The soft moonlight fell on the street. Although the prosperity of this area was vaguely visible, the deserted scene and the dark houses made the atmosphere here seem particularly deserted.
Sasuke, who was lying on the bed, suddenly sat up from the bed board. His hair on his temples was slightly wet with cold sweat. His face was pale, and there was pain and panic in his eyes. The terrifying picture in his mind could not be dissipated for a long time.
"Damn, I have another nightmare..."
It had been a long time since I had had a nightmare, but for some reason, after returning to Konoha from the Land of Waves, the nightmare that I had often dreamed about in the middle of the night started before the next day.
That night was full of blood.
Familiar clan members' faces died under the knife.
There was blood everywhere in the house, as well as the parents lying in a pool of blood...
For Sasuke, that was undoubtedly the childhood nightmare that he least wanted to recall.
So much so that before being taught by Kakashi, he was tortured by this nightmare every night, and everything about that night was firmly engraved in his mind, and he did not dare to forget it for a moment.
Even regard it as the reason for living.
revenge.
Sasuke got off the bed and turned on the switch at the bedside. The room was immediately illuminated by fluorescent lamps. In the dark night, the light from the fluorescent lamps was pale in color.
Wearing thin pajamas and slippers, Sasuke walked to the desk, picked up the cup and poured a glass of water from the teapot.
There are pen holders, books, and some blank scrolls on the writing table, on which I write my understanding and insights of ninjutsu. This is convenient for me to remember, comprehensively block my own situation, and check for any gaps.
Sasuke has been a top student since his ninja school days.
Although he was always beaten by his current teammate Sakura in the written examination, his written examination scores were also among the best in his grade, and there was no so-called shortcoming. Taking notes is also a habit of Sasuke.
As Sasuke drank hot water, the expression on his face gradually returned to calm, and his breathing began to become even.
After drinking the water, Sasuke looked at the clock on the desk. The hour hand on it pointed between 12 and 1. It was just past 0 o'clock in the morning, and there were still several hours until dawn.
But now because of the nightmare, Sasuke couldn't feel any sleep at all.
Moreover, after returning from the Country of Waves, at six o'clock in the afternoon, just after nightfall, he fell into bed at home tiredly and fell asleep.
"tolerance……"
Sasuke chewed on these two words that had troubled him for a long time.
These were also the two words that Uchiha Itachi kept saying to himself when he left.
Just because of this boring reason, I killed my parents, my lover, my tribe...
The mood that had calmed down was once again filled with unwillingness and anger.
But Sasuke knew that anger and unwillingness would not help.
There is still a big gap between him and Itachi. If he goes to look for each other now, he will only be killed.
and--
"The Kingdom of Oni...the Uchiha family crest, that's the only one I can't mistake."
Sasuke's tone was quite certain.
Although there may be misunderstandings, the pride of the Uchiha clan has long been engraved in his bones.
The family emblem is also one of the souls of the Uchiha clan. Only ninjas of the Uchiha clan are qualified to use that kind of mark.
In other words, the certain ninja who was seen following the girl from the Kingdom of Demons at the port of Wave Country that day was undoubtedly a member of the Uchiha clan.
However, it doesn’t make sense logically.
Since the Warring States Period, the Uchiha clan has founded the Konoha Ninja Village with the Senju clan and is one of the founders of Konoha.
This also means that the Uchiha clan and Konoha have been completely bound together.
Based on this premise, how could there be any clan members joining other countries?
But that family crest clearly designated the opponent as a ninja from the Uchiha clan.
The emblem of the Ninja clan cannot be used casually, otherwise it will cause all kinds of trouble.
Sasuke felt that his mind was confused.
Are they the tribesmen who were left outside a long time ago?
But why has he never heard anyone talk about this?
etc--
An idea flashed in Sasuke's mind, and he seemed to recall something in the midst of confusion.
If he remembered correctly, when he went to the library of the Ministry of Intelligence to look for information on the Uchiha clan, some people's information had been deliberately torn up. The whereabouts of those clan members were unknown, and they had no idea whether they were alive or dead.
