Sasuke's thumb and index finger lightly rubbed against the hollow of his hand as he silently pondered, 'What should I do? Should I try to stop it?'
He immediately dismissed the idea, glancing at the sun, already more than halfway below the horizon.
'Even if I could stop it with my current strength—which I can't—Root and Uchiha Itachi might have already begun their operation by now.'
'What if I reveal my hand directly?'
'Could I save the Uchiha Clan?'
Sasuke considered another angle.
In his previous life, he had always preferred to approach problems from multiple perspectives.
Before taking any action, he would mentally weigh the cautious, the reckless, and the daring options. He was a man who preferred careful planning before acting.
From now on, he would live in this world as Uchiha Sasuke.
Whether emotionally or pragmatically, a complete and thriving ninja clan would benefit him far more than it would harm him.
'If I reveal my hand directly, I'll have to turn to the Third Hokage!'
'But... would he believe me?'
Or, to put it another way...
'Can he be trusted?'
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, is officially described in the character databooks as a magnanimous and kind-hearted elder, a testament personally endorsed by the author, Kishimoto Masashi himself.
Judging from the anime and manga, he consistently appeared to desire peace and a harmonious resolution between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan.
Only after the massacre did he learn of the incident, immediately relieving Danzo of his duties, seemingly pinning the entire affair on Danzo's clandestine actions.
But could the Third Hokage truly have been unaware?
'Could he really be trusted?'
Could such significant measures—the Military Police Brigade, responsible for Konoha's security and policing, being entirely staffed by Uchiha members; special supplementary lessons at the Ninja Academy; and the mobilization of the Konoha Anbu—have been carried out without the Hokage's knowledge or approval?
He refused to believe it!
Moreover, after eliminating the Uchiha Clan, Itachi's first action was to meet with the Third Hokage. During that meeting, the Third Hokage's exact words were:
"Thank you for your hard work, Itachi. You have successfully prevented war between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan."
It was clear that the Third Hokage had been aware of the entire affair all along.
While Shimura Danzo might have been the mastermind, the Third Hokage had tacitly approved it behind the scenes.
With this realization, Sasuke had no choice but to abandon his plan to expose the truth.
'I'm like a fish on the chopping block, at the mercy of the knife.'
In his previous life, Sasuke had always been one to seize the initiative.
He couldn't bear to entrust his life to others, relying on their mercy and benevolence.
'I'm sorry!'
Sasuke sighed inwardly, a sharp pang gripping his heart.
His fingernails dug into his palms, and tears welled in his eyes. To avoid drawing attention, he closed his eyes, feigning composure.
'Are these the memories of this body influencing me?'
'I'm sorry...'
'There's nothing I can do.'
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke reopened his eyes, his face regaining its usual cool composure.
Since he couldn't prevent the inevitable, he needed to find a way to benefit from the situation.
The most crucial thing was obtaining his parents' Sharingan!
And above all, Uchiha Fugaku's Mangekyō Sharingan was of paramount importance!
In the manga, Uchiha Fugaku never exhibited any signs of possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan. On the contrary, it was explicitly revealed in the TV anime and the official novel Itachi Shinden.
Sasuke wasn't sure which version of the timeline this world followed, but even if it adhered to the manga, the probability of Uchiha Fugaku possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan was over 90%.
Although Itachi Shinden was a novel, Kishimoto Masashi had endorsed it and even personally drew an extra chapter.
This strongly suggested that Uchiha Fugaku's possession of the Mangekyō Sharingan was highly likely.
In those fleeting moments, Sasuke recalled his knowledge from his previous life while secretly pondering how to obtain the Mangekyō Sharingan himself.
'What should I do?'
Just as Sasuke was lost in thought, he suddenly sensed a gaze fixed upon him.
'Someone's watching me!'
The gaze came from above!
Without even looking up, Sasuke was absolutely certain.
In his past life, he had been extraordinarily sensitive to gazes, almost possessing a sixth sense.
Unlike ordinary people who could only rarely detect being watched from behind, Sasuke could perceive such attention at any time, even from hundreds of meters away or from atop tall buildings!
But he was different. No matter the time or place, he could sense when someone was watching him, even if they were hundreds of meters away or perched atop a skyscraper.
Even when riding an elevator, if he focused intently on the surveillance camera above, he could vaguely sense whether the security guard in the monitoring room was watching him.
After transmigrating into Uchiha Sasuke's body, he discovered his sensitivity to gazes had intensified. The gaze from above was even harder to detect than a camera, yet Sasuke instantly sensed it.
