As Sasuke headed to the marketplace, his mind wandered to his recent conversation with the 3rd Hokage.
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A few hours earlier
In the Hokage's office, Sasuke stood with an air of quiet determination before Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Sasuke, is this regarding the Uchiha clan's assets?" Hiruzen inquired, exhaling a puff of smoke from his pipe.
"Yes, Lord Hokage," Sasuke replied, his countenance unreadable, revealing no hint of emotion.
"Well, the financial assets of the Uchiha clan will be rightfully yours when you come of age or, in other words, become a genin. For now, given your age, you can only access a fraction of it. However, Sasuke, managing numerous businesses is no small feat," Hiruzen explained. As he uttered the final sentence, Sasuke's eyelids twitched, sensing an ominous undertone.
"I believe the Uchiha businesses outside of Konoha should be entrusted to the village for management. Don't you agree, Sasuke?" The Hokage's gaze shifted to Sasuke upon concluding his statement.
Sasuke furrowed his brow as he weighed his options.
'This honestly doesn't even come as a surprise. Even if Hiruzen hadn't brought it up, maintaining those businesses would be a challenge with my limited resources. Hiring individuals to oversee them would prove difficult due to their distance, and being a 7-year-old child, I doubt they'd take me seriously.' Sasuke contemplated with calm deliberation.
"I don't foresee that being a significant issue. However, if I do decide to relinquish control of them, what would I receive in return, Lord Hokage?" Sasuke countered with his question, aware that Hiruzen couldn't simply seize those businesses without offering compensation. Doing so would only breed further suspicion among the other clans if he were to mistreat an orphan from a prominent lineage.
"Hmm?" Hiruzen's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the child in front of him, realising he wasn't dealing with a simple seven-year-old child.
'He appears remarkably mature for his age...' The Hokage pondered briefly, only to dismiss the thought when he considered Itachi's early maturity and he chalked up the rest to the recent experiences Sasuke had undergone.
"I propose four benefits: firstly, the opportunity to join Anbu upon graduation, offering specialized training and resources. Secondly, a Jonin from the village will mentor you in a field of your choosing during your time in Ninja School. Thirdly, you will be able to manage all Uchiha assets now instead of waiting until you become a Genin. Lastly, you'll receive 10% of the total profits from these businesses and lands," Hiruzen outlined his conditions.
Sasuke found himself slightly taken aback; these conditions exceeded his expectations. Particularly, the first two would not only contribute to his growth in strength but also facilitate his infiltration of Konoha's power structure, providing an advantage for future endeavours.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage, for your generous conditions. I am pleased to accept it, but I would also require a small favour," Sasuke replied.
"What is it?" Hiruzen inquired.
"The Uchiha clan compound and the surrounding lands are now vacant, except for my residence. Could you assist me in leasing the lands on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound, Lord Hokage?" Sasuke presented his request.
The oppressive and burdensome atmosphere of the Uchiha compound placed an undue strain on his mental well-being. The weight of certain memories resurfacing intermittently also added to the toll on Sasuke's mind. He desired to infuse some sense of vitality into his surroundings, attempting to alleviate the mental fatigue and depression that often accompanied his time spent at home.
"Of course, that's acceptable. Will that be all, then?" Hiruzen asked.
"Yes, Lord Hokage," Sasuke affirmed.
Hiruzen then produced a contract, which Sasuke carefully reviewed before imprinting his thumb on it.
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Sasuke stepped into a modest shop nestled along the path, its sign proudly proclaiming 'Shinobi Essentials.' The chime of a bell marked his entrance, and the shopkeeper, a stocky middle-aged man, looked up from behind the desk. Clad in a grey shirt with sleeves casually rolled up, he sported curly, chestnut brown hair. A short, neatly trimmed beard and moustache of the same hue adorned his face.
"What can I help you with, kid?" The man inquired.
"Do you have any body weights for training and some chakra paper?" Sasuke calmly responded.
The man's eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion. Typically, shinobi frequented his store for items like kunai, shurikens, storage scrolls etc. It was unusual to encounter someone, especially someone as young as Sasuke, seeking training weights and chakra paper.
"Sure thing," the man said, disappearing momentarily into the back of the store. He returned with weights in one hand and a small piece of paper in the other.
"Considering your age, I didn't fetch heavy weights; those could do more harm than good. These are designed for your torso, arms, and legs," he explained.
Sasuke nodded in agreement, swiftly producing the money to settle the bill for the acquired equipment.
He then exited the store and headed home after purchasing some more groceries to prepare some food for himself. However, this journey home soon took an unusual turn for Sasuke. A sense of being watched lingered around him, different from the casual gazes of villagers fuelled by gossip.
Instead, these eyes bore into him with an intensity that unsettled Sasuke. Determined to conceal his unease, he maintained a neutral expression, revealing none of the disquiet brewing within.
"I'm not surprised to be placed under surveillance, but the pressing question is whether it's Anbu or ROOT keeping an eye on me. Moreover, how can I sense these individuals? This heightened awareness wasn't a part of my previous life as Ren or in my memories as Sasuke," Sasuke pondered to himself.
