Chapter 12

Back then, he had not moved against Root because the village still needed such a thing. But now, the Uchiha were almost in hand, so it was time to think about how to clean up the matter of Root. "Tell Shisui to come see me."

After Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, he lowered his head and stared at several documents on the desk, his mind turning.

Written on them were: Uchiha Fugaku, Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Itachi, Nagasaki Uchiha, Uchiha Natsume, Uchiha Sasuke...

--

In the Uchiha estate. "Itachi, this is your mission?"

Uchiha Fugaku flung the document in his hand straight in front of Itachi.

For the first time, impatience toward Itachi showed on his face. "Father, you..."

"This..."

Itachi swept his eyes over the words on the document and froze.

[Uchiha Sasuke, propagator of the Will of Fire...]

When he saw the rest, Itachi inwardly cried, Good grief.

For something like this, never mind Uchiha Fugaku blowing up—even he himself was baffled. If he were not certain he had never said any of this to Sasuke, he would have suspected he had done it himself. "Father, it wasn't me."

"Besides practicing with ** now and then, Sasuke basically doesn't talk much about anything else."

"There isn't enough time."

Itachi placed the document in front of him and spoke frankly.

Of course, he did not lay out the whole truth. Even now, he was still half-skeptical about the Will of Fire, so how could he possibly run off and ** Sasuke?

"It wasn't you?"

"Then..."

Uchiha Fugaku did not think Itachi was lying.

But if it was not Itachi, could it be Shisui?

The problem was, Shisui had never even met Sasuke...

If one asked who in the clan spent the most time with Sasuke, it was probably him, his father.

A fog quietly spread through the Uchiha clan.

As for the other clans, watching the unclear, hard-to-define tug-of-war between the Uchiha and Konoha's higher-ups, they were all completely confused.

Children from several clans all had chances to brush shoulders with Uchiha Sasuke.

These people had long since spread out their hands and feet in the dark, secretly investigating something.

Over at the Ninja Academy. "Bzzzt—"

When Naruto saw arcs of electricity jumping off Sasuke from time to time, the corner of his mouth twitched.

This guy really was ruthless when it came to himself!

He did not even waste the little bit of time during class, still training there as usual. "Bzzzt!"

The next instant, it was his own turn to go numb all over.

These days, Sasuke's life had gone extremely smoothly.

Refining chakra, tempering his body, controlling ninjutsu...

Along with that, Naruto had also been shooting upward at a wild pace!

"Sasuke, why the ** do I have to memorize this stuff too?"

"And besides, I have to read it like I'm acting?"

"Don't you dislike the Third Old Man?"

Naruto's face was full of confusion.

Although Naruto usually looked like a reckless blockhead, when it came to what Sasuke instructed him to do, he carried it out with absolute honesty!

That was the line tied between the two of them. "If we do this, the two of us can climb up faster."

"At the very least, there'll be fewer stumbling blocks along the way."

"There are some things you can't figure out right now. Later, you'll understand them yourself."

There were some words Sasuke still could not explain clearly to Naruto.

He knew the direction of the Hokage line, but these things were really too far away for Naruto at his current age. "I don't really get it, but I just need to memorize this stuff dead solid, right?"

Naruto scratched his scalp, feeling as if his brain could not quite keep up.

For him, with that one-track mind of his, if he could not figure it out, he would just do what Sasuke said. That definitely could not go wrong. "Mm."

"All right, hurry up and read what you memorized out loud."

Sasuke gave him a little encouragement. "Uh... this is kinda embarrassing..."

"My wish is to become a Hokage as famous and capable as Lord Third!"

"This is the path I, Naruto Uzumaki, will walk!"

"Protect the village!"

"Beat back strong enemies outside, and let everyone live in peace inside!"

Though he said it was embarrassing, when Naruto actually shouted it out, he was burning with passion!

This guy was naturally suited to that kind of personality that shouted slogans without using his brain.

In the shadows, a figure was secretly watching.

After Naruto finished yelling all those words, that feeling of being watched also disappeared...

