Chapter 26

Sasuke had a very high approval of his own Susanoo, so accepting him came naturally.

This suit of armor also came with its own traits, so there was no need to worry about backlash. The only thing he needed to think about now was vitality.

To put it plainly, he had to hurry up and improve his physical constitution.

Otherwise, if he threw out a big move later and drained himself dry first, that would be a real joke. "Don't call me Master. Just call me by my name."

Sasuke smiled, his tone extremely casual. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. You can just call me Sasuke."

"Take care of me from now on, Susanoo."

He held out his hand, his attitude open and aboveboard.

Susanoo held out his arm as well. "Hello, Sasuke."

This thing's level of technology was ridiculously absurd.

The more Sasuke looked at him, the more amazed he felt. The Susanoo in front of him was almost no different from a living person.

He could even feel the emotional fluctuations coming from the other party. "I'm a little hungry."

"Come on, I'll take you to the kitchen first. There are ingredients specially prepared there."

"Right, I sometimes do actual combat training. That doesn't mean something has happened to me. Watch first and don't rush to act."

"Let's set a code phrase. Only when I say that line do you move."

As Sasuke walked, he gave instructions and led Susanoo toward the kitchen.

At that moment, on a tree not far away, Uchiha Natsume's entire body had gone rigid.

He had only wanted to try sensing that Susanoo's aura.

In the end, what he saw was a boundless sea of blood.

Even though he had taken part in plenty of wars and was now a captain of the Police Force, he was still so frightened that he lost control of his body.

Crouching on the branch, he did not even dare move.

Uchiha Natsume knew very well in his heart.

As long as he made even the slightest out-of-line move, that thing would absolutely slaughter him on the spot.

Only after he saw Sasuke and Susanoo chatting and laughing as they walked out of the room did Uchiha Natsume finally let out a breath.

Judging from their interaction, they should know each other.

And their relationship was not too stiff.

Only when Sasuke and Susanoo's backs completely disappeared from view did Uchiha Natsume fully recover.

He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished straight from where he stood.

Uchiha Fugaku's study. "A mysterious expert?"

"You're saying there's a mysterious expert following Sasuke?"

Fugaku frowned, obvious confusion in his tone.

Sasuke had been staying in the village all this time, and Uchiha Natsume basically knew everyone in the village.

If it was an outsider, someone who could avoid the barrier's sensing, bypass the perception of the entire Uchiha Clan, and directly sneak into Sasuke's room?

If Natsume had not seen it with his own eyes, no one would even know there was such a person now...

How did Sasuke come to know an expert of that level?

"Mm. Judging by the direction, they went to the kitchen."

"Clan Head, if you have time, it would be best for you to go see for yourself."

Uchiha Natsume still felt uncertain.

That killing intent, that oppressive feeling...

Even now that he no longer had to face that thing, he still felt lingering fear when he recalled it. "I understand."

"I'll go take a look."

Fugaku stood up and walked toward the kitchen.

At this hour, the only thing he could think of was that Sasuke had gotten hungry and gone to find food. He could not guess anything else.

Before long, Fugaku brought Uchiha Natsume, Nagasawa Uchiha, Uchiha Itachi, and Shisui Uchiha to the kitchen together.

They were still over ten meters away when a fragrance drifted straight into their noses.

A burst of aroma floated out from the kitchen. Nagasawa Uchiha's nose twitched, and his throat gurgled as he swallowed. "This is... someone cooking?"

Ninja consumed a lot of stamina, and cultivating chakra at night was even more exhausting. By this hour, their stomachs were already empty. "Smells like it."

Uchiha Fugaku frowned slightly and glanced at Uchiha Natsume. "Are you sure what you sensed was a dangerous person?"

He was already starting to mutter to himself now—could that brat Sasuke have found a chef and brought him back?

That smell...

"Father?"

"Big Brother?"

"Big Brother Shisui, Lord Nagasawa, Lord Natsume..."

Sasuke walked out holding a bowl, still shoveling rice into his mouth, and froze for a moment. "Sasuke, Captain Natsume said he discovered a suspicious expert, so we—"

Before Fugaku could finish speaking, Susanoo walked out from inside.

