind but is caught in a genjutsu trap, and Ino uses her Mind Body Switch Technique to save him, both passing out.

Chapter 2

 * 1) As Sakura cures Ino and Aoba while Sai takes everyone else to the hospital, Naruto becomes aware of the hatred that's taking root in the shinobi. Back at the Land of Hot Water, Sasuke goes with Chino, Nowaki, and Iou to search for the Dark Thunder Group and Sasuke learns that Chino is actually older than him despite appearing as a ten-year-old. Sasuke thinks about his brother and his clan; how Shisui Uchiha gave his life to protect the village, only for Itachi to be blamed, and how Sasuke once dreamed of joining the Konoha Military Police Force as a child. Itachi's sacrifice for the village had been the only thing on Sasuke's mind until he met with a reanimated Itachi, who said he would always love Sasuke before returning to the afterlife. Chino asks Sasuke if he plans to return to Konoha, which Sasuke doesn't reply because he is unsure about it due to the guilt he feels for betraying his friends. She also asks him about his goal of restoring the Uchiha Clan, which he again refuses to answer. They come across the village where Iou's daughter lived in and find it completely destroyed. Sasuke asks why the neighbouring villages aren't helping to support the residents, and Nowaki replies that the other villages are afraid of the Dark Thunder Group. As Iou describes the group's activities, Sasuke notes how similar they are to his old self; someone who turned to hatred and darkness after losing someone he loved dearly. Sasuke admits he still feels some darkness in him, but the purpose of him travelling alone is to repair the damage he caused to himself and prevent another mistake. Chino senses movement underground and suspect it is due to the Dark Thunder Group. They rush back to the village and find that the group is already setting off explosions in the village. Sasuke engages them in battle and saves many of the villagers. Sasuke uses his Sharingan and deduces that many of the enemies are under genjutsu. One of them realises who Sasuke is but is stabbed by Sasuke with his lightning blade with no intent on killing the man. Karyū appears and Iou tries to attack him but is defeated. Karyū reveals that he has always wanted to meet Sasuke but he wants to kill him in order to surpass him. The two fight with Karyū using Lava Release, and Sasuke wins by stabbing him with Chidori. While being interrogated, Karyū explains that he was born in a small village outside of Kumo as a natural Lava Release user, which was feared and users were often killed. Karyū escaped, gathered other outcast people, and aided other villages by capturing criminals. However, Kirigakure began taking credit for their service, which left Karyū and his followers penniless and homeless. When he heard about Sasuke attacking the Kage Summit, Karyū started to admire him and formed the Dark Thunder Group to get revenge on those who wronged him, much to Sasuke's dismay and he sends a message of the events to Kakashi.
 * 2) Kakashi quickly responds to Sasuke's message and informs Sasuke of the attack on Konoha and he learned the ringleader is Karyū through the intel Konoha gathered. Sasuke remains in the village to continue interrogating Karyū and then turn him over to Konoha. Sasuke thinks about Karyū's story about gathering other rogue ninjas to get revenge on those they despise and forcing a genjutsu on other shinobi to fulfil his goals, which he compares to Kaguya and her White Zetsu army. He spots a fire breaking out in the house where Karyū is being kept and learns from Chino and Nowaki that Iou set the house on fire to kill Karyū. When Sasuke confronts him, Iou says he should have killed the rest of the organisation for what they did to his daughter and he doesn't trust Konoha to punish Karyū because of the village's reputation of forgiving criminals. Iou's words make Sasuke remember the vengeful person he once was.
 * 1) Kakashi quickly responds to Sasuke's message and informs Sasuke of the attack on Konoha and he learned the ringleader is Karyū through the intel Konoha gathered. Sasuke remains in the village to continue interrogating Karyū and then turn him over to Konoha. Sasuke thinks about Karyū's story about gathering other rogue ninjas to get revenge on those they despise and forcing a genjutsu on other shinobi to fulfil his goals, which he compares to Kaguya and her White Zetsu army. He spots a fire breaking out in the house where Karyū is being kept and learns from Chino and Nowaki that Iou set the house on fire to kill Karyū. When Sasuke confronts him, Iou says he should have killed the rest of the organisation for what they did to his daughter and he doesn't trust Konoha to punish Karyū because of the village's reputation of forgiving criminals. Iou's words make Sasuke remember the vengeful person he once was.