I have never heard of those tribesmen, and I have never seen them in my family.
Could it be that these tribesmen whose whereabouts are unknown went to the Kingdom of Ghosts?
Sasuke frowned. For some reason, the thoughts in his head were getting more and more confusing.
"Let's find an opportunity to ask Kakashi. As the ANBU minister, he will definitely know something. The most important thing right now is to become stronger as soon as possible."
To become stronger, you need strong power.
Only after gaining strength can he seek revenge from Itachi.
This is Sasuke's current survival goal. Even if he wants to revitalize his clan, that is the next thing he should do after killing Itachi.
If you can't even deal with a traitor, how can you start revitalizing the clan?
With all his sleepiness gone, Sasuke put down the cup of water he was drinking from, walked to the clothes rack, and changed into the clothes he wore when going out. Then he picked up the ninja tools used for training, walked out of the house, passed through the dark streets, and headed towards the forest that belonged to the Uchiha clan's territory.
◎
The meeting time is after lunch, outside the Ichiraku Ramen shop.
When Sasuke came here, he found Naruto communicating with a boy of the same age who had pineapple hair.
Nara Shikamaru.
The boy's name suddenly appeared in Sasuke's mind.
Like Naruto, he was his classmate in the ninja school.
Born in the Nara clan, his father is the clan leader of the Nara clan. According to Kakashi, Shikamaru's father is not only the clan leader of the Nara clan, but also the jonin squad leader of Konoha. He manages all the jounin in Konoha and is a powerful figure in Konoha. .
Just like the Uchiha clan, before the clan was exterminated, they had always controlled Konoha's security forces, and their power was comparable to that of ANBU.
The Nara clan also has a tradition from ancient times.
All the jounin squad leaders in Konoha have been held by ninjas from the Nara clan, which shows that the abilities and character of the ninjas from this clan have won the trust of the Hokage.
As the son of such a big shot, Sasuke did not dare to look down on him even if he was extremely lazy in school and even took exams carelessly.
When he was in the graduation class, Sasuke also imagined that it would be great if he could be in the same team as his opponent.
It seems now that the idea at that time was still somewhat naive.
"Hey, Sasuke, good afternoon."
After escaping from the chattering Naruto, Shikamaru saw Sasuke, as if he had seen a savior, and quickly greeted Sasuke who was walking towards him.
"good afternoon."
Sasuke nodded to him as a greeting.
Naruto was a little dissatisfied with Sasuke's sudden intervention. He snorted angrily and turned his face to the other side.
"What are you talking about?"
Sasuke ignored Naruto's awkward behavior because he was used to it.
No matter how stupid Naruto does, he will never be surprised or shocked.
"Naruto gave me some specialties brought back from the Land of Waves. By the way, let me tell you about your glorious deeds in this C-level mission. It seems that the three of you joined forces and defeated the Jonin or something."
Shikaku raised the package in his hand. It was a specialty that Naruto brought back from the Land of Waves. It was wrapped in kraft paper. It was not difficult to guess that it should be a specialty snack with a long shelf life.
After all, it was something too expensive that even a genin's starting capital couldn't afford.
"You have a very good relationship."
Sasuke was quite surprised.
Shikamaru sighed and said: "Taking care of this idiot is very troublesome. As for Choji, I'm really looking forward to the specialty snacks from abroad."
Thinking of this, Shikamaru was glad that he didn't tell Ino when he came over.
Otherwise, after seeing Sasuke, we would have to chat here endlessly.
"How's your group doing lately?"
Sasuke asked with interest, leaning against a nearby telephone pole.
"What else can you do? You are not as good as your seventh class. You have completed more than thirty D-level tasks in one month, and now you have completed a C-level task... It is as if you are treating the tasks as assembly line products in a factory and producing them. Same. You are too diligent."
Shikamaru was a little embarrassed.
Compared with Class 7, Class 10, where he was, was a bit more free and unorganized.
It has been more than a month and a half since I graduated from school. As a result, I have only completed a dozen D-level tasks and C-level tasks. It depends on the situation later.
