harleyscars Chapter 411 Still Water, come out here!
Chapter 411 Still Water, come out here!
The night was as dark as thick ink, soaking into every corner of Sasuke's small apartment.
The boy on the bed had a furrowed brow and his forehead was covered in a fine layer of cold sweat.
The conversation with Gaara during the second exam, about the survivors, about the mother, about the cruel truth that was deliberately left behind, even after several days, still fermented and twisted in my dreams, turning into an even more grotesque nightmare.
blood.
Blood was everywhere.
The familiar streets of the Uchiha clan compound have now been transformed into a living hell.
Corpses lay strewn about, men, women, and children, their faces either familiar or indistinct, all soaked in a thick pool of blood that seemed to never dry.
The strong smell of blood was nauseating.
He ran unsteadily, calling out his parents' names, but only deathly silence and the ominous cawing of crows in the distance answered him.
Then, he saw it.
The sliding door to the entrance was open. In the dim light, Fugaku Uchiha, the father, and Mikoto Uchiha, the mother, lay on the tatami mat in the room, the bloodstains beneath them resembling blooming spider lilies.
His once-admired older brother stood quietly beside their parents' corpses, warm drops of blood dripping from the ninja sword in his hand.
Hearing footsteps, Itachi slowly turned around, his scarlet Sharingan coldly staring at him as if he were a tiny insect.
"You foolish little brother..."
"If you want to kill me... then harbor resentment and hatred..."
"Then live on, ugly and pathetic..."
"Run, run... just barely cling to life..."
"You're too weak right now... so weak that you don't even have the right to let me kill you."
The cold words were like icicles, piercing his heart again and again.
He roared, struggled, and tried to rush forward, but his body was pinned to the spot by invisible fear and weakness.
He could only watch helplessly as Itachi's figure twisted and disappeared in the moonlight, leaving him alone to face his parents' gradually cooling bodies and the bloodstains filling the room.
"No--!!!"
Young Sasuke suddenly sat up in bed, his chest heaving violently.
He was breathing heavily, his thin pajamas soaked with cold sweat, which clung stickily to his skin, sending chills down his spine.
My heart was pounding wildly in my chest, almost as if it would burst out of my ribs.
He covered his face tightly, his fingernails almost digging into his cheekbones.
In the darkness, only his heavy breathing echoed in the empty room.
"...If..." A hoarse voice squeezed out from deep in his throat, trembling with lingering nightmares.
"If... many of our people had survived... if Mother... hadn't died..."
"Then what exactly was it that I saw that night?!"
Oh, right, the Sharingan!
The Uchiha clan's bloodline limit is best known for manipulating vision and creating illusions!
Is it...
Could it be the bloody carnage that filled the entire clan's territory, the sight of his parents lying in pools of blood, even Itachi's cold words and eyes...?
Was it all just a carefully crafted illusion created for him by Itachi using his Sharingan?!
After all, he hadn't seen any of his people's corpses since he woke up; he had simply been too weak back then and had overlooked them.
If that's really the case, then the hatred that has kept him alive for the past six years, all his motivation to become stronger, the fear that has haunted him every time he's woken up by nightmares in the middle of the night... could all be a cruel lie?!
Anger, confusion, shame of being fooled, and a sliver of hope that even he himself was unwilling to admit was surging within him like boiling magma.
He subconsciously wanted to activate his Sharingan, as if those eyes could help him see through illusions and uncover the truth buried that night.
However, the moment the magatama appeared in his eyes...
His Sharingan seemed to see a figure in the shadows of the room.
"Who's there?!" Sasuke shouted angrily.
He instantly entered battle mode, leaning forward slightly, his hand already pressed against the ninja tool bag beside his pillow, his three-tomoe Sharingan almost bursting out of its socket.
no respond.
The shadow remained silent, as if it were merely a hallucination born of his lingering fear.
But next second.
A touch of scarlet light quietly appeared in the dark room.
It was an eye.
