VS Hiruzen Sarutobi

A long cordon line outside the Police Department was like a starting signal.

More such blockade markers began appearing on the surrounding streets. Every business belonging to the Uchiha clan had its doors sealed.

Until they reached the gates of the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

This was the last place to be sealed. Or rather, sealing every single building inside the clan grounds would have been far too much trouble.

Upon entering the grounds, he occasionally saw bloodstains left uncleared on the streets and walls, corpse outlines like the ones in Conan, shattered doors and windows, and all kinds of battle damage...

Grief and resentment surged within him, peaking the moment he stepped into his home.

The original owner's emotions did not prevent the current Uchiha Sasuke from having thoughts of his own.

He naturally circled the house and arrived at the room where his parents had died. He was already used to seeing corpse outlines and bloodstains.

At that moment, Sasuke unconsciously activated his Sharingan along with his emotions. Tears fell one after another, and his grief could not have looked more natural. Yet another emotion was also stirring in his heart.

He had to hold it back as much as possible, at least not let it show on his face. Who knew whether someone might be watching?

Although he could block Ordinary People's line of sight indoors, he could not forget that Konoha had the Hyuga clan. Hiruzen Sarutobi had a Crystal Ball Monitor covering the entire village, something called the Scrying Jutsu, apparently?

Just how big was Sasuke's House?

On either side of the main gate stood two-story "guardhouses."

First came a front courtyard, bare except for two rows of large trees, covering at least an acre.

Then came the Inner Courtyard—shrubs, pine trees, rockeries, a pond, a small bridge?... A standard old-fashioned Japanese garden.

The house enclosed the courtyard on three sides, while the back gate opened onto a street.

The house itself covered well over four hundred square meters and stood four stories tall.

The courtyards combined covered no less than a thousand square meters.

This house... was fucking huge.

This courtyard... was fucking huge.

But now, it was all his!

The tomoe in his pupils spun. His one-tomoe and Two-Tomoe eyes gradually became uniform.

A pair of Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

His eyes felt slightly swollen, but despite the tears streaming down his face, Sasuke did not sense anything wrong.

There were obvious signs that the house had been searched.

But having your entire family killed was not the same as having your house confiscated.

Even if the village higher-ups had taken away important documents, classified information, money...

Assuming there had been any.

No matter what, they could not have emptied the place out completely like a moving company.

The blood on the floor had dried days ago. If he did not clean it up...

Well, even if he cleaned it now, there would probably still be stains that could never be erased.

Sasuke fetched clean water, found some tools, and began trying to scrub away the traces.

Creak—

The sound of a door opening came from afar.

Perhaps because of deliberate arrangements made for a ninja's vigilance, combined with the deathly silence of the Uchiha Clan Grounds, the sound was especially distinct.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, knowingly asked,

"Is Uchiha Sasuke home?"

The voice was highly recognizable. Though it had been many years since he watched the anime,

the memories of Sasuke's original body told him that the Third Hokage often came to the academy to preach the Will of Fire.

Naturally, he knew who had come at once.

A meeting was unavoidable.

Sasuke rapidly organized his words in his head, guessing at what sort of conversation might follow, then recalling how to say those things in Japanese...

He was exactly like his high school self, still making cheat sheets one minute before an exam.

It would take at most a dozen seconds to walk from where he was to the front gate.

Cleaning did not tire him out, but organizing his words instantly made him break out in a cold sweat.

The tension made his entire body stiffen.

This was not as simple as talking to a foreigner. It was more like defending a thesis in a foreign language before a panel made entirely of foreign professors.

The main gate was already open. From afar, he saw a red Sacred Robe wrapped around a shriveled old man with a white beard.

Sasuke spoke in a neither warm nor cold tone, politely saying,

"Hello, Hokage-sama. Sorry to keep you waiting. Please come in."

Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a kindly expression and shook his head in refusal. His old smoker's voice was filled with guilt.

"For something like this to happen in the village... As Hokage, I am sorry that I did not discover the danger in time and protect you all."

"The village has listed Itachi Uchiha as an S-rank Rogue Ninja. The moment we find any lead, we will spare no effort in capturing him."

Sasuke truly did not know how to respond.

Itachi played the villain, and you came to play the hero. Was he supposed to say thank you?

Go fuck yourself!

Looking at the silent child before him, his eyes red-rimmed, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not suspect in the slightest that Sasuke was no longer the original model.

The reality of a clan massacre was simply too cruel for a child in this era of peace.

With so many relatives and clansmen dead, awakening the Sharingan was only natural.

As the village leader, he naturally knew that Sasuke had awakened it.

But it was not even a complete pair of Two-Tomoe Sharingan. Compared with the two Uchiha geniuses, Itachi and Shisui, his talent seemed to fall somewhat short.

Still, if he was raised from childhood and became a true Uchiha of Konoha when he grew up, then even as the sole survivor, it would be a great achievement. Teacher Tobirama would surely feel gratified if he knew.

"Are you feeling better?"

Sasuke barely managed a hum.

"Thank you for your concern, Hokage-sama."

"You were caught in Itachi's genjutsu. The doctors said it is normal to feel unwell for a week. There is one day left this week. I've asked Iruka for leave on your behalf, so rest well and return to class next week."

If he wanted to maintain the persona of a top student, Sasuke should naturally have put on a brave front and gone to school tomorrow.

But under the current circumstances, having time to "review" ninjutsu and Japanese could not have been better.

As he considered how to respond and thank the village leader for his concern without becoming a repeating "thank you" machine,

the Third Hokage continued,

"You have no one to take care of you now. Would you like to move into the village? I can arrange an apartment for you. It will be close to the academy and safer as well."

An angry expression appeared uncontrollably on his previously blank little face.

Sasuke immediately greeted the dead old monkey's mother in his heart, then its entire family.

My Big House hasn't even had time to warm up, and you're already here trying to drive me out!?

It was not like he had never died before. Every episode of illness might have left him unable to wake up, and death was nothing more than that.

Besides, he had already transmigrated into a Different World. Why should he fear death now?

Between being alive with no house to live in and closing his eyes forever, which was more terrifying?

This was a huge Big Villa spanning hundreds of square meters, with its own courtyard!

A Big Villa where he could grow vegetables and raise fish, only a few steps from the city center!

Not some shabby little matchbox apartment!

Just for that sentence, old bastard Sarutobi, just you wait.

When you die, if Orochimaru does not dig up your grave, I'll dig up three generations of your ancestors myself!

Realizing that his expression had slipped, he hurriedly said something to patch it up.

"Thank you for your kindness, Hokage-sama, but if I do not even have the ability to take care of myself, how can I speak of avenging my parents and clansmen?"

"Uchiha Itachi—I will kill him with my own hands to honor my parents."

Sasuke said fiercely. His words were unusually fluent; he only hoped there were no grammatical mistakes.

"I will never run from this place filled with pain!"

Seeing that Sasuke seemed to have misunderstood him and was even making ignorant threats,

Hiruzen Sarutobi could not very well continue using trivial excuses like safety and school. Children this age were not as easy to fool as a two- or three-year-old orphan like Naruto.

Hopefully, he would work hard and grow stronger. In the future, perhaps he could become a shackle to restrain the Nine-Tails.

The Sharingan that could control the Nine-Tails... If Sasuke could do that too, it would be yet another good thing for the village.