The Third Hokage's Gaze

After November arrived, the morning wind in the Hidden Leaf Village's autumn began to cut like blades.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood before the Hokage Office window with a pipe in hand. The tobacco had burned down to its last bit, and ash fell onto the windowsill. He brushed it away, his gaze settling on the Ninja Academy outside.

A document lay open on his desk. Its cover was the black binding reserved for ANBU use, and it contained only two pages—a surveillance report on the survivors of the Uchiha Massacre.

The report stated that all of Sasuke Uchiha's indicators were normal: excellent grades, outstanding taijutsu, an aloof personality, and a tendency to keep to himself—typical behavior following psychological trauma. Only one line in the report had been circled in red: Every night, he sits alone near the Naka River, seemingly waiting for someone, though no contact has been observed.

The latter half of the report concerned Uchiha Sakuya.

It was written very briefly: above-average grades. Ordinary relationships with classmates, with a few friends. Lives alone in the Uchiha Clan District. Occasionally visits the training ground behind the mountain after school.

There was another line in small print below—an additional note from the ANBU based on long-term observation: "This survivor has displayed no unusual behavior. There is no notable difference between him and an ordinary orphan living alone."

The Third Hokage removed the pipe from his mouth and tapped it twice against the corner of the desk. Ash fell into the ceramic ashtray.

"No unusual behavior."

He repeated the words, then set down his pipe, picked up the Hokage hat on his desk, put it on, and walked out of the office.

He decided to see for himself.

When the Third Hokage entered the Ninja Academy, he was not wearing his Hokage robes. He had changed into plain clothes and wore an ordinary straw hat pulled low enough to conceal most of his face. The ANBU following behind him had also changed into the attire of ordinary teachers.

It was lunchtime. Several children were chasing each other through the corridors, and when they saw him pass, they stopped and bowed. He smiled and nodded before continuing onward.

He stopped in the corridor beside the training field, his gaze passing over the grounds toward a ginkgo tree on the far side. Two children sat on a stone bench beneath it. A blond girl—Ino Yamanaka—was eating from the lunch box in her arms. Beside her sat a black-haired boy holding a rice ball.

Uchiha Sakuya.

Just as the report had said, neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin. His uniform was neat, though the cuffs showed signs of wear. He ate slowly, taking a bite and chewing for a long time. Ino chatted incessantly beside him, and he occasionally answered with a word or two or gave a nod.

He looked like a perfectly normal eight-year-old child.

The Third Hokage watched for five minutes. He found nothing unusual.

But during those five minutes, he noticed one detail.

Three groups of students passed in front of the ginkgo tree during that time. Before each group arrived, Shuo Ye tilted his head slightly. The movement was tiny. He was not looking with his eyes—he was listening with his ears. He had judged their direction and speed in advance, then adjusted himself into an angle that made him seem unaffected. It was an instinct. Uchiha Clan training did not teach this. It was a conditioned reflex born from living under observation for a long time.

The Third Hokage pulled his straw hat lower.

Then he suddenly stepped down from the corridor, crossed the training field, and headed toward the ginkgo tree.

Ino noticed him first.

"Third Hokage-sama—!" She stood and bowed, nearly tipping over her lunch box—fortunately, Shuo Ye reached out and steadied it.

"Good afternoon, child of the Yamanaka Clan."

The Third Hokage smiled and nodded. His smile was kind—his signature expression, honed over decades in the Hidden Leaf Village. It was not fake, but it was not all there was to him.

Then he looked at Shuo Ye.

"Uchiha—Shuo Ye, correct?"

"Yes, Third Hokage-sama."

Shuo Ye stood and bowed. His movements were proper, neither humble nor overbearing, exactly like any other elementary school student standing before the Hokage.

The Third Hokage looked at him, his eyes lingering on his face and pausing on his eyes for two seconds. His gaze detected no abnormal fluctuation of ocular power around them. But he saw something else—those eyes had once undergone intense chakra infusion. Perhaps not now, but in the past.

"Your eyes—" the Third Hokage said.

"What about them?"

"Let me see."

Shuo Ye raised his head and met his gaze.

The Third Hokage bent down, bracing his fingers against his knees as he carefully examined Shuo Ye's pupils. Black irises—not the red of the Sharingan. His pupils reacted normally to light. There was no bloodshot redness, no dark patterning in the depths of his eyes. They were simply an ordinary pair of black eyes.

Shuo Ye did not look away. He stood before the Third Hokage with a steady gaze. There was no nervousness, no avoidance, not even the fleeting expression of Have I been discovered?

The Third Hokage straightened.

"Your eyes are very bright."

"Thank you."

"Take good care of them."

"I will."

The Third Hokage patted his head and turned to leave. Ino loudly called, "Goodbye, Third Hokage-sama!" behind him, while Shuo Ye merely lowered his head slightly.

By the time the Third Hokage left the training field, the smile had vanished from his face. His brows furrowed faintly. He entered the faculty office, where Iruka was grading assignments.

"Ho—Third Hokage-sama!"

"Sit, sit. No need to be nervous." The Third Hokage sat in the chair beside him and placed his straw hat on the desk. "I came to ask you a few questions about Uchiha Shuo Ye."

Iruka sat up straight. "Please ask."

"How are his grades?"

"Above average in theory, above average in taijutsu. Overall, he ranks somewhere between sixth and ninth in the class."

