It was night time at Natsuro's home.
At this moment, he was standing by the window, gazing at the scenery outside, but his thoughts were entirely focused on the Uchiha massacre.
Compared to his home, the Uchiha clan's residence was much farther from the school, but Sasuke was surely back in the clan's territory by now.
In other words, the chaos within the Uchiha clan had already begun.
Even though he had decided earlier not to get involved, he couldn't help but think about whether he could take advantage of the situation to acquire a pair of Sharingan. He didn't have high expectations; even a pair of single-tomoe Sharingan would satisfy him.
Although his goal was to avoid using body parts that didn't belong to him, after all, the world of Naruto was legendary for its eyes.
No matter what, the Sharingan, as one of the three great dōjutsu, naturally held a great allure. Even if he didn't end up using them, it wouldn't hurt to study them closely.
But the problem was that with Danzo's Root on one side and Obito on the other, trying to take advantage of the situation with his current strength would be suicidal.
Even a single-tomoe Sharingan wouldn't belong to just anyone within the Uchiha clan. There might be some hidden figures, but they wouldn't be too many.
So, finding an insignificant Uchiha who had awakened a single-tomoe Sharingan was practically impossible.
He slowly calmed down from his unrealistic thoughts and sighed. He had considered it before, but who could resist the temptation of the Sharingan?
Natsuro knew that the Sharingan wasn't suitable for him right now, which is why he was able to calm down so quickly.
Even if he managed to obtain the Sharingan, he would only be able to preserve them for the time being. With his current chakra reserves, he wouldn't be able to use them, and he certainly couldn't just implant them like people did in the later stages of the series; he'd need a trusted medical professional to help him transplant them.
As for preservation, he could prepare the necessary solution himself, but he couldn't think of a safe place to store them. Keeping them at home? That would be a death sentence if discovered.
The most important issue was that he didn't have enough chakra to support using the Sharingan. Without the Uchiha's body, the Sharingan would remain active, constantly consuming chakra even if its abilities weren't being actively used.
Not to mention the difficulty of hiding the Sharingan, just supporting the Sharingan with his chakra would be problematic. He might end up like Nagato, who used the Rinnegan and became emaciated.
Nagato's skeletal appearance was horrifying, and he was from the Uzumaki clan, known for their strong life force. If it were himself, he would likely be drained dry, possibly even dying.
And as for finding a trustworthy medical professional? Forget it, he was certain he wouldn't find one anytime soon. As for performing the transplant on himself... he wasn't that crazy yet.
So, even if he miraculously obtained a pair of single-tomoe Sharingan, he'd have to keep them stored away until he could find a trustworthy medical professional and address the chakra issue.
With all these problems adding up, he decided to forget about it. No point in thinking about it—better to keep his life intact. He mentally dismissed the unrealistic thoughts.
It would be more practical to consider obtaining a pair of Sharingan from Danzo after gaining enough strength in the future; he might even get some Hashirama cells along the way...
After tonight, there would only be a few Uchiha left in the world—perhaps even fewer than the Uzumaki clan, who at least managed to scatter some of their people before their demise.
"Tomorrow, Sasuke will be all alone." he muttered, pausing for a moment. When he watched the anime, he didn't think much, but now that he was in the world of Naruto, he had to consider many things.
Why was Sasuke the only one left? Even if Konoha only allowed Sasuke to remain on the surface, it didn't mean the Uchiha had to be completely wiped out. Even Danzo shouldn't have chosen to eliminate them all, right?
Wouldn't it be more in their interest to leave Sasuke in the open while secretly keeping some Uchiha around for experiments? That would even align with Konoha's interests.
So, did Itachi realize this and decide to kill all his clan members to prevent them from becoming experimental subjects? But the Uchiha would probably curse him for worrying about that—did he kill them all out of concern?
Or was it Obito? White Zetsu?
After tonight, both the Third Hokage and Danzo might feel like they've lost control...
But none of this had much to do with him. After the Uchiha massacre, the village would likely return to normal after a while, and he could resume his usual routine.
As for escorting Ino, he would need to continue that for a while longer, stopping only after the village had settled down from the aftermath of the massacre. Stopping immediately would undermine the reasons he gave earlier.
Even though the Uchiha clan was wiped out, such a major event in Konoha would surely cause unrest for a while, and the village wouldn't be too stable during that time.