Sasuke sensed that gaze vanish, and the smile at the corner of his mouth widened even further.

Clearly, these words coming from Naruto's mouth were far more convincing than Sasuke saying them himself.

Having done it to this point, even that old fox Hiruzen Sarutobi probably would not suspect anything anymore, right?

After all, what crooked thoughts could two little brats barely five years old have!?

Late the next night.

In a cave outside Konoha Village. "My lord, I've found out."

"Right now, that little genius from the Uchiha family whom everyone is praising to the skies has indeed been pickled through by the Will of Fire."

"And the abilities he's revealed are much more uncanny than the rumors outside say!"

"I watched them train. That ruthlessness in training even made my back go cold."

"The key is Uchiha Fugaku's attitude toward him. He seems extremely indulgent."

"So, should we make a move on him?"

In the darkness, a figure slowly swayed out.

Beneath white hair was a sinister face.

The cold light that flashed through his eyes made it obvious at a glance that he was no good.

It was none other than a teacher at Konoha Ninja Academy—Mizuki!

And the person before Mizuki, whom he respectfully addressed as lord, was the Shinobi World's number one mad scientist—Orochimaru!

"How confident are you?"

The corner of Orochimaru's mouth lifted slightly, and his voice drifted out slowly. "Next month, there will be a special training session."

"Originally, Iruka is in charge of it, but I can snatch it over."

"The location is set for the woods to the west."

"When the time comes... I will personally deliver the target you want right before your eyes."

"You..."

Mizuki stared eagerly at Orochimaru, his face full of expectation.

That was right. It was precisely because Uchiha Sasuke had appeared that Orochimaru had sought out Mizuki ahead of time.

This guy's head was full of becoming stronger and making the entire Shinobi World remember his name.

Back then, after catching a distant glimpse of Uchiha Itachi, Orochimaru had begun planning the road ahead.

But unfortunately, that brat Uchiha Itachi's strength grew too fiercely.

It made Orochimaru never dare entertain designs on him.

After all, Uchiha Itachi worked in the Anbu, and he usually had other Anbu experts with him.

If his movements were exposed, then even he, Orochimaru, might lose his life in battle.

For something this risky, the always-cautious Orochimaru simply would not do it.

But now, another genius had emerged from the Uchiha family.

The key was, this little brat called Sasuke was only a little over five years old!

That age... was just right to take and nurture, to make into the most suitable body for himself!

And so, the scene before them had come to pass. "This is a potion that can activate the curse mark."

"However, the curse mark has not been completely perfected yet. Don't use it recklessly unless absolutely necessary."

"Of course, as long as you bring Sasuke to me, the most perfect curse mark will be yours!"

"When the time comes, the power you can possess will absolutely exceed your imagination!"

Orochimaru tossed a vial of potion into Mizuki's hand.

Right after that, a great snake drilled out of the ground and swallowed him in one bite, and his figure disappeared just like that. "Heh heh heh... hahaha!"

"Iruka, Hokage, all of you open your eyes and watch!"

"I, Mizuki, will soon become an existence you fear to death!"

Mizuki clutched that vial of potion, so excited that his whole face twisted out of shape.

He had no idea that even Orochimaru, whom he now worshiped beyond measure, did not dare be this arrogant when facing Konoha.

Of course, this was something Mizuki had no way to understand.

He believed with all his heart that he would definitely be able to use Sasuke as a stepping stone and become a ninja who made the entire Shinobi World tremble.

Not long after the two of them left.

A man with a full head of white hair appeared in the same place. "The scent of Orochimaru's chakra..."

"How dare he come here?!"

Jiraiya sensed the chakra fluctuations left around him, and his expression sank at once.

Ever since Orochimaru defected, he had been chasing him all over the world.

At the same time, he had been traveling and training outside.

This time, he had just happened to return to the village to handle some important business, and he never expected to sense Orochimaru's aura here.

In an instant, Jiraiya's mood became heavy.

