Sasuke's eyes snapped open.
Water murmured in his ears, and wind stirred the shadows of the trees overhead.
He was at the Konoha Riverbank.
This was where Cangyue had danced with his sword in the rain, and where Sasuke had first challenged him.
He had lost miserably that time.
And Cangyue had kept sighing at him.
"Oh, you're awake?"
Cangyue's voice came from the river.
"The surgery was a success. You're a girl now."
Sasuke froze.
The next moment, he bolted upright and looked down to check his body.
His clothes were intact.
The wound where the Kusanagi Sword had pierced his chest had healed completely.
Most importantly, nothing else had changed either.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
He bore the heavy responsibility of restoring the Uchiha Clan.
How was he supposed to do that as a girl?
"Relax. Just kidding."
Cangyue turned his head with a thoroughly friendly smile.
Sasuke stared at him expressionlessly.
That wasn't funny.
Not even a little.
"How do you feel?" Cangyue asked.
The irritation gradually faded from Sasuke's face.
The sensation of the Kusanagi Sword piercing his chest came back to him.
He looked down at his hands, then slammed a fist into the ground.
"Damn it!"
"I still can't do it?"
He had clearly grown stronger.
He had trained blindfolded, honed his Lightning Release, and even tried combining it with his swordsmanship.
Even his Sharingan had evolved to two tomoe.
Yet against that man, he hadn't lasted a single move.
Uchiha Itachi hadn't even moved. One glance was all it had taken to make Sasuke drive his sword into his own chest.
He had only survived this time out of consideration for Cangyue.
Otherwise, he would already be dead.
Sasuke looked up toward the river.
At some point, Cangyue