Wang Yan clapped his hands, drawing the three little ninjas' attention.
"I'll now analyze your strengths, interests, ideals, and aspirations. First, see whether what I say is correct, then we'll discuss your future plan."
Back when he played the mobile game "Clumsy Ninja" on Earth, he had always wanted to try a real-life character-raising game.
Now, the day had finally come!
"First, Sasuke."
The poker-faced boy, who had been sneering all along, had his name called. He snorted coldly to express his displeasure.
He felt that rather than wasting time talking about life ideals, he would be better off training and improving his strength.
Wang Yan looked at Sasuke with a faint smile. In an eerie tone, he said, "Rather than wasting time talking about life ideals, you'd be better off training and improving your strength. Is that what you think?"
Sasuke looked as though he had seen a ghost.
His mouth fell slightly open, and his black pupils shrank to needle-like points. "You..."
"The Uchiha Clan's second young master. Your Fire Release, ninja tool throwing, and Taijutsu are relatively well-rounded, with no obvious weaknesses—because every single one of them is a weakness."
Completely ignoring Sasuke's inner thoughts, Wang Yan saw the boy's unconvinced expression and casually unleashed Ninjutsu: Art of Verbal Barrage upon his heart. "Some people had already become Konoha Jonin at your age. Others became Anbu Captains at your age. And some slaughtered every other student at the Ninja Academy at your age."
"Do you think you're outstanding right now?"
After that string of examples, Sakura and Naruto beside him felt their scalps tingle.
Were there really so many monstrously gifted geniuses in the world?
"As for your ideals and aspirations, they're utterly laughable, because they're fundamentally wrong."
As soon as those words fell, Sasuke, who had endured for so long, finally erupted.
His eyes reddened slightly, and his breathing grew heavy.
Overwhelmed by fury, he could not help roaring, "What do you know?! I will kill that man! That is the entire meaning of my life! Someone who understands nothing has no right to meddle in someone else's life!"
Seeing Sasuke's reaction, the corners of Wang Yan's mouth curled upward slightly.
He was not afraid of Sasuke's mentality collapsing. He was only afraid that Sasuke would remain unmoved.
"I am a mighty Konoha Jonin, high in status and authority. I naturally know more secrets than you do."
"Was the Uchiha Clan massacre really what you saw? Do you truly think Uchiha Itachi willingly did that? Or do you simply not know that Genjutsu exists?"
Those three consecutive questions instantly crushed the child beneath a flood of information.
Sasuke began doubting the truth he had always believed in.
Could his brother, who had been so gentle, so considerate, and so caring toward him, truly be the real culprit behind the Uchiha Clan massacre?
The memories that had been forcibly sealed away surfaced one by one.
"Sasuke, I bought some new dumplings. Come, give them a try."
"Don't push yourself too hard. Train Fire Release step by step. Be careful not to leave hidden injuries, or you won't grow taller later..."
Two streams of clear tears rolled down from his eyes as Sasuke wept his heart out.
Why!
Why was Itachi the murderer?!
But on the day of the massacre, he had seen it with his own eyes!
"Idiot."
Wang Yan wore an expression of disappointment. "Didn't I just remind you? Genjutsu! Did you cheat to graduate first in your Ninja Academy class?"
Upon hearing that, Sasuke's pitch-black heart suddenly brightened.
His face, still streaked with undried tears, twisted slightly. In his watery eyes appeared a color called "hope."
"Could it be... Itachi was wrongly accused? Someone used Genjutsu on me?"
"Yes! That must be it! There must be a conspiracy behind this!"
Sasuke clenched his fists, his gaze gradually becoming firm. "I'll become stronger! The strongest! I'll take the Hokage's seat! Like the First Hokage, I'll become someone whose word is law throughout the ninja world, uncover the true culprit from back then, and clear Itachi of every accusation!"
Across All Worlds and Realms, Infinite Planes, and countless times and spaces, many principles were universal.
For example: people only believed what they wanted to believe.
The black-haired boy, who had just successfully transformed, gave Wang Yan a grateful look. Wang Yan pursed his lips and ruthlessly shattered his fantasy. "Actually, I was just teasing you. In truth, the culprit who slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan was Uchiha Itachi."
"Someone did use Genjutsu on you that night, but the name of the Genjutsu caster was also... Uchiha Itachi."
Those final four words seemed to carry some sort of magic and invisible ripple as they burrowed fiercely into Sasuke's mind, stirring waves in his sea of memories.
Memories of his older brother surfaced before his eyes one after another.
The more precious the beautiful memories were, the more heartbreaking the cruel ones became.
Under Wang Yan's manipulation of his mind, Sasuke's eyes turned scarlet. Beside each ink-black pupil, two tomoe spiraled.
"Opening your eyes is the first gift I'm giving you. How is it? Satisfied?"
Wang Yan's lazy voice entered his ears, and Sasuke's expression instantly twisted.
To hell with opening his eyes!
He would rather never have come to this hellhole today!
After opening his Sharingan, the false sensation of power made Sasuke eager to try it out.
But just as he wanted to attack Wang Yan, an invisible force bound him.
The air itself seemed to become shackles. Aside from moving his eyeballs, Sasuke could do nothing.
"What does opening your eyes mean?"
Naruto, beside him, did not understand but felt it sounded impressive. Yet he did not want to keep watching from the sidelines, so he jumped out. "Teacher, Teacher! Where's my gift?!"
"Don't worry, everyone will get one. But my gifts aren't so easy to accept."
Wang Yan's eyes smiled.
Anyone who accepted his benefits would become a Reincarnator, laboring under his command until the end of time.
A uniquely sly expression appeared on the little blonde fox's face. His azure eyes, clear as the sky, rolled once. "Can it make me stronger? I'm going to become the man who becomes Hokage!"
He had noticed that Sasuke seemed much stronger after his eyes turned red. Even if he used the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, he might not be able to defeat him.
This Teacher Wang Yan was far more powerful than expected! If he did not ask for some benefits and hug a thigh now, what if he never got another chance later?
Having grown up amid bullying and insults, the child had learned some wisdom of survival without a teacher.
"In a sense, the gift I'm giving you is even stronger than Sasuke's."
Wang Yan's expression turned strange. "But there's one question I need to clarify first..."
"Do you want to become Hokage, or become the Hokage's man?"
The little blonde was utterly dumbfounded.
In his innocence, he did not understand the difference at all.
Sakura beside them blushed red. Her gossiping gaze darted back and forth between Sasuke and Naruto, while her face became like a dyeing workshop—red one moment, green the next, then white, then purple.
Curiosity, excitement, nervousness, jealousy, sadness, happiness...
It was Wang Yan's first time seeing such a complicated expression.
"Ahhh! What a pain! I, Naruto Uzumaki, am going to become the man who becomes Hokage! That is my Nindo!"
The little blonde pouted and resorted to a crude provocation. "Why does Teacher always change the subject? Could it be that you can't afford a welcome gift?"
"How could that be?"
Wang Yan smiled mysteriously, looking exactly like an unscrupulous vendor selling miracle pills on the street. "The welcome gift I'm giving you is called..."
"Backing."
The author reads the book review section every day. Since he is unable to reply, he will explain the highlighting rules here.
1. Diligent little angels who help point out typos in bug-catching posts will have them corrected as soon as Ran Lengguang sees them.
2. Feedback posts beginning with the format, "this book is really great, but there's one small BUG, for example: ..." will be debugged within a day after Ran Lengguang confirms they are correct.
3. Posts from salted fish shouting 666.
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