Poor Sasuke cried loudly. Though he wasn't as talented as Itachi, he was still Fugaku's son, and no one usually dared to mess with him.
How could he possibly put up with being wronged for the first time?
However, Chen didn't particularly like Sasuke to begin with, so Sasuke's crying only annoyed him even more.
So Chen simply tied Sasuke to a tree and stuffed his mouth to keep the noise from bothering him, then went back to his training.
Although the system had helped him become more talented than most people, Chen felt that simply knowing how to use something wasn't enough.
Even if his ninjutsu was at MAX level, using it at the wrong moment would still be meaningless.
It was like a nail: it had limited destructive power, yet it could still kill Kakashi. The same ninjutsu could have different effects depending on when it was used.
Aside from that, Chen also wanted to develop abilities of his own.
After all, his system was completely unreliable and had no bottom line. If it ever started slacking off, Chen didn't want to be left helpless.
You should never put all your eggs in one basket.
While Chen trained, Sasuke struggled desperately against the ropes. He didn't want to be tied up there, of course, but more importantly, he really had something urgent to do.
Chen noticed Sasuke struggling, but paid him no mind. In his view, letting Sasuke go would only cause more trouble.
Itachi was already a Genin and had gone off on a mission. If Sasuke went back and complained to his father, Uchiha Fugaku, that would be troublesome too.
And so, the morning wore on. Uchiha Shisui, who hadn't slept all night, came walking over.
"Morning, Shisui."
"Morning.
You're really diligent.
Hmm? Why is Sasuke tied up here?"
Seeing Sasuke bound to the tree, Shisui looked puzzled.
As Itachi's friend, Shisui had met Sasuke a few times, which was why he found this so strange.
"Shisui, you know him?"
"He's Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. He should be a year younger than you. Why is he tied to a tree?"
"He came to sneak up on me first thing in the morning. He said he was Itachi's younger brother, but how was I supposed to know if that was true? So I just tied him up for the time being.
You have no idea how annoying this kid is. He's a boy, but he cries faster than a girl.
I've known Izumi for ages, and I've never seen her cry. This guy's cried who knows how many times since this morning."
Chen's eyes were full of disdain. Sasuke struggled frantically, as if he wanted to explain himself, but Chen couldn't be bothered to pay attention.
Still, now that Shisui was here, Chen couldn't go too far.
He was about to untie Sasuke when, all of a sudden, Sasuke wet himself spectacularly.
Chen wasn't the only one stunned by the sight; even Shisui froze. Poor Sasuke's face turned bright red.
"Uh, I asked earlier if you'd wet the bed last night. And now you go and prove it?
What a pain."
With a look of disgust, Chen untied the ropes. Sasuke burst into tears again.
Sasuke felt he could never face anyone again. First Chen had kicked him flying, and now he'd wet himself in front of his brother's friend. If his brother found out, he'd probably never speak to him again.
The thought only made Sasuke more miserable, and he cried even harder. Chen, the one responsible, looked more and more disgusted.
In his previous life and this one, Chen had hated one thing above all: other people crying, especially men.
Even without knowing the story, he would have hated someone like Sasuke, who cried over every little thing.
"Shisui, why don't you take this guy away? He's so annoying.
Besides, it's not right to just leave him here."
"I'm not leaving. I'm going to challenge you!"
Hearing Chen tell him to go, Sasuke hurriedly spoke up. Then he pulled out a kunai and got ready to fight.
"Challenge me, my ass. You're a little kid. Do you even know how to write the word 'challenge'?
And it's the middle of winter. You wet your pants—aren't you afraid that thing's going to freeze off?
If it did, Itachi would probably kick you out of Konoha. Having a little brother like you is so embarrassing!"
At Chen's words, poor Sasuke covered his soaked crotch and ran off in tears.
"Do you have a grudge against Sasuke?"
Shisui asked as he watched Sasuke run away.
"I don't think so.
I just don't like men who cry. If something truly terrible had happened, that would be one thing. But crying endlessly over something so trivial? He's even more girly than a girl."
Chen made no effort to hide his disgust. He didn't like Sasuke, and that was that.
"You really are strange. Sometimes you seem like an adult, and sometimes you act like a kid sulking at everyone. Even I can't tell which one is the real you."
"Because they're both me.
Uchiha Shisui in front of Itachi and Uchiha Shisui in front of Danzo are definitely different, but they're both still Uchiha Shisui, aren't they?"
"You have a point.
From now on, just call me Shisui like Itachi does. It feels a little strange having someone so mature call me 'big brother.'"
"Whatever. It's just a name. I don't mind.
By the way, Shisui, what do you think of Danzo?"
"What do you want to know?"
"I was wondering if you still planned to deal with him. That guy's worse than a bastard.
He keeps talking about the village, but his idea of protecting it comes with one condition: he has to become Hokage."
Chen felt that much of the darkness in Konoha could have been avoided, yet it had still come to pass, all under one excuse or another.
But when you looked closely, you could see that all of it revolved around one thing: the Hokage. More precisely, the position of Hokage.
The White Fang had died because his reputation had grown too great. At the time, he seemed poised to become the Fourth Hokage, and Namikaze Minato went without saying.
In truth, all those people had died because they stood in Danzo's way of becoming Hokage.
Chen even wondered whether the Uchiha Clan Massacre could have been avoided if Uchiha Fugaku had led his entire clan to pledge allegiance to Danzo.
"Maybe. What future did you see?"
"Not a good one. Otherwise, I wouldn't be planning to leave Konoha.
Shisui, I understand how you feel. There's nothing wrong with loving Konoha, but it's wrong for people to use that love as an excuse to persecute others."
"You're right. But I still plan to stay with Danzo for now.
After all, if what you said is true, someone has to keep an eye on him."
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