"Has it always been like that?"

"It has."

"Do you think that ranking is reasonable?"

Iruka paused. He remembered his previous conversation with Shuo Ye—that child was deliberately controlling his grades. He knew it, but he did not know whether he should tell the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage saw his hesitation.

"Did you notice something?"

Iruka was silent for two seconds before speaking honestly.

"He—may be stronger than he appears."

"Why?"

"His precision in chakra control. And the way he answers questions—" Iruka gathered his thoughts. "He is not the sort of good student who relies on rote memorization. His understanding goes beyond the course requirements. He can answer some extended questions with concepts at the level of a jonin, yet he makes mistakes on the basic parts of multiple-choice questions."

The Third Hokage nodded.

He took out his pipe but did not light it, merely holding it between his lips.

"Do you think he is hiding his strength?"

"...Yes."

"How long has he been doing so?"

"Since he enrolled."

The Third Hokage removed the pipe from his mouth and looked outside.

Outside, the black-haired child was packing up his lunch box on the training field. The blond girl helped him snap the lid into place. The two of them headed toward the classroom together. At the stairway, the girl waved to him and walked toward the other side. The boy stood there for a moment, watching her back, then turned and glanced across the training field.

Toward the place where he had been standing earlier.

He was confirming whether the Third Hokage was still there.

The Third Hokage's pupils contracted slightly—but his expression did not change.

That night, the Third Hokage retrieved Uchiha Shuo Ye's complete file. It was thin, only a few pages.

Birth record: Eldest son of Uchiha Takuma and Uchiha Shizuka, born in Year 48 of the Hidden Leaf Village. Chakra test at age three—ordinary. Entered the Ninja Academy at age five—delayed by two years due to his introverted personality. Enrolled again at age seven—one year ago.

The night of the massacre: Training alone outside the clan district and was not killed. Found in the ruins the next morning, blank-faced and unable to communicate normally for three weeks. Began eating voluntarily in the fourth week, attempted to go outside in the eighth week, and returned to the Ninja Academy in the twelfth week. Recovery was marked as slow but stable.

Additional note: During the massacre, Sasuke Uchiha was the only person confirmed to have awakened the Sharingan. Uchiha Shuo Ye was not observed displaying the same ability—but he had been outside the clan district at the time. No one could confirm the state of his Sharingan.

The Third Hokage put down the file and lit his pipe.

He knew perfectly well that too many truths about the Uchiha Massacre had gone unrecorded. Itachi's claim of "testing the capacity of the vessel," Obito's covert intervention, the route taken by Danzo's Root forces that night—he knew all of it. But he could not write any of it into an official document.

He had kept every one of those surviving orphans under observation. Sasuke was too conspicuous—Itachi's younger brother, the last direct descendant of the Uchiha Clan, someone with a natural ability to rally others. But Shuo Ye was different. He was too ordinary.

Too ordinary. That was why no one suspected him.

The Third Hokage extinguished his pipe, stood, and walked to the window.

The Uchiha Clan District lay in darkness. There were no lights, no human voices. Only a single house had a faint glow coming through its windows—that was Shuo Ye's home.

Next year, the year after, and the year after that—he would continue watching. He would not interfere too much. He would allow that child to spend the years he should have had in an ordinary Ninja Academy life. It was the last repayment he could make to that clan.

By the time Shuo Ye returned home, night had fully fallen. He closed the door, stood in the entryway, and leaned against it.

The Third Hokage had come to see him. That was no surprise. After the Uchiha Massacre, every survivor would be watched. Sasuke was watched more often than most—ANBU were practically watching him openly. Shuo Ye's situation was different—he was "an unimportant child," so the ANBU reports wrote, "No unusual behavior."

But the Third Hokage had shown himself—walking out of his office, entering the training field, personally examining his eyes. That was not "happening to pass by." It was a signal: I know who your father was. I know where you live. I know what you do every day. I do not need you to answer, but remember—you are within my sight.

Of course, Shuo Ye had prepared for this long ago. From his first day back at the Ninja Academy, he had been waiting for this day. He had prepared an explanation, an entire set of countermeasures. But he had not expected the Third Hokage to question Iruka. Clearly, Iruka had told him about his grades—this was not Iruka's fault. A teacher could not conceal things from the Hokage. That was the system.

The Third Hokage had not exposed him. That was a positive sign.

Shuo Ye entered the living room and turned on the lights. The room became brightly lit. He sat at the table and took out paper and a pen from the drawer.

He began writing a training plan.

Physical conditioning—two hours every day. Taijutsu—review the Uchiha Clan's inherited basic techniques once. Chakra control—tree climbing and water walking had already been mastered to the point of effortless activation and release; the next step was chakra shaping. Fire Release—advance from the Great Fireball to the foundational charge-up for Majestic Destroyer Flame. Sharingan—control the rate of chakra consumption with the three-tomoe Sharingan and reduce Mangekyō Sharingan usage to once every two weeks.

His handwriting was neat and orderly, every line marked with arrows and notes. He wrote for a long time, until there was no blank space left on the page. Then he folded the paper, tucked it into his notebook, and turned off the lights.

Outside the window, Hokage Rock emerged against the night sky, bearing the Third Hokage's outline. The stone face's gaze was directed straight at the Uchiha Clan District. Shuo Ye drew the curtains, shutting out both the moonlight and the stone statue's stare.