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Sasuke continued his journey home with questions swirling in his mind.
'Could this heightened perception be due to my reincarnation? Perhaps it's associated with my soul. Does this mean our souls truly merged instead of me replacing Sasuke, as I initially thought? If that's the case, what else does my stronger soul indicate? Perhaps it could affect my Genjutsu and Yin Release?
I'll have to test that at a later date. Would this also explain my Mangekyou? Sasuke's ardent desire to think that everything he saw that day was fake, combined with Ren's grief and his desire to escape the physical world, forming my current Mangekyou ability?'
As Sasuke entered his family home, the gazes following him finally disappeared. However, he was certain the people behind those gazes didn't simply vanish and were probably outside the Uchiha compound, monitoring him.
Breathing a quick sigh of relief, Sasuke headed towards the kitchen to make some lunch for himself.
After lunch, Sasuke then went to his room and took out a small piece of chakra paper. 'With this, I'll be able to find out what my chakra attributes are. Then I can focus on which attribute Ninjutsu I should practice with,' Sasuke thought.
As Sasuke injected his chakra into the paper, a change occurred. The originally pristine piece of paper began burning at the top, while the lower half began to wrinkle.
'Fire and Lightning Attributes.' Not unexpected, Sasuke thought as he stared at his now empty hand. However, he was glad that these attributes somewhat complemented each very well as Fire would counter Wind which was the weakness of the Lightning attribute. And though Lightning didn't exactly counter Water which is strong to Fire, it does offer an alternate method of attack against it.
Sasuke then headed towards his parents' bedroom, not to reminisce but to look for something. Once in the bedroom, Sasuke reached towards a specific wooden floorboard in the corner of the room and lifted it. Within a hidden space were several scrolls depicting practice methods for Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and even a summoning scroll.
'Didn't think I would have to use this hidden stash,' Sasuke thought, gently shaking his head. This secret space was originally there just in case something happened to Sasuke's parents, but he never actually thought there would be a moment when he would have to use it.
Sasuke soon activated his Mangekyou, engraving all the images from within the jutsu scrolls into his mind. He then returned them to the hidden space and covered it up with the floorboard again.
Sasuke decided that, for the time being, he would simply focus on C/D-Rank Fire Ninjutsu, conditioning his body, practising chakra manipulation, and hand seals. Though the lethality of Fire Style Ninjutsu left much to be desired in his memory of the anime, Sasuke chose this instead of Lightning Style Ninjutsu due to there being an abundant collection of it in the secret compartment.
He decided not to practice Taijutsu or Genjutsu for the coming month. Instead, he would opt for more immediate methods to increase his combat power by abusing his vastly increased chakra reserve.
Taijutsu could be quite easily copied by his Mangekyou, though he wouldn't be able to exactly replicate certain movements due to differences in body size and structure, it would certainly accelerate his learning in it.
For Genjutsu, Sasuke already planned to practice it around the time he goes back to ninja school next month.
Sasuke then began to head towards a training ground near his home, within the Uchiha clan compound. Upon arrival, he found himself a large tree that was around 15 meters tall on the side of the training ground. Focusing his chakra on his feet, Sasuke tried walking up the tree vertically, a method that exercised chakra control from his memory of the anime.
Just as Sasuke braced himself for a fall, he paused and looked down at the ground.
'I'm assuming this should also be due to my powerful soul?' Sasuke was lost in thought for a second. His memory in the anime indicated that Sasuke wasn't particularly talented at chakra control, depicted by how he didn't pick up on chakra control exercises too easily, though his chakra control did improve rather significantly later in the anime.
Now that his chakra reserve is so much bigger than before, it should be harder for him, in theory, to control his chakra.
Just as he recollected himself, he looked at the ground again and found that the ground seemed to be getting closer to him.
'Wha-' Sasuke exclaimed in his mind.
Uninjured but embarrassed, Sasuke quickly tried to pat the dust off while remembering the stinging gazes that followed him to the training ground. He just hoped that they had a lapse in their attention and didn't see that.
'Lesson learned, I should probably stop my thoughts from wandering when I'm practising, especially with chakra.' Sasuke mused
After attempting the task again, Sasuke tried to clear his mind and focus on his chakra that was being channelled to his feet. He slowly inched towards the top of the tree and soon reached it. Sitting down on the branch next to him, Sasuke let out a sigh of relief as he could finally let his thoughts wander again.
Sasuke then carefully got down from the tree and positioned himself at the centre of the training ground. With his hand close to his face and fingers forming a circle in front of his mouth, Sasuke then inhaled and carefully channelled his chakra to the air in his mouth, following the steps in his memory.
'Fireball Technique' (火遁・火球の術, Katon: Kakyū no Jutsu)
A fireball, measuring about 2 metres in diameter, shot out of Sasuke's mouth. It travelled across the training ground before hitting a tree in the distance, leaving a large black scorch mark across the tree's bark.
Also for those wondering, this isn't the Great Fire Ball jutsu. It's simply the Fireball Technique, it is a D-Rank Ninjutsu and requires no hand seal.
Word count is slowly but surely increasing in this and the coming chapters hopefully.
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