Maybe apply at the end of this month and maybe you can get it from the Hokage.
But for C-level tasks, his inner enthusiasm is not very high.
If possible, doing D-level tasks in the village for the rest of his life would be perfect.
When you grow up, marry an ordinary woman, raise your children, take care of your old age, and live an ordinary life...
Before he knew it, Shikamaru began to dream about the future.
Everything in life is planned in great detail.
Only in this way can we prepare for a rainy day.
"I heard that the jounin of your tenth class is the second son of Lord Hokage and is also an elite jounin in Konoha."
Sasuke said with great concern.
"He's just a chain smoker who never quits smoking. He goes to the eighth class jounin from time to time to ask for help... A woman is really a troublesome existence."
Shikamaru scratched his head in distress.
From this, it can be judged that except for Team 7, the other genin teams of this generation did not show a positive attitude towards the task. At least from Shikamaru's tone, Sasuke did not hear that the other party was enthusiastic about the task.
However, Sasuke still reserved his opinion on whether Shikamaru was lazy.
Out of all the genin, the only one he couldn't see through was Shikamaru.
His ideas are different from Naruto who is full of surprises, but he is a truly rich mind who does not think about unrealistic things all day long.
Perhaps, the other party will become a strong opponent of oneself in the future.
"Okay, it's almost time to chat. Now you have to go on a mission. We, Class 10, also have missions to do in the afternoon. That's it for today. We'll talk when we have time."
Shikamaru took the package containing the specialties, said goodbye to Sasuke and Naruto, and turned to leave.
Not long after Shikamaru left, Sakura and Kakashi also came here from different directions to meet up, and Team 7 once again began a busy and fulfilling mission career.
◎
What is the most important proportion of ninja strength?
Ninjutsu?
Illusion?
Physical skills?
No, regarding this issue, Sasuke felt that it should be redefined.
In the past, he only paid attention to Kakashi's extremely gorgeous and powerful ninjutsu, but he forgot that any ninjutsu, illusion and taijutsu are based on chakra for release.
Without the support of chakra, no matter what ninjutsu, genjutsu or taijutsu it is, it will appear weak and weak.
Therefore, if a ninja wants to make himself stronger and increase his chakra, it is undoubtedly a smart choice.
However, chakra training is extremely difficult.
It takes a long time to accumulate. To put it simply, it is not something that can produce obvious changes in a week, a month, or even a few months.
At this point, even Sasuke, who is a genius, has to admit that relying on his own efforts, it is impossible to obtain powerful chakra in a short time to supply the release of Chidori and Sharingan.
But unless this problem is solved, many of his abilities will not be displayed.
Chakra... Next, if you want to greatly improve your strength, there may be more than one way to improve chakra, but improving chakra is undoubtedly one of the best ways to further liberate your hands and feet, and will not let you lose yourself in battle. Hands tied.
Thinking back to Naruto's fighting style, all Sasuke could think of was extravagance and waste.
The Shadow Clone Technique has no rules, but Naruto can rely on his own powerful chakra to let the Shadow Clone come forward to fight wave after wave. Even a chunin-level ninja, once he falls into Naruto's rhythm, It can only lead to failure.
Because Naruto has too much chakra, even if he simply consumes it, the chuunin will eventually despair.
As for the Jonin, that's another topic. With Naruto's current strength, it is not enough to close the gap between himself and the Jonin.
For ninjas of that level, the human sea tactic is not very easy to use.
Of course, if thousands of shadow clones can be created at one time, the situation is different.
But Sasuke felt that no matter how much Naruto had chakra, it would not be possible to reach this level.
But there is no doubt that the influence of chakra on a ninja is extremely huge.
Then, there was only one question left before Sasuke.
Should you choose a forbidden technique that can briefly burst out chakra, which is harmful to your body, or should you choose a method that is gentle but requires a certain amount of time to produce obvious effects, and is safer and more healthy?
Although both ways, Sasuke was very moved.
But since Kakashi has given these two choices, it means that with his ability, he can only choose one from them.
Moreover, he does not have that much time to explore a completely unfamiliar field.
