Chapter 601: Finally Meeting Sōsuke
Six Paths City, Land of Rain.
Early in the morning, Sasori woke up on time. After brushing his teeth and washing his face in the bathroom, he opened the door, ready to head to the Shinobi Sect dining hall for breakfast.
The moment Sasori opened the door, he saw Nagato standing beneath a large tree ten meters away.
Nagato nodded to Sasori, and the two of them walked toward the Shinobi Sect dining hall together.
"I'm saying, you don't even live here, so why do you come over every day?" Sasori said in dissatisfaction along the way. "You don't need to supervise me. I'll complete my tasks as usual. After all, I want to regain my freedom sooner."
Ever since the day Sasori skipped breakfast and work, Nagato had waited outside his door every morning to eat with him.
Before Sasori adjusted his routine, Nagato would even knock on his door to wake him up whenever he slept late.
This annoyed Sasori somewhat. Since childhood, only his parents had ever managed him like this. Even his grandmother had not done so.
Seeing that Nagato seemed to be getting addicted to supervising him, Sasori became a little anxious and no longer cared that Nagato controlled his freedom.
"It isn't supervision," Nagato said, shaking his head.
He had not come to act as a supervisor. He simply wanted Sasori to develop the habit of eating on time and to stop being so alone.
They were both children who had lost their parents very early. Nagato could see a little of himself in Sasori.
Before he met Yahiko and Konan, Nagato had wandered everywhere. He often felt that in such a vast Land of Rain, and in such a vast Ninja World, there was nowhere for him to go and no one he could rely on.
Their circumstances might have been different, but Nagato could sense Sasori's loneliness.
Nagato wanted to become Sasori's Yahiko, someone who could make him no longer feel alone.
"Then what is it?" Sasori could not help mocking him. "You really think you're my brother or something?"
Nagato showed a thoughtful expression, then asked, "When were you born?"
If he could not become Sasori's Yahiko, becoming his brother would also work.
"November 8th, XX year," Sasori answered subconsciously.
"Then there's no problem with the age. I was born on September 19th, XX year, the same year as you, but earlier," Nagato said with a nod.
Whether by age or height, he was qualified to be Sasori's older brother.
Sasori looked at Nagato with black lines practically covering his face.
I make one sarcastic remark, and you actually take it seriously?
Did Nagato think that just because their hair color was similar and he was a little taller, he could take advantage of him like this?
"What do you mean there's no problem? I didn't agree," Sasori said, utterly speechless.
"Let's go eat breakfast," Nagato said calmly.
Looking at Nagato's composed expression, Sasori suddenly felt deeply irritated.
They were the same age, so why was Nagato always so calm in the face of his provocations? It made Sasori look like the one overreacting and being unreasonable.
When Sasori thought about it carefully, it really did seem like a good-natured elder brother gently handling a troublesome younger brother.
"We still have Sōsuke-sensei's class later, so we should go a little earlier," Nagato said when he saw Sasori suddenly stop with an unhappy expression, lost in thought.
Today was the fourth day of the unrestricted lecture.
They had listened to the first two days of lessons. Since quite a few Sunagakure Ninja were present, Mugetsu had even given Sasori a small privilege. During the lecture period, the Sealing Technique would not be maintained, allowing Sasori to use the Transformation Technique to disguise himself.
Sasori had actually considered using the chance to escape.
After all, so many Ninja had suddenly poured into Six Paths City. It would be very difficult for the Shinobi Sect to manage them all. On top of that, he would not be sealed for more than ten days, making this an excellent opportunity to escape.
But as soon as he thought of Sōsuke saying that if he were caught escaping, his sentence would be tripled, Sasori became reluctant to take the risk.
Sasori had seen Nagato's sensory abilities and was not confident he could escape from him. Add the mysterious Sōsuke into the equation, and Sasori had no desire to gamble.
If he lost this gamble, then revenge would truly become hopeless.
Sasori did not reply. He simply walked silently toward the dining hall.
Although Sasori did not particularly like Sōsuke, he had to admit that the title of Ninja Master suited him.
Sasori specialized in puppetry and had no interest in other people's Ninjutsu, but even he could listen to Sōsuke's lectures.
After they finished eating, Sasori used the Transformation Technique, then walked with Nagato toward the Training Ground where the lecture was being held.
They arrived neither too early nor too late. There were already many people standing on the Training Ground.
"Last time, it was seven days. This time, it's eight days. Do you think the third lecture will become nine days?"
"That's hard to say. Sōsuke-sensei's lessons are so high quality that he probably needs a lot of preparation. Who knows when the next one will even be?"
