First, Seek Refuge with Hiruzen Sarutobi, Then Head to the Yamanaka Clan! (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

After class, Uchiha Setsuna hurried home.

A single night passed in silence.

"Begin simulation!"

[Age 6: You display the bearing of a prodigy, drawing the attention of countless people.]

[Age 6, 1 month: Yamanaka Ino confesses to you. You accept, and Yamanaka Ino is overjoyed.]

[However, your other deskmate, Hyuga Hinata, seems a bit downcast.]

[Age 6, 2 months: Sakura finds you, hoping you'll help her arrange a meeting with Uchiha Sasuke. You agree, but Uchiha Sasuke refuses, loudly scolding Sakura. Sakura cries.]

[Age 6, 3 months: Your relationship with Yamanaka Ino deepens. The two of you are often seen together, like a real couple, earning the envy of many.]

[Age 6, 4 months: You go on a date with Yamanaka Ino.]

[When you confirm that the two of you are completely alone, you use Genjutsu: Sharingan on Yamanaka Ino, hoping to extract intelligence-gathering techniques from her.]

[But you fail. Yamanaka Ino doesn't know any.]

[You attempt to acquire the Mind Body Switch Technique.]

[You fail again. Learning the Mind Body Switch Technique requires a special ninjutsu scroll. Without that scroll, there's no way for you to learn it.]

[Age 6, 5 months: You receive a warning from the Yamanaka Clan to stay away from Yamanaka Ino.]

[Age 6, 6 months: You go on another date with Yamanaka Ino.]

[You make a request, asking Yamanaka Ino to invite you to the Yamanaka Clan compound as a guest.]

[Yamanaka Ino agrees.]

[On the way to the Yamanaka Clan compound, you are intercepted by Anbu ninja.]

[You kill two Anbu ninja, but more appear.]

[You die!]

[This simulation ends.]

[Please choose one of the following two rewards.]

[1: Nothing.]

[2: The object clutched in your hand at the moment of death.]

Uchiha Setsuna opened his eyes.

"Failed."

"Those people really don't hold back."

"What did I even do?"

"All I did was go to the Yamanaka Clan as a guest, and those Anbu ninja tried to kill me."

"And the Anbu answer to Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"These people don't want to leave the Uchiha Clan even a sliver of hope."

"They don't want to let a single Uchiha go."

Earlier, Uchiha Setsuna had considered using Yamanaka Ino's feelings for him to gain the protection of the Yamanaka Clan.

But now, it was clear that was impossible.

Hiruzen Sarutobi would never allow such a thing to happen.

"Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall: death."

"Flee early: death!"

"Defect to Hiruzen Sarutobi: death!"

"Defect to Danzo: death!"

"Get too close to the Yamanaka Clan: death!"

"No matter what I do, it's a dead end."

"Every single Uchiha in Konoha, aside from Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi, doesn't have even half a path to survival. That's Konoha for you."

"Disgusting."

Uchiha Setsuna had long known about the viciousness and shamelessness of Konoha's High Command, but this time, it still caught him off guard.

In this Life Simulation, Uchiha Setsuna's actions weren't even that severe.

But Konoha's High Command refused to give Uchiha Setsuna even the slightest shred of hope.

"I choose 2!"

In the Life Simulation, Uchiha Setsuna died too suddenly. He hadn't had time to acquire any ninjutsu, so he could only choose 2.

The next moment, a ninja sword appeared in Uchiha Setsuna's hand.

An Anbu's ninja sword.

Arriving at the classroom.

"Setsuna, good morning."

"Good morning."

Uchiha Setsuna's voice was a little hoarse.

Yamanaka Ino saw the look in Uchiha Setsuna's eyes and, for some reason, suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.

"Setsuna..."

Yamanaka Ino wanted to say something, but Uchiha Setsuna had already lowered his head.

"Why does Setsuna have that look in his eyes?"

"Anger, despair, and when he looks at me, a hint of apology."

"Did something happen?"

Iruka's voice rang out.

The morning was for academic classes.

Some people listened attentively, with Uchiha Sasuke and Sakura as the representatives.

Uchiha Sasuke aimed to be a perfect student.

He wanted to keep the top spot in his grade across all subjects.

Sakura wasn't as talented in other courses, but she had a knack for academics, so she worked hard in that area to get closer to Uchiha Sasuke.

Kiba Inuzuka and Naruto sat in the back row, neither paying attention.

Akimichi Choji secretly snacked.

Nara Shikamaru daydreamed.

Yamanaka Ino's mind kept replaying the look in Uchiha Setsuna's eyes from just now.

As for Uchiha Setsuna, he was thinking about how he could achieve his goal in the Life Simulator.

"It seems like I can do it this way."

"In a previous life simulation, I defected to Hiruzen Sarutobi, and he agreed."

"He didn't kill me immediately and even assigned me a mission."

"It wasn't until the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall, after discussing with Itachi Uchiha, Danzo, and the others, that he ordered the Anbu to kill me."

"So, can I do this?"

"First, defect to Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"Then accept Yamanaka Ino's confession."

"Shortly after accepting, have Yamanaka Ino invite me to the Yamanaka clan."

"Use the Shadow Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, and genjutsu to obtain the Yamanaka Clan Secret Technique scroll."

"No need to escape—the moment I get it, kill myself directly."

"That secret technique scroll will become the item I'm holding at the moment of death in the life simulation."

"After the life simulation ends, I can choose that scroll as a reward."

"In the real world, I'll learn the techniques on it."

"Or, at the cost of one life simulation, learn that technique."

This was the third use of the Life Simulator.

The first was to obtain something.

The second was to test a plan.

The third was to treat one life simulation as a period of time—within the simulation, it might be over a year, or even longer in the future.

But for the real-world Uchiha Setsuna, it was just an instant.

Once a day, Uchiha Setsuna could run a life simulation.

Iruka glanced down at the class.

He shook his head helplessly. The number of students not listening was far too many.

Only when his gaze fell on Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke did Iruka feel a bit relieved.

Any teacher who took their job seriously hoped their students would study hard.

Sakura, like Iruka, came from a civilian ninja background, which naturally made Iruka feel a sense of closeness.

But he held no prejudice against Uchiha Sasuke either.

The relationship between the Uchiha clan and Konoha was indeed tense and discordant.

But Iruka didn't care much about such things.

Besides, Iruka wasn't aware of the Konoha High Command's plans—his rank was far too low.