The Constant-Temperature Laboratory

Why pit the Uchiha against Konoha?

When Sasuke calmed down, he was also thinking about this problem.

Does he subconsciously believe that the Uchiha and the village are opposing forces?

Does he harbor a hidden distrust of Konoha?

After calming down and thinking it over, Sasuke still couldn't come up with a definite answer.

"What exactly does Sakura mean?" Sasuke pondered this question as he lay in bed before falling asleep. "If it means I have to hand over my Sharingan..."

If that's the case, Sasuke will be very upset, but he will still choose to trust Sakura Haruno.

All night long, Sasuke tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, his mind filled with images of Sakura Haruno's eyes and brows as she spoke those words, her expression seemingly fierce but actually gentle.

"What will Naruto do?" He rolled over, then thought of another person, and couldn't help but smile through his pained expression. "With that guy's intelligence, he probably won't understand what I'm saying... I'd better not bother him. I'm such an idiot for actually thinking of asking him for help."

Then I drifted off to sleep in a daze.

The next day, in the Hokage's office.

"You've come, Sasuke." Tsunade looked at the boy before her with a half-smile and said calmly.

Sasuke, who clearly hadn't slept well, had even darker dark circles under his eyes and looked somewhat tired.

It's comparable to Gaara's design.

"Hmm... Lord Hokage, I've arrived." He waved the scroll in his hand. "I've come to complete the mission from last time, and... to apologize."

"Admit your mistake?" Tsunade's smile deepened as she sat up straight, scrutinizing Sasuke's handsome face with interest. "Indeed... you made a mistake on this mission. Tell me, what mistake did you make?"

Sasuke bit his lip.

"I shouldn't have stolen the Sharingan and not given it to the village," he said reluctantly. "That was my mistake."

He stepped forward, holding the scroll with both hands, and handed it to Tsunade.

After thinking about it all night, he decided to give in to the village and hand over the Sharingan.

"Ha!" Tsunade chuckled, not taking the scroll, and said, "Sasuke, you still don't understand!"

The blonde woman shook her head inwardly. She couldn't expect a letter and a night to make Sasuke understand... but at least Sasuke showing up was progress.

"That Sharingan...?"

Sasuke was completely bewildered. Wasn't he supposed to hand over his Sharingan?

"You can keep the Sharingan for now!" She stood up, stepped out of her seat, patted Sasuke on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Come with me."

Sasuke had no idea what Tsunade was up to, but it was always a good thing that he didn't have to hand over his Sharingan for the time being. He happily put away the scroll and followed Tsunade, still confused.

The two left the Hokage Building and arrived at Konoha Hospital. After many twists and turns, they finally entered a secluded, independent building within the hospital.

"This is it." Tsunade stopped in front of a heavily guarded room on the basement level and turned to Sasuke.

She Gate of Opening, and the cold air from the room immediately leaked out, stirring up a mist in the sweltering August air.

Behind the door, on the left were rows of shelves filled with bottles, jars and scrolls of all kinds, while on the right were various high-tech instruments that gleamed with metallic luster. Several office ninjas in white coats were either busy moving between the shelves and instruments or engrossed in their work, and no one noticed that the door was open.

"Konoha's first temperature-controlled laboratory, used for preserving and researching precious samples." Tsunade walked in, quite proudly telling Sasuke, "Through Ice Release and Fire Style techniques to regulate the temperature, even in the sweltering summer, this place can maintain a constant temperature of sixteen degrees Celsius, or even below zero. All thanks to Haku (Yuki Haku) and Sakura's Chakra."

Sasuke completely ignored Tsunade's boastful introduction.

His attention was completely drawn to the first shelf on the left side of the room.

Sasuke stared intently at the shelves, row after row of...

Sharingan.

There were dozens of them!

The black-haired boy's breath seemed to be caught in his throat. He was having trouble breathing.

"Sharingan found at the Root Base." Tsunade glanced at Sasuke and said casually, "About seven—if there are no new discoveries."

"Why are there so many?" Sasuke's body trembled slightly as he forced back his anger and asked the question.

"And you?" Tsunade sneered. "Danzo Sharingan a consumable! Do you think he only has your eleven eyes? Is that even possible?"

Sasuke fell silent.

He lowered his eyes, clenched his teeth so tightly they made a grinding sound, and suddenly regretted not killing Danzo on the spot.

No... we should use the cruelest methods to torture him to death!

Looking at the almost ferocious expression on Sasuke's face, Tsunade sighed and pointed to the glass bottles on the shelf, saying, "The bottles with white labels are Sharingan whose identities have been verified. Take them back. The rest without labels haven't been verified yet, so leave them here for now. Come back another time."

"One more thing, we've also found your father Uchiha Fugaku's eyes."

Sasuke's expression quickly changed from ferocious to stunned.

"... Take these back for me?" After a long pause, he pointed blankly at the glass bottles and asked.

"Otherwise what?" The Hokage rolled his eyes at him. "Do you think the village would steal your relative's Sharingan?"

The Sharingan was a valuable asset to Danzo, but Tsunade, as the Fifth Hokage, didn't really value it. It's difficult for Uchiha clan members to control the power of the Sharingan; even an elite like Kakashi struggled after transplanting a Sharingan, which even hindered his growth and had a counterproductive effect... Therefore, the Sharingan couldn't be used to mass-produce powerful fighters.

Why force a powerful fighter out of the Root's power by creating a combination of Hashirama Cells and Sharingan like Danzo did? The political repercussions would be far too severe. Tsunade would be better off focusing on nurturing Sasuke; with his talent, he could easily crush Danzo.

Most importantly, implanting Sharingan in one's hand like Danzo did is just too disgusting and ugly...

For the sake of beauty, Tsunade, an old woman in her fifties, shamelessly dressed up as a young woman in her twenties. Do you think she would accept Danzo's look?

Sasuke was speechless, his expression somewhat embarrassed. He really thought the village wanted to take all the Sharingan... As it turned out, Konoha's ambitions were far greater than he had imagined.

He strode forward, first finding his father's Sharingan and carefully removing it. Then he picked out the labeled bottles and put them into a blank sealing scroll.

As if afraid the Hokage would change his mind, Sasuke moved with lightning speed, cleaning up in no time. His hurried, almost childish movements made Tsunade and laugh at him.

After Sasuke carefully put the sealing scroll away, he remembered that there was a Hokage nearby.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage!" Sasuke bowed deeply to Temari her a ninety-degree bow.

Tsunade accepted the gift with satisfaction.

"So, do you know what mistake you made, Sasuke?" she asked sternly, her face hardening.

[Seeing the heated discussion in the chapters, I felt it would be better to release these plot points together, so I'm posting both chapters at once.]