Against a scarlet background, three jet-black magatama slowly rotate.
Three-tomoe Sharingan!
Immediately afterward, to Sasuke's horrified gaze, the three tomoe suddenly accelerated their rotation speed and began to undergo bizarre changes in shape!
They twist, stretch, connect...
Ultimately, they merged to form a six-pointed star pattern, with a deep darkness at the center that seemed capable of devouring souls.
Kaleidoscope Sharingan!
Sasuke's pupils dilated slightly. Could the three-tomoe Sharingan continue to evolve?!
The moment his gaze met that Mangekyou Sharingan, he felt as if the familiar scene of the room around him was being shattered and dissipated piece by piece, and a dizzying sensation swept over him!
When Sasuke regained his senses, he found himself no longer in that quiet little apartment.
Beneath my feet lay dark red, cracked, hard earth, like dried scabs.
The sky was a similarly oppressive dark red, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, only an endless, suffocating dome.
The air was even filled with the smell of rust and ash.
This place... is a spiritual space.
Not far in front of him stood a figure quietly.
The man was wearing a wide-brimmed, round-topped hat with the brim pulled low, which, along with his side-swept bangs, covered most of his face.
He wore a simple black cloak that hung naturally in the windless space.
Most notably, the sleeve of his right arm was empty, swaying gently at his side.
He was enveloped in an aura of loneliness, vicissitude, and unfathomable depth.
"Illusion... and such a sophisticated one at that!" Sasuke instantly realized his predicament.
He tried to unleash the power of his Sharingan to break through the constraints of this illusionary space, but found that his eye power and mental strength were like a mud ox sinking into the sea, unable to shake the stability of this space in the slightest.
The opponent's pupil power... is unfathomable!
"Who are you?!" Sasuke forced himself to calm down, his three-tomoe Sharingan locking onto the other person, his voice filled with wariness and anger.
"Shisui sent you? But I've never seen you in the clan before!"
He frantically tried to recall the appearance of every person in his tribe, but found that he had no memory of such a one-armed tribesman.
Unless... he lost his arm on the night of the massacre?
When confronted with the question from the young Sasuke, the older Sasuke did not give a direct answer.
His gaze pierced through the shadow of the hat brim and landed on young Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan eyes, which were slightly rotating due to his emotional excitement. A complex feeling welled up in his heart.
In his world, at that age, he had only recently awakened his double tomoe and was still anxious and tormented about how to catch up with that man.
In this timeline, Sasuke, after experiencing various events, awakened the Three-Tomoe at the young age of twelve. His mind did not completely collapse; instead, he pondered, questioned, and sought the truth...
Perhaps, the "self" in this time and space can truly take a completely different path, avoiding the pain and detours he once experienced.
"You're too cautious." He deliberately changed his voice, making it lower and hoarse, with a worldly indifference.
Those five words alone sent a jolt through Sasuke's heart.
"With Shisui's appearance, the Konoha leadership will definitely be closely monitoring your every move." The young Sasuke's voice continued to echo in the empty mental space, each word clear and striking Sasuke's heart.
"If you learn part of the truth and have doubts, but choose to remain silent and inactive out of 'caution,' not taking the initiative to contact Shizuku or question him... what do you think they would think?"
"Them?" Sasuke's breath caught in his throat.
"They'll think you know something, yet you're secretly plotting something; they'll think you and Shisui have a tacit understanding; they'll think that beneath your 'calm' lies a greater danger." Young Sasuke's voice was calm, yet he dissected the cruelest reality step by step.
"Sometimes, excessive caution can actually place you in deeper suspicion. An Uchiha orphan who has lost all his clansmen and is indifferent to the surviving members of his clan... that in itself is the biggest anomaly."
Young Sasuke felt a chill run down his spine and straight to the top of his head!
He had only thought about investigating secretly, clarifying the situation, and avoiding alerting the enemy...
But I've never thought about it from this perspective!
Yes, in the eyes of Konoha's higher-ups, his "abnormal" calmness was probably more alarming than if he had directly gone to Shisui to cause trouble!
