Chapter 8

The ground exploded. Sasuke's figure turned into a streak of lightning as he lunged at Itachi. "This body... this taijutsu..."

Itachi was stunned once again.

But Uchiha Itachi was a genius, after all. After a brief moment of shock, he quickly steadied himself and met Sasuke's attack.

With Lightning God Mode bolstering him, Sasuke's exchange with Itachi was as clean as a knife slicing through tofu.

Not a single unnecessary movement.

Every move landed with precision.

Once his Sharingan was active, his aim was flawless. He couldn't afford to miss by even a little. "Thud!"

Sasuke lost his balance for a moment, leaving an opening. Itachi didn't hesitate and slapped him flying.

Itachi's eyes were shining. He hadn't expected his little brother to hold out for so long. "Sasuke, you..."

"Zzzzt—"

"Boom!"

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck down, cutting Itachi off completely.

The next moment, Sasuke, his whole body wreathed in lightning, charged at him again.

The Lightning Release attack was absurdly fast and powerful, and it carried a numbing current.

With all those advantages combined, Itachi had no choice but to focus and respond.

Itachi was startled again. He immediately formed hand seals and used ninjutsu to keep Sasuke at bay.

Lightning Release, Fire Release...

In the blink of an eye, smoke and dust filled the training ground.

But the fight didn't stop for a second.

Both of them had their Sharingan activated. A little obstruction to their vision was nothing.

When the smoke cleared, Sasuke was lying on the ground again.

With this all-out fighting style, his current chakra reserves really couldn't sustain him for more than a few rounds.

He couldn't help envying those people with chakra to spare, as if it cost them nothing. "Sasuke, when did you learn to fight like that?"

Itachi sat down beside his younger brother, sounding both surprised and pleased. "I discovered it a while ago while experimenting with Lightning Release chakra conversion."

"Big brother, do you have anything that can replenish chakra?"

"I haven't even used all my abilities yet."

Sasuke put on an unconvinced expression. "I do."

"This is a special medicine prepared for the Anbu."

"It'll restore your chakra quickly."

"Along with your own chakra cultivation, you should be back to full strength in about two hours."

"I'll wait here."

Itachi handed him the medicine and patiently explained...

"Big brother, what do you think of the Hokage's ideals?"

After drinking the medicine, Sasuke sat upright and asked casually. "The Hokage's ideals?"

"Protecting the village with your own life, I guess."

Itachi thought for a moment before giving the answer he believed in. "And who does the village you're protecting belong to?"

Sasuke pressed him again. "Who does the village belong to?"

"Obviously Konoha. It belongs to everyone..."

At that, Itachi suddenly faltered.

The answer he'd once thought self-evident now made him question himself.

"Big brother, the Uchiha are part of the village too. The Uchiha should have a place in it."

"Does the village you're risking your life to protect really include the Uchiha?"

Sasuke said no more.

He saw the progress bar jump to [4/10]. The answer was already clear.

As he watched Sasuke close his eyes and begin cultivating chakra, a storm stirred in Itachi's heart.

If Sasuke were still the little kid who followed him around, calling, "Big brother, come practice with me," Itachi wouldn't have thought much of it.

But Sasuke now...

A seed of something he couldn't quite name quietly took root in Uchiha Itachi's heart.

Before long, Sasuke's chakra had recovered.

Without a word, he immediately demanded to keep fighting.

Itachi had no objections.

But Sasuke's performance in the next rounds kept shattering Itachi's understanding of his little brother.

You could use Fire Release: Great Fireball like that?!

That range was huge. Was it really only a C-rank jutsu?

How could a five-year-old control chakra so precisely?

A five-year-old could keep the Three-Tomoe Sharingan active the whole time? His mental strength was ridiculous.

By the end of their third sparring match, Sasuke was sprawled on the training ground, unable to lift even a finger.

Even with help from the system and all the desperate training he'd done lately, the gap between him and Uchiha Itachi was still obvious. "Sasuke, were those things you said earlier something Father asked you to tell me?"

Itachi had originally come to practice with his younger brother and build a closer relationship between them. But now, his thoughts were in turmoil.

The kid before him had monstrous talent and remarkably original ideas.

Even he, once hailed as a genius, couldn't help feeling inferior. "I thought of it myself."

Sasuke's voice was clearly tired, but still steady. "Father... might still have some illusions about the village."

"Otherwise, he wouldn't have let you join the Anbu."

Itachi raised a finger and called out, "Release!"

The barrier around them vanished.

He bent down, carried Sasuke on his back, and took him to his room.

After settling Sasuke into bed, Itachi turned and left. "Two more times..."

Sasuke stared at the system panel, feeling a little frustrated.

If he'd managed to last one more round, he could've completed the mission today.

Oh well. With a big brother as protective as his, Itachi would surely come looking for him again soon.

For now, the most important thing was to get stronger.

With that thought, Sasuke began training to improve his cellular activity and cultivate chakra.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Itachi, wearing a mask, appeared in the Hokage's office. "How did it go?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, wearing a kind expression. "I'm quite curious about your younger brother. With such good talent, he needs proper guidance so he can become a reliable asset to the village."

"It's not impossible that he could be groomed to become Hokage one day."

"Sasuke asked me about taijutsu training methods today, as well as my thoughts on Fire Release."

Itachi stood before the Third Hokage, his tone devoid of emotion. With his mask on, no one could see his expression. "Compared to ordinary children, he's certainly a little better. But he's still far from being a genius."

"At least, I could do everything he can do now when I was five."

"As for changing his way of thinking... that'll take time."

"Hmm..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "All right, I'll leave this to you, Itachi."

