Anbu Guests

Since Danzo left the Uchiha compound, Sora Uchiha had enjoyed a week of leisure. During this time, most of his peers were undergoing two weeks of pre-war special training.

Without the chattering girl beside him, he felt strangely uncomfortable, as if something was missing from his daily life.

Of course, after Kurenai Yuhi finished her special training, she would sometimes come to find him, using the excuse of fulfilling their bet by bringing him snacks. Most of the time, she came alone, but occasionally Rin would accompany her.

Occasionally, Sora Uchiha would see Kakashi and the others training in the dense forests around Konoha. Obito was still the dead last, always exhausting himself in every training session. As for Kakashi and Rin, Minato had also created specialized training plans for them, so their training was just right, with each of them improving in their own way.

Thus, Sora Uchiha's schedule for this week became a simple three-point routine:

He would train with Shisui in the morning, practice basic Ninjutsu alone at noon, and wander around the village in the afternoon.

It's worth mentioning that on the fifth day, he saw Ryoma Aburame hurrying back through the gates of Konoha. Seeing Ryoma, a faint doubt surfaced in his heart.

After Danzo left that day, there had been no further news. He found it strange; Danzo wouldn't possibly take no further action. Therefore, he was suspicious about Ryoma's return from outside the village, but without any leads, he could only let it go.

"According to the original history... what did Danzo do during the Third Shinobi World War?" On the night of the seventh day, Sora Uchiha lay on the roof tiles of his house, gazing at the starry sky above, lost in thought.

After pondering for a while, he finally recalled some details.

"If I remember correctly, Danzo seemed to have gone to Amegakure to provoke a rift between Hanzo and Nagato... then Yahiko died, Nagato turned to darkness, Obito took advantage of the situation, and the Akatsuki Organization's goal twisted from ushering in a new dawn for the world to achieving peace through extreme means."

This was all he could remember of Danzo's actions during the Third Shinobi World War.

He gently shook his head.

"Although Amegakure is near the Land of Fire, I'm just a child right now, so I can't go to Amegakure." Sora Uchiha sighed, only able to silently wish well for Nagato and his companions.

"It's been over a week since those Sunagakure reconnaissance ninjas died. Sunagakure should be making some move by now, right?" he muttered.

He thought about how, under Momosuke's influence over the years, the Uchiha-led guard force had become a mere formality, allowing enemy ninjas to easily infiltrate Konoha.

Of course, the Uchiha's ultimate goal was still to maintain Konoha's peace. So, despite the seemingly lax guard, in reality, as soon as Sunagakure ninjas began to invade Konoha, the Uchiha would quickly step forward.

The Uchiha's goal had always been singular: to let Konoha have a new master.

And to achieve this goal, the first step was to win people's hearts.

As the saying goes: "People don't learn from being taught, but they learn from experience."

If he wanted to help the villagers improve their perception of the Uchiha, mere words were useless. Only by letting them experience terror and then having the Uchiha save them would they understand the Uchiha's importance.

Just like Naruto in the future, before the Pain invasion, the villagers' attitude towards Naruto was that they wished the monster would just die.

However, after Naruto saved Konoha, the villagers' impression of him instantly changed from "Nine-Tails Jinchuriki" to "Konoha's Hero."

This showed that only by experiencing the harsh realities of society could people distinguish right from wrong.

"Sora, it's getting late. It's time for bed."

Inside the house, Riya emerged from the warm lamplight and called out to Sora Uchiha, who was lying on the roof eaves.

"Got it," Sora replied, leaping down.

The night passed without incident...

The next morning, Sora Uchiha's home received a visitor.

"Sora, someone's looking for you," Momosuke said casually, sitting on the floor and sipping tea, calling towards Sora's room.

He was like this; fundamentally a rough, war-mongering man, yet he pretended to be a refined scholar, constantly sipping tea. This was a hardship for Riya, as Momosuke only drank tea but didn't know how to brew it, so she had to prepare it for him.

A moment later, Sora emerged from his room, his eyes still groggy. Shisui had gone for training alone today, so he hadn't woken him up, allowing him a rare moment of laziness.

"Who?"

Momosuke glanced at him indifferently. "Change your clothes. He's been waiting at the door for a long time."

Waiting for a long time?

Sora Uchiha was a bit confused. Who was it? Why weren't they waiting inside, but outside?

Nodding, he returned to his room to change into his usual Uchiha clan attire and walked towards the main door.

Creak--

The old wooden door let out a dull creak. Sora Uchiha felt that the door should be replaced. Speaking of which, this wooden door had been there for as long as he could remember. His Father said it was passed down from his Grandfather's generation.

Meaning...

"Counting it, this wooden door is nearly sixty or seventy years old. It really should be replaced."

Muttering to himself, he looked up and saw a fox mask.

Root? The word immediately popped into his mind, but he dismissed it. At this time, there was no reason for Root to be looking for him.

Then it must be Anbu.

As expected, upon seeing Sora Uchiha, the masked man spoke calmly, "Uchiha Sora, come with me."

A steady young voice came from beneath the mask. Judging by the voice alone, the person should be around twenty-three or twenty-four years old.

Nodding, Sora Uchiha didn't ask any questions. The situation was clear. Anbu coming to find him during this period could only mean one thing: the matter of joining the Anbu that Minato had mentioned.

"Okay." He answered concisely. It just so happened he didn't have anything he needed to prepare, so he could leave immediately.

The masked man didn't say anything and simply led the way ahead. In just a moment, his retreating figure became a small black dot. Sora Uchiha paused for a moment before immediately giving chase.

The masked man's speed was very fast, and he would occasionally turn, seemingly unconcerned whether Sora Uchiha could keep up.

Looking at the distant figure, Sora Uchiha slowly narrowed his eyes. He knew this person was actually testing him.

The Anbu wasn't something one could just join; you either needed sufficient strength or special abilities. He clearly belonged to the former.

In other words, this chase was essentially an assessment by the Anbu for him. He didn't know how Minato had described him to the Third Hokage, but he could guess it was something along the lines of him being very strong.

As he was thinking, Sora Uchiha suddenly realized the masked man ahead had sped up again, about thirty percent faster than before!

Sora Uchiha's face showed no panic whatsoever. The corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile. He channeled Chakra to his soles, and soon, a faint blue energy covered the bottom of his shoes.

Using Chakra to greatly reduce the friction on the soles of his feet, In an instant, he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow!