Plotting the Mangekyo

Sasuke gently rubbed his thumb against his index finger, his mind continuing to churn in silence: What should I do? Should I go and stop it?

At this thought, Sasuke immediately dismissed the idea, glancing at the sun that had already dipped low toward the horizon.

Setting aside the fact that his current strength was nowhere near enough to accomplish such a feat, the time of day suggested that Root and Uchiha Itachi might have already begun their work.

What if I just lay my cards on the table?

Could I save the Uchiha clan?

Sasuke considered another angle; in his past life, he had always preferred to analyze problems from multiple perspectives. Before taking any action, he would run through every possibility—the safe, the reckless, and the bold—in his mind. He was a man who liked to plan before he moved.

From now on, he would live in this world as Uchiha Sasuke. Regardless of whether it was from the perspective of sentiment or self-interest, a complete and flourishing ninja clan was far more beneficial to him than a destroyed one.

If I were to lay my cards on the table, I would have to go to the Third Hokage!

Would he believe me?

Or rather...

Is he worth trusting?

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was explicitly described in the official guidebook as a magnanimous and kind-hearted old man—a characterization personally endorsed by the author, Masashi Kishimoto.

Looking at the anime and manga, he appeared to be a man who hoped for peace and a perfect resolution regarding the Uchiha clan, only learning of the massacre after it had occurred and immediately stripping Shimura Danzō of his position. It seemed as if everything had been a rogue operation by Shimura Danzō.

But was the Third Hokage truly unaware?

Is the Third Hokage truly worth trusting?

The Konoha Military Police Force, responsible for the security and patrol of Konohagakure, had been recalled to the Uchiha compound; there were special make-up classes at the Ninja Academy, and the mobilization of the Konoha Anbu—could these procedures really bypass the Hokage?

He didn't believe it!

Not to mention, in the anime, the first thing Uchiha Itachi did after dealing with the Uchiha was to meet with the Third Hokage. The Third Hokage's words at the time were essentially:

"You've worked hard, Itachi. You successfully prevented a war between the village and the Uchiha."

It was evident that the Third Hokage had been aware of the matter all along. Perhaps the mastermind was Shimura Danzō, but the Third Hokage had tacitly permitted it.

Thinking of this, Sasuke had no choice but to abandon the idea of laying his cards on the table.

I am the fish on the chopping block, and they are the knife and the butcher.

In his past life, he was a man who liked to hold the initiative. He could not bring himself to leave his life and death in the hands of others, relying on their mercy and benevolence.

I'm sorry!

Sasuke sighed inwardly, feeling a sharp pang in his heart. His fingernails dug into his palms, and his eyes grew moist. To avoid drawing attention, he calmly closed his eyes.

Is it the memories of this body affecting me?

I'm sorry...

I have no choice...

After taking a deep breath, Sasuke opened his eyes again, his expression returning to that cool, detached look. Since he couldn't stop it, he had to find a way to extract some benefit from the current situation.

The most important things were his parents' Sharingan!

Among them, Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan was the absolute priority!

In the manga, Uchiha Fugaku never showed any signs of the Mangekyō Sharingan, but it was explicitly revealed in the TV version and the official novel, Itachi Shinden.

Sasuke wasn't sure which version of events this world followed, but even if it were based strictly on the manga, the probability of Uchiha Fugaku possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan was still over 90 percent.

Although Itachi Shinden was a novel, Masashi Kishimoto had endorsed it and even personally illustrated the side story.

It was clear that the likelihood of Uchiha Fugaku possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan was extremely high.

In just a few moments, Sasuke recalled the knowledge from his past life while secretly pondering how to obtain the Mangekyō Sharingan.

What should I do?

Just as Sasuke was lost in thought, he suddenly felt a gaze fixated on him.

Someone is spying on me!

The gaze was coming from above!

Although he didn't look up, Sasuke was certain. In his past life, he had been extremely sensitive to being watched—it almost felt like a superpower. While most people could only sense a gaze from behind in rare circumstances, he was different. No matter the situation, if someone was watching him, he could detect it, even if that person was hundreds of meters away or perched atop a high-rise building!

Even when riding an elevator, if he chose to focus his attention on the camera above, he could vaguely sense whether the security guard in the monitoring room was looking at him.

After transmigrating into Uchiha Sasuke, he found that his sensitivity to gazes had increased even further. The gaze from above was harder to detect than a camera, yet Sasuke had sensed it instantly.