Without the Uchiha police force, the village's security might even worsen for a while. If he suddenly stopped escorting Ino, it would make his previous reasons invalid.
If he were suspected of knowing about the Uchiha massacre in advance, it would be disastrous, even though the chances of that were low.
As for Shinai, after today, he would resume guarding her in secret until the village had dealt with the aftermath of the massacre.
With these thoughts, he closed the window, calmed his mind that had drifted to the Uchiha, and prepared to rest.
The next day, sure enough, the village was in an uproar, and so was the Ninja Academy. After all, there were still many Uchiha in the school.
For example, Uchiha Sasuke, a member of their class, didn't show up today.
Many girls who admired Sasuke were too distracted to study, worrying about his empty seat.
Some were even crying, which left him speechless, and Iruka helpless. He was also shocked when he heard about the incident.
He immediately thought of Sasuke and went to see the Hokage, who reassured him that Sasuke had narrowly escaped but needed some time to recover from the trauma before returning to school.
However, the Hokage said this needed to be kept secret for a while, to avoid disturbing Sasuke's recovery, so Iruka didn't know how to comfort the grieving girls.
As a result, it was practically impossible to teach the class. Fortunately, Sasuke was usually distant and didn't have many close friends.
After a few periods of crying and commotion, the classroom order gradually returned to normal. Even though some were still upset, it no longer caused any disruption.
Shikamaru, looking at the empty seat, thought back to the recent events in the village and clicked his tongue. The information he had gathered was still too little; he could only sense that something big was going to happen but had no idea it would be something of this magnitude—the Uchiha clan was wiped out by a rogue ninja...
As for Natsuro, he continued reading his book as if nothing had happened, knowing that Sasuke would be fine. Sasuke absolutely had to be fine. After all, those two prodigies were his safety net—no matter how much he eventually grew, they would always be there as his backup.
However, the next time he saw Sasuke, it would probably be the familiar Sasuke from the original series. He glanced at Sasuke's empty seat and sighed.
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Quick Premise: MC transmigrates to the Rain Village in the Naruto world at around the later part of the 2nd Shinobi War and meets people who bring him back to Konoha but he doesn't want to be there. He's left something too precious to forget back on Earth, his sick sister who he needs to pay for her medical treatment or she'll die. So the MC is colder, mainly caring for his own survival. In this fanfic, the Naruto world is portrayed more darker and crueler than most fanfics (closer to how the Shinobi World was described before Naruto's time). The MC is very goal driven, desperate to get back and so is willing to make tough choices to get back to Earth. The MC is not aware of the Naruto plot fyi.
Some power stones would be appreciated :)
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For nearly a month, Sasuke didn't show up in class.
Just when all the girls had given up hope, Sasuke suddenly reappeared in the classroom.
This caused the girls to be overjoyed, one after another surrounding Sasuke, expressing their worries and concerns.
"These girls are really crazy, all of them." Shikamaru said, lying on his desk, watching the scene with sweat dripping from his forehead.
"Yeah." Natsuro nodded in agreement and then added, "But after what Sasuke has been through, it's impressive that he can deal with such harassment. He's both pitiful and strong..."
Shikamaru was taken aback for a moment, then began to think. When he put himself in Sasuke's shoes, he realized that, even after resting for a month, the news of his clan's annihilation would be incredibly difficult to get over.
He must be in turmoil, and to deal with all of that harassment without losing his temper and only gripping his hands tightly in front of him without snapping—it's already quite commendable.
Even if Shikamaru were in the same situation, he's unsure if he could resist telling everyone to leave immediately. Yelling at everyone would be normal.
As Shikamaru pondered, he also reviewed his thoughts, identifying flaws in his thinking and seeking to improve, hoping to think more comprehensively in the future.
"Bang!"
However, Shikamaru's train of thought was interrupted by a loud noise. Looking over, it came from Sasuke's side.
Shikamaru sighed inwardly; as expected, he couldn't hold it in any longer, huh?
Natsuro's gaze also shifted from the scroll in his hand to Sasuke, who had just slammed his hands on the desk and stood up.
Like Shikamaru, he thought Sasuke must have reached his limit.
Then, he saw...
After slamming his hands on the desk, Sasuke startled the nearby girls. Seeing Sasuke leave his seat, they dared not block his way, quickly making room.
However, this path didn't lead to the classroom door—it led to the back of the classroom.
