Chapter 331: Sasuke Questions His Entire Life
In the end, Sasuke agreed.
However, he felt that for something like an eye transplant, it would be best to have a professional handle it.
In a small place like the Land of Waves, even if there were medical ninja, their skills would likely be questionable.
It would be better to find Orochimaru or Tsunade.
"Then let's go to the Hokage. It just so happens your teammate, Uzumaki Naruto, has already returned to Konoha. If there are any misunderstandings between you, you can clear them up as well."
Uchiha Itachi nodded in agreement.
Given the choice between Tsunade and Orochimaru, Itachi would obviously choose Tsunade as the Hokage.
"Naruto… that idiot. Everything he did before was to help me awaken my eyes, right?"
Sasuke touched his Sharingan with one hand, while subconsciously reaching back to rub his butt with the other.
For a moment, Itachi and Kisame outside the window couldn't tell which "eye" Sasuke was referring to.
"Sasuke, do you want to rest first, or leave immediately?"
Before heading out, Itachi asked.
"Let's leave right away… hmm, wait, I need to use the bathroom."
Sasuke flipped off the bed, but suddenly felt a swelling sensation and immediately blushed.
"Then Kisame, I'll leave things here to you. I'm taking Sasuke back to Konoha."
After handing over matters in the Land of Waves to Kisame, Itachi pointed toward a building in the distance.
"That's the public restroom. Go ahead."
"Yeah."
---
Sasuke walked into the restroom and saw a familiar figure standing at a vending machine, buying a pack of tissues before heading inside.
"Huh?"
Sasuke froze in confusion.
After a moment, he quickly stepped back outside and checked the sign.
It was definitely the men's restroom.
He let out a sigh of relief.
Then hesitated.
Should he go in?
After a second of internal struggle, he decided to enter.
Because he couldn't hold it anymore.
Besides, if it was really a girl, she would notice the urinals inside and leave, right?
And even if she didn't notice, it would take time for her to undo her belt.
Hesitation would only make things worse.
Sasuke strode back in and, upon seeing the figure, immediately spoke: "Hey, you went to the wrong place, this is…"
"What?"
The sound of running water.
Haku turned his head in confusion to look at Sasuke.
"?"
Sasuke froze completely.
He never imagined that this person, someone he remembered quite clearly from a past mission, was not a girl!
Under Sasuke's stare, Haku blushed slightly, turning his head away, too embarrassed to make eye contact.
He quickly finished up, carefully wiped himself with the tissues he had just bought, and hurried out.
Sasuke snapped back to reality, silently walked over, and began relieving himself. At the same time, his mind went blank.
After finally accepting that Haku was a boy, Sasuke composed himself, restored his usual cold demeanor, and walked out of the restroom.
"Oof."
A cute little girl ran into him head-on and fell to the ground.
"Are you okay?"
Sasuke kindly helped her up, but suddenly felt alarmed and quickly asked: "Little… this says men's restroom, you…"
He forcibly swallowed the "little sister" he had been about to say.
"Sorry, ah, I really need to go! Raiga-sama's ship is about to leave, sorry, excuse me!"
Ranmaru rushed inside in a panic.
Sasuke stood there, stunned.
He couldn't help but wonder, was this "girl" who ran into the men's restroom actually a boy too?
Although Sasuke appeared cold on the outside, he was no different from a normal person inside.
Just like Naruto, he had once been curious about what Kakashi looked like under his mask, even imagining buck teeth and thick lips.
Now it was the same.
But he wouldn't actually go back to confirm.
Staring at Haku earlier had already been rude and awkward.
At least that could be explained as shock at discovering Haku's gender.
But if he went back now, that would make him a real pervert.
After washing his hands, Sasuke silently walked out, then covered one eye with his hand.
Mangekyō ability, "Tenkō" (Heavenly Fox), activate!
At first glance, it might seem like Sasuke's two eye abilities overlap, but that's not actually the case.
Just like in Hearthstone, there's no absolute "strictly better" option, and the same goes for Mangekyō abilities.
Right now, Sasuke needed the pure long-range vision of Tenkō (Heavenly Fox).
If he used Kokūshi (Void Sight) instead, wouldn't that leave behind evidence of wrongdoing?
"As expected."
Sasuke lowered his hand, his expression blank.
He had gotten the answer he wanted.
How tragic.
…Well.
Before he could even process that sadness, Sasuke spotted another familiar face.
Someone he had seen in the Otogakure Village before, apparently sent by Orochimaru to the Land of Water to collect materials from the former habitat of the Three-Tails.
Her name was… Guren, right?
Guren glanced at Sasuke standing outside the restroom, her guard immediately going up.
She wondered if Sasuke was like Kakashi, cold on the outside but secretly a pervert, lurking here to peek at people using the restroom.
That would be way too extreme.
At least Jiraiya had the decency to peek at bathhouses.
Shaking off the strange thoughts, Guren walked into the women's restroom.
Sasuke let out a breath of relief.
Finally, a normal woman.
If there was one more like the others, he felt like he would completely break down.
"Guren, give me a coin, I need to buy tissues."
Another "girl" ran over and called into the women's restroom.
"Here."
A coin was tossed out from the ventilation gap above. The "girl" caught it and then ran into the men's restroom behind Sasuke.
Sasuke: "..."
Still unwilling to accept it, Sasuke covered his eye again and activated Tenkō (Heavenly Fox).
"..."
Despair.
At this point, Sasuke was psychologically scarred.
Now, whenever he saw a "girl", as long as they were still wearing pants, he wouldn't believe they were actually female.
Wait.
Suddenly, Sasuke thought of the only female member of Team 7.
Sakura… is she really a girl?
Doubt crept in.
Given Sakura's personality, some classmates had even secretly called her "Sakura bro."
Could it be because someone had discovered her true gender?
Sasuke shivered.
This world was too dangerous.
No wonder that guy from the Nara clan once said his dream was to marry a woman who was neither pretty nor ugly.
The key point wasn't "neither pretty nor ugly", it was "woman."
So this is what the real ninja world is like?
No wonder so many powerful ninja, like the Second Hokage, chose to remain single their entire lives.
"Hey, you're my brother's teammate, right?"
Sasuke walked over to Kisame.
"Yeah."
"Do you like women?"
"?"
A hint of confusion appeared in Kisame's dead fish-like eyes.
Could it be that Itachi's little brother had realized his own orientation, was planning to confess to the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, but feared societal judgment, and was now looking for someone like-minded?
Otherwise, why would he suddenly ask that?
(End of this chapter)