"Let me know anytime if you need the village's help."

"Also—don't get involved with Danzo."

With that, he waved a hand.

Itachi nodded, then vanished in a flash.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't notice that Itachi's attitude had already changed.

Instead, Itachi's words had made him stop worrying about Uchiha Sasuke altogether.

With such a good big brother, what was there to worry about?

Just as Shisui could influence Itachi, Itachi could easily influence Sasuke, couldn't he?

The real headache at the moment was that old bastard, Shimura Danzō.

Although he still didn't know the exact reason, Danzō seemed to be growing more and more eager to target the Uchiha.

Looks like he'd have to give the Root Organization a good warning.

Late that night,

Sasuke's stomach suddenly let out a loud rumble.

Hunger dragged him out of his training.

Damn, he'd forgotten to prepare a late-night snack.

Sasuke had been cultivating chakra while tempering his cellular activity.

The energy in his body was pouring out as if a floodgate had opened.

This training consumed far too much energy.

It wouldn't be easy to find food at this hour.

Besides, Sasuke didn't want to wake his mother just because he was hungry. "Right, Ichiraku Ramen is still open at night."

"I'll stop by and see what that Otsutsuki relative is like."

Having made up his mind, Sasuke got out of bed and headed straight out the door.

He followed the route he remembered, and sure enough, Ichiraku Ramen was still lit up. "Someone else is here?"

A small shadow was visible behind the curtain.

He hadn't expected anyone else to be out looking for food in the middle of the night.

"Boss, ten bowls of your signature ramen."

Sasuke lifted the curtain, plopped down on a seat, and placed his order. "Ten bowls?"

"That's a lot to eat at night... Never mind. Kids these days have big appetites."

Teuchi had been about to advise him against it, but after seeing the little girl who'd just been there, he swallowed his words.

Then he turned and went to cook.

"Hinata?"

"Sasuke?"

They both froze.

The Hyuga family's little princess was out getting a late-night snack in the middle of the night too.

Neither of them had expected to run into each other here. "Have you been training all this time?"

"Does the Hyuga family not even give you a late-night snack?"

Sasuke teased her casually. "No."

"I... I just..."

Hinata was already shy by nature.

Now she'd been caught eating in the middle of the night by a classmate, with ten empty bowls stacked beside her.

Her face turned bright red, and she could barely get her words out. "Can you eat a little more?"

"We're classmates. I'll treat you."

Sasuke offered generously.

Ever since he'd shown his extraordinary talent, Uchiha Fugaku had given him plenty of pocket money. "I'm not hungry. I've already had enough..."

"Are you sure?"

Hinata had meant to refuse.

But when she saw Teuchi already bringing over two bowls of ramen, the words slipped out before she could stop herself. "Of course."

Sasuke found it rather amusing.

In the original story, this girl could eat even more than Naruto and Choji.

He hadn't expected her appetite to awaken so early.

But it made sense. Training consumed a lot of energy, and Hinata was the heir to the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai, so her body naturally needed more.

On top of that, she was probably too embarrassed to eat her fill in front of her family.

That was probably why she was sneaking around like this.

Still, Sasuke's amusement didn't last long.

Soon, he was stunned.

After eating ten bowls of ramen, Hinata polished off five more.

The key was that she still looked as if she hadn't eaten enough.

Hinata, the eldest daughter of the Hyuga family, was never taken seriously for her abilities.

She'd grown up underfed, was timid, and felt inferior because of her Byakugan... Yet despite all that, she'd still managed to master Gentle Fist to a respectable degree. That alone showed that she had genuine talent deep down.

If he could fully draw out her potential, she'd definitely become a capable ally in the future.

Bringing her over to his side would be a sure bet.

They arrived at the gate of the Hyuga family compound, one after the other. "You can leave me here."

Sasuke waved to her and turned to go. "I... I'll see you tomorrow."

Hinata's "thank you" had been circling in her mind for ages, but by the time she finally said it, he was already gone.

She clasped her hands to her chest, her cheeks burning red. "He... really is a good person."

"People from the Uchiha family aren't so scary after all."

Back in his room, Sasuke gathered his chakra again and began refining his cells, bit by bit.

In the days that followed, Itachi seemed to have vanished into thin air.

More than half a month had passed, and he still hadn't seen him. "Sasuke, what are you daydreaming about?"

A pair of enormous red eyes suddenly loomed in front of him. Their visual prowess surged, and the space around them warped and twisted.

The Forest of Thorns genjutsu Sasuke had just laid down was instantly crushed to nothing.

He jolted back to his senses. Uchiha Fugaku was staring at him sternly. "Father, I... I was thinking about Big Brother."

"Why haven't I seen him around lately?"

"Sorry. I shouldn't have let my mind wander while training."

Sasuke admitted his mistake honestly, then let slip the question on his mind. "Itachi's on a mission."

"Keep training."

"With genjutsu, its strength depends entirely on mental power. But controlling mental power is far more difficult than controlling chakra."

"When you're just starting out, don't underestimate it."

Uchiha Fugaku patiently taught him, step by step.

The more time he spent with his youngest son, the more astonished he became.

Whatever ninjutsu he threw Sasuke's way, Sasuke picked it up quickly, and his techniques were far more powerful than most people's.

Sometimes, Sasuke's chakra control was so precise that even Fugaku couldn't help feeling inferior.

That was why, when Sasuke said he wanted to learn genjutsu, Fugaku had agreed without hesitation.

Being the father of two geniuses brought pride, but also the worry of how best to raise them.

Itachi had been exposed to the battlefield too young, and developed a pathological aversion to killing and war...