Chen Under Surveillance

Sasuke, after laboriously carrying Chen back to the hospital and handing him over, walked alone back to the clan compound.

Walking along the deserted street, letting the cold rain beat down on him, he looked at the familiar places and seemed to hear the uncles and aunties of the clan greeting him warmly.

He returned to his old home, gazed at everything so familiar, and memories of the little moments in that house surfaced in his mind.

He thought of Mikoto Uchiha's doting affection—how every time he came home, she had a meal ready. Whenever he got hurt training, she would gently apply medicine for him. He thought of Fugaku Uchiha's sternness. He remembered how he and Chen always saw eye to eye, and whenever they glared at each other, Mikoto would laugh and mediate. But he would always ask her why she always took Chen's side. "Heh heh, Chen is Chen, Sasuke is Sasuke. Mom has always cared about both of you," Mikoto would always answer with a smile. Thinking of this, a smile crept onto Sasuke's face.

"The Naka Shrine Main Hall, beneath the seventh tatami mat from the right, is the clan's secret meeting place. There, it records the true reason the Uchiha clan's dojutsu originally existed." Suddenly, Itachi's words echoed in his mind, chilling the smile that had just appeared on Sasuke's face.

"The Naka Shrine Main Hall, huh?" Sasuke muttered, then headed toward the Naka Shrine.

After arriving at the Naka Shrine Main Hall, Sasuke lifted the seventh tatami mat and found a movable hidden door in the wooden floor beneath. Opening it, he saw a staircase descending.

Sasuke followed the stairs down into a secret room. Inside, he found a rectangular table in the center, with two rows of chairs neatly arranged on either side. It was a meeting room—a secret meeting room hidden underground.

On the wall behind the head of the rectangular table stood a stone tablet.

Sasuke walked up to the stone tablet and read the content inscribed on it. "So that's how it is, huh?"

Then he left the secret room.

The next day, Sasuke went to the Ninja Academy as usual. Walking along the Konoha streets, he could always see Konoha civilians whispering about the clan crest on the back of his clothes.

"Look at the symbol on that kid's clothes—it's the Uchiha crest."

"Did you hear? The prestigious Uchiha clan was all killed yesterday."

"Of course I heard about something this big. And I also heard it was one of their own clansmen who did it!"

"What? How is it possible? One person killed everyone in that prestigious Uchiha clan? Who's that strong?"

"I heard the murderer is also from the Uchiha family. His name is Uchiha Itachi. He's a genius of the Uchiha clan and the child of the Uchiha clan head."

Sasuke ignored the civilians' gossip, lowered his head, and walked away. When he entered the classroom, he could still feel the strange looks from the other students.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" As soon as he sat down, Sakura leaned over and asked him with concern.

But Sasuke didn't appreciate it. He gave her a cold look and then rested his head on the desk.

"Sasuke..." Sakura wanted to say more.

"Shut up. You're so annoying." Sasuke lifted his head and glared coldly at Sakura. She was so frightened she didn't dare say anything more, only looking at him with hurt eyes.

Just then, Ino and Xiao Jing also came over. Both asked Sasuke worriedly, "Sasuke, where's Chen-kun? What's wrong with him? Why isn't he at school?"

"I don't know. Stop bothering me." Sasuke didn't even turn his head, just put his head back on the desk.

"But don't you live together? How could you not know? Chen-kun isn't in trouble, is he?" Ino pressed on, still worried.

"I said I don't know. Are you guys annoying or what? Get lost." Sasuke shouted angrily at Ino and Xiao Jing. "That guy, who cares about him? Don't bother me anymore."

"Uh..." Seeing Sasuke's outburst, Ino and Xiao Jing finally said nothing more and went off to the side to plan on visiting Chen after school.

Then Iruka came to class as usual. He didn't say anything about Chen not being at school.

At that time, in the Konoha hospital, Chen had already woken up on his hospital bed. His eyes were hollow, staring at the ceiling of the hospital room for a long time. During this period, a nurse came to bring him food, but he never heeded her advice or got up to eat. He just kept staring at the ceiling, showing nothing, and no one knew what he was thinking. Finally, seeing that no matter how she tried to persuade him, Chen remained unmoved, the nurse had no choice but to withdraw helplessly.

