Enjoying Life

With a clear plan in mind, Sasuke returned to his room to sleep. With one day left before he had to return to the Ninja Academy, he decided to properly enjoy his final day of freedom.

I've been fighting a war for a month, can't I enjoy myself a little? With this thought, Sasuke drifted off into a dream.

In the Hokage office, Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the crystal ball in his hand, feeling that something was increasingly wrong. Ever since the incident at the back mountain, the old pervert hadn't even been in the mood to peep; he spent every day monitoring the mountain, even after the Anbu had been withdrawn.

What frustrated Sarutobi Hiruzen, however, was that the Anbu and Root members he watched one second would be fine, but the moment he shifted the crystal ball's view elsewhere and then back again, those Anbu and Root members would simply vanish, leaving not even a corpse behind.

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt deeply troubled by this. Whether they were Anbu or Root, they were the strength of Konoha! Even if those guys in Root didn't listen to him, they were still useful for helping him realize certain ideas.

For example, framing Sakumo Hatake, or dealing with the Uchiha clan, and so on. Now that most of the chess pieces in his hand had been killed off, Sarutobi Hiruzen naturally felt the sting; after all, these people were the embodiment of his power. Now that the manifestations of his power were being slaughtered, it was something Sarutobi Hiruzen found hard to accept.

"The back mountain has now become a forbidden zone for Konoha, but that's fine. If anything happens, I can just pin the blame on that mysterious person. As for Danzo, he can just be the backup scapegoat!"

Switching the crystal ball's view to the Uchiha clan district, Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze gradually became deep and dark.

The next morning, Sasuke changed into his playboy-style clothes again and began to stroll through Konoha. Although Sasuke had been in this world for exactly four years, he had never actually taken the time to just wander around.

After all, this was once a scene from his dreams! It was better to take a good look while he could, especially since it would all be destroyed in about two years anyway.

Naturally, Sasuke's strange attire caught the attention of those with keen eyes, such as Ino, who was watering flowers at the flower shop, and Sakura, who was out buying groceries. Of course, there was also Shikamaru, who had been dragged out early in the morning by Choji to wait for the hot pot restaurant to open.

And then there was Naruto, who had been pacing in front of Ichiraku Ramen since early morning. After all, Sasuke hadn't shown his face for an entire month. Everyone knew he must have been training, especially since Sasuke had already crushed the second-place Shikamaru several times during practical combat training.

One had to remember that Shikamaru had already learned his clan's secret technique, the Shadow Possession Jutsu! Even under those circumstances, he was still instantly defeated by Sasuke. This made Shikamaru want to work hard and improve himself, but unfortunately, he had a glutton by his side dragging him around Konoha every day in search of food.

Because these people were curious about Sasuke's behavior, it wasn't long before several people were stealthily following behind him.

Leading the pack were Ino and Sakura, while behind them were a confused-looking Shikamaru and Choji, who was busy eating potato chips.

Sasuke didn't pay much attention to them; as long as they didn't ruin his mood, he didn't mind them tagging along.

After walking around for a while, the newly awakened Sasuke felt a bit hungry, so he turned around, intending to head to Ichiraku Ramen for some breakfast.

Sasuke's sudden turn was all it took; the four people tailing him scrambled to hide behind a pillar.

Since there were four of them hiding behind a single pillar—and with Choji in the mix—it was inevitable that they would give themselves away.

"Are you guys on a date?" Sasuke, having spotted their clumsy attempt at hiding, walked up to the pillar and asked curiously, looking at the four who were praying internally not to be discovered.

"No, of course not!"

Realizing that Sasuke had already spotted them, Shikamaru shook his head frantically. Are you kidding? Even if I were on a date, I wouldn't be on one with these two fan-girls!

"Oh, you're not?"

Faced with Shikamaru's answer, Sasuke casually scratched his head and walked straight toward the Ichiraku Ramen shop behind them.

"So cool!"

After Sasuke left, Ino and Sakura both recalled Sasuke's movements from just a moment ago, their eyes shining with adoration.

"Hey! Did you guys forget our goal?" Watching the two of them turn into lovesick fan-girls, Shikamaru looked helplessly at Choji, who was focused entirely on his chips. He felt it was unreliable; was the arduous task of investigating why Sasuke was acting so strangely today going to fall solely on his shoulders?

"Cough, cough... No, how could we? This was our way of distracting Sasuke, right? Ino!" Hearing Shikamaru's question, Sakura snapped out of it, shook her head quickly, and then tapped Ino, who was still staring blankly at Sasuke's retreating back.

"So cool... uh... right, this was our behavior to distract Sasuke!" Waking up from Sakura's tap, Ino wiped away the drool that was about to fall and nodded at Shikamaru.

"Sigh..." Faced with Sakura and Ino like this, Shikamaru shook his head helplessly. As expected, women are the most troublesome.

On the other side, Sasuke walked into the Ichiraku Ramen shop and saw Naruto stuffing his face. Judging by the two empty bowls in front of him, that guy Sarutobi Hiruzen must have just given him his living expenses yesterday!

How pathetic! The son of the Fourth Hokage had to rely on the charity of the Third Hokage just to afford a bowl of ramen, while the Third Hokage's grandson not only ate fine food every day but also had a dedicated teacher to guide his training. It was a stark contrast!

However, Sasuke wasn't interested in Naruto for now. After all, Naruto didn't have any utility yet. If he were to blatantly draw blood or take cells, he would definitely be suspected.

"One bowl of ramen!"

Sitting in the seat one space away from Naruto, Sasuke said to Teuchi.

"Coming right up!"

Following Teuchi's voice, Naruto finally looked up at Sasuke sitting next to him. After all, when they were outside the shop earlier, Naruto had noticed that Sasuke seemed very different today; the aura of this outfit made him feel like it didn't quite fit Sasuke.

"Sasuke!"

Upon spotting Sasuke, Naruto started shouting, and then his spit began to fly. Seeing this, Sasuke felt a bit lucky that he hadn't sat right next to Naruto, otherwise, he would have needed a bath!

"Oh, is something the matter?" Although he despised Naruto's behavior internally, in order to successfully forge a "bond" with him—so that he would chase after him when he eventually defected, making it easier for Sasuke to obtain his bloodline and cells—Sasuke still communicated with him quite politely.

After finishing his ramen, Sasuke continued his stroll. By dusk, he walked into a hot spring inn.

"So comfortable!" Sasuke couldn't help but exclaim as he soaked in the hot spring.

Enjoying the Uchiha life, faking bonds with Asura.

Asking for votes, my lords (づ●─●)づ