The Road Ahead

One after another, the three children blamed Taichi the Idiot. If it had not been for him, they would not have been beaten so badly by Sasuke Uchiha. Taichi the Idiot had dragged them down.

"You bastards, what did you say?" Seeing his former companions betray him one by one, Taichi the Idiot glared at the three of them and roared.

"You were the one who did it. Were we wrong?" "Exactly!" The three children were angry as well. It had nothing to do with them to begin with, yet Taichi the Idiot had implicated them. They had been beaten up for no reason at all—anyone would be upset about that. And he still dared to yell at them? Did he really think they were easy targets?

"I see." Sasuke withdrew his foot from the child's head and walked straight over to Taichi the Idiot, lowering his head to stare at him contemptuously.

"Y-You've already avenged Uchiha Chen! What else do you want?" Taichi the Idiot cried out in terror as Sasuke stared at him.

"Hmph! Anyone who dares insult the Uchiha will pay the price." Sasuke suddenly raised his right foot and stomped hard on Taichi the Idiot's thigh.

"Ahh!" Taichi the Idiot let out a miserable scream.

"Apologize," Sasuke said coldly.

"Bastard! Damn bastard!" Taichi the Idiot wailed and cursed at the same time.

"Hm?" Sasuke frowned when he saw that Taichi the Idiot still dared to curse. Then he lifted his foot again and stomped down heavily. "Apologize! Say you won't dare do it again."

"Ahh! You bastard, Sasuke Uchiha! I'll kill you! I'll definitely kill you!" Taichi the Idiot screamed hysterically.

Seeing Taichi the Idiot's miserable state, the surrounding students were all frightened by Sasuke. They began pleading with him to stop, and some even ran off to find a teacher.

"Hmph!" Sasuke ignored his classmates' pleas and raised his foot before stomping down once more. "Apologize! Say you won't dare do it again!"

"Ahh... I-I'm sorry." Taichi the Idiot cried as he finally gave in, unable to bear the pain any longer.

But Sasuke did not let him off. He kicked him again. "Hmph! Too quiet!"

"Ahh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll never dare do it again! I'll never do it again!" Taichi the Idiot had completely broken down, crying and shouting nonstop.

"Stop right there! What are you doing?" At that moment, Iruka suddenly arrived. He had already returned to his office and was packing up his teaching materials, preparing to go home. Then a student from the class ran into the office and told him that Sasuke Uchiha and Taichi the Idiot's group were fighting at the Training Ground.

This was serious. Students were actually fighting at school! If something went wrong, it would be a huge problem. Iruka had been so alarmed by the news that he immediately rushed to the Training Ground.

"You little brats, why are you fighting?" Iruka was furious. Students had actually gotten into a brawl right under his nose, and they had been so vicious about it. "Sasuke Uchiha, you explain!"

"Tch! They lost to me in the last sparring exercise. They wanted revenge but didn't dare come after me, so they ganged up to bully that idiot Uchiha Chen instead. No matter who it is, anyone who bullies an Uchiha will pay the price." Sasuke looked at Iruka expressionlessly.

"But you were far too heavy-handed!" Iruka rebuked Sasuke.

"They brought it on themselves."

"You brat, you... you..." Iruka was so enraged by Sasuke's words that he could barely speak.

"You brats, all of you come to my office." Iruka roared at Sasuke and Taichi the Idiot's group on the ground. Then he turned to the watching students. "Stop standing around. Hurry home." With that, he went over to Taichi the Idiot, hauled him up, and headed to the office first.

"Tch! No matter who it is, if they dare offend the Uchiha, I will make them pay the price." Sasuke's voice was chilling as he addressed his classmates. Then, without caring about their reactions, he followed Iruka out of the Training Ground.

Looking at Taichi the Idiot and the others' miserable state, everyone swallowed hard. They all had only one thought: they absolutely could not provoke Sasuke Uchiha, or they would end up terribly. Taichi the Idiot's fate was proof enough.

"Koi, let's go see Chen-kun together. I wonder how badly he was hurt." Once the matter was over, Ino went up to Koi, grabbed her hand, and spoke anxiously.