An apron was tied around him, and he held a ladle in his hand.

Where was the slightest bit of killing intent? Where was the terrifying pressure?

Uchiha Fugaku looked embarrassed and turned his head to glare at Natsume.

Everyone else also looked at him in unison. "...Well, I really was hungry. Maybe my sensing was a little off."

Uchiha Natsume scratched the back of his head, gave two dry laughs, and quickly steered the topic away.

He had utterly humiliated himself.

He was a dignified Police Force captain, an elite jonin of Konoha, and he had been scared stiff by a chef.

Though... this chef did look like he had some real ability. "No problem."

"Susanoo, sorry to trouble you."

"Use the ingredients however you like. The few of us all want something to eat."

Sasuke agreed readily. "Leave it to me!"

Susanoo grinned, turned around, and went back into the kitchen.

The group moved to the living room. "Sasuke, did you hire this chef?"

"Have you checked his background? There won't be any problems, right?"

Uchiha Itachi's tone carried worry. "Mr. Susanoo is a proper chef!"

"You'll know once you've tasted what he makes."

After Sasuke finished speaking, he lowered his head and continued shoveling rice.

Fried rice had to be eaten while it was hot. Once it went cold, it would be ruined.

Before long, the food was served on the table.

Seeing Sasuke eating until his head was covered in sweat, the others also picked up their chopsticks.

Is it really that good?

The same thought turned in everyone's minds.

But in the next second, that thought was slapped in the face. "Itachi, weren't you saying he was suspicious? Eat slower."

"Shisui, where's that elegance of yours?"

"Natsume, don't be polite. This is the chef my son hired."

"Stop arguing, I'm eating first!"

All their doubts were blocked back by a single mouthful of food.

Someone with skill like this could not possibly come to **.

If he really were a villain, they would already be lying on the ground by now. "Sasuke, now that we have Susanoo, that cook..."

"Auntie is pretty good too. Let's keep both."

"Normally, when we eat at home, Auntie can cook. When I go on missions, Mr. Susanoo can follow me."

Sasuke smiled, his face innocent.

Seeing him like this, the string in Uchiha Fugaku's heart finally loosened completely.

The lump of bedding at Naruto's bedside was still bundled into a ball. Sasuke hauled him up in a few moves, and the two of them casually stuffed down a few bites of breakfast before rushing to school.

The classroom was rarely quiet. Even the guys who usually loved making trouble the most were sprawled over their desks flipping through little notebooks.

Shikamaru leaned by the window, saying something to Ino and Choji in his usual lazy tone.

Hinata slipped in through the doorway, her steps so light they were like she was treading on cotton. She leaned close to Sasuke and lowered her voice. "I've already spoken to Brother Neji's side. Should we go check the place ahead of time?"

Sasuke swept his gaze around, then glanced at Naruto. "Take Hinata to find Kiba and Shino."

"What about you?"

"I'll go invite Shikamaru's group."

Naruto grinned and patted Hinata's shoulder, and the two of them headed toward the back of the classroom.

Sasuke turned and walked a few steps to Shikamaru's seat.

Shikamaru was just opening his mouth to say something when Sasuke gave him no chance. "You should have heard everything we said just now. One question—are you joining or not?"

Shikamaru choked. The words were stuck in his throat for a long while before he squeezed them out. "Not joining."

He waved his hand, his face full of an expression that said it was too troublesome.

This kind of work sounded like they were about to do something big. He really was too lazy to get involved. "Fine."

Sasuke did not force him, and his gaze shifted to Choji.

Choji was stuffing potato chips into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out. "Choji, do me a favor. After the trial ends, I'll treat you to all the barbecue you can eat, plus a hundred bags of your favorite potato chips. I've already stocked them up."

The potato chips in Choji's hand almost fell onto the table, and his eyes lit up. "Really?!"

"As long as you nod now, they're all yours."

Without another word, Choji raised his hand. "I'm joining!"

Sasuke added another line to the fire.

Choji had still been hesitating before, but as soon as he heard that, he reached out and directly grabbed Sasuke's arm. "**."