Chapter 3

 * 1) After losing his chance to interrogate Karyū about the head of the former Lightning Group, Sasuke decides to head towards Orochimaru's hideout, believing him to be an authoritative source of any illicit activity. As he approached the hideout, Sasuke meets Yamato, in charge of guarding the place. After making sure Sasuke is acting on Konoha's behalf, Yamato lets him through. Then, Sasuke meets Orochimaru and asks him if he has any information on the head of the Lightning Group. Orochimaru informs him that the man he's looking for was once part of an arms dealer's group of guards, called Oyashiro En. According to Orochimaru, Oyashiro is a very wary medical-nin who often stays hidden in his hideouts, but upon being pressed by Sasuke Orochimaru begins setting up things to lure Oyashiro into a meeting. As he waits for Orochimaru, Sasuke encounters the former members of Taka. Thereupon, Orochimaru returns and tells Sasuke they're heading to the sea, towards an island in which rich people use to amuse themselves. As the two leave, Karin, Suigetsu and Jūgo reflect upon Sasuke's reasons not to reside in Konoha permamently.
 * 2) Sasuke and Orochimaru take a boat to reach the island of rich people's amusement. During their trip, Sasuke wonders why Orochimaru is allowed to move as he pleases, and Orochimaru retorts that the same could be said about Sasuke and Kabuto, though the probability that they'll run into evil again is lower. When they land, Orochimaru leads Sasuke to an arena named "Coliseum", in which a tournment is being held. When Sasuke's name is suddenly called as one of the participants, Orochimaru explains him that in this tournment, rich people hire shinobi to fight against each other, and the winner obtains both the shinobi. Since Oyashiro is a kekkei genkai collector, he accepted Orochimaru's challenge with the hope of obtaining Sasuke's sharingan, and despite being a wary man he'd necessarily show up in the place where shinobi are exchanged at the end of the match. Seeing he has no other choice, Sasuke engages into a battle and quickly defeats Oyashiro's shinobi, Futsu. In the shinobi exchange place, Sasuke meets Oyashiro and asks him about the head of the Lightning Group. Oyashiro tells him that Fūshin (the man's name) had become one of his protégés after losing a match in the Coliseum, and worked for him for some time, but one day he ran away together with all Oyashiro's kekkei genkai owners. Sasuke then starts criticising Oyashiro for his deplorable conduct, but Oyashiro retorts that even Sasuke, who's using others just to gather information for his own goals, is no different. Resentful, Sasuke proceeds in challenging and freeing all the shinobi in the stadium. Stricken by this, Oyashiro decides to reveal Sasuke the location of Fūshin's birthplace, an island the head of the Lightning Group destroyed out of resentment, which was coincidentally on the route the disappeared Kirigakure ship was sailing.
 * 3) Sasuke finds the Kirigakure ship abandoned on an isolated island and no one aboard. He discovers a dazed man, who attacks him but Sasuke easily defeats him, and then discovers more shinobi, whom are the ones who attacked Konoha. Sasuke uses his Sharingan to break the genjutsu on them and offers to take them back home. When one of the Kiri ninjas cuts himself and doesn't explode, Sasuke detects unusual chakra that he believes is responsible for the genjutsu. Chino and Nowaki cut their wrists, and Sasuke detects the same chakra sensation from Nowaki, who admits he possess Wind Release and attacks Sasuke, who uses Susanoo to throw Nowaki off but finds that the boy's wind attacks are too strong. Sasuke then summons Aoda, whom he instructs to jump through the core of Nowaki's wind typhoon and Sasuke hits the wind with Chidori to electrocute Nowaki. With Nowaki defeated, Sasuke uses Sharingan Genjutsu on him and learns that Nowaki once cheated families out of their money before being caught and tortured by one of his victims, and he was offered an opportunity to get revenge, revealing he joined the group. To Sasuke's surprise, Chino reveals she is from the Chinoike Clan, which has been believed to be extinct, and she attacks Sasuke with genjutsu her Kerryūgan and summoning giant waves.

