Three years passed in the blink of an eye amid training while traveling across the ninja world.
During those three years, Uchiha Sasuke always followed Arisu in harsh training, much like how Naruto spent three years training outside the village with Jiraiya in the original story.
The difference was that Arisu personally took Sasuke all across the ninja world, wandering and training every step of the way.
It was also during that long journey that Arisu gradually took in Suigetsu Hozuki, Jugo, and Karin.
What had originally been a training journey for just two people gradually became a complete squad.
In the empty wilderness, a simple temporary camp stood quietly.
"Suigetsu! Hurry up! Sasuke and Jugo have been ready for ages! The whole team is waiting just for you!"
Outside the tent, Karin had already packed all of her belongings. Standing there straight, she couldn't help raising her voice toward the tent.
The tent flap was lazily lifted, and Suigetsu Hozuki slowly walked out with an unhurried pace.
"You're making a big deal out of nothing. Even our teacher isn't in a hurry. Why are you rushing everyone?", Suigetsu grumbled impatiently.
Hearing him, everyone instinctively turned to look.
On an old tree stump not far away, Arisu sat quietly with a water pouch in his hand, taking slow sips. His expression was calm, showing no sign of wanting to leave immediately.
Sasuke spoke at the right time, his voice calm and steady, "Karin, it's fine. There's no rush."
That simple sentence instantly wiped away all of Karin's impatience.
She immediately turned to Sasuke. Her eyes filled with hearts, her cheeks turned slightly red, and she looked completely lovestruck.
"Sasuke is so gentle. He's so kind and forgiving!", As she spoke, Karin practically pressed herself against Sasuke.
Seeing this, Sasuke twitched the corner of his mouth slightly. His eyes casually swept over the infatuated Karin, his heart full of helplessness and confusion.
Even now, he still couldn't understand why Teacher Arisu had accepted Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo back then.
Originally, training with his teacher had been a unique experience, with the two of them fully focused on improving together.
But after those three joined, their simple two-person training had become a noisy group of five. Sasuke had never really been happy with that change.
He still preferred being alone with his teacher.
Three years were enough to erase all the immaturity of youth.
The current Sasuke had completely grown up. His body was tall, and he had grown much taller than he was three years ago. The youthful thinness was long gone.
Compared to the changes in his appearance, however, his personality had changed even more dramatically.
The proud, impulsive young man who acted decisively and always stood out had completely disappeared.
Now he was calm, reserved, extremely careful, and deeply suspicious by nature.
Every bit of that change came from Arisu's teaching.
After training under Arisu for three years, everything he saw and learned had shaped the completely different Uchiha Sasuke of today. Arisu's unique teaching style had thoroughly remade him.
The Arisu version really was different.
A short while later, Suigetsu finally finished packing.
The five of them were fully prepared. After gathering all their equipment, they stopped together and respectfully turned their eyes toward Arisu on the tree stump, quietly waiting for his orders.
Arisu put down the water pouch, lightly dusted off his hands, looked at the people before him, and calmly asked, "Is everyone ready?"
Sasuke, Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo all nodded. Though each wore a different expression, they were all ready to leave immediately.
For Suigetsu and the others, going to Konoha made them somewhat uneasy.
After all, Konoha's reputation in the ninja world wasn't very good.
Several great ninja wars had all started because of Konoha. Even now, the real leader behind the Akatsuki was from Konoha, and the organization's public leader had also been taught by Konoha's Jiraiya. Who could stay calm after hearing that?
Arisu looked at the temporary team before him and nodded slightly.
At the beginning, his plan had always been to travel and train with only Sasuke.
During these three years of traveling across the ninja world, they had come across countless hidden bases left behind by Orochimaru.
To help Sasuke gain real combat experience, allowing him to grow stronger, sharpen both his mind and his strength through repeated battles...
And also to eliminate a major threat to the ninja world and wipe out Orochimaru's influence...
Arisu led Sasuke in destroying every one of Orochimaru's bases.
It was during those battles that they met Jugo, Karin, and the imprisoned Suigetsu one after another.
To give Sasuke more experience during his training, and also to properly settle these special people, Arisu simply took all three of them in and traveled with them, gradually forming the five-person team they had today.
After everything was packed, Arisu stood up and looked at the four people waiting before him.
"All right. We're heading back to Konoha."
Those words immediately stirred the heart Sasuke had kept quiet for so long.
After three years of wandering, training, fighting, and constant hardship, he had spent almost every moment sharpening himself without ever relaxing.
The fingers hanging at his side curled slightly as countless thoughts surged through his mind.
He wondered how much Naruto and Yukio had grown over these three years.
After being apart for so long, they were surely nothing like they had been before.
Sasuke could hardly wait to return to the village and spar with Naruto and Yukio to see how strong they had all become.
Three years ago, the two of them had left him far behind.
It should be different now.
There was one more thing.
He wanted to capture Uchiha Itachi.
After three years of bloody training under Arisu, sweeping through Orochimaru's bases and tempering himself in countless real battles, he had completely transformed.
A cold light flashed through Sasuke's eyes.
He was absolutely certain.
The current him was fully capable of capturing Uchiha Itachi with his own hands and demanding to know why Itachi had betrayed the village and why he had slaughtered the clan.
Standing nearby, Arisu saw the excitement, fighting spirit, and cold determination that flashed across Sasuke's face.
One glance was enough for him to see through everything going on in the boy's mind.
After living together for three years, he knew Sasuke too well.
Just from that eager expression, he knew Sasuke's brain was already working overtime.
He was either thinking about going back to spar with someone or planning to find Itachi.
Arisu himself knew very well that during these three years, the one traveling with Sasuke, training and fighting beside him, had only ever been one of his clones.
His real body had remained in Konoha the entire time, never leaving.
During these three years, Sasuke's growth had truly been unbelievable. He had completely transformed, and his strength had increased tremendously, far surpassing others his age.
But Naruto and Yukio had improved just as much.
Neither of them had fallen behind the current Sasuke in the slightest.
Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha had already fully mastered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. He could freely use Kurama's chakra and could even skillfully perform Tailed Beast Bombs. His fighting strength was completely different from before.
Although he hadn't learned Sage Mode, Naruto was still extremely powerful, at least at Kage level.
As for Yukio, he was even more gifted.
He possessed the Karma that Arisu had personally given him. After only three years of training and growth...
Karma itself was already absurdly powerful. In the original story, Boruto and Kawaki had reached beyond Kage level while still young because of Karma.
Not to mention that Yukio's Karma now contained the combined power of the Otsutsuki.
His current strength had truly reached the highest level in the ninja world.
Roughly around the level of a Six Paths gatekeeper.
At full power, perhaps half a step into Six Paths.
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