Just the next derivative ninjutsu of Thunder Release and Chidori, as well as the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, are enough for him to study for a long time.
His energy and time are limited. It is completely impossible to have both.
If the goal is revenge alone, then choosing the first option and completing the revenge quickly is naturally the best option.
But his purpose is not only revenge, but revitalizing the clan after that is equally important.
Even if this goal is ranked second to revenge, it still means that it occupies an important proportion in his heart.
After weighing the two factors, after completing the D-level mission normally in the afternoon, Sasuke left the team as usual and took out the business card Kakashi gave him when he was in the Land of Waves from his pocket.
If I remember correctly, Kakashi meant that he should go to Konoha Hospital to find a senior hospital administrator named 'Asami Masumi'.
Compared to genin of the same age, he is already strong enough, and there is no need to give up his future life for short-term gains.
Revenge may be his obsession, but he shouldn't let it completely dominate his life.
Most importantly, Sasuke didn't want to act completely according to Itachi's will.
Itachi asked him to aim for revenge and live humbly until he has the power to take revenge.
Then you should fight and resist the other party's orders.
Even if it is revenge, he should be upright and worthy of being a ninja of the Uchiha clan.
Compared to him, the avenger, Itachi, who had defected from the village, looked more like a bereaved dog.
Therefore, Sasuke's inner choice is already very clear.
◎
"Are you Uchiha Sasuke?"
Arriving at Konoha Hospital and entering, I wanted to go directly to the pharmacy department and look for Masumi Asami, the director of the pharmacy department. However, not long after Sasuke entered the hospital area, an extremely young female nurse in white came from the opposite side. She was about fifteen years old. She was six years old and still an intern. She was holding some medical supplies in her arms, as if she was examining something.
"Yes."
Sasuke's eyes lingered on the female nurse. She had a delicate appearance and her long black hair was tied together at the back of her head, making her look clean and concise. But there wasn't much expression on her delicate and fair face, which made her look a little cold.
From her body, you can feel the obvious smell of disinfectant.
"I see, you're here to get medicine, right?"
Get medicine?
Sasuke looked confused.
"Mr. Kakashi pre-ordered a batch of new medicines here a while ago. Since you are here, it seems that Mr. Kakashi has put the responsibility of getting the medicine on you."
What about pre-ordering, picking up medicine... Sasuke was completely confused about this kind of thing.
"Come with me to see Director Asami. The medicines are at her place. There are a lot of them, and the types of medicines have not been carefully classified. It may take a lot of your time."
Finally, I got to the point. Director Asami... I guess she refers to Asami Masumi, the medical ninja.
The other party is the director of the pharmacy department of Konoha Hospital, and he holds a lot of real power in Konoha Hospital.
Sasuke suppressed the doubts in his heart and followed the female nurse honestly.
The other person was obviously Asami Masumi's person, but the way he spoke seemed as if he was trying to figure out some kind of riddle.
Following the female nurse, Sasuke came to the area managed by the pharmacy department.
The responsibility of the Pharmacy Department of Konoha Hospital is to conduct quality supervision and inspection of all medicines in Konoha. It is also often engaged in drug research and preparation, and can give practical and useful suggestions based on the effects and performance of drugs.
It can be said that only drugs that have passed the quality inspection by this department can be put into use. This department can dispose of unqualified drugs with a single hand.
And because feedback on drug performance and various patient information is required, this department will also conduct detailed data collection.
In the eyes of this department, almost all patients in Konoha are in a state of transparency.
Recalling the vast authority of the pharmacy department, Sasuke unknowingly followed the female nurse and penetrated deep into the core area of the pharmacy department.
"come in."
The female nurse opened the door and led Sasuke in.
The strong smell of disinfectant entered the nose, serious and cold.
There were a lot of medicines in the room, but after the female nurse closed the door, she walked directly to the end of the pharmacy, made a seal with her hands, and a piece of floor immediately levitated, revealing a secret passage leading underground.
Sasuke raised his eyebrows, wondering what the purpose of setting up an underground darkroom in a place like this was.
