Experiment

Afterward, Chinatsu continued teaching Sasuke things he had no business encountering at his age. There were risks to doing this, given how precarious their situation was, but even so, she still wanted to try to change something.

If all she wanted was to coast through life, Chinatsu could simply do nothing-insert an older sister with little impact into the original story, then let the plot follow its original course.

Sasuke would rebel, and Naruto would remain lonely.

Sasuke would become a rogue ninja, and Naruto would embark on his "quest to chase his wife."

They would fight the Akatsuki, fight Madara Uchiha, and fight Kaguya Otsutsuki.

At least Naruto had a happy ending, so Chinatsu could absolutely take that approach.

The village was keeping a particularly close eye on the Uchiha Clan's two surviving orphans, and naturally, it had sent someone from the Anbu to watch them in secret. That person was none other than Kakashi.

Perhaps because Chinatsu had suddenly called out his spying last time, Kakashi had become much less diligent about monitoring her and Sasuke. At the very least, she was now one hundred percent certain he was not watching them.

Still, the Third Hokage's crystal ball dedicated to spying really was disgusting...

At first, Sasuke had little interest in what Chinatsu was teaching him. But as the lessons grew increasingly "fantastical," his big eyes began to sparkle.

"How was that? Did you understand everything?"

"Reporting in, Sis! I didn't understand all of it, but I'm trying!" Sasuke pressed a finger to each temple, doing his best to digest everything Chinatsu had poured into his head.

Chinatsu had gotten a little thirsty herself, so she poured a glass of water and took a couple of sips. Suddenly, she felt a newfound admiration for those teachers from her school days whose mouths had rattled away like machine guns.

"Sasuke, I know you really want to get stronger, but you're still young. Rather than learning those super-powerful ninjutsu, you should build a solid foundation first."

"Okay!"

Sasuke nodded earnestly. He did not really understand, but if his sister said so, it had to be right!

Over the following week, Chinatsu and Sasuke's daily routines were almost identical. Before coming to this world, she had hated that kind of mechanical existence, but here, she felt precisely the opposite.

Sasuke's Great Fireball Technique improved a little, too. He went from breathing a fireball the size of his head to one twice that size, and more importantly, he could sustain it for considerably longer.

As for the training plan Chinatsu devised for him, she shamelessly borrowed someone else's work. She taught him exactly the way Kakashi had originally taught the trio of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.

An open space at the Uchiha Residence.

Chinatsu tied a bell to her lower leg. Just like the classic bell test in the original story, once Sasuke managed to take it from her, this stage of his training would be complete.

Of course, Chinatsu estimated that this stage alone might take Sasuke a year or two to complete. But training was training, so a long-term approach was fine, and Sasuke was highly motivated.

Sasuke charged!

Sasuke lunged!

Sasuke hit the ground in perfect form!

"Sasuke, charging straight at me like that won't accomplish anything. You need feints and anticipation. I'm letting you use fireballs, shuriken, kunai, whatever you want, so don't hold back."

Chinatsu stood beside the fallen Sasuke with one hand on her hip as she spoke. He slowly began picking himself up, inch by inch. Before he had fully risen, he suddenly reached out and grabbed for her lower leg.

Chinatsu reacted and quickly stepped back, causing his sneak attack to miss.

"So close! Sis, your reflexes are too fast. I almost had you."

Sasuke got up with a pout, disappointed that his sneak attack had failed.

Chinatsu, meanwhile, felt a lingering flicker of alarm. She genuinely had not expected her little brother to try tricking her. He had come dangerously close to succeeding.

And somehow, looking at the pouting Sasuke before her, Chinatsu felt he was showing signs of growing into a schemer...

A schemer would be terrible.

To keep Sasuke from becoming a scheming man in the future, Chinatsu decided to get a little serious with him.

Wait, serious?

That thought suddenly reminded Chinatsu of something.

Didn't that bastard Uchiha Itachi stab me in the kidney when I first came here? I wouldn't stop bleeding. My consciousness was hazy at the time, but I could still tell that the wound was extremely serious. Even with a medical ninja, there was no way I could have recovered so quickly.

But from what those medical ninjas said, I barely even needed their Medical Ninjutsu. My body healed incredibly fast.

That really doesn't fit the Uchiha Clan's traits. It's not like I'm from the Uzumaki Clan, like Naruto...

Chinatsu lowered her head and sank into thought. Across from her, Sasuke blinked blankly, then walked over one step at a time. He bent down and reached for the bell tied to her lower leg. With a clear little "ding," the bell was in his hand.

"Sis? Sis?!"

"Huh, the bell... the bell?! Oh no, I got too caught up in my thoughts. I didn't expect that old habit to follow me to another world." Chinatsu slapped a hand over her face, speechless at herself.

Still...

"Sasuke, give me a kunai."

"Huh? Okay."

Though Sasuke had no idea why Chinatsu wanted a kunai, he took one out and handed it to her.

The kunai was a dagger-like ninja weapon. Along with shuriken, it belonged to the category of weapons that were "utterly useless and couldn't kill a single person."

Chinatsu stared at the kunai in her hand. After a moment's hesitation, she took a deep breath, activated her Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and turned to look around.

"Good... at least no one nearby is watching us... Sasuke, I'm going to try an experiment."

"An... experiment? Sis, what are you going to do?" A sudden sense of foreboding welled up inside Sasuke, and he addressed her nervously.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine... probably. But if something does go wrong, I'll need you to notify the hospital..."

Chinatsu took a deep breath and made up her mind. She reversed the kunai in her hand, pointing its sharp tip at herself.

Whoosh!

With a sharp whistle through the air, Chinatsu drove the kunai into her own body.

Blood quickly flowed from the wound, and an intense, stabbing pain shot from it to her brain. The corner of Chinatsu's mouth twitched violently.

Still, it did not hurt as much as she had imagined.

Sasuke stared in panic at Chinatsu's act of self-harm. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, he froze.

The heavy bleeding from the wound had actually... stopped!