A Plea From a Friend

The Valley of the End, round one, reaches its verdict. Naruto, cloaked in one-tailed Nine-Tails chakra, and Sasuke, fully transformed by the Cursed Seal's second state, throw a final Rasengan against a final Chidori. The collision swallows the waterfall in a black sphere — and inside it, Sasuke chooses to scratch Naruto's headband instead of piercing his throat. Rain falls on an unconscious Naruto as Sasuke, refusing to gain the Mangekyou on Itachi's terms, limps toward Orochimaru and out of the village's story.