"I must take revenge. I must take revenge." Chen, who had read the original story, knew the truth of the clan massacre. Although the Uchiha brought it upon themselves, it could have been avoided. In the original story, the Third Hokage and Itachi had been trying to negotiate with the Uchiha, and Uchiha Shisui had planned to use Cottontail God on the leader of the Uchiha Rebellion to stop the coup.

Uchiha Shisui, nicknamed "Body Flicker Shisui." His unique genjutsu, "Cottontail God," could manipulate others without their knowledge and permanently change their will. It was called the "Strongest Genjutsu" by Uchiha Itachi. Danzo, insisting on eliminating the Uchiha and distrusting Shisui because he was also an Uchiha, seized Shisui's right eye. To prevent his left eye from falling into Danzo's hands, and to protect the Uchiha name, Shisui gave his left eye to Itachi, instructing him to use it for peace, to do everything to stop the Uchiha coup, and to keep Shisui's actions secret. After that, to avoid others fighting over his eyes, he pretended to destroy his own eye and threw himself into the Naka River.

So all of this was caused by that old fool Danzo and the Elder Council. Itachi was only forced into it. Therefore, Chen did not resent Itachi the way Sasuke did.

"Konoha Elder Council, and Danzo, I will make you pay blood for blood!" Chen roared with immense hatred in his heart.

"To take revenge, I need enough strength. And in that regard, I have the Strongman System, so I don't need to worry. But to increase my strength, I need enough points. The ways to get points are doing missions, killing enemies, and treasure recovery. I have no treasures, so that's out. Killing people in Konoha is impossible, so that's out too. And the system has never issued any missions—probably because Konoha is too peaceful, with no missions to do. So none of these three paths work. My only source of points right now is the newbie gift that gives me 2 points every day. But that's just a drop in the bucket, far from enough. And this newbie gift only lasts three years. Two years have already passed. In another year, it won't give points anymore." Chen was very troubled. "I have to escape Konoha as soon as possible, or I'll never get stronger." Chen said firmly in his heart.

"System, check my points."

"Answering host. Host's remaining points: 2748. Open exchange interface?" The system's cold voice sounded.

"Open the exchange interface for Chidori." Chen ordered the system.

"Chidori, item type: skill, item rank: A-rank, required exchange points: 5000. Host's points insufficient, cannot exchange."

"An A-rank skill needs 5000 points? So expensive. My current ninjutsu, aside from the Three Basic Ninjutsu Techniques, only includes Finger Gun and Great Fireball as offensive moves, and neither is very powerful. I have 2748 points now. In another year, I should have around 3478 points. Then I'll find a way to get a few more points and exchange for a stronger skill." Chen planned in his heart.

"Ding! Reminder to host: The host is currently under surveillance. Should the image of the surveiller be transmitted to the host?" The system's cold voice suddenly rang out.

"What? I'm being watched? Who is it?" Chen was shocked. He was just an eight-year-old kid. Why would anyone be watching him? "Transmit the image to me." Chen commanded the system.

"Ding! Image transmitted."

Suddenly, an image appeared in Chen's mind. On a tree trunk outside his hospital room, a ninja in Anbu outfit was lying prone. This ninja was using a Disguise Technique, blending perfectly with the tree trunk, completely undetectable.

"Who is this? The outfit looks like the Hokage's Anbu. But why would the Hokage send someone to watch me? That doesn't make sense." Chen wondered in confusion. "Wait. The Third Hokage has no reason to send someone to watch me. If it's not the Hokage's Anbu, then there's only one possibility—it's Danzo's 'Root.'"

At the thought of Danzo, Chen's heart filled with hatred. His hand under the blanket clenched tightly, barely restraining himself. "Why would Danzo send someone to watch me? To eliminate the root and find a chance to kill me?" Chen thought. "If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it long ago. There's no need for such troublesome surveillance. If it's not to kill me, then what is it for? Could it be..."

Chen guessed one possibility!!