Sasuke Under Surveillance

Konoha School.

During recess, all the students were playing.

Sasuke had not yet gone through the Night of the Massacre. He was still a carefree, somewhat arrogant child.

He happened to be racing Naruto.

Naturally, Sasuke easily beat Naruto.

After Naruto panted across the finish line, he immediately sprang up from the ground. "I didn't show my real skills just now!"

Sasuke said smugly, "You already gave it everything you had, didn't you, dead last?"

Naruto refused to accept it. "If I use my real skills, you won't stand a chance!"

"Next, we'll compete in the high jump!"

Sasuke snorted. "You're no match for me at all."

"What did you say!?"

Sakura and Ino said from the side, "Naruto, just give up. You can't beat Sasuke..."

The sight of the children playing around was quite heartwarming.

Yet around those children, several pairs of eyes were watching them.

Inside the treetops not far away, there were two groups of people.

One group was assigned to monitor Naruto, the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, while the other, led by Kakashi, was keeping watch on Sasuke.

High above, Itachi stood with his arms crossed, wanting to look at Sasuke a little longer in these final moments.

After tonight, he would never see his beloved little brother again.

But none of them knew that, besides them, another group was also watching this place.

"Fourth Elder, Itachi is indeed on a nearby tall building."

From the shadows of an alleyway, Yusuke reported to Senyo.

Senyo leaned against the wall with his eyes closed.

"Find everyone first. We only have one chance. We move after Itachi leaves."

"Yes, Fourth Elder!"

Yusuke took two people with him to continue gathering intelligence.

Senyo and two other clansmen lay in wait here. The two clansmen had initially been somewhat nervous.

But seeing how calm and composed the elder was, they were influenced by him and gradually settled down.

Senyo was not merely putting on an act. He was examining his cheat ability.

On the Bond Template, the relationships of the more than twenty Uchiha who had attended the meeting had all reached one star.

Mayumi, Kiyohiko, Yusuke, and Rinto, meanwhile, had reached two stars.

Senyo first claimed the first star for each of them. Along with the system notifications, countless combat memories appeared in his mind.

"Ding, Uchiha Mayumi's Level 1 Bond has been unlocked."

"Ding, Uchiha Kiyohiko's Level 1 Bond has been unlocked."

"Ding, Uchiha Yusuke's Level 1 Bond..."

Although Senyo had possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan before this, his own strength did not match his body.

At most, he could only bring out thirty percent of his power.

It was not that he intentionally held back during battle. He simply did not know how to fight.

Now that he had absorbed the combat memories of more than twenty people, he had become a qualified Uchiha with a Mangekyō Sharingan.

When Senyo opened the second star one by one—

"Ding, Uchiha Mayumi's Level 2 Bond has been unlocked."

"Ding, Uchiha Kiyohiko's Level 2 Bond..."

Mayumi, Kiyohiko, Yusuke, and Rinto had each provided him with roughly ten percent of their Chakra or ocular power.

Though there was no manual, Senyo had figured out the Bond Template's mechanics through these two enhancements.

If they knew each other and had some degree of friendship, they could probably form a first star and unlock Level 1. If they trusted each other and had some friendship, they could likely reach two stars and Level 2.

The Great Elder had three stars and Level 3 with him because he had staked his entire fortune and life on Senyo.

That counted as complete trust.

Senyo did not know whether three stars was the limit, but he guessed there should be higher levels.

He slowly opened his eyes. His Chakra reserves were now more than twice those of the clan's elites.

Though the increase in ocular power was slight, he no longer needed to worry about the Mangekyō Sharingan blinding him anytime soon.

Time gradually passed. Senyo and the others had been waiting since noon, and it was now afternoon.

Yusuke came to report several times during that period. Itachi was like a total creep, staring at Sasuke from atop a tall building the whole time.

Itachi did not leave until school was nearly over.

"Fourth Elder, Itachi just left. We didn't dare follow too closely, so we don't know where he went."

"Sasuke went to the training ground. He should be training."

"Three Anbu are watching over him. One of them should be Kakashi."

"You're sure Kakashi is there?" A sharp gleam flashed through Senyo's eyes.

Yusuke nodded. "With that hair, he's the only one in all of Konoha. Even with a mask on, it's just a pointless disguise."

Senyo narrowed his eyes slightly. Just when he needed a pillow, one was delivered to him. Kakashi was actually watching over Sasuke.

Then again, there were not many suitable candidates. It was perfectly normal for Kakashi, an Anbu captain, to handle this assignment.

Yusuke continued, "Four Anbu are watching the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Should we—?"

Senyo raised a hand, stopping Yusuke from continuing.

"Our opportunity this time depends on the Third Hokage not daring to tear off all pretenses. If we touch the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the Uchiha Clan will be in serious danger."

"Yes, I understand!"

Yusuke also wanted to take Naruto, but since the Fourth Elder had other plans, naturally he had to obey him.

That was the importance of command authority.

"Let's go. Bring our young clan head home."

Training Ground.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." Several shuriken flew toward the targets.

Amid crisp clanging sounds, all six struck the bullseyes at once!

Sasuke coolly flicked his hand, pleased with himself as well!

Nii-san has been so busy lately. He keeps saying next time, next time.

I have to train hard and make Nii-san look at me in a new light!

Sasuke's eyes sparkled, as though he could already hear Itachi praising him.

He touched his Ninja Tool Pouch. He had thrown all his shuriken and needed to retrieve them.

While the other students were still playing with paper shuriken, Sasuke already carried proper iron ones.

Just as he ran over to the targets to collect them—

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Several figures leaped down, startling Sasuke.

"Little Sasuke, why aren't you home yet? It's so late."

Sasuke took a closer look and saw that they were familiar clansmen, immediately relaxing.

"Senior Senyo, why are you here?"

Senyo and Sasuke were neither close nor hostile, but they knew each other.

He smiled. "Of course I'm here to take you home."

Sasuke did not understand why Senyo had come for him, but he had no guard up and merely said, "Senior Senyo, wait a moment. Let me pack up."

At that moment, Kakashi and the others who had been watching Sasuke grew anxious.

They immediately flashed out from nearby.

"Wait! You can't take Sasuke away!" Kakashi called out.

Senyo shielded Sasuke, looking as though he were concerned for Sasuke's safety.

He shouted sternly, "Who dares target Sasuke?!"

Kakashi froze for a moment. He was wearing an Anbu uniform and an Anbu mask—wasn't that obvious enough?

But the instant he looked at Senyo, Senyo's ocular power erupted. "Move!"

Kakashi's vision went dark, and he collapsed straight to the ground.

"You—!" The other two Anbu never expected the Uchiha Clan to attack outright and had no time to react.

Caught off guard, they too were swiftly taken down by Yusuke and the others.

Sasuke was frightened. After all, he was only seven years old, still at the age of playing ninja games.

"Senior Senyo, wh... what is going on...?"

After taking down Kakashi, Senyo revealed a smile.

He stared into Sasuke's eyes as his genjutsu activated. "It's all right. Go to sleep. When you wake up, everything will be fine."

"I..."

Sasuke's eyelids grew heavy, and he fell into a deep sleep.

Senyo handed Sasuke over to Yusuke. "Be careful. He's an important tool for us."

Yusuke nodded and slung Sasuke over his shoulder.

Senyo crouched down, pried open Kakashi's eyelids, and asked the clansman beside Yusuke:

"Mitsuyuu, you know Medical Ninjutsu, right?"