My clan was exterminated when I was three years old, and you want me to beat Uchiha Itachi? Chapter 069

The desolate streets and clean eaves clearly showed that the Uchiha clan’s compound had been thoroughly cleaned by Root after the catastrophe, making it look brand new.

If not for what had happened, it could definitely be sold as a high-end community for a good price.

Following Iruka’s footsteps, you quickly saw a detached villa located in the central area of the compound, slightly taller than the surrounding houses. This was once the clan leader’s residence and now Sasuke’s solitary abode.

Iruka stepped forward to knock on the door, while you instinctively glanced around.

This glance revealed several Anbu ninjas lying in ambush, unable to hide. It seemed that after the massacre, Sasuke’s life wasn’t much different from Naruto’s.

Although there was no malice from the people around him, he lived in hatred every day.

Iruka and Sasuke exchanged a few brief words. Sasuke shook his head helplessly, about to close the door.

But then he suddenly turned his gaze to you, standing in the distance. He looked closely, seeming to find you familiar, yet couldn’t recall who you were.

In reality, Sasuke didn’t know you at all; it was merely a faint sense of goodwill arising from sharing the Uchiha bloodline.

The two of you were thus welcomed into the house by Sasuke.

Iruka, who had come to comfort Sasuke, now didn’t know how to speak and could only sit there awkwardly.

Sasuke also sat stiffly, occasionally looking up at you, this somewhat familiar stranger.

Your identity was completely unrelated to the Uchiha; you were merely a ninja who admired the Uchiha clan and followed Iruka to pay respects to their compound.

The three of you sat awkwardly on three chairs, gathered around an empty tea table.

During this time, Iruka opened his mouth several times, but the words stuck in his throat and wouldn’t come out.

After a while, Sasuke seemed to break the tension, going to the kitchen to bring out two cups of cold water and placing them in front of you.

To prevent the situation from becoming even more awkward, you had to break the ice.

You picked up the water glass from the table and drank from it, then asked Sasuke if he had never done housework.

Sasuke nodded, saying that his mother and bro… He stopped halfway through, burying his head between his knees.

At this point, Iruka took over, saying that you were a newly joined Konoha ninja and wanted to see the Uchiha clan’s Fire Release, asking Sasuke if he could take you to see it. In fact, as Sasuke’s teacher, he also wanted to see how far Sasuke’s Fire Release training had progressed.

“Follow me!”

Sasuke glanced at you, a spark of interest seemingly igniting within him. He pulled a scroll from under the tea table, picked up a ninja tool pouch from the cabinet and fastened it to his waist, then pushed open the door and jogged along the path towards a secluded forest.

You and Iruka exchanged a glance, then followed.

The Anbu monitoring Sasuke also quickly followed.

As you followed Sasuke into the forest, several Anbu had already hidden themselves in the canopies of the tall trees.

Under Iruka’s encouragement, after practicing shuriken for a while, Sasuke walked to an open space near the lake and began practicing the Great Fireball Technique, starting with hand seals.

You looked around, feeling that this was a good place to dispose of bodies. With your current strength, you could kill everyone, including the monitoring Anbu, within half a minute, then throw them into the lake.

Afterward, before the “Tongue-Sealing Curse” was placed on you, and while Root couldn’t track you, you could use the Anbu intelligence you possessed to stealthily break through the Konoha barrier and escape.

But if you did that, in the days that followed, you would inevitably face relentless pursuit from Konoha’s Anbu, Root, Uchiha Itachi, and even desperate killers like Kakuzu who valued money above all else!

At that point, stably acquiring ninjutsu to increase your strength would not be as easy as relying on Root, that big tree…

Even though a month had passed, you still remembered the purpose of this trip: to live long enough and become strong enough!

For this grand plan, you decided to temporarily hide this desire deep within your heart.

Having thought this through, you slowly withdrew your right hand, which had been resting on your ninja sword’s hilt, and asked Sasuke if he wanted to see your Fire Release.

Sasuke seemed to have his competitive spirit stirred by your words, countering by asking what Fire Release could surpass the Uchiha’s ninjutsu.

You didn’t answer, but instead casually tossed a shuriken into the air. Then, you focused your gaze on the target in mid-air, forming hand seals. The metal shuriken suddenly ignited in mid-air, and soon turned into a molten mass.

At this moment, you formed hand seals again. The molten metal in mid-air suddenly exploded, forming a giant fireworks display that bloomed in the center of the lakeside. The molten metal scattered like countless droplets, falling into the lake and raising a thin layer of white mist.

Sasuke, who had just experienced the clan massacre and had not yet graduated from the Ninja Academy, still retained the most vulnerable side of his mind.

Seeing your masterful control over Fire Release, Sasuke’s gaze towards you immediately changed as if he were looking at a different person.

Time flew by.

As evening approached, Iruka sat worriedly on a large rock by the lake, watching you occasionally guide Sasuke’s ninjutsu. He didn’t know whether letting Sasuke learn ninjutsu further ahead of time was good or bad.

“Let’s go.”

Under Sasuke’s reluctant gaze, you pulled out the Anbu handbook, casually flipped through a few pages, made a few marks with a pen, then stuffed it into your pocket. You called out to Iruka and left the area.

At night, you returned to your dormitory. You took out the Anbu handbook, and, referencing the marks you had made earlier, transcribed all of Sasuke’s physical data and ninjutsu techniques onto a blank sheet of paper. Then, you placed it in a patch of grass used for exchanging information.

After returning to your dormitory again and taking a satisfying hot shower, you opened the small metal box containing the Parasitic Insects’ Flame and continued to practice your Fire Release, refining your control over it…

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the Hokage Building, facing an enraged Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo calmly opened a white paper filled with ninja information, picking out key details and reading them aloud.

His voice wasn’t loud, but it flowed with the air, involuntarily entering Hiruzen Sarutobi’s ears.

“Sasuke… the only two remaining Uchiha bloodlines… ninjutsu he knows, Great Fireball Technique… that’s it, hahahaha!”

…………

Hiruzen Sarutobi glared sternly at Danzo, asking him where he found the other Uchiha. Danzo shook his head, saying only that he was lucky. In truth, he didn’t know where you came from; he couldn’t believe it, but you simply appeared.

Moreover, you had many opportunities to escape Konoha that day, yet showed no signs of trying to escape, which greatly excited Danzo.

So much so that he selectively ignored Hiruzen Sarutobi’s words, such as “he’s still a child,” “the meaning of life,” “the Will of Fire,” “bonds,” “the clan of love”… and other amusing jokes, leaving only a wild, overflowing laugh.

“Hiruzen, I won this time.”

“Nonsense! I am the Hokage…”