"Okay, let's go together." Koi was worried too, so she left with Ino.

"Ino, where are you going?" Sakura hurriedly asked when she saw Ino and Koi about to leave together.

"We're going to see how Chen-kun is doing. Sakura, you should go home first." Ino answered Sakura, then hurried away with Koi without looking back.

"Ino..." Sakura watched Ino and Koi's departing backs with a complicated expression, unsure what she was thinking.

Meanwhile, Chen had already washed away his bedraggled appearance. He had no idea what had happened at the Ninja Academy that day. He was currently lying on the tatami, considering his plans for the future.

I'm already over nine years old. At the very least, I should have Chunin-level strength now. After all, I've mastered two powerful techniques, Chidori and Flying Thunder God. With the Three Tomoe Sharingan on top of that, I should be able to barely fight a Jonin. Even if I can't win, I can definitely retreat unscathed. But that's still far from enough. With this level of strength, never mind getting revenge on Danzo—even establishing myself in the Ninja World would be difficult. I can't earn Points in the village, so my strength is improving far too slowly. I'm definitely going to escape Konoha. Once I leave Konoha, I'll lose the village's protection. With only this much strength and no village backing me, it'll be very dangerous in the Ninja World.

So I have to increase my strength as soon as possible. The story will begin in a little over two years. Not long after Sasuke and the others graduate, the Chunin Exam will arrive, along with Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan. Konoha will definitely be in chaos then. I have to seize that rare opportunity to earn some Points. Therefore, within these next two years, I need to reach at least Jonin-level strength. Then, when the Sound Ninja help Sasuke defect to Orochimaru, I can secretly follow them out of the village. That should work. Konoha will definitely think Sasuke took me with him, so they won't notice me. In the eyes of Konoha's higher-ups, I'm already an insignificant person. They won't deliberately go verify it with Sasuke. And even if they want to verify it, they'll have to find Sasuke first.

"Chen-kun, are you there? Koi and I came to see you." At that moment, Ino's voice came from outside the house, interrupting Chen's thoughts.

"Hm? Ino and Koi? Why did those two come?" Chen was still wondering why Ino and Koi had suddenly come when they pushed open his door and entered. Sasuke was not home right now, so the two of them did not hesitate to come in.

"Chen-kun, how are you?" The two girls immediately came over and asked after him with concern.

"I... how am I? I'm fine." Chen replied in confusion. Had they found out about Taichi the Idiot bullying him?

"It's good that you're fine. Good, good." Seeing that Chen really seemed all right, Ino let out a sigh of relief. Then she said resentfully, "That Taichi the Idiot is absolutely awful. I really wish I could beat him up."

"It's all right, Ino. Didn't Taichi the Idiot pay the price too? Sasuke already taught him such a terrible lesson. He definitely won't dare bully Chen again," Koi comforted her from the side.

I see! Sasuke must have taken action at school and taught Taichi the Idiot a lesson. That's how they found out. Chen did not know how badly Sasuke had dealt with Taichi the Idiot, but judging from what Koi said, it must have been pretty severe. "But Taichi the Idiot brought it on himself."

"Chen-kun, are you feeling better now? Have you remembered anything about the past?" Koi asked Chen worriedly.

"The past? What past? I don't know." Chen continued acting as he usually did. "Why do you keep asking me about the past? The past, the past... it's so annoying."

"Uh, it's nothing, it's nothing. It's fine if you haven't remembered. Don't get angry." Seeing that Chen seemed upset, Ino hurriedly said.

"Honestly, even Sasuke hasn't forced me to talk about the past, but you two keep asking me."

"Sorry, sorry. We won't ask about that anymore. Let's talk about something else, Chen-kun. Don't be angry," Koi quickly comforted him as well.

After that, Ino and Koi merely stayed with Chen and chatted casually, not daring to ask about his past again. By the time it got late, Sasuke had already returned, so the two of them had no choice but to say goodbye.

"Chen-kun, we'll come see you again later. We're going home now. Bye!"

"Okay, bye!"

"Those two girls, honestly..." Chen gave a wry smile as he watched Ino and Koi's backs disappear.