Sasuke struck without the slightest hesitation. Even Okada hadn't expected the young-looking ninja before him to be so ruthless, acting without the least bit of hesitation.
"How did you dodge just now?"
The excruciating pain in his chest had already made Okada realize he had no chance of survival. His voice, full of unwillingness to accept defeat, reached Sasuke's ears.
"After using a Fireball to attack you, I just summoned a Shadow Clone."
Wanting to let Okada die with his questions answered, Sasuke withdrew his hand and explained.
"What an incredible... demon..."
The world before Okada's eyes quickly went dark, and his body slowly slumped to the ground.
"Alas! That's a ninja's fate!"
Having had no choice but to kill two Kusagakure ninjas, Sasuke sighed helplessly.
He didn't want things to turn out this way, either. But if he showed mercy, he'd be the one to die.
He exhaled, steadying his emotions, then walked beneath a large tree and slowly pulled a box from his pocket.
"I wonder what's inside."
Murmuring to himself, Sasuke quickly opened the box.
Inside were two golden scrolls. He took one out, untied the string binding it, then slowly unrolled it and read it carefully.
"The leader of Kusagakure, Biruyue, is incredibly greedy. He even imprisoned the daimyo and took control of the Land of Grass's finances!"
After reading the scroll, Sasuke couldn't help but exclaim.
The scroll was actually a mission request. The client was the daimyo of the Land of Grass, who hoped the Third Hokage would send several elite teams to the Land of Grass to eliminate the tyrannical Biruyue.
Of course, the daimyo had promised an extremely high reward—possibly more than Konoha earned from missions in two months. After all, the mission had been classified as SSS-rank.
"Looks like the daimyo's been holding back for a long time. Gathering all this intelligence must have taken ages."
Setting down the request, Sasuke opened the second scroll. It contained a detailed map of the Land of Grass, along with information about Biruyue and his subordinates.
With this intelligence, they could send ninjas suited to the job, greatly increasing the chance of success.
"Huh, those two are here too!"
A quick glance was all it took for Sasuke to spot Okada and Asai's portraits and profiles in the scroll.
Okada's specialty was using the Hardening Technique to toughen his body, and he was also proficient in Earth Style ninjutsu. Asai's specialty, meanwhile, was Genjutsu.
Based on the descriptions, Sasuke knew the intelligence was highly accurate.
"No wonder Biruyue sent two powerful fighters to hunt down the messenger on his way to Konoha. If these scrolls really fell into the Hokage's hands, and he agreed to take the mission, Biruyue's good days would be over. Kusagakure is just one faction, after all. It couldn't possibly withstand an attack from Konoha."
Putting all the pieces together, Sasuke finally understood why Okada and Asai had pursued the messenger.
"Forget it. I don't have time to deliver these to the old Hokage!"
He had initially wanted to consider whether Sarutobi Hiruzen would accept the mission, but then realized it had nothing to do with him. He muttered to himself.
He stowed both scrolls. Since it was getting late, Sasuke turned and slowly headed back to the Uchiha Clan district.
At dusk, the Uchiha Clan district was painted with patches of red clouds against a pale blue-white sky, like flecks of blood floating in gray water. While the sky was pale blue-white and the sunset burned red, the ground had already turned inky black.
Sasuke had just returned from the Training Ground and reached the Uchiha Clan district. He glanced at the lonely shrine ahead and stopped.
The shrine before him was, of course, the Uchiha Clan's Naka Shrine.
Naka Shrine held great significance for the Uchiha Clan. Beneath the seventh tatami mat from the far right of the main hall lay the entrance to the Uchiha's secret meeting place.
The shrine's basement also held a stone tablet inscribed by the Sage of Six Paths. It recorded many secrets unknown to most, and its contents grew more extensive in the order of "Sharingan—Mangekyō Sharingan—Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."
Of course, having watched Naruto, Sasuke already knew what the stone tablet said without needing any special eyes.
To revive his mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki, Black Zetsu had incited Madara Uchiha to fight Hashirama Senju. He had also altered the message the Sage of Six Paths left at Naka Shrine, twisting the way to save the world into the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"I wonder what the ninja world would be like if Black Zetsu hadn't altered the inscription."
Knowing that Black Zetsu had changed the inscription, Sasuke couldn't help but sigh.
As Sasuke stood there thinking, a mysterious figure suddenly appeared on the stone steps of Naka Shrine's main hall. The figure wore an orange-red mask with black stripes and a single eyehole, along with a black robe.
"Who's that?"
The stranger's appearance shocked Sasuke. There was only one character in Naruto who dressed like that: Obito Uchiha.
Obito Uchiha was one of the most discussed characters among Naruto fans, and could even be considered an unconventional protagonist of the series.
As a child, Obito's circumstances had been remarkably similar to Naruto's. He was a dead-last who wanted to attract other people's attention, and he had a proud rival just like Sasuke was to Naruto—Kakashi.
But Obito hadn't been as lucky as Naruto, who had the protagonist's halo. Just after awakening his Sharingan, he was crushed by a boulder. Then he fell into Madara Uchiha's scheme and gradually became a pawn.
Ultimately, Obito was a good person who'd had terrible luck. He was the most tragic character in all of Naruto, and one of the most dramatic, too.
But that hadn't stopped fans from loving him. Day and night, devoted fans wrote the most beautiful tributes to Obito Uchiha.
Perhaps sensing that Sasuke had spotted him, the masked stranger glanced over at him, then walked into the main hall of Naka Shrine.
"Don't go!"
Seeing Obito Uchiha disappear in an instant, Sasuke hurried after him.
Six years ago, Obito had already been strong enough to fight Namikaze Minato. Sasuke really wanted to get on familiar terms with him, so he could ask for help if he ran into trouble in the future.
Just like Itachi in Naruto, who had sought Obito's help to wipe out the Uchiha Clan so quickly.
"Alas! Forget it..."
After searching all around without finding Obito, Sasuke sighed and reluctantly headed home.
Once Sasuke had slowly left, the mysterious figure appeared atop the rubble of Naka Shrine, his body twisted and distorted. Then a low voice rang out.
" Itachi's younger brother? He seems pretty interesting, too..."