Konoha's Sunshine Is Too Hypocritical

Sasuke lowered his head, watching the Escaping Rabbit that was currently sprawled on the ground, gnawing on grass roots.

"Fine." Sasuke placed his hand on the rabbit's head. "But I require compensation."

The wrinkles on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face smoothed out slightly; he took the pipe from his mouth and twirled it halfway in his hand.

"What do you want? Ninjutsu scrolls? Or higher-grade ninja tools?"

"I want unrestricted access to the Konoha library, and chakra metal." Sasuke looked Hiruzen in the eye. "I want every theoretical document regarding chakra circulation paths, the meridian system, and ninjutsu shape transformation."

The mutation of the Ten Shadows Technique required a massive amount of theoretical support.

His current cursed energy was too scarce; he had to thoroughly master the mechanics of chakra operation before he could properly refine his cursed energy.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze lingered on Sasuke's face for a few seconds.

"Very well, I agree." Hiruzen nodded. "I will have the Anbu issue you a special pass. But one thing must be made clear: you cannot enter the forbidden jutsu section where the Scroll of Seals is kept. The things inside are too dangerous for you."

"Deal."

Hiruzen stuffed his pipe back into his mouth, sparks flickering within the tobacco.

"Aside from these rabbits, I have one personal hope."

Hiruzen's gaze drifted past Sasuke, looking toward Naruto, who was still panting heavily on the ground in the distance, and Sakura and Ino, who were leaning against a stone wall, exhausted.

"I hope you can live with Naruto and the others, always under the normal sunlight."

Hiruzen's voice turned somewhat hoarse, carrying the expectations of an elder.

"Do not be completely swallowed by the shadows of the past. Companions in Konoha will become your new bonds."

Sasuke followed Hiruzen's gaze to look at Naruto, who was lying spread-eagled on the sandy ground, still muttering something indignantly.

Sasuke withdrew his gaze. "They might become my bonds, but that has nothing to do with you."

"As long as Konoha doesn't provoke me, I won't take action against Konoha. That is my bottom line."

The fingers Hiruzen used to hold his pipe loosened slightly.

"That statement is enough for me."

"However, Hokage." Sasuke spoke suddenly, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Your sunlight is hypocritical, to say the least."

Hiruzen froze for a moment.

Sasuke pointed in Naruto's direction.

"He has that kind of monster stuffed inside his belly... You treat him like a useful tool, yet you don't even grant him the most basic respect, allowing him to be bullied and mocked by others."

"He's a fool right now, knowing nothing. But if one day he comes to his senses, can no longer stand being treated this way, and wants to burn this village to ash—"

Sasuke watched Hiruzen's expression gradually darken. "I will only stand on his side."

"How could you know what is inside him..."

"My eyes can see many things." Sasuke cut Hiruzen off.

Itadori had swallowed the finger of Sukuna to protect others, yet the higher-ups of the jujutsu world decided his life and death on a whim.

Principal Yaga had given his all, only to be rewarded with a death sentence.

Gojo possessed the greatest power and stood on the side of humanity, yet he was viewed as a thorn in the side by those corrupt higher-ups.

The higher-ups of Konoha were very much like those old oranges in the jujutsu world.

If it weren't for the fact that he felt Hiruzen was still a decent man, Sasuke would have absolutely followed Gojo's example and slaughtered the Konoha higher-ups once he possessed the power.

The training ground was so quiet that only the rustling of wind through the leaves could be heard.

The fingers Hiruzen used to hold his pipe stiffened.

He looked at Sasuke, the wrinkles on his face seeming to deepen in the sunset.

The old man sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly.

"The village has its own hardships, Sasuke."

"Many things are not simply black and white. Although I am the Hokage, I cannot always do as I please."

"That is your problem, not his fault." Sasuke interrupted mercilessly.

Hiruzen did not refute him; he tapped his pipe against the edge of a stone pedestal, knocking out the ash inside.

"I understand your position." Hiruzen tucked the pipe into his robes. "Then, regarding the matter of the rabbits, it is settled."

"One more thing." Sasuke picked up the Escaping Rabbit.

"These rabbits cannot stray too far from me. If the village wants them to go to distant places for reconnaissance, they will simply dissipate."

The Escaping Rabbit tilted its head to look at Sasuke, its red eyes blinking, but it made no sound.

It knew that the rabbit could not actually stray too far from its original body, and it had nothing to do with where Sasuke was.

But since Sasuke said so, it kept its mouth shut.

Hiruzen heard this limitation and pondered for a moment.

