The three who received the diary

After throwing together a quick breakfast, Sasuke Uchiha ran out of his house and headed briskly toward the Ninja Academy, muttering under his breath as he went.

"Mystery man, I'll find you!"

The other person's reluctance to reveal his identity only stirred Sasuke Uchiha's curiosity further.

He wanted to find him, talk to him, and win him over so he could help with his revenge.

At that thought, a smile crept onto his lips. Quite a few people who saw him along the way were stunned. They had heard the rumors about him, after all. His cold demeanor was understandable, but that smile-had something good happened?

Still, it was someone else's business and had nothing to do with them, so they paid it no mind.

His journey went smoothly all the way to the Ninja Academy.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!"

Sasuke Uchiha had barely entered the Ninja Academy grounds when a pink-haired girl spotted him and called out from a distance.

"Boring."

He did not even need to think to know it was Sakura Haruno. Right now, Sasuke Uchiha had no desire to talk to her. All he wanted was to find that surviving clansman.

Sakura Haruno paused briefly when she heard him as she approached, but a smile immediately returned to her face, and she moved closer to Sasuke Uchiha.

"Sasuke, I brought a packed lunch today. Shall we eat together?"

"No."

Although he had turned her down, Sakura Haruno looked even happier. Usually, he was cold toward her and never said a word. Today, he had actually spoken! It was only one word, but he had still spoken!

"So happy, so happy!"

Even the stray lock of hair on Sakura Haruno's head seemed to be swaying with joy.

Meanwhile, our protagonist.

Luo Mang had also finished breakfast and left his house, heading toward the Ninja Academy.

He was in an exceptionally good mood today. Even without activating his Sharingan, he could feel the difference in his vision. Everything looked much clearer.

"Hehe, Luo Mang, why are you in such a good mood this morning?"

An elderly man passing by noticed Luo Mang's expression and asked curiously.

"Mm, I had a wonderful dream. Are you going shopping?"

Luo Mang turned and smiled at the old man, answering before asking a question of his own.

Compared with ninja, civilians were kinder, and Luo Mang naturally did not treat them coldly. As a result, the people around him had a good impression of him, and they got along fairly well.

"Hehe, I heard you'll be graduating from the Ninja Academy soon. I hope you become a ninja!"

The old man chuckled as well.

"Mm, I'll work hard."

At those words, Luo Mang merely pressed his lips together and nodded. After chatting with the old man a little longer, he continued toward the academy.

He was too weak right now. If he really became a ninja, he might end up using his Sharingan. His teacher would be a jonin, whose loyalty to Konoha went without saying, and would report him to the higher-ups immediately.

There was also a chance Danzo would get to him first. If that man found out, his eyes would not be safe.

So until he grew stronger, he had better keep his head down. He could reconsider once he truly had the strength to protect himself.

Right now, the diary was his only support. He could not rely on anyone else, not even the savior.

If he dared approach Naruto, he would be pinned down the very next moment.

As for living off the Hyuga clan's little princess...

He could not entertain that idea either. Even thinking about it was a crime, in every sense of the word. A powerful fighter with the Byakugan might kill him the very next moment.

Lost in these wandering thoughts, he arrived at the academy. As usual, the classroom was as noisy as ever.

The most conspicuous sight was two girls, one blond and one pink-haired, chattering away around Sasuke Uchiha, who looked thoroughly displeased.

All sorts of arguments were taking place elsewhere, too.

A quick glance around revealed that the only ones worth noticing were the Konoha Twelve. Naruto was nowhere to be seen, so he was probably late.

Luo Mang sat down in his corner seat and waited quietly.

As the saying went, the back-row window seat was where kings belonged. He sat by the door rather than the window, making him a king behind a gate. Was that a hint that he should lie low?

He always deliberately kept a low profile, neither befriending nor antagonizing anyone. His grades were unremarkable, and he was practically invisible.

"Hey hey, Luo Mang, mor-morning..."

The little girl with the Byakugan spoke softly beside him.

"Mm, morning."

Luo Mang propped his chin on his right hand and replied casually, without even glancing at her.

"Mm."

Hinata had already used up all her courage just greeting him. Since his tone was unfriendly, she could hardly continue, so she simply sat there in a daze.

Sasuke Uchiha sat in his usual seat. Instead of staring at a ninja textbook, he kept scanning the classroom and checking everyone who came in, trying to figure out who his clansman was.

"Why don't any of them look like him?"

Sasuke muttered under his breath, frustrated beyond belief. Could he be in another class?

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

The Hidden Rain Village.

In Itachi Uchiha's room, his eyes were bloodshot. He had stayed awake all night and taxed his mind relentlessly, further straining his already frail body.

Yet his expression had hardly eased. The plans he had spent all night making had suddenly fallen apart that morning.

With his mind at its clearest in the morning, he had noticed the most crucial detail in the diary.

"This person knows Naruto is the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki. He also knows about Root and Danzo collecting Sharingan. Even a jonin might not know these things, let alone a genin or student like him!"

How had he obtained so much information?

Itachi Uchiha did not believe Root's people were so incompetent that someone who had only just awakened a two-tomoe Sharingan could uncover such an enormous secret.

Combined with the disaster mentioned in the diary, this suggested that its owner possessed a special ability, such as prophecy or something similar.

"Judging by this, the diary's owner must have a support-oriented bloodline limit. Could it be something like a Miko's prophecy? Or something even more powerful?"

Itachi Uchiha's intelligence could be considered first-rate. From just a few words, he had already assessed the protagonist's nature, and his conclusions were more or less on target.

Besides the two Uchiha brothers, another person was at home examining the diary.

Konoha, the Hatake clan compound.

Rather than a compound, it was really just a single room. After all, Kakashi Hatake was the only one left.

He had been so engrossed in Make-Out Paradise the previous night that he had failed to notice the diary that had suddenly appeared on his desk. Only after waking up that morning did Kakashi Hatake finally spot it.

Rustle.

He casually flipped open a page. Since he had not witnessed that miraculous glow, he did not think much of it.

When he saw its contents, his pupils shook violently.

"How is this possible? Naruto's identity!"

No one below the rank of jonin should have known Naruto's identity. Judging by the diary writer's habit of giving people nicknames, he could not be very old. At most, he was a chunin. How could he possibly know Naruto's identity?