Chapter 144: Night of Slaughter
Night.
The wind soughs mournfully.
The moon.
Pure white.
Chirp, chirp...
Crick, crick...
Cicadas cried, and crickets wailed.
Konoha, the Uchiha Clan District.
Swish!
Itachi Uchiha landed atop a utility pole, a kodachi strapped to his back. His Sharingan gazed coldly at the world below.
"Begin the operation. Let me see the extent of your capacity," a masked man said, emerging from a swirl of distorted space.
Clang!
Itachi slowly drew the blade from his back, his face devoid of emotion.
Uchiha Residential Area.
"Only a dozen or so days until graduation. When the time comes, I'm definitely joining the Police Force, getting stronger, and then arresting Tonbo Tobitake to give him a taste of his own medicine."
Inside a room, Uchiha Do was studying hard under the lamp. Since third grade, when Iruka-sensei used the "Eight Scents of Fire" ninjutsu on him, he had targeted the developer of that technique. He swore that when he grew up, he would give that person a beating.
For this purpose, Uchiha Do worked harder than ever before, often reading late into the night. He didn't know why he was so obsessed; he only knew he wouldn't feel right until he accomplished it. Even though Hyuga Tokuma had developed a "Throat Protection Technique" and they never had to endure that scent again, Do had not forgotten.
"Do-kun... it's time for bed. Why are you still studying?"
A silver-haired, elderly grandmother opened the door. Seeing that Do was still studying, she carried a lunch box over to him.
"Grandma, didn't I tell you? I have to surpass a certain ninja and give him a beating. Go back and rest, don't worry about me."
Despite his words, Uchiha Do took the lunch box. Opening it, he found some sweets his grandmother had made.
"Haha, don't think your grandma is old. I'm a veteran who survived the Warring States period. I've lived longer than several of the Hokage-samas; don't look down on my health."
The grandmother waved her cane to show how robust she was.
"Ai-ya!"
Suddenly, she propped her cane on the floor and clutched her waist.
"Grandma, don't move around like that!" Uchiha Do put down the sweets and went over to support her. "I know you're amazing, Grandma, but stop being reckless."
"It's fine. I've lived long enough; even if I die now, it's no loss," Grandma laughed heartily, unconcerned. She felt that at her age, death was just death.
"Grandma, don't talk about death. It's bad luck. Why don't you tell me stories of when you were young? I want to know how handsome Uchiha Madara, our clan's strongest ninja, really was," Uchiha Do set his studies aside and asked her. He felt that if he became a ninja like that, he could definitely beat that man.
"You mean Uncle Madara? When I was only six, he had already slain countless enemies on the battlefield. He was the most talented ninja of our clan's generations..."
Ninja School.
Sasuke, Naruto, and the others had just finished their night training for the day.
"So this is night training? In this environment, it's way too easy to bang your head on things!" Naruto panted.
A circle of people—all third-year students—stood around him. Like him, they were covered in marks and bruises from the session. Only two people showed no signs of distress.
Night training was a staple that began in the third year, designed to train ninjas in nocturnal combat and utility. Fighting at night was a standard occurrence for ninjas. Training began in the academy so they could adapt to the darkness during future missions. Even so, most of them were quite disheveled after this session, save for a select few.
"How many times has it been? You still don't learn your lesson. Go back and practice properly. At this rate, forget becoming Hokage—you'll struggle even to promote to Genin."
Inuzuka Kiba, with Akamaru perched on his head, bared his teeth at Naruto. Kiba had long since noticed this guy who always tried to grab attention. Naruto often skipped class and played pranks, but never studied properly, yet constantly talked about becoming Hokage and gaining everyone's recognition.
After nearly three years of school, Kiba had already investigated the study habits of everyone in class. Except for Sasuke and Shikamaru, no one was "secretly studying to become Hokage" as Teacher Tonbo Tobitake had claimed. However, having two rivals was plenty for him. He was full of fighting spirit.
Shikamaru spoke up: "Don't be like that. Without long-term training or night-vision abilities, it's very difficult to train in this environment!" Even his clothes were stained with a bit of dirt.
"Exactly! Even Shikamaru fell down!" Naruto argued defiantly.
Shikamaru scratched his head. He had been knocked down because Naruto bumped into him.
"Mizuki-sensei, can we stop the night training? It's really bad for a girl's skin!" Ino patted the leaves off her clothes. She hated this feeling. Looking unkempt in front of Sasuke was the last thing she wanted. She glanced toward Sasuke and noticed him frowning as if something was weighing on his mind.
"Sasuke, what's wrong? Did you fall just now? Are you okay?" Sensing an opportunity, she moved closer to him.
"Damn it, Ino! Don't get so close to Sasuke!" Ino's behavior immediately drew the attention of the other girls, who began shouting.
"No... I just suddenly have a bad feeling in my heart."
Sasuke felt a sense of foreboding. Even though he had truly made progress during the night training by using the methods his brother taught him, he couldn't bring himself to care. He suddenly looked at Mizuki-sensei, hoping he would dismiss the class quickly. Something was gnawing at him.
Mizuki cast a subtle glance at Sasuke and Kiba, his eyes flickering with a hint of jealousy. Geniuses... why am I not a genius?
However, he didn't show it. Addressing the students, he smiled and said, "Alright, everyone's performance today was better than last time. Keep working hard in the future. Especially Kiba and Sasuke—I hope you won't become arrogant."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto pouted and muttered, "What gives? It's always Sasuke and Kiba. I made a lot of progress too, you know."
No one refuted him. Although Naruto was a disaster in theoretical classes, his progress in taijutsu and combat had always been exceptionally fast.
"Yes, yes, your progress was fast too. Now then... class dismissed," Mizuki glanced at him and gave the order.
"Yeah!"
As the words left Mizuki's mouth, the students cheered. Every night training session was exhausting, and they still had homework to do during the day.
Swoosh!
The moment Sasuke heard the dismissal, he turned and left immediately, as if something were pulling him away.
"Eh? That stuck-up Sasuke... why is he leaving so fast today?" Naruto wondered.
The others were equally confused; usually, Sasuke walked back at a leisurely pace.
Kiba smiled and said to Naruto, "Maybe there's something going on at home, or maybe he's rushing back to secretly study. Keep it up, Naruto." Naruto was no longer a threat to him; he would likely be his subordinate in the future, so he couldn't let Naruto fall too far behind. If a Hokage's subordinate ninjas couldn't even study well, it would be very embarrassing.
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