Chapter 4

 * 1) When the genjutsu dissipates, Chino and Nowaki have disappeared. Sasuke decides getting the shinobi back to their villages is a priority. Sasuke delivers the Kumo shinobi to their village and is thanked by the Raikage and Darui for helping them. The Raikage offers to send other shinobi to help Sasuke find the group's leaders, but Sasuke declines since only he can cancel their genjutsu abilities. He also tells the Raikage about Chino being part of a clan possessing red eyes and specialising in genjutsu and the Kerryūgan. Remembering the times of Naruto bowing his head and begging the Raikage to not kill Sasuke for trying to kidnap Killer B, and when he fought Sasuke after the latter attacked the Kage Summit, the Raikage grudgingly acknowledges Sasuke as someone qualified to take care of the leaders, whom he says are likely in Yugakure. Sasuke also acknowledges he now has respect for the Raikage for his forgiveness and he will inform him of the outcome.
 * 2) Sasuke arrives in Yugakure and is told by the residents that the Raikage informed them of his arrival. A resident explains the background of the Chinoike clan, including its genjutsu and dōjutsu abilities, and its ties to the Uchiha Clan. Sasuke goes there and is shocked to find some of the kidnapped shinobi lying deceased in the pond with red water. Upon investigating, he detects the feeling of unusual chakra, and then they attack him, making him realize they are being controlled by Chino. Chino appears and explains that her hatred stems from her clan being alienated for possessing dōjutsu before she was kidnapped by Oyashiro just as her clan was on the verge of being extinct and she was trained to be a merciless ninja. Eventually, she began to feel empty inside due to having no parents and met Nowaki after Kirigakure cheated them out of their possessions, and to get revenge, they teamed up to shape the world they deem as appropriate. Sasuke says he understands her, but Chino lashes out at him that, despite once betraying Konoha, he still has people who care about him. Chino attacks him with a blood dragon and Sasuke summons Susanoo to cut of its head, but his defence moves are futile. Sasuke tries to use genjutsu on her but she already has countermeasures against him. When she asks him why he fights for Konoha, Sasuke replies that he has friends and his best friend is the one who saved him from darkness. Sasuke then uses Mangekyo Sharingan on Chino, and Nowaki comes out of hiding to protect her but Sasuke has no intentions of harming them. Taking in Sasuke's words, Chino accepts defeat.
 * 3) Chino explains to Sasuke that members of the Allied Shinobi Forces built refuge in Yugakure and came across the red water underground but opted to not say anything because of so much attention aimed on the war. Chino talks about her hope of a future where everyone will be united and in peace, and Sasuke vows to do everything he can to protect the peace in the world.

Epilogue
Chino and Nowaki are sent to prison in another village for their crimes, and they are visited by Kakashi, who tells them the Mizukage wants them to work for Kirigakure and Kumogakure is willing to forgive them if they accept working for it as well. Chino and Nowaki accept in order to repent for their crimes. Naruto, who accompanied Kakashi, deduces the two were inspired from meeting Sasuke to change their ways. Sakura learns from Naruto that Sasuke is making significant atonements, and while she is tired of waiting for him to return to the village, she is proud of him for protecting the village from the shadows. Resuming his journey of investigating Kaguya, Sasuke receives a letter from Naruto, who writes about Sakura comparing his efforts of protecting the village to that of his childhood dream of joining the Konoha Military Police Force. Changing directions, Sasuke returns to Konoha and stands in front of its gates. In the final page, Sakura cheerfully greets Sasuke, saying "Welcome home, Sasuke."