The Solution to Chuunibyou

The Hokage's office.

After Kakashi left, the Third Hokage emerged from the shadows.

Watching Kakashi's departing figure, then glancing at Tsunade, the Third seemed lost in thought, yet hesitated to speak. After a moment's hesitation, he finally let out a long sigh.

"Well..."

The old man took out his pipe and began to puff away. He frowned as he looked out the window, his expression unreadable in the swirling smoke.

"Old man," Tsunade leaned back in her chair, straining to smooth her furrowed brow, and said wearily, "Just say what you want to say. I'm not the Hokage who can't stand other people's opinions."

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced back at her. He leaned against the windowsill, exhaled a long puff of smoke, and pondered for a moment before saying, "Logically, an old man like me who has already retired shouldn't interfere with your decisions... but this time, Tsunade, you really made a mistake."

Tsunade remained expressionless, listening quietly to the words of the former Hokage.

The Third took a drag of his cigarette and continued:

"I told you long ago that Sasuke is a sensitive and delicate child, easily hurt and distorted, so he needs more guidance, rather than exposing the dark side of the village to him too early... Letting Sasuke know Danzo and the secrets of Root will not do him any good; it will only provoke him, reopen his old wounds, and make him feel pain again."

The old man stopped there.

He was referring to Tsunade, who was now the Fifth Hokage and no longer one of his subordinates; if he wanted to, he could stop there.

Tsunade shook her head before he even finished speaking.

"I know what you mean, old man. You want to protect Sasuke from the dark side of Konoha, especially the information about the Uchiha Clan Massacre; you want to wait until he's older, more receptive, and less easily swayed, before telling him the truth. If possible, you'd rather he never know the truth at all."

"But have you considered that Sasuke is also a Konoha Ninja, and Jonin at that, a rising elite of the Anbu? He'll inevitably come into contact with these things sooner or later. I can't forbid him from looking up files and researching information; I can't keep him forever innocent and ignorant."

"He will have to grow up eventually, and he is already in the process of doing so."

The Fifth Hokage said calmly.

Sarutobi remained silent, quietly smoking, his wrinkled face expressionless.

"Old man," Tsunade sighed, "You always think that dragging things out will solve the problem... But will it really? Back then, with the Uchiha incident, you repeatedly tried to drag things out, and what was the result?"

The Third Hokage paused abruptly in his smoking motion, followed by a long silence, and remained unresponsive to Tsunade's question.

The Uchiha Clan Massacre was the most disastrous moment in Hiruzen Sarutobi's decades-long career as Hokage.

The old man's pain was hidden beneath the billowing smoke. He said in a hoarse voice, "I... I thought things wouldn't come to this."

Initially, he wanted to stall until Shisui and Itachi grew up, hoping to influence the Uchiha Clan and change their minds through their strength and prestige. However, Shisui was forced to his death by Danzo. Later, he hoped that the strength displayed by Root and Anbu would deter the restless Uchiha and delay the problem. However, the Uchiha instead made up their minds to rebel.

"You like to procrastinate because you're old. You no longer have the ability or the courage to solve problems back then..." Tsunade pointed out the Third's problem mercilessly, "That's why you pin your hopes on a vague and uncertain future!"

"Perhaps that's how it is."

The Third gave a bitter smile.

He waved his hand. "I'm sorry, Tsunade, I spoke too much... Since I chose you to be the Fifth Hokage, I should trust your judgment."

"There's no need for that, old man. Let's just stick to the facts." Tsunade smiled faintly. "Now that Sasuke's problem has been exposed, we can always find a solution. It's better than him keeping this knot in his heart and letting it suddenly explode later."

"Since you keep talking about the Will of Fire, then try believing in Sasuke this once, and believe that he also has the same Will of Fire in his heart!"

Tsunade was very confident.

However, on the training ground, Sasuke showed no signs of the Will of Fire.

He first apologized to Kakashi with utmost sincerity and earnestness, then immediately added, "But—"

However, Sasuke still has no intention of handing over the 11 Sharingan to the village.