Choji nodded, his expression so serious he did not look like the usual gluttonous fatty at all.

As for Shikamaru... he would apologize later. "Fine."

"Ino, do you want to get involved too?"

Sasuke turned to look at Ino beside him.

If things followed the plot, Ino still had some interest in him right now.

If he opened his mouth, this girl probably would not shake her head. "Sasuke, I'm done over here."

"Sakura also agreed to join."

Just then, Naruto's voice came from beside him.

This guy...

As expected, he moved quickly. "I'm joining too."

Just as Sasuke felt his head buzzing, Ino had already given her answer. "Good."

"Then it's settled for now."

"As for Shikamaru, once he knows what we're going to do, he'll probably nod too."

"Okay. Once we leave the village, we'll follow this."

After Sasuke finished speaking, he tossed the small scrolls in his hand to several of them.

Then he turned and sat back down in his seat.

Choji carefully opened the scroll. Shikamaru really could not suppress his curiosity and leaned over to glance at it.

[Konoha ** Plan!]

Six big words leaped into his eyes, and Shikamaru instantly became alert.

For something like this, not only did they need good brains, they also needed coordination in action.

He actually wanted to see what tricks this group of temporarily gathered people could pull off.

Before long, Mizuki walked into the classroom with two teachers. "Quiet down. Next, I'll talk about the things you need to pay attention to in this trial."

"The place we're going is an undeveloped primeval forest."

"There are quite a few poisonous insects and wild beasts inside. That's the first thing you need to pay attention to."

"Also, don't lose the fake identification prepared for everyone here. Losing it is the same as failing the trial."

"Lastly, your assessment results will also depend on this thing."

"Because higher grades are participating this time, each person will be issued two identification documents."

Mizuki talked at great length from the podium, but hardly anyone below was listening seriously.

Especially Sasuke and the other eight. They had long since lost interest in the trial's contents.

Mizuki caught sight of Sasuke's indifferent look, and the fire in his heart flared up again.

He felt that Sasuke was just born into a better background, wasn't he?

What was he acting so arrogant for?

After today passed, it would be time for him, Mizuki, to turn things around.

At that time, the entire Shinobi World would have to kneel and call him big shot!

After Mizuki finished speaking, everyone gathered at the school gate.

The ninja teachers led the team, and the group followed the village's main road outward.

Hokage's office. "Lord Third, I want to leave the village and follow Sasuke."

Itachi held a mission application form and stood before Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The mission he had previously accepted was to teach Sasuke.

But today, when he wanted to use this mission to leave the village, he was stopped.

Put simply, he needed Hiruzen Sarutobi to approve another permit to leave the village.

Otherwise, Itachi could only move around within the village. "Itachi, don't worry. Asuma and the others will be watching this trial, so nothing will happen."

"I still have something I need you to do."

"Recently, on Danzo's side..."

In the end, Itachi could only walk out of the Hokage's office helplessly.

He had not gotten the permit, and instead had ended up with another mission.

A group of them left the village, finding everything fresh and new.

The moment they stepped out of the village, even the air they breathed in felt different.

The streets were full of young people, every one of them brimming with drive.

By noon, the group finally reached their destination. "Kawama, your stamina can't keep up. You're not qualified to continue. Eliminated."

"Nashiro, you ran too fast just now, fell into a pit, and broke your lower leg. Eliminated."

"Roy..."

They had only just arrived, and already a batch of students had been weeded out because of various mishaps.

The first-years in particular had nearly half their number knocked out immediately. "Teacher Mizuki, I'll take them into the woods first."

"Once you're done cleaning things up, hurry and catch up."

Asuma tossed out those words, then led the upper-year team straight into the forest.

This time, their goal was very clear—to trample the new students firmly underfoot. "You all saw that, right? The upper-years have already gone in."

"Next, I'll explain to you..."

Mizuki read out the rules word by word.

Put bluntly, it came down to one thing: pass through this forest and reach the campsite.

There were traps along the way, as well as wild beasts, so they had to be careful.

The final rankings would be based on speed.

The new student trial began now.