Seeing the realization and lingering fear in the eyes of the younger Sasuke, the young Sasuke knew that his words had had an effect.
He didn't say anything more; he had already made his point.
Some paths must be chosen by this young man himself; some realizations must be made by him alone.
The next second, young Sasuke felt a slight daze again, and the dark red world before his eyes quickly faded and collapsed.
When he felt the firmness of the bed beneath him again and saw the faint light of day filtering through the window, the mysterious figure in the black cloak, along with that chilling Mangekyou Sharingan, had vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.
In the room, only his heavy, unsteady breathing remained.
………………
The next morning, a thin mist enveloped the village like a veil, and the air was fresh with dew.
On the streets, only early-rising vendors were busy preparing, and occasionally patrolling ninja squads would quietly pass over the rooftops.
However, this tranquility was broken by a series of hurried and firm footsteps.
Wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and black shorts, with dark eyes as calm as the sea before a storm, Sasuke walked straight to the neighborhood in Konoha that was reserved for foreign guests, and stopped in front of the courtyard that had been designated as the temporary residence for the Star Country delegation.
His appearance immediately drew the attention of countless eyes hidden in the shadows.
In the attic of a residential building across the street from this courtyard, two Konoha ANBU ninjas wearing animal masks froze simultaneously.
"It's Uchiha Sasuke!" one of them said in a low voice, his eyes behind his mask filled with astonishment. "He really did show up. Is he here to see Shisui?"
The other person was more decisive, quickly ordering their companion, "You continue to monitor him, don't let him out of sight! I'll report to the Hokage immediately!"
Before he finished speaking, his figure disappeared from the room.
Sasuke arrived at the imposing gate of the courtyard.
At the gate, two solemn-looking ninjas dressed in the standard gray-blue Chunin vests of the Land of Stars were standing guard.
When they saw Sasuke walking straight towards them, especially the conspicuous Konoha headband on his forehead, they immediately stepped forward and raised their hands to block him.
"Halt." The older Star Ninja on the left spoke in a calm, neither servile nor arrogant, voice: "This is the diplomatic mission headquarters of the Land of Stars. Unauthorized entry is prohibited. What brings you here?"
Sasuke stopped in his tracks, his gaze sweeping past the two guards and landing on the tightly closed door, as if trying to pierce through the door and see who was inside.
He didn't answer the guard's question. Instead, he took a deep breath and shouted into the courtyard in a clear voice that could be heard half a block away:
"Uchiha Shisui!!"
The sound seemed particularly abrupt in the quiet morning, prompting several nearby households to curiously open their windows.
"I know you're in there! Get out here!!"
Every word was deafening, filled with six years of suppressed anger and pain.
The two Star Ninjas' expressions changed drastically.
The younger guard on the right shouted sternly, "Shut up! No noise here! Leave immediately!"
However, Sasuke ignored their warnings.
His gaze suddenly sharpened like a knife, and a scarlet light surged from the depths of his eyes—the three-tomoe Sharingan was activated!
With the Sharingan's enhanced dynamic vision, the movements of the two Chunin appeared half a beat slower in his eyes.
He took a sudden step forward, his left hand gripping the wrist of the older Xingren on his left, which was reaching out to stop him, like an iron clamp. At the same time, he used his waist to thrust his right knee upwards like a cannonball!
"Ugh!" The Star Ninja had no idea that this Konoha Genin would dare to make a move right in front of the delegation's residence, let alone expect the opponent's speed and strength to be so terrifying. A sharp pain shot through his abdomen, and he groaned as his body involuntarily bent over.
Almost simultaneously, Sasuke used the recoil from the knee strike to release his left hand, his body half-spinned, and his right leg drew a sharp arc, delivering a precise side kick that slammed into the chest of another young Star Ninja who had just reacted and was about to attack!
boom!
boom!
The two muffled thuds were almost simultaneous.
