Sasuke's Question

On the way back, Naruto was a little dazed, wondering if this was the only possible end for becoming a ninja.

When he got home and lay on his bed, he began recalling what had happened today: Jiya's threats, the Third's death... Ninja really did die. If only I were strong enough...

Meanwhile, Sakura returned home. "I'm back~! Hm? It smells so good." She followed the scent into the kitchen.

"Sakura, you're back! Come eat." Haruno Mebuki was overjoyed to see Sakura return safely. When that monster had rampaged, she had worried terribly. Only after receiving the notice had she finally felt at ease.

Sakura suddenly froze. Looking at Haruno Mebuki, she abruptly felt that having ordinary parents was not so bad. Let her be the one to protect them. Then she thought of Sasuke and Naruto. Was she really useless?... She could not keep holding them back!

As for Orochimaru, he had already arranged for his subordinates to investigate Uchiha Gen. However, before his hands were healed, he would not devote too much energy to Uchiha Gen.

After putting it that way, Uchiha Gen seemed rather safe at the moment. But that was not the case. Do not forget there was an obsessive little brother lover. Once he learned the news, he would probably go berserk. After the buffer period ended, Gen would face pursuit from Konoha, Orochimaru, and Itachi from Akatsuki. Sasuke in his hands was practically an explosive package that could go off at any moment!

The sky was clear, and sunlight lazily streamed into the room without making it feel hot.

Sensing the light, Sasuke slowly woke up. The first thing he saw was a face full of scrutiny. His head was being pinned down, his eyelids forcibly pried apart to hold his eyes open. If someone entered the room at that moment, the position would have been rather suggestive.

His pupils suddenly contracted as he realized what had happened. Sasuke swatted Uchiha Gen's hand away. Of course, that was only because Gen had not used any force. Sasuke sprang up and faced him, his chest heaving uncontrollably. His expression tried to remain calm, but it could not hide the panic in his eyes. He felt around his pockets and found that all his weapons were gone. Without moving his head, his eyes darted around, searching for a way to escape or fight back. "Where's Orochimaru?!"

Unlike what he had imagined, this place looked like an inn.

"Looks like you've recovered well." Uchiha Gen's eyes lit up, and he nodded in satisfaction. Two nights had already passed. If Sasuke did not wake up soon, Gen would start wondering whether he had accidentally fried something wrong with him.

Recovered well...? Sasuke seemed to suddenly think of something. The composure on his face completely collapsed, and he rushed out the door in panic. Uchiha Gen did not stop him. The place was so small that if Sasuke at this stage could still escape, he might as well go eat shit.

Sasuke ran into the bathroom and looked at his eyes. His black pupils suddenly turned crimson, with two comma-shaped black marks circling each iris. Seeing that, Sasuke finally relaxed.

Then Uchiha Gen's voice drifted over. "Aren't you going to use the bathroom?"

Sasuke frowned deeply upon hearing that. Perhaps to conceal his panic, or perhaps because he had not relieved himself all night, he actually went to the toilet.

Uchiha Gen took bag after bag of things from the cabinet in the room. When he opened the door, Sasuke stood warily by the table. Looking closely at what Gen had brought out, he found that they were all food, with all kinds of snacks among them.

"I figured you must be hungry after going so long without eating. Eat if you want. Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with it. If I wanted to poison you, I have plenty of ways." At the same time, a bead of sweat rolled down his heart. He could not taste anything but loved buying food, so these snacks had piled up quite a bit.

"What exactly do you want?! Where's Orochimaru?" Sasuke ignored the food on the table. His mind was full of questions, while this Sound Ninja before him seemed to have no intention of explaining anything. Unable to hold back any longer, he demanded answers, carrying the attitude of someone with nothing left to lose.

Hearing that, Uchiha Gen became extremely displeased and sneered, "Orochimaru this, Orochimaru that. What, are you that eager to become his spare body?"