Natsuro realized that Sasuke seemed to be heading toward him! This discovery left him puzzled. Why was Sasuke coming to him?
In no time, Sasuke stood before him, the two locking eyes.
In Sasuke's equally dark eyes, he saw confusion, as if asking what Sasuke wanted, while Sasuke's eyes were filled with a desire for destruction.
This scene made the surrounding people tense up, as it looked like a fight was about to break out. Both individuals were particularly popular in the class, and the thought of either getting hurt didn't sit well with anyone.
"Is there something you need, Sasuke?" he asked, somewhat curious about why Sasuke was approaching him now.
"Come outside with me," Sasuke said in a low voice, then turned and walked out of the classroom.
Natsuro almost blurted out, "Why should I go with you?" But after thinking it over, his curiosity about what Sasuke wanted after his clan's annihilation got the better of him, so he stood up and followed.
On the way, as they passed by Ino's seat, he noticed her worried expression. He smiled reassuringly at her, indicating that everything would be fine.
Soon, Sasuke brought him to a slightly secluded spot and stopped.
"So, Sasuke, what do you want from me?" Natsuro asked again.
"Fight me. I must defeat you!" Sasuke turned around, staring intently at him. He was determined to take revenge; every night for the past days, he'd been tormented by nightmares of that night.
Revenge, he needed to take revenge! He had to avenge his clan!
But how could he, as weak as he was, possibly take revenge? He couldn't even claim the top spot in his class! So, Sasuke set his sights on Natsuro. If he wanted revenge, he first had to defeat the top student! If he couldn't even beat him, how could he hope to exact his revenge?
Natsuro was momentarily stunned, trying to figure out why Sasuke suddenly wanted to defeat him. They had only ever talked about it in the context of exams before, so why was Sasuke now pushing for a physical confrontation?
Then, he considered Sasuke's current mental state—likely focused entirely on revenge. As the top student in the class, he might have figured it out.
Thinking along these lines, he wondered if Sasuke saw him as the first step in his quest for revenge.
"It's possible, but not now." Natsuro replied after some thought, curious about Sasuke's current level.
"Why not?" Sasuke continued to stare intently at him.
"I can't show my full strength right now. Let's meet here after school, and we can have our fight then. How about that?"He suggested after some thought.
He was currently using a shadow clone, and to allocate more chakra for training, he extracted just enough chakra to sustain the clone for studying.
If hedared to fight Sasuke here and now, his shadow clone would dispel itself after a short while.
So, the battle had to wait.
"Fine." Although he didn't fully understand, Sasuke agreed. After all, if he wanted to defeat his opponent, it had to be when his opponent was at full strength. Taking advantage of a weakened state wouldn't be fair.
After school, Natsuro told Ino to go home without him, as he had some matters to attend to. Although Ino was a bit disappointed, she agreed. He then went to the place where he and Sasuke had agreed to meet.
"Can we start now?" Sasuke asked, staring at him.
Natsuro nodded, looking at Sasuke with a bit of admiration. When the shadow clone relayed the message to him, he realized Sasuke was pretty remarkable. Even in his current state, he could control himself and agree to postpone the fight instead of attacking impulsively. Not everyone could do that in his situation.
So, Indra and Ashura...
Sasuke's eyes lit up, and he initiated the attack.
A short while later, Sasuke was drenched in sweat, his eyes filled with disbelief.
All his attacks had been effortlessly blocked by him, who didn't even need to attack back; otherwise, Sasuke would've already lost.
Natsuro watched Sasuke with interest. Although Sasuke was one of the future powerhouses, at this stage, Sasuke was still someone he could toy with. Why not take advantage of this while he still could?
As he entertained the thought, he noticed Sasuke gritting his teeth and reaching into his ninja tool pouch, causing his expression to change.
They were only first-year students, and they hadn't even been taught how to fight properly, let alone with ninja tools. While Natsuro had nothing to fear, Sasuke's decision to use ninja tools in a match that shouldn't require them—and without Iruka watching—changed the nature of their fight.
This move meant that if it were someone else, someone careless, Sasuke could seriously hurt them, and with a bit of bad luck...
In short, from this moment on, the nature of their battle had changed!
As for Sasuke, he absolutely refused to acknowledge that the gap between him and Natsuro could be this vast. He had already stopped caring about anything else; he just wanted to win. His hand had already grasped a shuriken.
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