One of the two Chunin from the Land of Stars clutched his stomach and knelt on the ground, while the other was kicked back several steps and crashed into the wall behind him. His face was deathly pale, and he was momentarily unable to fight.
Sasuke didn't even look at them, and strode forward to force his way through the wide-open door.
But just as his foot stepped onto the stone steps in front of the door...
boom--!!
An endless stream of yellow sand, like a river bursting its banks, suddenly surged out from inside the door!
This torrent of golden sand, with its crushing force, crashed head-on towards Sasuke!
Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply as his Sharingan detected the trajectory and speed of the approaching sandstorm, and he retreated without hesitation!
rustling --
The yellow sand, like a raging dragon with life, burst out of the gate and swirled and condensed in the open space in front of it.
Gaara slowly walked out of the gate, yellow sand swirling around him, his emerald green eyes indifferently gazing at Sasuke a few meters away.
The sand flowing around him gradually subsided, but the suffocating sense of oppression spread outwards.
A hint of approval seemed to flash quickly across the depths of Gaara's eyes.
This kid isn't completely clueless after all.
In the shadows of the corridor inside the door, Uchiha Shisui leaned quietly against the door frame, arms crossed, his gaze complex as he observed the two people facing off outside the door, and the increasingly clear prying eyes from various factions in Konoha in the distance, which were becoming clearer due to the commotion.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was sitting behind a large desk, carefully examining a thick stack of scrolls in his hands.
That was about the final arrangements for the third Chunin Exams, including the allocation of seats for daimyo, nobles, and business representatives from various countries, the security level of the venue, emergency plans, and so on. Every detail required his final approval as the Hokage.
The morning light streaming through the window illuminated his graying temples and the deep wrinkles between his brows.
boom!
"Hokage-sama! Emergency!" A member of the Anbu suddenly appeared in the office, kneeling on one knee. His voice was distorted with urgency: "Uchiha Sasuke has just arrived at the Land of Stars' delegation's residence and is shouting Uchiha Shisui's name at the gate! He's already engaged in a physical altercation with the Land of Stars' guards!"
"What?!" Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly stood up, the scroll in his hand slipped off the table, and his eyes behind his reading glasses widened instantly.
His worst fears came true!
Sasuke, in the end, was moved and chose the most direct, and also the most dangerous, way to seek the answer!
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant: Shisui's reaction? The Land of Stars' attitude? Danzo's possible use of this as an excuse? The attention from other ninja village delegations? What if the situation gets out of control...?
"Immediately!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice carried an undeniable authority: "Notify Tenzo to lead a team to the scene as quickly as possible! The primary task is to ensure Sasuke Uchiha's safety, remove him from the scene, and control the situation! Be mindful of your methods; try to avoid further conflict with the Land of Stars!"
"Yes!" The ANBU ninja accepted the order.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart was not at ease.
Although Tenzo is exceptionally capable, especially skilled in Wood Release control and defense, the odds are still too high when facing an opponent of Uchiha Shisui's caliber, as well as Sasuke, whose emotions are potentially extremely unstable.
Moreover, this matter involves the secrets of the Uchiha clan and the decisions of the Konoha leadership, requiring someone whom Sasuke can more trust to handle it.
"Wait!" he called out to the secret service member who was about to relay the order.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath, a resolute glint in his eyes: "Go and fetch Kakashi immediately! Tell him to drop everything and come see me right now!"
"yes!"
After the ANBU ninja left, the office returned to silence, but the air was so heavy it felt like it could drip water.
Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly sat back down in his chair, but he had no interest in handling official business anymore.
He looked out the window at the Konoha buildings, his gaze seemingly piercing through the layers of buildings and landing on the courtyard that must have been bustling with activity by now.
He had picked up the pipe sometime earlier, but forgot to light it.
No wisps of smoke rose, only heavy thoughts silently permeated the Hokage's office in the early morning.
The Uchiha clan...
Will the seed planted on that night six years ago finally sprout and be exposed to the sunlight today?