Since Mugetsu had not arrived yet, the waiting Ninja were all chatting with acquaintances.
Nagato and Sasori walked to the place where they had stood during the previous two classes and waited quietly.
About twenty minutes later, Mugetsu arrived at the Training Ground and walked toward the podium amid the crowd's greetings of "Sōsuke-sensei."
At that moment, the previously noisy Training Ground quickly quieted down. All the Ninja turned their eyes to Sōsuke.
Mugetsu smiled faintly, selected a few lucky students to answer their questions, and began the formal lesson once the time came.
Time passed quickly. Before Sasori even realized it, dusk had already arrived.
After having dinner with Nagato at the Shinobi Sect dining hall, Sasori went to the research laboratory Mugetsu had specially prepared for him and began researching puppet prosthetics.
Normally, Sasori carried out research during the day, but during the lecture event, he attended classes in the daytime, so he switched his research time to evening.
When he first entered the laboratory, Sasori would occasionally think of Kakashi or Nagato.
After researching for a while, however, he became fully absorbed in puppet prosthetics.
Sasori's reason for first learning puppetry had not been pleasant. Chiyo had taught him puppetry to help him ease the pain of losing his parents.
However, after coming into contact with puppetry, Sasori had truly fallen in love with it.
Puppets did not die. They did not disappear without warning. If they broke, they could be repaired.
Things that could exist eternally were what Sasori considered true art.
Because of that, Sasori often became so engrossed in puppetry research that he forgot himself. Forgetting to eat and sleep was common for him.
"It's about time. You should wash up and go to bed."
Nagato, who had been training in the adjacent training room, walked into the laboratory to remind him.
Sasori, who had been soaring through an ocean of puppet technology, was suddenly dragged out by force and could not help glaring at Nagato.
It was like being woken in the middle of sleep, or having someone smash your bowl when you were starving and had not even taken a bite yet. How could Sasori not be angry?
"Tomorrow, there is still Sōsuke-sensei's class. The day after tomorrow is the rest day."
Sasori's imposing aura immediately weakened a great deal, but he still said, "Even if I research for four more hours, I can still wake up early and won't be tired!"
It was not that Sasori loved Sōsuke's class so much that he absolutely had to attend. He simply thought Sōsuke's class was good.
More importantly, Sasori was worried that if he did not attend, Sōsuke might think there was no need for him to use the Transformation Technique and revoke that small privilege, preventing him from secretly making puppets.
"Mm. I believe you. Go back," Nagato said with a nod.
A vein bulged on Sasori's forehead. Nagato's perfunctory attitude was far too obvious.
However, when Sasori thought of that small privilege, he did not continue arguing. He only snorted coldly and left on his own.
"The wisdom of ordinary people. Once I transform myself into an eternal body, what does not sleeping for a week matter?" Sasori thought to himself.
The more Sasori thought about it, the more he felt that a flesh-and-blood body was far too useless. It wasted seven or eight hours every day on sleep. If all that time could be used for research and study, the increase in efficiency would be enormous.
…
Happy times were always short, and soon, the final day of the second unrestricted lecture arrived.
On this day, Mugetsu no longer arrived ten minutes early. Instead, he reached the Training Ground thirty minutes before the lecture began.
"Eh, is time passing that quickly? Is class starting already?" Some Ninja were surprised to see Sōsuke.
Because Mugetsu had always been so punctual, they instinctively felt that Sōsuke's arrival meant only ten minutes remained before class.
"Did everyone wake up late today?"
Someone noticed that the number of people on the field was not right. There were not as many as before.
"Why did he come thirty minutes early?" Roshi wondered.
Since he usually arrived around this time, Roshi immediately realized that Sōsuke had arrived earlier than usual.
"Probably because this is the last class. Didn't they say there would only be eight days of lessons?" the Four Tails said after some thought.
"So it's already the eighth class." Roshi was slightly stunned.
His days in Six Paths City had been fulfilling. When there was class, he attended. When there was no class, he went to the Shinobi Sect's classroom to read books and listen to Shinobi Sect Ninja discuss matters. Because of that, he had barely noticed the passage of time.
"There are still thirty minutes until class begins. Next, I will randomly select some Ninja…"
Mugetsu began randomly choosing Ninja and answering their questions, just as usual.
The final day had to be a little different. To give more Ninja a chance to ask questions, Mugetsu arrived earlier at the Training Ground.
Hearing Sōsuke say there were still thirty minutes left before class, the Ninja below all showed delighted expressions.
