Anyone Else Would Have Gone Mad

Kakashi watched the two children's resolute expressions and remained silent for a long time.

He knew full well.

He probably couldn't stop them.

After a long while, Kakashi finally said quietly, "I understand. Let me think about it."

With that, Kakashi went to the hospital alone, intending to see Sasuke himself.

But he had barely pushed open the ward door, before he could even begin trying to persuade him.

Sasuke raised his head from the hospital bed first, his gaze cold and stubborn, and spoke each word distinctly.

"Kakashi-sensei, I will take the Chunin Ninja Exams."

"I hope you won't stop me."

There was no plea in his voice.

Only a stubbornness bordering on despair.

His severed arm, his humiliation, the darkness of his future, the pain of being pitied...

All of it weighed on his heart. These exams were the only thing he could still cling to.

Sasuke Uchiha needed to prove that his existence had worth.

Looking at his pale face, Kakashi sighed softly and warned him in a grave voice.

"Sasuke, listen carefully."

"These are Joint Chunin Ninja Exams held with other shinobi villages."

"Your opponents will come from different villages, and they won't hold back. The danger will far exceed previous Chunin Ninja Exams. Your life will truly be on the line."

Sasuke clenched his teeth and shook his head fiercely, his eyes wild and resolute.

"I don't care!"

"If I can't prove my worth in these exams."

"Then being alive is no different from being dead!"

Kakashi quietly watched the boy before him.

At that moment, he finally understood what was in Sasuke's heart.

This Uchiha boy, proud to his very bones, was already on the verge of a mental breakdown.

He had lost his arm, lost his confidence, and become the object of everyone's sympathy. His future weighed on him until he could barely breathe.

If even this chance to prove himself was taken away.

He really would be utterly broken.

He would never get back on his feet.

Kakashi remained silent for a long time before finally nodding slowly.

"If you're that determined."

"Then I'll put you through hellish extra training in the days ahead."

At those words, a rare, bleak smile appeared on Sasuke's face.

It was a wan, stubborn smile, carrying a madness that feared neither life nor death.

"Bring it on, Kakashi-sensei."

"I'm not even afraid of dying. Why would I fear training?"

Kakashi gave him a long, searching look, then turned and left the ward without another word.

He went straight to the Hokage Office, intending to register Team 7 for the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Inside the Hokage Office.

The moment the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, heard why Kakashi had come, he refused without a second thought.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"In his current condition, Sasuke is in no shape to take the Chunin Ninja Exams. He's practically finished!"

Kakashi looked straight at the Third Hokage, his voice utterly firm, refusing to yield an inch.

"Lord Hokage."

"Team 7 is my squad. I take responsibility for my team members' wishes and choices."

"My subordinates want to register for the exams, and I believe in my students."

"Even the Hokage cannot strip a shinobi of the right to take the exams."

The Third Hokage's expression grew grave, and he countered with a frown, "Sasuke isn't like the others!"

Kakashi shook his head, his gaze unwavering.

"That's precisely why he needs to get back on his feet."

"If we don't let him fight now, if we don't let him prove himself."

"Then he really will be utterly broken."

The two argued in the office for a long time, neither willing to back down.

Looking into Kakashi's determined eyes, the Third Hokage finally let out a long sigh and nodded helplessly.

"Very well."

"If you insist on vouching for him."

"Then Team 7... has permission to take these Chunin Ninja Exams."

On the Sky Screen, the story of Sasuke insisting on registering for the Chunin Ninja Exams slowly unfolded.

Everyone across the Shinobi World was dumbfounded by the scene.

The Five Great Shinobi Villages, countless shinobi from small nations, civilians in every village-everyone erupted into an uproar. Discussion swept across the entire Shinobi World.

At the Konoha Ninja Academy, the real Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief, and he blurted out, "Sasuke! Are you out of your mind?!"

All the students around him were equally stunned. As they watched the obsessively stubborn Sasuke Uchiha on the Sky Screen, they could only struggle to understand.

But the real Sasuke Uchiha himself was the sole exception.

He stared fixedly at his counterpart on the Sky Screen. Far from finding it absurd, his eyes blazed with fierce hostility, and a cold sneer curled his lips.

He nodded emphatically in approval.

"That's right!"

"That's me. That's the real Sasuke Uchiha!"

"If I shrink back, lose my nerve, and run away from a mere Chunin Ninja Exams because of my injuries."

"How will I ever take revenge?"

"How will I ever kill that man?"

"How will I ever restore the Uchiha Clan?"

What others saw as overestimating himself and courting death...

Was, in Sasuke's eyes, the only dignity he had left...

The students around him looked bewildered and regretful. Only Sasuke wore a fierce expression, wholeheartedly agreeing with his resolute counterpart on the Sky Screen.

Meanwhile, public opinion throughout the Shinobi World had split into two opposing camps.

Countless people shook their heads and mocked him, dismissing him with every word.

"This Sasuke is definitely insane! He's already crippled, yet he insists on taking the Joint Chunin Ninja Exams when he might not come out alive!"

"Exactly. He's just asking to die!"

"How stupid! Shinobi from the other villages won't hold back. Someone will definitely seize the chance to kill him during these Chunin Ninja Exams!"

"He's already the last surviving Uchiha. If he keeps acting so recklessly, the Uchiha Clan really will die out for good!"

The vast majority thought Sasuke was impulsive, foolish, and heedless of his own life-that he was simply bringing about his own destruction.

But quite a few seasoned shinobi who had survived desperate situations were deeply moved by the scenes on the Sky Screen and couldn't help speaking up against them.

"Stop making glib remarks when you're not the ones suffering!"

"If you were in Sasuke's shoes, could any of you do better?"

"You'd probably have gone mad long ago!"

"He was born into the greatest clan at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World. At seven, his clan was wiped out in a single night. His entire family was slaughtered, and the killer was his own beloved older brother!"

"Burdened with such a blood debt at that young age, living in hatred and loneliness-anyone else would have lost their mind long ago!"

"But Sasuke held on."

"Then someone brutally cut off his arm, leaving him maimed, subjected to endless sympathy, pity, and cold stares. An ordinary person would have given up completely, scraping by while waiting to die!"

"But even with a missing arm and a damaged body, he refuses to bow his head or admit defeat. He's desperate to prove himself and protect his clan's honor!"

"That kind of resolve is something ordinary people simply don't have!"

More and more people came to their senses and felt genuine admiration for him.

"That's right! Anyone else who'd lived his life would have been utterly broken long ago."

"He's broken down, despaired, cried, and suffered, yet he still grits his teeth and stands tall. He's even choosing to enter exams where his life will be on the line."

"How is that madness? This Sasuke is truly made of steel!"