In Sasuke's mind, Kakashi was genuinely good to him, and he respected Kakashi, so he sincerely apologized; but the Sharingan was a different matter.

Those Danzo from the corpses of Sasuke's dead clan members after the night of the massacre. And among those Sharingan, there might even be the eyes of his parents!

The thought of this made Sasuke tremble with rage!

Moreover, Danzo had these Sharingan uglyly mounted on his arm as props for a Secret Technique... When Sasuke saw that scene, he almost wanted to kill that Danzo on the spot!

Sasuke was surprised by his improved self-control, which allowed him to suppress his murderous intent.

However, Hotaru Hyuga couldn't tolerate Hyuga Sasuke taking the Sharingan away—he absolutely refused to allow the Uchiha's eyes to fall into the hands of outsiders, be studied, or even be uglyly implanted on their bodies!

That would make him feel that the last remaining honor of the Uchiha was being trampled on, stomped on in filthy mud, and rendered worthless.

For this reason, he did not hesitate to have a direct conflict with the village.

"Kakashi-sensei, please stop trying to persuade me. I will not hand over the Sharingan," Sasuke resolutely.

The white-haired youth sighed inwardly.

He was practically drooling, but Sasuke remained completely unresponsive, like a wooden puppet. In the end, he simply said that his mind was made up and he would not hand over the Sharingan.

Once the rebellious spirit of a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) teenager takes hold, it becomes terrifyingly stubborn, especially since he is a member of the Uchiha Clan.

For those who are stuck in a rut, direct confrontation is useless.

"I understand how you feel, Sasuke. But..." Kakashi patted him on the shoulder and said slowly, "But have you considered that if you continue to fight against the village like this, you might be punished, demoted, or even worse, expelled from the village and become a missing-nin!"

Sasuke a dismissive, cold laugh.

"Snort."

Punishment, demotion? So what? Compared to the glory of the Uchiha, he didn't care about these things.

It's just a title.

Even those who were expelled from the village and became missing-nin—

"You don't even care about being expelled from Konoha?" Kakashi seemed to see right through him. "What if Sakura and Naruto return to the village only to find you're no longer Konoha? Would that still not matter to you?"

"Team 7 will never be able to reunite, and you'll never see Sakura and Naruto again. Is that okay?"

The black-haired boy's expression suddenly froze.

"I—!" He only managed to utter one word before stopping, unable to say anything more.

Sasuke could imagine that the two of them would do everything in their power to pull him back to Konoha, even if their reactions were slightly different.

If it were Sakura, she would be very angry, and then she would drag herself back to the village while scolding herself harshly.

Sasuke could even feel the warm and soft touch of the girl's right hand.

His cool expression wavered.

"Sasuke, I've talked to you for so long, it's not like I necessarily want you to back down and hand over your eyes." Kakashi pressed on, "Lady Tsunade, the Sharingan ultimately belongs to the Uchiha. The village won't force you to hand it over, much less Sharingan it like Shimura Danzō."

"But... think about it for a moment. As a Konoha ninja, how can you resist orders and even openly defy the village's commands without any fault on your part, Sasuke?"

"If you don't trust your teacher, you can always write to Sakura about this and ask for her opinion, what do you say?"

Kakashi unleashed his trump card.

The effect is outstanding!

Sasuke's previously resistant expression finally softened. "I... I want to hear Sakura's opinion."

Tsunade kindly helped Sasuke deliver the letter to Shikkotsu Forest.

Sakura Haruno replied incredibly quickly, almost immediately after reading the letter, her delicate handwriting comprising only three short lines.

"Foolish Sasuke:"

Why must the Uchiha and the village be pitted against each other?

You are Sasuke Uchiha, and even more so, you are Konoha Ninja Sasuke Uchiha!

I'm at a crucial stage in my cultivation of Senjutsu, I'm extremely busy! If you bother me with such a stupid question again, I'll teach you a lesson when I get back!

--Sakura Haruno.

Sasuke clutched the letter tightly in his hand, his expression somewhat bewildered.

He wrote the letter seeking comfort and help...

Why did I get scolded like that?

[Second update.]