Perhaps it was because the owner of the gaze hadn't bothered to hide it, never imagining that he would be able to detect it.

Is it the Third Hokage's Crystal Ball?

Feeling the gaze that mimicked the sensation of a camera, Sasuke kept his expression unchanged, silently judging: He shouldn't be watching me for long. After all, his mind is on other things today.

Sure enough, the feeling of being watched vanished in less than three minutes, and during that time, a plan had formed in Sasuke's mind.

He cast his gaze down to his knee under the table, where a small wound was visible.

This wound had been accidentally sustained during taijutsu class today and was already beginning to heal, but what Sasuke needed to do now was to make that wound significantly worse.

He extended his index finger and poked around inside the wound. Seeing it begin to tear open and bleed profusely, Sasuke slowly stood up under the surprised gazes of his classmates and walked out of the classroom.

Has Sasuke-kun's wound worsened?

Seeing the spots of blood on Sasuke's leg, the students finally understood, and naturally, there was no shortage of worried looks from the young girls.

The infirmary.

"Be more careful next time, little Sasuke." After treating the wound, the medical teacher said gently.

"Thank you, Misa-sensei, I will be more careful next time." Sasuke nodded, offered his thanks, and then swept his gaze casually over the bottles and jars nearby.

"Misa-sensei, I would like to buy some medicine."

"Oh?" The medical teacher pushed up her glasses and asked, "What kind of medicine do you want to buy?"

"Saline solution, medical alcohol, and healing spray..."

After purchasing the necessary medicine, Sasuke left the infirmary and dove straight into the school restroom. He entered one of the stalls and waited quietly for three minutes; just as he had expected, there was no sensation of being watched.

After all, this world is Naruto, not the Crucible!

The Third Hokage could only be considered a normal old pervert. It was one thing for him to use his crystal ball to peek at the women's hot springs, but it was impossible for him to spy on the students' restrooms at the Ninja Academy, regardless of gender.

As an old pervert, he was indeed lecherous, but as the leader of a village, he still possessed the basic bottom line of an adult regarding minors, and he would strictly forbid anyone in Konoha from peeking into such places.

If the Third were truly that perverted, or if someone else secretly monitoring him were that perverted and could still evade his perception, then Sasuke would have no choice but to accept it. However, Sasuke trusted his own deductions and perception.

Again, this world is Naruto, not the Crucible!

Determined that there was no sensation of being watched, Sasuke opened his pouch to begin the next phase of preparations.

Inside the pouch was a heart-shaped bento box. This bento box was prepared for him by his mother every morning, containing his food for the day. After a moment of thought, Sasuke set it aside and took out the storage scrolls beneath it.

As the son of the clan head of Konoha's premier noble family, Sasuke's equipment had always been extravagant; for instance, he possessed the storage scrolls that only the wealthy Tenten had!

Glancing at the bottle of saline solution in his hand, then at the storage scroll, Sasuke pondered to himself.

If I obtain the Sharingan, putting it directly into a storage scroll still isn't safe enough; someone might inevitably open it to inspect the contents.

Should I put it in a medicine jar and then seal it into a storage scroll?

No, that's still not safe enough!

He was too weak right now, and what he was about to do was extremely daring; it allowed for no mistakes. Every step was like walking on thin ice.

Sasuke quickly swept his gaze past the section labeled "Medicine" and let it rest on the section labeled "Sword."

Within moments, a katana appeared in his hand. Sasuke compared the size of the hilt to the size of the saline bottle.

It was a perfect fit!

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly and took out a kunai, immediately beginning to carve into the katana's hilt, slowly hollowing it out.

He worked very carefully, striving not to damage the original appearance of the hilt, and even dumped every bit of wood shaving into the toilet.

It has been over nine minutes since I entered the restroom. A normal person's bathroom break is usually around ten minutes, and at most, it shouldn't exceed twenty.

Seeing that the hilt was only half-hollowed, Sasuke slightly increased his speed. Perhaps no one would care how long he spent in the restroom, but he had to be careful, and then careful again!

A few minutes later, Sasuke finished processing the katana hilt, placed the saline solution inside, closed the hilt cap, and wrapped it a few times with the blue hilt cord before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

These things are the best preparations I can make right now. Now, I have done my best and must leave the rest to fate!

After putting everything back into the storage scroll and flushing the toilet several times, Sasuke walked out of the restroom and headed toward the classroom.