Spare body?! Sasuke knew Orochimaru's intentions were not pure, but what did he mean by that? Had this Sound Ninja betrayed Orochimaru? With that thought, Sasuke temporarily calmed down. He did not know what Jiya was thinking. If he was still Orochimaru's subordinate, then Orochimaru needed Sasuke, and Jiya could not do anything to him. But this situation was clearly wrong.

"You betrayed Orochimaru?" Sasuke sat cross-legged. He had too many questions in his heart and still had no intention of eating as he asked with a frown.

Uchiha Gen was completely off-topic. Seeing Sasuke ignore the food on the table, veins bulged on his forehead. What, having a sense of taste made him so great? He temporarily did not want to talk to Sasuke. He picked up a bag of instant noodles and viciously bit down. Crunchy. Since he had no sense of taste, listening to the sound was still something.

It was not that he deliberately wanted to leave Sasuke hanging. Who would want to talk to someone with that attitude? Though, strictly speaking, Uchiha Gen was the one who had kidnapped him. But annoyed was annoyed, so he would not explain. What could Sasuke do about it?

Seeing that Uchiha Gen did not want to talk, Sasuke temporarily calmed himself down. He looked at the food before him and realized there was nothing he could do now. He picked two rice balls, intending to fill his stomach first.

For a while, the room contained only the sound of chewing, except for Uchiha Gen continuously crunching through instant noodles.

Sasuke, who had received a good upbringing, listened to that sound as Gen finished two bags and was about to open a third. The corner of Sasuke's eye twitched. He was so speechless that he finally said, "You can soak them in water before eating."

Uchiha Gen waved a hand. "It's fine. I like hearing the crunch."

Sasuke: "..."

But the conversation had been opened, and Uchiha Gen finally explained Sasuke's current situation, including the possibility that Orochimaru might directly use him as a vessel and take over his body.

"From the sound of it, you seem to look down on Orochimaru?"

"Not exactly. As one of the Three Sannin, if the Yellow Flash had not stepped forward back then, and if his human experiments had not been exposed, Orochimaru might have been the Fourth on Kage Rock." Uchiha Gen was making a completely objective assessment.

Sasuke looked shocked. The Fourth? Even so, Orochimaru had been betrayed so easily by one of his subordinates. In Sasuke's eyes, Orochimaru immediately dropped down a notch. "Then who was the Fourth Hokage?"

Uchiha Gen answered calmly, as if he were talking about something insignificant. "A sunny guy. Naruto's dad."

Sasuke looked stunned. "The Fourth Hokage was Naruto's father?!"

"Yeah."

Seeing Sasuke fall silent from the shock of that revelation, Uchiha Gen dropped another bombshell. "Oh, right. If nothing unexpected happened, the Third Hokage should have been killed by Orochimaru."

Sasuke: "..."

After a long while, he said, "Then you're not afraid of Orochimaru's revenge? He killed the Third. Can you beat the Third? Or do you have some trump card to deal with Orochimaru? And the most important question: who exactly are you?! How does a mere Sound Ninja know so much about Konoha?!"

"Revenge? All I can say is that I'm stronger than Orochimaru is right now. As for my identity... You're smart, so why don't you take a guess?" Uchiha Gen deliberately played mysterious. Acting enigmatic in front of the pretentious Uchiha Sasuke was quite satisfying.

Sasuke remained skeptical about Gen's claim that he could beat Orochimaru. If he could win, why run away? Would it not be better to kill Orochimaru directly? "You used to be a Konoha ninja!" Sasuke said with certainty.

Uchiha Gen applauded, smiling with narrowed eyes. "Congratulations, you got part of it right! Your little brain works pretty fast."

Sasuke looked disdainful. "You know so many of Konoha's secrets, and you followed Orochimaru before. It's easy to guess. I'm not an idiot like Naruto. And besides... Do you know where that man is?!"

Now that he knew Jiya had been a Konoha ninja, Sasuke had no interest in pursuing his identity further. After all, he had never heard of any Konoha deserter who could stand on equal footing with Orochimaru, except that man. I have to! I have to kill him with my own hands!