Perhaps the person observing him made no attempt to conceal their presence, never imagining Sasuke could detect them.
'Is it the Third Hokage's crystal ball?'
Feeling the camera-like gaze from above, Sasuke maintained his composure and silently reasoned, 'He probably won't observe me for long. After all, his mind is focused elsewhere today.'
Sure enough, the feeling of being watched vanished within three minutes. During that brief period, Sasuke had formulated a plan.
His gaze shifted to his knee beneath the table, where a small but noticeable wound lay exposed.
Sasuke had accidentally injured himself during physical training class earlier today. The wound was already showing signs of healing, but Sasuke now needed to make it worse.
He inserted his index finger into the wound and prodded around. As the wound began to split open and bleed profusely, Sasuke slowly rose to his feet under the astonished gazes of his classmates and walked out of the classroom.
'Has Sasuke-kun's wound gotten worse?'
Seeing the bloodstains on Sasuke's leg, his classmates finally understood. Naturally, the younger girls couldn't help but look at him with worried eyes.
'Infirmary'
"Be more careful next time, Sasuke," Teacher Misa said gently after treating his wound.
"Thank you, Teacher Misa. I'll be more careful next time," Sasuke nodded, offering a polite thanks before casually glancing around at the bottles and jars on the shelves.
"Teacher Misa, I'd like to buy some medicine."
"Oh?" Teacher Misa adjusted her glasses. "What kind of medicine are you looking for?"
"Saline solution, medical alcohol, and healing spray."
After purchasing the necessary medicines, Sasuke left the infirmary and immediately dove into the school's restroom.
He entered one of the stalls and waited quietly for three minutes. As he had predicted, he sensed no signs of being observed.
'After all, this world is Naruto, not Crucible!'
The Third Hokage was merely a normal old pervert who occasionally used his crystal ball to peep into women's hot springs.
He would never stoop to spying on students in the Ninja Academy restrooms, whether male or female.
As an old pervert, he was certainly lecherous, but as the leader of the village, he maintained a basic ethical boundary between adults and minors.
also strictly forbade anyone in Konoha from spying on such places.
If the Third Hokage were truly that depraved—or if some secret observer were that twisted and capable of concealing their presence from Sasuke's senses—he would have no choice but to accept it. But Sasuke trusted his deductions and instincts.
'Again, this world is Naruto, not Psycho-Pass!'
Only after confirming the absence of any surveillance did Sasuke open his waist pouch to prepare for the next step.
First, he pulled out a heart-shaped bento box, prepared fresh each morning by his mother with a full day's worth of food.
After a moment's hesitation, Sasuke set it aside and retrieved the Storage Scrolls beneath.
As the son of the head of Konoha's wealthiest clan, Sasuke's gear was always top-tier.
He even possessed Storage Scrolls—items typically reserved for the wealthiest individuals like the heiress Tenten!
Glancing at the bottle of saline solution in one hand and the Storage Scroll in the other, Sasuke pondered silently.
'If I obtain the Sharingan, simply storing it in a scroll wouldn't be secure enough. Someone could open it to inspect the contents.'
'Should I place it in a Medicinal Jar and then seal that into a scroll?'
'No, that's still too risky!'
He was too weak right now, and the task he was about to undertake was incredibly daring, allowing no room for error. Every step felt like walking on thin ice.
Sasuke's gaze quickly swept past the label marked "Medicine" and lingered on the one labeled "Sword."
Moments later, a katana materialized in his hand. Sasuke compared the size of the hilt to the saline solution bottle.
'Just right!'
Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly as he pulled out a kunai and began carefully hollowing out the handle of the samurai sword.
He worked meticulously, striving to preserve the handle's original appearance and even depositing each wood shaving into the toilet.
Over nine minutes had passed since he entered the restroom. A normal person usually takes around ten minutes to use the toilet, rarely exceeding twenty.
Seeing that he had only hollowed out half the handle, Sasuke slightly quickened his pace. Though no one would likely notice how long he spent in the restroom, he had to be extra cautious!
A few minutes later, Sasuke finished modifying the sword handle.
He inserted the saline solution, capped it securely, and wrapped a few layers of blue protective cord around it before finally exhaling in relief.
'This is the best preparation I can manage right now. Now, I'll do everything I can and leave the rest to fate!'
After stowing everything back into his Storage Scroll and flushing the toilet several times, Sasuke exited the restroom and headed back to the classroom.