Cunning Third

Recalling the conditions Sarutobi Hiruzen had proposed, Sasuke began to think. Handing over the Uchiha Clan Compound wasn't out of the question. He'd planned to destroy it when he left anyway, and since he was going to bring about Konoha's downfall, he might as well collect a little interest. All things considered, it didn't sound too bad.

Still, Sasuke couldn't help wondering what kind of S-rank jutsu Sarutobi Hiruzen was offering. It wouldn't be some technique that killed its user along with the enemy, would it?

Like the Dead Demon Consuming Seal or the Eight Inner Gates. Sasuke could just about accept the Eight Inner Gates, but he'd definitely refuse the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. What was the point of trading one life for another? He'd be getting ripped off!

"If you agree, you can choose one of these." Seeing Sasuke hesitate, Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled faintly and pushed the scrolls in front of him.

"Uh... all right!" Sasuke swallowed hard as he looked at the S-rank jutsu before him, then turned his gaze to the scrolls.

Seeing Sasuke's reaction, Sarutobi Hiruzen gave a strange little smile. Trading a jutsu Sasuke couldn't possibly learn for the Uchiha Clan Compound was a great deal!

"The Will of Fire really is a fine set of shackles." As Sasuke's gaze settled on the scrolls, Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression turned subtle. If all he had were these scrolls, he couldn't be sure Sasuke would accept his terms.

As Sarutobi Hiruzen secretly congratulated himself on his cleverness, Sasuke stared at the scrolls before him with a strange look on his face.

There were five scrolls. They looked impressive, but the techniques seemed unusually difficult to learn!

Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags: expensive. Eight Inner Gates: life-threatening. Yin Seal: kind of girly. Dead Demon Consuming Seal: a one-for-one trade. Flying Thunder God: lost to history!

Of the scrolls before him, Sasuke favored two: the Yin Seal and Flying Thunder God. Those were the only ones he could just about make use of. He didn't even want to touch the others.

Of course, if Sarutobi Hiruzen had offered Impure World Reincarnation, Sasuke would have chosen it. He'd already thought of an excuse: he wanted to see his parents!

Unfortunately, Sarutobi Hiruzen probably wouldn't dare offer that technique. Sasuke considered the Yin Seal and Flying Thunder God for a while, then decisively chose the latter. Flying Thunder God was difficult, but it suited him better. As for the Yin Seal, it wasn't particularly useful to Sasuke at this point.

If this had been a few years ago, Sasuke would definitely have chosen the Yin Seal, since he could store Chakra over time. But now? He didn't think there was any need. It would only slow down his plans.

"Flying Thunder God? With your talent, Sasuke, you might actually be able to learn it. Do your best! I'll arrange new lodgings for you tomorrow."

After Sasuke made his choice, Sarutobi Hiruzen gathered up the remaining scrolls and slowly left.

"Tomorrow? What an impatient old man. Hope you enjoy the rest of your year and a half!" Sasuke put away the Flying Thunder God scroll and grumbled to himself. He was about to graduate, Team 7 would soon be formed, the Chunin Ninja Exams were coming up, and the Third would soon be meeting his end!

When he got home, Sasuke first sealed everything he might need into scrolls. Then he took out a backpack and packed them all inside.

Only then did he begin studying the so-called S-rank jutsu, Flying Thunder God!

A Space-Time Ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage and brought to prominence by the Fourth Hokage—if Sasuke could master it, it would be a powerful weapon.

But it was Flying Thunder God, after all, and the difficulty of learning it was no joke. Sasuke studied it all night without making any progress.

The next morning, Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived at the Uchiha Clan Compound with Konoha's two advisors and Danzo, the king of taking the blame. Clearly, the four of them wanted to divide up the Uchiha Clan Compound. If Sarutobi Hiruzen had come alone, people would have talked.

Needless to say, Sarutobi Hiruzen was going to take the biggest share. When the four of them arrived at Sasuke's home, Sarutobi Hiruzen handed him a package, saying it contained kunai specially made by the Fourth Hokage.

Then an Anbu led Sasuke away from the Uchiha Clan Compound.

"Hiruzen, that Uchiha is a bit of a waste, isn't he? He hasn't even awakened his Sharingan. Wasn't it a little careless to give him the Fourth Hokage's kunai?" After Sasuke left, Danzo looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen's actions with some confusion.

"Careless? I don't think so. The better I treat him, the more firmly he'll believe in the Will of Fire. If he does learn Flying Thunder God, we'll gain a trump card to deter the other villages—and a loyal dog who'll obey us without question. After all, he has absolute faith in the Will of Fire, and I happen to be the Hokage."

"Of course, if he can't learn it, that just means he's useless. It'll have nothing to do with us!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled calmly at his trusted scapegoat, then took out a map of the Uchiha Clan Compound and began dividing up the territory.

Danzo watched Sarutobi Hiruzen gesturing over the map. After a long silence, he nodded with satisfaction. He was interested in the Sharingan, but Sasuke was already eleven and still hadn't awakened his. That put him outside Danzo's consideration.

The Anbu led Sasuke to an area near the back mountain. There stood a courtyard that had very clearly just been cleaned up.

"This is the residence Lord Hokage has assigned you." The Anbu who had led Sasuke there handed him a set of keys, then disappeared without a trace.

"Now that's going above and beyond to keep up appearances, Third." Sasuke looked at his new home and curled his lip. Others might not know what had happened at the back mountain, but Sasuke did.

He unlocked the gate and entered the courtyard. It looked rather bare, but it suited him just fine. It was far from everything, making it less likely anyone would notice him.

"Now I don't have to feel guilty anymore!" Remembering how Sarutobi Hiruzen had schemed against him, Sasuke gave a wicked grin. Now he could go after members of the Sarutobi Clan without holding back. Their clan head had been the one to scheme against him first, after all.

After settling into his new home, Sasuke took out the kunai Sarutobi Hiruzen had just given him and opened the package. He immediately felt speechless.

There were five Flying Thunder God Kunai inside, but they were all junk. Some were broken, and the rest were rusty.

"Just as expected of you, Sarutobi Hiruzen!" Sasuke looked at the kunai and shook his head helplessly.

The Third was cunning and sly; the Uchiha had no bloodline limit.

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