After hearing Sasuke's answer, the others felt a little more at ease.
Then they began telling Sasuke about what was happening at school.
Sasuke hadn't gone today.
The school had scheduled an important event: the practical training exercise had been moved up.
Most importantly, students from both grades would be taking part this time.
In other words, besides Sasuke and the other new students, Neji's year would be participating too.
That would make the exercise a little more difficult.
"Have there been any changes to the teachers leading the teams?"
Sasuke wasn't interested in who would be participating.
He was already on a different level from these students.
If he went all out under equal conditions, Sasuke's current strength should be around that of a Special Jōnin.
With a surprise attack, he could even seriously injure or kill an elite Jōnin.
"Our team of new students will be led by Mizuki, Igaki, and Bainduo." [Uzumaki Naruto]
"Our team will be led by Might Guy, Sarutobi Asuma, and Yūhi Kurenai." [Hyuga Neji]
When he heard the names of the team leaders, Sasuke fell into thought.
Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai.
The teachers leading the older students were already the same lineup as the Twelve Rookie Genin's instructors.
The new students, meanwhile, had Mizuki the traitor and two background-character teachers.
Sasuke didn't know those two, but judging by their positions, they were probably only Chunin.
It seemed this training exercise would be dangerous...
Though his heart felt heavy, he kept chatting with Naruto and the others as usual.
More than an hour later, everyone said goodbye to Sasuke.
They left.
After they were gone, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui entered Sasuke's room.
Sasuke was somewhat surprised to see them.
As far as he was concerned, the person who should have come to ask him about this was Uchiha Fugaku.
"Big brother, Shisui."
"You two have something to ask me, don't you?"
Seeing that neither of them seemed to know what to say, Sasuke spoke first.
"Sasuke, I want to know exactly what happened this time."
"And the real reason behind it."
Shisui took a deep breath and decided to ask directly.
Going around in circles about some things could backfire.
"Last night, Lord Jiraiya came to see me..."
"After I finished training with Lord Jiraiya, Father and the others came by."
"Father and the others seemed to have spotted an enemy, so they went to deal with it."
"As for me, I headed toward the clan grounds."
"That was when four members of the Root Organization appeared in front of me."
"They..."
And so Sasuke began to fabricate the details of the battle.
How he had been fearless, focused only on defeating the enemies in front of him.
How he'd suddenly had an insight and found the best way to fight.
How, just as he'd managed to intimidate the last two, Uchiha Shisui appeared and stole his kills...
At first, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui listened quite attentively.
But as Sasuke went on, his story became more and more outrageous.
"Okay, okay..."
Before Sasuke could continue, Shisui cut him off.
"We can leave the rest aside."
"Are you sure the Root Organization attacked you first, and that you killed two of its members by yourself?"
Shisui highlighted the key points.
"I'm sure."
Sasuke nodded. He had no intention of hiding his strength.
"Itachi, I think I overlooked Sasuke's perspective before."
"He was able to analyze the situation during the battle and kill members of the Root Organization."
"He even reminded me at the end to kill the other two and dispose of their bodies."
"I think we need to take what Sasuke said earlier seriously."
Uchiha Shisui spoke with a grave expression.
Because if everything Sasuke had said was true, Shimura Danzō had already begun making a move against the Uchiha.
Though they didn't know why Sasuke had been the first target, Danzō had made his move all the same.
"So how should we respond now?"
"Should we follow Father's plan, or modify the plan we already had?"
Uchiha Itachi asked slowly.
"No, our previous plan was built on the foundation of reconciling the clan and the village."
"That means there are too many things we'd have to change now."
"We might as well draw up a new plan."
Uchiha Shisui looked deep in thought, as if his mind were racing through countless calculations.
"Hey, hey..."
"Big brother, Shisui, did you two forget there's someone else here?"
"Could you say something I can understand?!"
Sasuke looked exasperated.
It was one thing that the two of them weren't very clever, but why was their conversation so confusing, too?
"Sasuke, you're still young. Your job is to focus on getting stronger."
"As for those who need to step forward and lead the way, leave that to us."
Itachi spoke solemnly.
Uchiha Shisui beside him nodded in agreement.
Their understanding when it came to matters like this was truly remarkable—remarkably alike, in fact!
"Fine."
"Let me rest."
Sasuke lay down on the bed and ignored them.
Itachi and Shisui exchanged a glance, then left Sasuke's room.
After they were gone, Sasuke stared listlessly at the ceiling.
Having someone to lead the way was a good thing.
But these two guides seemed to be a bit of a pair of blockheads...
Sasuke shook his head, casting the thought aside.
His job was to make himself strong enough.
When the time came, no matter what problems arose, he could just crush his way through them.
After all, he couldn't focus only on the clan's current crisis. There was also the threat from High Heaven in the future.
Among the Ōtsutsuki Clan, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and Ōtsutsuki Isshiki were already in the Ninja World.
Who knew when the two of them might make trouble?
Thinking of the Ōtsutsuki made Sasuke think of the original story.
His eye seemed to have been stabbed blind by that unflammable thing.
Should I go after Hinata and nip that unflammable thing in the bud?
As Sasuke refined chakra, time slowly passed.
On the third day, Sasuke finally left the observation room.
Although he was well enough to return to school, he could clearly sense that even more eyes were watching him.
Most of them belonged to guards arranged by the Uchiha themselves.
There were also members of the Anbu and the Root Organization.
Being "protected" this way made Sasuke feel more at ease.
At least for the time being, there wouldn't be any threats from the village.
And Shimura Danzō probably didn't have the time to come after him right now, did he?
Before you continue