Buried in Rabbits, at a Loss

Just as the Escaping Rabbit said, "So-so," the dirt beneath its feet turned pitch-black without warning.

The black shadow spread rapidly across the ground, forming a massive dark disk over ten meters in diameter in the blink of an eye.

"What..." Shikamaru's pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively tried to retreat.

But it was already too late.

"Pop! Pop! Pop!"

Amid a series of sharp popping sounds, a white torrent erupted from the black disk.

Countless white rabbits surged toward the three of them like a white tsunami.

Shikamaru's vision was instantly filled with a sea of white fur.

He tried to bring his hands together and form Hand Seals again, but a dozen rabbits slammed into his arms, leaving him unable to move.

"Choji..." Shikamaru managed to call Choji's name before several fluffy rabbit bodies stuffed themselves into his mouth.

Choji hadn't even had time to gather chakra before rabbits were surging up to his chest from all directions.

He swung his arms, trying to shove the little creatures away, but there were simply too many of them.

For every ten he pushed away, another fifty immediately filled the gaps.

Their sheer physical bulk piled up in layers.

Choji's legs were pinned beneath them, and his massive body lasted less than a second in the white tide before being completely buried.

Ino was still inside Sasuke's body.

She watched helplessly as the white tsunami swallowed Shikamaru and Choji. Then the suffocating sensation of being buried alive traveled through their mental link, reaching the depths of her consciousness.

Weight—nothing but weight.

Countless rabbits pressed together, their white fur and red eyes covering everything in a dense mass.

The air was squeezed out completely. Even the gaps between her hair and clothes were crammed with soft yet heavy bodies.

"Ah—!"

The intense suffocation overwhelmed Ino, forcibly breaking the Mind Transfer Jutsu.

Ino's eyes flew open in her own body, and she gasped desperately for air.

The moment her spirit returned, her body was also buried beneath the white torrent.

The same crushing weight that she'd felt inside Sasuke's body now enveloped her. She couldn't move even a finger.

Shikamaru was pinned down so badly that only half his face remained above the pile. Through a gap between the rabbits, he looked ahead.

Sasuke stood quietly where he was. The rabbits that had been piling on top of him had disappeared at some point.

As for the rabbits burying them...

This guy, Sasuke. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio didn't have any attacks with that kind of range.

They couldn't win. They could only surrender.

Shikamaru opened his mouth and spat out a tuft of white fur.

"I give up!"

His voice came out muffled because he was buried in the pile of rabbits, but Sasuke could still hear him.

He raised his right hand.

"Snap."

A crisp snap of his fingers.

The Escaping Rabbits fell silent. Then they quickly melted into puddles of black mud that seeped into the shadows beneath them.

At last, the three of them had room to breathe.

Choji lay spread-eagled on the ground, his chest heaving as he gulped fresh air into his lungs.

Ino lay facedown in the dirt beside him, a few bits of black mud still clinging to her golden hair. She was still dazed.

Shikamaru sat up and rubbed his right shoulder, which had nearly been dislocated. His face was scrunched up in pain.

"What a drag..." Shikamaru let out a long breath and looked up at Sasuke.

"I knew there had to be something going on when so many rabbits suddenly appeared in the village. You said the rabbits weren't yours, but you were actually controlling all of them, weren't you?"

"I never said the rabbits weren't mine." Sasuke walked over and stopped in front of Shikamaru.

"I only said it wasn't my fault."

"What's the difference?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes, too tired to argue.

He pointed to his forehead. "Just take it. We lost anyway."

Sasuke bent down and peeled the tag off Shikamaru's forehead.

Then he went over to Ino and Choji, took their tags off one by one, and casually stuffed them into his pocket.

After collecting the tags, Sasuke didn't leave right away.

He turned and stopped in front of Choji.

Shikamaru's hand paused as he rubbed his shoulder. Ino had also recovered a little and turned to look.

By Konoha's usual customs, the winner would normally taunt the losers or deliver a few condescending words of victory.

Shikamaru was already prepared to hear Sasuke lecture them.

Sasuke spoke calmly.

"I was wrong to call you a pig earlier."

Choji was still catching his breath. He froze when he heard those words.

"I only guessed based on the name of your Ino-Shika-Cho formation. I didn't mean to insult your body. I'm sorry."

Choji stared at Sasuke, mouth hanging open.

In his mind, Sasuke Uchiha had always been the genius who sat at the back of the classroom, aloof and indifferent to everyone.

He rarely even looked people in the eye, let alone admitted he was wrong.

Lots of people in class had mocked Choji for being fat, calling him a fat pig.

Shikamaru and Ino were his friends, but that was also because of the ties between their clans.

The Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka clans had been partners for generations. They'd been bound together since birth.

But Sasuke was an Uchiha.

The Uchiha and Akimichi had no connection, no family interests to preserve, and no need to rely on each other's secret techniques to survive.

Sasuke had apologized simply because he thought Choji was worth having as a friend.