Because the reason he had come back this time was to finish writing the latest installment of Make-Out Paradise and send it out.

The final step was to gather a little material in Konoha.

As one of Konoha's legendary Sannin, he still could not let go of his feelings for this place. "Smack!"

"Damn it!"

"What time is it? Why the hell am I still thinking about this nonsense?"

"Orochimaru must have slipped away already. I'll go get material first!"

Jiraiya slapped himself hard across the mouth, then disappeared.

After returning to the village, he told Hiruzen Sarutobi the news and did not say anything more.

Toward this teacher of his, Jiraiya really did not have much to talk about.

In the Hokage's office. "Orochimaru?"

"He... why would he come here?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi thumbed through an old, dust-covered file, his face so dark it seemed water could drip from it. "That boy... is he going to make a real move against the village?"

Those three people had been the proud students he had personally taught back then.

Now, however, they had become stains he could never wash clean in this life. "Chu, take three squads and go out to scout the way."

"If you find any clues, send them back immediately."

After several seconds of silence, he ultimately gave the order to pursue.

"Rest assured, Lord Hokage."

Chu was an old hand by the Third's side, and in terms of pursuit, he ranked high in the village.

After receiving the order, he disappeared directly into the night.

At the same time.

After finishing his training, Sasuke walked from the side of Shadow Leaf Lake toward the clan grounds.

Suddenly—

"Sizzle!"

A chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his skull.

Instinctively, he erupted into Lightning God Mode, and the chakra and muscles throughout his body tensed in an instant. "Heh... you really do have some skill."

"The Uchiha genius truly lives up to his reputation."

The ground split open, and a great snake drilled out.

The snake's mouth opened, and a pale-faced man slowly crawled out, his voice dark and eerie. "Orochimaru!?"

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat.

Why had a figure like this come to Konoha?

An S-rank missing-nin—if the people in the village discovered him, even Uncle Snake, no matter how well he could fight, would have to leave his life here.

The key was... this guy couldn't be coming for him, could he?

Fuck!

Instead of going to look for your big brother Itachi, what the hell are you doing coming to catch a small fry like me?

"Let me introduce myself first."

"My name is Orochimaru. I used to be from Konoha too."

"You may not know me now, but that doesn't matter. There will be plenty of chances for you to understand slowly in the future."

"Come with me."

Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!

Before his voice had even faded, he had already struck. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Sasuke did not think twice. He threw out a huge fireball with a backhanded move.

Whether it could burn someone to death was another matter. First, he had to block it.

The massive ball of fire slammed head-on into the snake shadows, and the snakes' bodies were instantly burned to ash. "Not bad use of Fire Style."

"Unfortunately, that alone isn't enough."

Orochimaru licked his lips, his gaze locking onto Sasuke.

He waited for the flames to scatter, intending to take him down directly. Boom!

The fireball exploded.

Thick smoke and firelight swallowed Orochimaru in an instant.

Sasuke seized the opening, turned, and ran toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Orochimaru was no joke.

If he fell into his hands, who knew what freakish thing he would leave inside his body?

If it ruined his foundation, that would be a real loss. "Rustle, rustle—"

Before he could even run into the woods, several pythons shot out from a few large trees.

The moment the snake heads opened, each of their mouths spat out an Orochimaru.

On the other side, the smoke dispersed.

All that was left on the ground was a shed snakeskin.

Substitution Technique. In the entire Shinobi World, no one played it better than him. "I originally wanted to be a little polite and quietly take you away under cover of night."

"Looks like I still have to do this the hard way."

The five Orochimarus opened their mouths at the same time.

In the next second, countless venomous snakes poured from their mouths, blotting out the sky as they lunged at Sasuke. "Tch..."

Sasuke raised a hand, and a card appeared out of thin air in his palm. Bang!

Chakra surged fiercely into it, and dense smoke exploded outward, instantly engulfing the surroundings. "What the hell is that?"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, and through his senses came an extremely familiar pressure.

Within the white mist, a massive silhouette slowly emerged.