"You can go down now. Director Asami is waiting for you downstairs. I'm here to help you organize the medicines you need to take away later."
The female nurse said something coldly and then ignored Sasuke. She walked to the shelf next to her and took the medicine that Sasuke didn't know what to use.
Of course, these drugs are not the key, they are probably just used to deceive others.
After hesitating for a moment, Sasuke walked down the secret passage.
The dark passage was much brighter than I imagined. There were fluorescent lights shining along the way. The road surface was very clear and the light was not dazzling.
After walking a few steps, we arrived at the bottom floor, which was a platform that was neither too big nor too small.
A large amount of medical equipment is stored here, as well as operating tables used for surgeries.
Next to the operating table, stood a woman wearing a white coat, a white mask, and thick-rimmed glasses.
From the appearance, it is impossible to tell how old she is, but judging from the quality of the skin exposed on her forehead, she may be younger than Kakashi.
If he is older than Kakashi, it only means that the other person has very advanced beauty skills.
Her pupils cannot be seen through thick-rimmed glasses.
Because of the reflection of the fluorescent lamp, the lens shines white.
But Sasuke could feel that the other person's eyes were quietly looking at him from behind the lenses.
For a moment, Sasuke felt like he was naked in front of the other person and was completely seen through.
He is a very powerful ninja! Sasuke felt awe-inspiring.
He didn't know how the other party's strength compared with Kakashi, but he thought that among the Jonin, the other party was also among the elite.
"Sasuke Uchiha?"
She said Sasuke's name in a slight questioning voice.
"yes."
Sasuke looked at the other person.
Not surprisingly, she is Asami Masumi, the director of the pharmacy department of Konoha Hospital.
An enigmatic and mysterious woman.
"It seems you're not too stupid for choosing to come to my place."
"Don't get me wrong, I just heard Kakashi say that you can make me stronger here."
Sasuke's tone was cold.
Asami Masumi didn't pay attention to Sasuke's rather rude attitude.
"Really? Then just lie down obediently. My time is limited and I have to complete the operation for you as soon as possible."
She pointed to the operating table.
"Operation?"
"Yes, it is not easy to permanently increase chakra."
"Then this operation is..."
Sasuke looked a little confused.
When I'm not sick, it always feels a bit strange to have someone else perform surgery on me.
"To put it bluntly, chakra originates from the combination of physical and mental energy. Any strengthening of chakra secret techniques that transcends the limitations of one's own physical and mental body will leave strong side effects and may even cause death. The art of the Eight Gates of Dunjia is A model among them. This is because the quality of the artist's own 'container' is not good enough."
Asami Masumi spoke eloquently.
Sasuke listened quietly without interrupting.
"If you want to allow a person to increase chakra without any side effects, we must first solve the problem of the quality of the 'container'. Theoretically, as long as the quality of the 'container' is strong enough, even if the eight gates are opened, there will be no side effects..."
However, if the body and mind are already strong to that extent, the extent to which the Eight Gates of Dunjia can be improved may not be as beautiful as imagined.
No matter how much you squeeze the human body's potential, there is always a limit. Some things cannot come from nothing.
"so what?"
"The evolution of the Sharingan is related to the spirit. In other words, your current spiritual power has surpassed your own body. I think you also feel that the moment you awakened the Sharingan, your chakra increased more or less. Some."
Asami Masumi said patiently.
Sasuke thought thoughtfully and had to agree with the other person's point of view.
"It's just that this increase is too small, because your physical strength has not kept up. Therefore, the quality of your 'container' is lacking. The solution is simple, that is, increase your physical strength as much as possible , make up for the shortcomings in the 'container', so that more chakra can be stored."
After listening, Sasuke closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then opened them soon and took a serious look at Asami Masumi.
The other party was not impatient, as if he didn't care whether he agreed or not.
"I hope it's as you said."
Sasuke didn't hesitate for too long, and quickly walked to the operating table, sat on the operating table with a cooperative attitude, then lay down quietly, slowly closed his eyes, and his eyes fell into darkness.
"The operation to enhance my 'container'... you may begin."
