Sasuke's face had turned pale. "Tōshirō-sensei, you're just joking, right? Please stop joking; this isn't funny at all."
Lamenting his disciple's foolishness, Tōshirō's gaze was filled with pity. "My foolish disciple~ I'm not joking at all."
The kind and understanding teacher had become unrecognizable, a wicked smile on his face. Sasuke felt like Tōshirō was a stranger, and his voice trembled. "Why? Why are you doing this?"
"To help you successfully awaken your Sharingan..."
"Wh-what?!"
"Hehe..." After a sinister laugh, Tōshirō said, "Sasuke, let me explain what the Sharingan is. The Sharingan has another name: 'the eye that reflects the heart.'"
"'The eye that reflects the heart?'"
"To awaken the Sharingan, one must experience a powerful emotional shock. In this way, special chakra surges within the brain and acts upon the optical nerves, causing the eyes to change. That is 'the eye that reflects the heart.' And pain is often the best stimulus. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Upon hearing the conditions for awakening the Sharingan, Sasuke's expression was beyond shocked.
He understood; he understood everything.
No wonder his brother and mother were so secretive and unwilling to talk about how to awaken the Sharingan.
"Sasuke, I know you can't bring yourself to do it, so I, your master, will be the bad guy."
Tōshirō squeezed Kuroko's throat even harder. "Open your eyes and watch closely. This will be the nourishment for you to awaken your Sharingan."
Kuroko's pain of being squeezed by the throat felt like it was on Sasuke himself. The thought of his long-time companion being crushed to death right before his eyes made Sasuke burst into tears. He cried out, "No, stop!"
If awakening the Sharingan meant sacrificing Kuroko, then he would rather not have those eyes at all.
"Sometimes, regret is a price you can't repay."
After saying this, Tōshirō's gaze became cold. "What's with those tears? Can your tears protect the Uchiha clan?"
Sasuke's eyes were already swollen from crying. "Tōshirō-sensei, please let Kuroko go. I don't want to awaken my Sharingan anymore..."
"You are truly a disappointment to me... You should know that if you awaken your Sharingan early, you might be able to save many people with those eyes in the future. Isn't that better than saving one dog?"
"I... but..."
Tōshirō closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Alright, don't say I didn't give you a chance."
Sasuke's face lit up, but before he could even be happy, Tōshirō's next words sent him to rock bottom.
"If you can get past my clone in three minutes, I'll let Kuroko go..."
Tōshirō formed a hand seal with one hand and summoned a Shadow Clone, which stood beside him.
"How is that even possible!?"
Although Sasuke had never fought Tōshirō, he knew that he was no match for him.
And what was that just now? He seemed to have formed a hand seal with one hand. This technique was far beyond Sasuke's understanding.
The immense disparity in strength was suffocating Sasuke.
"I've given you a chance. It's up to you to seize it." Tōshirō said casually.
Using such methods on a child would seem heartless and even cold-blooded to an outsider.
Sasuke yelled hysterically, "This isn't fair!"
"Fair?"
As if he had heard the funniest thing in the world, Tōshirō couldn't help but sneer. "Sasuke, put away that childish thought. This world is filled with unfairness, and what you're seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg.
"In the future, you will meet all sorts of enemies. If you can't even handle this much reality, then I suggest you give up on being a ninja as soon as possible. It'll save your parents and brother from crying sad tears when you eventually die."
Sasuke glared at Tōshirō with his swollen, teary eyes.
Tōshirō ignored his gaze, activated his Sharingan, and looked at him coldly. "Listen, let me tell you what you should do when you face unfairness. The first thing you should do is not complain or argue, but silently work hard to reach a level of strength like mine as soon as possible.
"Trust me, when you reach a level of strength like mine, you'll fall in love with this unfairness. You'll think it's only natural. That is what you call fairness."
"Alright, I've told you enough. Now, let's begin."
After spouting off a bunch of principles, Tōshirō didn't wait for Sasuke to get ready. He motioned for his Shadow Clone to attack, and with a single move, it easily sent the young Sasuke flying.
