The western sunset had set the skyline ablaze, and night was about to fall.
The first-year classrooms were on the ground floor of the school building. Sasuke came to a slow stop in the quiet hallway.
Class 1-B.
Sasuke stared at the classroom sign with his Sharingan, his expression calm.
This was Kaoru Sakura's classroom.
After entering, he saw a class photo hanging on the blackboard at the back.
Kaoru Sakura was smiling happily in the picture. It had been taken when they'd just started their first year of high school. When the class photo was taken, he and the old man had watched from the side as her family.
In the photo was a beautiful girl every bit as lovely as Kaoru Sakura, with long, lustrous purple hair and a soothing smile.
Once, when Sasuke had come to pick Kaoru Sakura up, he'd spotted the girl from a distance, walking out of the school gates with Kaoru.
Kaoru Sakura had said the girl's name was Sakura, he thought.
It was a name he knew all too well.
From what Kaoru Sakura had told him, she and the girl named Sakura seemed to get along pretty well.
Sometimes Sasuke had worried that Kaoru might have trouble making friends at school, but with her outgoing personality, it was practically impossible for her not to have any.
He really shouldn't judge other people by his own standards...
There was a noticeable burst of mana inside the classroom. With his Three-Tomoe Sharingan active, Sasuke quickly located its source.
It was on the underside of a desk in the middle of the classroom.
The crimson curse mark was slowly pulsing. Sasuke considered how he might weaken its effects or remove it entirely.
Now that his power came from mana instead of chakra, he figured a powerful burst of mana should be able to destroy a Magecraft curse mark.
With that in mind, Sasuke slowly reached into the desk's drawer and gently pressed his palm against the mark.
[Lightning Style: Chidori]
A series of sharp, piercing cries rang out as wild lightning burst from Sasuke's palm!
The jutsu Sasuke unleashed destroyed the curse mark in an instant!
Though he'd controlled his strength, the wild lightning still punched a huge hole through the desk.
He hoped the student would be happy tomorrow.
The powerful flow of mana in the classroom immediately weakened considerably. The curse mark in this room had probably disappeared.
But the moment Sasuke walked out of the classroom, he noticed someone emerging from the room behind him.
Sasuke turned around calmly and saw who it was.
A boy with blue seaweed-like hair. He looked decent enough, but his expression was arrogant and vile.
If Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka were there, they would have recognized him at once.
Shinji Matou.
A student in Class 2-C, and a classmate of Shirou Emiya.
The Matou family, like the Tohsaka family, was an old Magecraft family in Fuyuki.
Though it now seemed to have fallen into decline.
Shinji Matou's face was full of smug pride.
"You destroyed my masterpiece. You've got some nerve."
"You're not even a Master, are you?"
"Did Tohsaka hire you, or was it Emiya?"
"...What are you laughing at?"
Facing the seaweed-haired boy, Sasuke's lips curled into a faint smile. There was no mistaking the contempt in it.
"I thought you'd keep hiding like a coward."
"But from the way you're acting now, it seems you've got a little courage after all."
"So you and that so-called Servant of yours were the ones who attacked the female students yesterday?"
Sasuke's scorn sent Shinji Matou into a rage. He couldn't understand why a Magecraft user without a Servant would act so arrogant.
Even if Shinji Matou had absolutely no talent for Magecraft, he was now a Master in the Holy Grail War!
With a Servant at his command, he could defeat any Magecraft user!
He was annoyed that Rider refused to listen to him, but she hadn't managed to capture her target on campus yesterday only because Emiya and Tohsaka had stopped her!
Now that Emiya and Tohsaka weren't here, nobody could stop him!
"Rider, kill this arrogant bastard!!!"
In an instant, a woman appeared in the empty space behind Sasuke. Her purple hair fell past her knees, a serpent-shaped mark adorned her forehead, and for some reason, a blindfold covered her eyes.
Her black clothes and thigh-high boots accentuated her enchanting air and exquisite figure.
She held a pair of short swords connected by a chain. Rider manipulated the chained blades, sending the chain whirling through the air so wildly that even Shinji, her Master, could barely follow it!
Shinji glared furiously, as if Rider would kill Sasuke at any moment.
But Sasuke's lips never stopped curving upward.
As the chained blades lunged toward him, the bones of Susanoo suddenly grew around Sasuke, accompanied by a series of cracking sounds!
Sasuke controlled Susanoo's arm as it formed, grabbing hold of Rider's chained blades!
Then, in the next instant, Sasuke yanked the chain hard. Rider couldn't possibly resist the force as it snapped taut!
In the blink of an eye, Rider was dragged into the air by Susanoo's strength!
The next moment, Susanoo's bony hand clamped tight around Rider's slender body!
No matter how hard Rider struggled, she couldn't break free.
Sasuke had already entered his Mangekyo state. His expression was cold.
The so-called Servants—Heroic Spirits from ages past—being controlled by a wretch like this was laughable.
So I'll help you break free.
Without the slightest hesitation, Sasuke used Susanoo's strength to snap Rider's neck with ease!
Then he tossed her still-undissipated corpse in front of Shinji.
Shinji Matou stood frozen in place, overcome with terror.
"H-How is this possible?"
"How could a Magecraft user defeat a Servant?!"
Unable to accept such a humiliating defeat, Shinji flew into a helpless rage. He stared at Rider and screamed:
"Who said you could lose?!"
"Get up and kill him!"
"Or did you look down on me as your Master from the very beginning?!"
"You useless piece of trash!"
"Get up!!!"
As Shinji raged, Sasuke, standing inside Susanoo, slowly turned his head and glanced at him.
[Amaterasu]
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Shinji's screams echoed throughout the entire school building. His body was covered in black flames as he rolled helplessly on the ground, but the flames couldn't be extinguished.
This was one of the abilities of Sasuke's Mangekyo. Until its target was completely consumed, the black flames could never be put out!
"I was wrong! I was wrong!"
"Please, spare me!"
Looking at Shinji Matou's utterly pathetic state, Sasuke felt no particular satisfaction.
Killing this seaweed-haired clown was easier than stepping on a bug.
Perhaps Shinji's screams had been too satisfying to listen to. Shirou and Rin, who had been checking the classrooms upstairs, hurried over!
Seeing Shinji covered in black flames, Shirou started to rush over and help him.
But Rin grabbed him and stopped him.
"Don't go near him, or you'll die too."
"That black fire isn't a spell we can handle..."
Shirou looked at Sasuke, confused.
"Why did you kill Shinji?"
Sasuke dismissed Susanoo and looked at Shirou and Rin indifferently.
"Isn't the reason obvious?"
Before you continue