Eagle Organization

At the border of the Land of Waves, Kakashi repeatedly used the Body Flicker Technique as he raced toward the country at top speed.

He found Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata having a picnic in the forest.

Kakashi let out a sigh of relief.

Sasuke asked, "Kakashi-sensei, you're back?"

Kakashi asked instead, "Are you all okay?"

Sasuke said, "We're fine."

Kakashi relaxed. "Good. You didn't run into anyone strange, did you?"

Sasuke said, "Of course we did. We met a strange man carrying a huge sword. He called himself the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi!"

At that name—

Kakashi's heart leaped into his throat. Breathing rapidly, he asked Sasuke, "Zabuza! He's an S-rank missing-nin who once attempted to assassinate the Mizukage and failed. You ran into him and were still unharmed?!"

Sasuke said casually, "I defeated him. Oh, and Kakashi-sensei, if Zabuza is an S-rank missing-nin, then this mission clearly wasn't as simple as a C-rank mission."

Kakashi nodded. "Don't worry. When I return, I'll have this mission upgraded to S-rank!"

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and gave Sasuke, Hinata, and Naruto a thumbs-up. "You did great. You completed an S-rank mission exceptionally well! This is the first time genin have completed an S-rank mission!"

Two days later.

Inside a hidden fortress outside the Hidden Mist Village, Zabuza was polishing the Executioner's Blade.

Suddenly, the space around him twisted.

Obito appeared inside the fortress. Seemingly sensing the spatial disturbance, Zabuza grabbed the Executioner's Blade and slashed at Obito.

But the Executioner's Blade simply passed through Obito's body, as though Zabuza had cut through air.

Zabuza eyed Obito warily. "An Uchiha?"

Obito slowly said, "Zabuza, come with me."

Zabuza said, "Wait a moment. I need to get Haku."

Then Obito took Zabuza and Haku with him, vanishing from the hidden fortress.

Konoha, Uchiha Clan.

Uchiha Fugaku stared blankly at Zabuza and Haku before him.

Fugaku looked at Sasuke in disbelief. "You're saying that the intelligence and assassination organization our Uchiha Clan is forming should recruit a missing-nin?"

Fugaku's thinking was still rather traditional.

The Uchiha Clan's intelligence and assassination organization was called the Eagle Organization, a name Sasuke had chosen.

Fugaku thought the name was excellent, symbolizing an eagle's powers of observation.

But Sasuke simply thought it sounded cool.

As for the Eagle Organization, it had only one true member: Obito.

Obito had excellently completed the mission to assassinate Danzo and had perfectly disposed of Danzo's corpse.

Originally, Uchiha Kento had wanted to join the Eagle Organization as well, but Sasuke had not thought much of him.

Because Sasuke's original intention had been to value quality over quantity and turn the Eagle Organization into an elite group like the Akatsuki.

At the very least, one had to possess the strength of an S-rank missing-nin.

Obito's strength far exceeded that standard.

Zabuza's strength had reached the level of an S-rank missing-nin. Although he had been killed by Kakashi in the original story, if Kakashi had defected from the village, he would have been at least an S-rank missing-nin himself.

Thus, the Eagle Organization gained its second member.

The Demon of the Hidden Mist—Zabuza Momochi.

Looking at Zabuza's ragged clothes, Sasuke teased, "Zabuza, if you keep wearing such tattered clothes, will Haku like you?"

Zabuza instinctively glanced at Haku, then tightened his grip on his sword hilt. "Say another word of nonsense, and I'll kill you!"

Sasuke smiled. Zabuza's heartbeat had obviously accelerated. Though his face remained frosty, he was nervous.

That made sense. Although Haku was a boy, he was exceptionally beautiful. It was understandable for Zabuza to have some unusual feelings.

Besides, the original story said Haku was a boy, but it never said Zabuza was not a woman.

Sasuke entertained himself with the thought.

Sasuke joked, "I'm your employer now. Besides, you can't beat me anyway."

Afterward, Sasuke found Zabuza a suitable dark blue robe.

Once Zabuza changed clothes, he actually looked rather handsome. However, the back of the dark blue robe bore the Uchiha Clan emblem.

Looking at Zabuza's empty sleeve, Sasuke asked, "You're used to wielding a sword with both hands. Are you used to using just one hand? Do you need me to find someone to attach a new arm for you?"

Zabuza replied coolly, "No need. One hand is enough."

Then Zabuza turned to leave.

Sasuke asked, "Hey, where are you going? Leaving the Uchiha Clan like this—aren't you just asking to be discovered by the Anbu?"

Zabuza looked somewhat embarrassed.

Sasuke said, "You and Haku should stay with the Uchiha Clan for now. We'll provide you with good food and drink, and pay you five hundred thousand ryo every month. Whenever I need you to act, I'll come find you."

The Eagle Organization Sasuke had formed now had two members.

Obito and Zabuza.

Itachi had actually wanted to join the organization as well, but Sasuke had not allowed it.

As someone publicly associated with the Uchiha Clan, Itachi was not suited to joining.

What Sasuke needed were people whose connection to the Uchiha Clan no one knew, as well as people with formidable strength.

Another two days passed, and Hinata came to the Uchiha Clan.

The shy Hinata did not usually come visiting.

Uchiha Izumi was on guard duty at the gate that day. Seeing the adorable Hinata, Izumi could not help rubbing her hair, only then realizing—

Without her noticing, Hinata had grown tall enough to reach her chest.

Hinata and the rest of Sasuke's group of children had grown up as well.

Izumi asked Hinata, "Hinata, are you here to see Sasuke?"

Blushing, Hinata seemed somewhat embarrassed as she said, "Yes. Is Sasuke-kun here?"

Izumi said, "He is. I'll take you to him."

Izumi brought Hinata to the gate of Sasuke's courtyard, only to see Itachi sparring with Sasuke inside!

The two brothers were not using ninjutsu or dojutsu.

They merely activated their three-tomoe Sharingan, observed each other's movements, and exchanged physical blows as they competed in the most basic fighting techniques.

After ten exchanges, Sasuke and Itachi were evenly matched.

After fifty exchanges, Sasuke began to fall slightly behind.

After two hundred exchanges, Sasuke was knocked to the ground by one of Itachi's punches.

But Itachi was panting from exhaustion as well. He said to Sasuke, "Sasuke, your fighting techniques are already very strong, but you can improve further. After some time, I'll find you a teacher."

Sasuke said, "Oniisan, wouldn't it be fine if you taught me?"

Itachi smiled and tapped Sasuke on the forehead. "There's nothing I can teach you. Once you activate the Lightning Release Ninja Body Technique, I won't be your opponent anymore."

The Lightning Release Ninja Body Technique was incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, Itachi did not have Lightning-nature chakra, so he could not learn it. Otherwise, Sasuke would not have hesitated to teach it to his brother.

Itachi was best at Fire Release.

Sasuke, meanwhile, cultivated both Fire Release and Lightning Release.