Invitation!

The morning class was cultural studies.

In short, it was a class where shameless Hiruzen Sarutobi sang his own praises.

They said the material for this class had been personally compiled by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

On the surface, it covered history, explanations of battles, geography, and culture...

In reality, it was propaganda about the Third Hokage's achievements.

They'd even included photographs of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

You had to admit, when it came to shamelessness, Hiruzen Sarutobi was second to none.

The Strongest Hokage, the Professor of Ninjutsu...

Those self-proclaimed titles took a real lack of shame to come up with.

"Sasuke, look. Is that the Third Hokage?"

"He looks just like that old man who cares about me the most, gives me things, and doesn't look down on me!"

"Could it be... that Lord Hokage has been watching over me all along?"

Naruto lowered his voice and excitedly shared his discovery with Sasuke, his deskmate.

That was right. The two of them had been assigned to the same class.

Since it was the start of the school year, everyone got to choose their own seats.

So, as friends, the two of them naturally sat together.

"I know."

Sasuke's mouth twitched.

He wasn't sure Naruto could accept that kind of setup for the old man, Hiruzen.

This brainwashing class was really... remarkably effective!

That was a big problem.

In Sasuke's plans, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other higher-ups needed to be eliminated.

And Naruto, the child of destiny and Kishimoto's darling,

couldn't be abandoned either.

It looked like he had to start changing Naruto's idea of what it meant to be "good."

The morning passed quietly as Sasuke considered these problems.

At noon,

everyone went to the cafeteria to eat.

Naruto, however, sat alone in the classroom.

He didn't have enough money to buy himself a meal.

"Here."

"I got this for you."

Sasuke handed Naruto his lunchbox.

He'd brought several lunchboxes with him.

They weren't for Naruto; Sasuke himself needed that much food.

"Eat. I've got another one."

Sasuke took out a second lunchbox and started eating.

Thinking all morning had taken a lot of energy.

Besides, he had more or less come up with a solution.

The afternoon was devoted to ninjutsu.

At first, they mainly covered the principles of ninjutsu and the nature of chakra...

Most children from ninja clans had already learned this basic material at home.

Someone like Naruto listened with wide-eyed curiosity.

When school let out, Sasuke left first.

Naruto had planned to walk home with him, and felt a little disappointed when he saw Sasuke leave.

Still, he didn't chase after him.

He didn't want to get too close and scare off his new friend.

Beneath the setting sun, he headed home, his lonely shadow trailing behind him.

At the same time, Sasuke arrived at a wooded area.

"Uncle Natsume, you're here, right?"

Sasuke called softly.

"Rustle!"

A figure appeared in front of Sasuke.

"Sasuke, is something the matter?"

Natsume looked at Sasuke calmly.

As a powerful Uchiha who belonged to the same generation as Fugaku Uchiha, Natsume saw Sasuke as a junior.

That junior, however, had a special status: he was the clan leader's son.

"Uncle Natsume, I need some money."

"Could I borrow some?"

Sasuke held out his hand.

"Money?"

"You..."

Though puzzled, Natsume still gave Sasuke some money.

Sasuke took it without offering an explanation, then left at once.

Natsume was left looking utterly bewildered.

By the lake,

Naruto picked up a stone and tossed it into the water.

As he watched the ripples spread, the calm he'd finally managed to find was thrown into disarray once more.

He really had no idea how to get along with his friend...

"Why, are you waiting for me here?"

Just then, a familiar voice reached Naruto's ears.

"Sasuke?!"

Naruto was delighted.

But after calling Sasuke's name, he couldn't think of anything else to say.

He just stood there, dumbfounded.

"I went to buy a few things. I thought you might need them."

Sasuke held out some fresh milk and food to Naruto.

At the sight of the food in Sasuke's hands, Naruto's heart gave a sudden pang.

"No need."

"I've got tons of delicious food at home."

"I usually..."

"We're friends, right?"

Before Naruto could keep "bragging," Sasuke cut him off.

"Yeah!"

Naruto nodded emphatically.

"I'm going to become the strongest ninja someday."

"If you don't work hard to grow stronger, I'll leave you way behind."

"Take it."

Sasuke shoved the bag into Naruto's arms.

Then he began forming hand seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Sasuke unleashed a fire jutsu. Flames surged out and formed a huge fireball over the lake.

"This is ninjutsu. I've already mastered it."

"So you'd better hurry up and train."

When Sasuke finished speaking, he gave Naruto a particularly warm smile.

Naruto's face was full of surprise and admiration.

He was too innocent to think anything more of it.

"I have to go home."

"We'll go to school together tomorrow, too!"

"Could I invite you to my house this weekend?"

Sasuke held out his hand.

"Sure!"

Naruto hugged Sasuke's gift tightly with one arm and held out his other hand to bump fists with him, sealing their promise as men.

In the shadows, Uchiha Natsume's mind nearly exploded when he saw what was happening.

He knew Uzumaki Naruto's identity.

As a powerful Uchiha, he'd naturally learned some of what had happened back then.

Sasuke's actions were unquestionably creating huge trouble for the Uchiha.

How could those narrow-minded people in Konoha possibly let the Jinchuriki visit the Uchiha Compound?

If he hadn't been assigned to protect Uchiha Sasuke, he would have gone back at once to tell Fugaku Uchiha what he'd seen.

The other two sides were just as thrown by Sasuke's actions.

The Root Organization was searching for a weakness in the Uchiha, looking for a chance to strike and take their Sharingan.

The Anbu were keeping the Uchiha under surveillance, on guard against a possible rebellion.

Now Sasuke had invited Naruto over...

They had no idea what to do.

It was just a friendship between two children. They couldn't exactly make an issue of that, could they?

Both sides sent people to take the news back.

Meanwhile, Sasuke, the one responsible for all this, headed toward the Uchiha Compound with a happy expression.

At last, he had found an opportunity.

That's right. He hadn't invited Naruto on a whim.

Sasuke couldn't find a chance to electrocute Naruto out in the open.

But once Naruto came to the Uchiha Compound...

No matter how closely Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō kept watch, they wouldn't dare send someone to spy directly inside Fugaku Uchiha's home...

This... was his best chance!