Choji clenched his right fist. The red marks left by the rabbits' fur hadn't faded from the back of his hand. He sniffed hard and forced back the tears welling in his eyes.

"Sasuke, you're a good person. Of course! You're my friend, too!"

Ino had even forgotten to clean the black mud out of her hair.

She'd always thought Sasuke was the kind of handsome guy who was cold to the core. His sincere, apologetic manner made her heart pound uncontrollably.

Sasuke was still so handsome, but this gentleness was even better!

Sasuke looked at Choji's earnest expression, and his gaze softened a little.

"I'm not a good person, and I'm not a hero." Sasuke slipped both hands into his pockets and glanced at the three of them on the ground.

"I just follow my own convictions and risk my life to protect the good people I believe in."

Shikamaru sat on the ground and twisted his mouth into a wry smile.

So it really was about that.

The Uchiha Clan Massacre.

No one could lose all their family overnight and remain the same.

Sasuke's current obsessive nature was a lingering effect of that tragedy.

Shikamaru stood up and brushed the dirt and bits of black mud off his pants.

He turned his back to Sasuke and casually waved his right hand a couple of times.

"Let's go, Choji, Ino. We've lost our tags, so what's the point of staying?"

He turned his head and shot Sasuke a sidelong glance.

"Hey, Sasuke. If we meet again, I won't lose to your rabbits a second time."

Sasuke looked at him. "You can try."

Ino climbed to her feet and followed Shikamaru out of the woods.

After they'd walked a dozen steps, she finally couldn't hold back and leaned close to Choji, lowering her voice.

"Choji... Did Sasuke-kun really mean what he said?"

Choji popped a potato chip into his mouth and nodded firmly.

"Of course he did. Sasuke's a good person."

Ino buried her face in her hands, her shoulders trembling slightly.

She didn't even notice that the black mud on her fingers smeared across her cheek. All she could think about was how fast her heart was beating.

"Sasuke-kun... He's so handsome..."

The three of them soon disappeared into the dense woods.

The clearing in the training ground fell quiet again, with only the rustle of wind through the leaves.

Sasuke lowered his head.

The white Escaping Rabbit had appeared by his feet again at some point. It was scratching its long ears with its hind leg.

Sasuke crouched down and rubbed the soft fur on its head.

The Escaping Rabbit contentedly narrowed its eyes, letting out a soft purr.

"Sasuke's friends are nice," it said slowly in its soft, muffled voice. "Next time, I want to play with them again."

"They don't want to get buried by you again." Sasuke patted its back.

The view rose above the clearing in the training ground.

It passed through layer upon layer of green treetops, following the angle of the sunlight as it climbed toward the forest's depths.

Behind a thick oak tree that would take three people to encircle, two figures stood silently on a pair of thick branches.

The wind swept through the treetops, billowing their black cloaks patterned with red clouds.

The person on the left wore a straw hat with wind chimes tied to it. Its brim shadowed the upper half of his face, revealing only a pair of crimson Sharingan. Three Tomoe slowly turned in each pupil.

The person on the right had long, pale hair and deathly white skin. A cold glint shone in his golden, slit-shaped eyes. A long tongue slid from his mouth and slowly licked across his lips.

Orochimaru had seen everything that had happened below.

He looked away and turned to Itachi Uchiha beside him, his eyes filled with undisguised curiosity.

"What an interesting power." Orochimaru's voice was hoarse and slick, like a venomous snake hissing beside one's ear.

"It creates physical entities on that scale without any chakra fluctuations at all. Itachi, was your adorable little brother like this on the night of the massacre?"

Itachi stood on the branch without moving.

He didn't turn to look at Orochimaru or answer the question.

His gaze remained fixed on Sasuke below.

The power Sasuke had shown was more developed than what he'd seen in that room the other night. Those black shadows and strange Shikigami had nothing to do with the Uchiha Clan's ninjutsu.

That power was too strong, and it was growing at an astonishing rate.

Beneath the shadow of his straw hat, Itachi's brow furrowed slightly.

If Sasuke continued to grow at this rate, he would soon realize that Konoha had little left to teach him. Once he decided Konoha had lost its value to him, his current, utterly rational nature made it highly likely that he would leave the village outright.

That wasn't what Itachi wanted.

He had taken all the blame so Sasuke could grow up safely in Konoha, so Sasuke could form bonds with the village and eventually become a hero who protected it.

If Sasuke left now, all of Itachi's sacrifices would have been for nothing.

Sasuke had to stay in Konoha.

He needed a reason to remain in the village, to get to know the people here and experience the bonds between them.

Itachi stayed silent for a long time, and the crimson Sharingan gradually stopped turning.

At last, he turned to look at Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru." Itachi's voice was cold, completely devoid of emotion.

"I want Sasuke to stay in Konoha for the time being."

He fixed his gaze on Orochimaru's golden, snake-like eyes and asked slowly,

"Do you have any ideas?"