Ino Yamanaka

Josuke looked at the newcomer.

It was actually Ino Yamanaka.

Although he had been studying at the academy for a while now, to be honest, Josuke had hardly interacted with any of the female characters from Naruto.

He smiled faintly. "What is it, Ino?"

Ino was delighted. Josuke was not aloof at all; instead, he gave off a gentle feeling and seemed easy to get along with. (This was probably Josuke's personality as the protagonist—something like a sunny young man... He might change somewhat after the night of the clan massacre, maybe.)

That made Ino a little embarrassed.

"Umm, Josuke, do you have any tricks for the Clone Jutsu? I feel like I can never get the hang of it."

Ino shyly brushed aside the loose strands of hair by her ear.

Josuke thought about it. How should he explain it in a simple way?

After pondering for a moment, Josuke spoke.

"I don't think there are any tricks. As long as you control your chakra at a level that suits you, it should be fine."

Ino blinked her cute eyes.

"Then I'll give it a try."

With that, Ino closed her eyes and formed hand seals.

Before long, an identical Ino appeared beside her.

But she quickly vanished.

Ino opened her eyes in surprise. She had not expected to actually succeed.

"Josuke, thank you!"

Ino said happily.

Josuke waved his hand. It was his first time being treated like this by a little girl, and it made him feel a little embarrassed.

In his previous life, he had been a purebred goblin, longing for perfect love and a beautiful wife.

Unfortunately, a goblin was ultimately just a goblin...

"You're welcome. If you have any other questions, you can come find me too."

Josuke suddenly felt that he should not have said that. It felt like the kind of thing that could kill a conversation.

Ino covered her mouth and smiled.

"Mm, then please take care of me."

The half-day of classes ended just like that, and noon soon arrived. Sasuke and Josuke took out the lunchboxes Mikoto had prepared for them in advance.

The lunches were plentiful.

There were rice balls and sushi. Perhaps because they had been practicing today, the meal particularly suited Josuke's taste. As Josuke and Sasuke ate off to the side, Sakura walked over.

With a bashful face, Sakura said to Sasuke, "Sasuke, my mom made these rolled omelets. P-please try some." (I have no idea how she knew which one was Sasuke and which one was Josuke, hehe.)

Sasuke replied coolly, "I don't need it."

With that, he got up and left. Seeing Sasuke leave, Josuke immediately followed after him.

Sakura looked disappointed, but she did not lose heart. (After all, she was our bitch Sakura.)

Just as Josuke was about to leave, Ino came running over. "Josuke, this is sweet tea from my family."

Ino handed him a small bottle.

Josuke accepted it casually. The transparent bottle was indeed filled with tea.

"Thanks, Ino. Arigato."

Josuke then said goodbye and hurried off in Sasuke's direction.

After Josuke left, Ino happily showed off to her best friend.

"See that? That's my Josuke, unlike certain people's Sasuke. Hmph hmph hmph..."

Sakura rolled her eyes at her.

Look at you. What are you even acting like?

(I'm out of material. Let's just skip ahead!!)

It was finally time to leave school in the afternoon. Josuke truly could not take it anymore. School had already been exhausting enough in his previous life, and now he had to go to school again? QAQ What torture.

When he returned home,

Josuke did not see his father or mother.

Instead, he saw the good older brother he had not seen in a long time.

Sasuke saw his good older brother as well and happily rushed over.

"Big brother~"

Sasuke hugged his brother's leg.

Itachi lightly tapped Sasuke on the forehead with two fingers.

This was probably Itachi's last time coming home. The next time would likely be the night of the clan massacre...

Seeing that their father and mother had not returned, Itachi personally cooked dinner for his two younger brothers.

Dinner was not particularly lavish, but it was enough to fill their stomachs. Not long after they finished eating, Fugaku and Mikoto finally returned.

Fugaku's face was gloomy.

He looked toward Josuke, Sasuke, and Itachi.

Then he thought of what he had discussed with the clan elders earlier.

Did it really have to be this way?

Ever since the Nine-Tails incident, the village's suppression and discrimination against the Uchiha had continued to worsen. Fugaku had reported the situation to the Third Hokage many times.

But the Third's answers always disappointed Fugaku. It was always, "Endure a little longer, endure a little longer, for the sake of the Hidden Leaf Village."

Although Fugaku was dissatisfied, his resentment was only directed at the Hidden Leaf Village's higher-ups. Yet at today's high-level Uchiha clan meeting, the Great Elder had proposed that all Uchiha launch a coup and seize control of the Hidden Leaf Village through rebellion.

That way, the Uchiha could live peacefully in the village.

Fugaku had immediately tried to stop it, but he had not expected that he had still underestimated his clansmen's hatred for the Hidden Leaf Village. The Great Elder had already rallied most of the Uchiha.

The rebellion had already begun in secret. Even if Fugaku did not want to rebel, he no longer had a choice.

That left Fugaku in an exceptionally complicated state of mind.

Itachi looked at his father and mother. Through the Anbu, he had already learned what had happened at the meeting, so he had no choice but to take that step.

"Father. Mother."

Itachi looked at them.

Fugaku looked at his son, whom he had not seen in a long time, and nodded.

"You've grown taller again? Where are your two younger brothers?"

"They're already asleep. They were exhausted from practicing at school today. After dinner and a bath, they collapsed into bed and started sleeping soundly."

Mikoto's eyes flickered.

Fugaku said nothing more and returned to his room alone. Once he confirmed that no one was nearby, he silently opened a secret chamber.

Inside were only a few simple tables and chairs.

He found a place to sit. The pupils in his eyes turned into three-tomoe Sharingan, then the three tomoe spun wildly and became an exquisite shuriken.

Even now, no one knew that the Uchiha clan head possessed the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan, except Fugaku himself. (It existed in the anime version but not in the original work, so I'm going with the anime, QAQ.)

Fugaku could not change his clansmen's minds. There was only about a month left before the rebellion, and he had never imagined that, in order to force him to submit,

the elders, who had always disagreed with one another, would actually unite at this moment.

What an irony.

Fugaku suddenly missed the days when Minato was still alive. If he had acted back then, would Minato have survived? No one could say.

At the very least, during Minato's time as Hokage, the relationship between the Uchiha and the entire Hidden Leaf Village had eased to an unprecedented degree. Many clansmen and villagers had set aside their prejudices.

It could be said that since Madara's departure, that period had been the time when the Uchiha had the best relationship with the villagers. Some of the older Uchiha even firmly claimed

that during the Fourth Hokage's tenure, the relationship had been several times better than it had been in the past.

And now, what had become of this world...?