"That's fine." He went with the flow and provided a solution.

"If you really need to go outside the village or conduct long-range reconnaissance, the village will directly dispatch powerful ninjas to act with you. We will solve the distance issue."

Sasuke patted the head of the Escaping Rabbit: "If there is any news in the village you want to know, just ask it directly; it has already memorized your scent."

The next afternoon.

A yellow cordon was pulled around the edge of the training ground behind the Ninja Academy.

Iruka held a tactical board in his hand, standing in front of dozens of students.

"This field survival exercise will last for three days!" Iruka raised his voice, drowning out the white noise of the forest.

"Everyone has a forehead protector sticker on their forehead. If your sticker is taken, you are immediately eliminated!"

He pointed to the dense forest behind him.

"There are ten scrolls hidden in the woods. At the end of the exercise, those who hold a scroll and still have their sticker intact will receive extra academic credit! You can go solo or form teams! Now, the exercise begins!"

The students quickly rushed into the forest in groups of two or three.

Naruto originally wanted to come over to find Sasuke, but Shikamaru grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the bushes on the other side.

Sasuke walked into the depths of the forest alone.

The surrounding noise was quickly cut off by the dense leaves.

Sasuke stopped under a thick oak tree with his Jade Dog summons and patted the Escaping Rabbit on his shoulder.

Soon, a dozen Escaping Rabbit appeared at his feet.

"Spread out. Start gathering information."

The rabbits turned into streaks of white afterimages, diving into the surrounding bushes and tree canopies.

Sasuke leaned against the tree trunk and closed his eyes.

About ten minutes passed.

The left ear of the Escaping Rabbit suddenly twitched.

"Sasuke." The Escaping Rabbit spoke, its voice soft and sweet, "To the left, behind a crooked tree three hundred meters away, there are three people."

"What are they doing?"

"Setting traps, pulling tripwires; it seems they are coming for you."

Sasuke's mouth twitched.

These brats really thought he was a soft target.

"Black, White."

"Go three hundred meters to the left. There are three people. Take their stickers back, but don't go too hard on them."

"Leave it to me!" White Dog wagged his tail excitedly, his body turning into a streak of white light as he charged out.

Black Dog didn't speak, silently following behind White Dog, though his speed was not slow at all.

The three boys were still hiding in the canopy, whispering about their tactics.

"He's alone, and there are three of us. We can definitely grab his number tag."

"But Naruto said he..."

"What are you afraid of! That's just the dog being strong; we'll attack him directly!"

Before the words could fade, a black shadow shot up vertically from below the trunk.

Black Dog used the tree bark for leverage, leaping into the canopy.

He opened his mouth and bit down on one of the boys' ankles, pulling him down with a violent jerk.

"Ah!"

The boy lost his balance and tumbled straight from the branch, crashing heavily onto the leaf-covered ground.

The other two boys were terrified. Just as they were about to brandish their kunai, a white afterimage lunged from a side branch.

White Dog's head slammed into the second boy's chest, the massive impact sending him flying until his back hit another tree trunk with a dull thud.

The last boy was so scared that he dropped his kunai and turned to jump down from the tree.

Black Dog had already landed at his landing spot, a low growl rumbling in his throat as he slammed his front paws onto the ground.

The boy's legs went weak, and he collapsed onto the ground, his face deathly pale.

The entire process took less than ten seconds.

Sasuke walked over slowly.

The three boys lay sprawled across the ground in a tangled heap, covered in dirt and leaves, their eyes filled with terror as they looked at Sasuke.

Throughout the entire process, Sasuke hadn't even exerted a shred of effort.

His consumption of chakra and cursed energy was practically zero.

As long as the intelligence network was spread wide enough, the physical clearing capability of the Jade Dog was a dimension-crushing strike in an exercise of this level.

However, he still needed to get to the library as soon as possible to find a way to increase his cursed energy conversion rate.

"Stickers." Sasuke looked down at the three boys, who were paralyzed with fear.

The three boys tremblingly peeled the stickers from their foreheads and handed them over.

Sasuke took them and casually shoved them into his pants pocket.

"Black, White, return."

The two dogs quickly ran to Sasuke's feet.

"Well done," Sasuke remarked offhandedly.

White Dog lifted his chin proudly. "Obviously! These brats couldn't even touch a hair on this lord's hide!"

Sasuke ignored White Dog's boasting.

He looked up, his gaze piercing through the dense canopy toward the deeper parts of the forest.

Escaping Rabbit reminded him, "...Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino are moving in this direction."