Before, only five or six people were usually chosen in ten minutes. Today, there were thirty minutes, so the chance of being chosen had greatly increased.
The Ninja who arrived later were stunned to see Sōsuke already standing on the podium. They also thought they were late, only learning after others explained that Sōsuke had arrived early.
By fifteen minutes before class, most of the Ninja attending the lecture had arrived.
Because Sōsuke usually arrived ten minutes early, many people had guessed that if Sōsuke ever arrived even earlier one day, the chance of being chosen would be greater.
The good news was that Sōsuke had indeed arrived early.
The bad news was that he had arrived too early, far earlier than expected.
But few people quibbled over that. Everyone focused on listening to Sōsuke's answers.
Most Ninja encountered fairly similar problems, so an answer given to one person was useful to many others.
"Can he answer my question?" Hanzō thought, looking at Sōsuke on the podium as he effortlessly resolved the Ninja's doubts.
He was very curious about Sōsuke's Water Release level and wondered if it was stronger than his own.
However, Hanzō did not want Sōsuke to choose him.
If he asked Sōsuke for guidance in such a public setting, what would that look like?
Hanzō also knew Sōsuke would not choose him. After all, he had warned Sōsuke in advance.
Thirty minutes before class quickly passed, and Hanzō was indeed not chosen.
"If I privately challenge him and only use Water Release, would he agree?" Hanzō thought of a simpler and more direct method.
How high his Water Release level truly was would become clear once they fought.
The method was indeed good, but a rare look of hesitation appeared on Hanzō's face.
Hanzō had to admit that from the time he first met Sōsuke until now, even if he compared only their Water Release, the area he was most proficient in, he was not confident that he could defeat Sōsuke.
Furthermore, to Hanzō, such a battle held no value.
If he won against Sōsuke, it would be useless to brag about and would only further damage his reputation.
After all, Hanzō had the title of the strongest Water Release user in the Ninja World. What good would it do for the strongest Water Release user to challenge a Fire Release expert in Water Release and then win?
If he lost, the result would be even worse. The strongest Water Release Ninja title would also become Sōsuke's.
"The content we will discuss today is…"
As Sōsuke's lecture reached Hanzō's ears, Hanzō's mood gradually calmed. He stopped thinking about other matters and concentrated on listening.
"All classes have now concluded. I hope everyone has gained something."
It was Sōsuke's voice again that pulled Hanzō out of his thoughts about the lesson content.
"It's over again. It feels so fast, like I only came yesterday," one Ninja sighed.
The half-year when Sōsuke was not lecturing had felt like years to him, but the past ten or so days of classes seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye.
"Yes, it always feels like each day passes so quickly here," a nearby Ninja said with feeling.
Sōsuke's lectures seemed to possess some mysterious ability that made time accelerate.
"Eight classes are already over." Roshi also felt somewhat emotional, and at the same time, a little excited.
Like the other Ninja, he also felt that class time had passed far too quickly and left him wanting more.
But the end of the lecture event also meant that Roshi was about to meet Sōsuke, so Roshi was somewhat excited.
Before setting off, Roshi had wanted to meet Sōsuke simply out of admiration for Sōsuke's deeds and a desire to see the legendary Ninja Master for himself.
After arriving in the Land of Rain, traveling from the north to the south and then reaching Six Paths City, everything he experienced and observed along the way had allowed Roshi to learn more about Sōsuke.
But Sōsuke was a mysterious person. The more Roshi learned about him, the more interested he became instead of losing interest.
Hanzō glanced at Sōsuke. In the end, he did nothing and said nothing. He simply turned and left.
Some Rain Ninja saw Hanzō leave without a word and immediately used body language to alert the surrounding Rain Ninja who had not reacted yet, then followed after him.
With the lecture event concluded, most Ninja dispersed, while a small portion remained temporarily for various reasons.
Roshi was one of those who stayed.
After class, Roshi ate at a restaurant near the inn. Then he stayed quietly in the inn, reading while waiting for news from the Shinobi Sect.
Roshi expected to receive news from the Shinobi Sect in about two days, and then be able to meet Sōsuke in about a week.
After all, Sōsuke had just finished a large-scale lecture event. It was only reasonable for him to rest for a short while.
"Do you have time tonight? If you do, I can take you to meet Sōsuke-sensei in an hour," Nagato asked Roshi.
Roshi was somewhat surprised. He had not expected Sōsuke to choose to meet him on the very evening the event concluded.
"Yes," Roshi quickly replied.
He truly had nothing to do now. His entire day was open.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]