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 recognize the stranger's red eyes as a dōjutsu and are attacked.
 * 2) Sasuke is traveling near the Land of Water and reveals he has been traveling 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 organization 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 Karyu 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 recognizes one of them as Tadaichi. Sakura also recognizes 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 neighboring 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 traveling 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 realizes who Sasuke is but is stabbed by Sasuke with his lightning blade with no intent on killing the man. Karyu appears and Iou tries to attack him but is defeated. Karyu reveals that he has always wanted to meet Sasuke but he wants to kill him in order to surpass him. The two fight with Karyu using Lava Release, and Sasuke wins by stabbing him with Chidori. While being interrogated, Karyu 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. Karyu escaped, gathered other outcast people, and aided other villages by capturing criminals. However, Kirigakure began taking credit for their service, which left Karyu and his followers penniless and homeless. When he heard about Sasuke attacking the Kage Summit, Karyu 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.