Sasuke struggled to get up from the ground. The huge disparity in strength made him feel utterly hopeless.
He knew that Tōshirō wasn't even trying; otherwise, he wouldn't even be standing, let alone conscious.
"What's wrong? Is that all you've got?"
Tōshirō said nonchalantly, "It's already been over ten seconds since I knocked you down and you got back up. If you don't try harder, I'll kill Kuroko."
"Damn you..."
Sasuke gritted his teeth and charged toward Tōshirō, but in the face of a huge difference in strength, sheer willpower was the most worthless thing.
Getting up again and again only earned him Tōshirō's endless, cold mockery.
Before he knew it, three minutes had passed.
Tōshirō looked at the bruised and battered Sasuke and raised an eyebrow. "Not bad; it's impressive that you held on for so long and are still standing. But unfortunately, I gave you a chance, and you failed to seize it. Three minutes are up..."
Sasuke yelled, "No! I can still go on!"
As if he had lost interest in the bet, Tōshirō shook his head. This fight was predetermined from the beginning; Sasuke had no chance of winning.
Right in front of Sasuke, he clenched his hand. With a pained whimper, Kuroko fell silent forever.
D-dead...
His last bit of hope was shattered, and Sasuke's mind went blank.
"Blame your own incompetence..."
Tōshirō casually tossed Kuroko, who flew in an arc.
The image that entered his eyes was very fast, but Sasuke felt that everything around him was moving incredibly slowly, as if time had stopped. All the moments he had spent with Kuroko flashed through his mind like a slideshow. After the slideshow finished, he finally came back to his senses, and his eyes felt a burning pain.
However, he couldn't care about that right now. Even though it was difficult for him to stand, he found the strength to get back on his feet.
"No, stop!"
With a hysterical scream, Sasuke leaped toward where Kuroko had been thrown, and with a splash, he fell into the turbulent river.
Tōshirō slowly closed his eyes and mumbled, "The plan was simpler than I thought..."
"Cough, cough..."
After a violent coughing fit, Sasuke groggily woke up, a severe headache pounding in his head.
He held his head and slowly got up. He remembered he had...
Just as he was thinking, a light voice came from beside him. "Congratulations, Sasuke. You have successfully awakened your Sharingan."
"The Sharingan? Me?"
He had finally awakened the Sharingan he had long dreamed of. Before he could even be happy, Sasuke immediately remembered something, and tears poured out of his eyes as he cried uncontrollably.
"Remember this moment well..."
Sasuke helplessly hammered the ground, his face covered in snot and tears.
I'm sorry, Kuroko...
I'm so useless. If only I...
"Woof, woof, woof..."
Sasuke: ???
He thought he was hearing things.
"Woof, woof, woof..."
It wasn't his imagination!
Sasuke looked up, and a blurry figure appeared in his tear-soaked vision.
Sasuke didn't care that his hands were dirty and quickly wiped his eyes. A yellow figure was wagging its tail at him. It was Kuroko, the dog he had raised since childhood.
Kuroko wasn't dead...
After being reunited, Sasuke hugged Kuroko tightly and cried again, but this time, it was tears of joy.
His eyes filled with tears, he looked for his master but found that he was already gone.
Suddenly, he understood his teacher's good intentions.
Tōshirō-sensei was a great person.
Sasuke secretly vowed that when he grew up, he would repay Tōshirō-sensei no matter what...
Tōshirō, who was walking down the road, seemed to sense something. He looked over and smiled, then opened his mouth. "How long are you going to follow me?"
His voice spread through the air, and soon, a figure emerged from behind a tree. It was Fugaku.
"When did you find me?" he asked.
"From the moment I started beating up your son, you couldn't hold back and let out your presence a few times."
Fugaku lowered his eyes slightly. "I owe you another favor..."
Tōshirō said calmly, "Don't worry about it. Sasuke is my disciple, after all."
Fugaku: ...
Tōshirō smiled. "I told you Sasuke was very talented, didn't I?"
Fugaku nodded.
Although Tōshirō had deliberately provoked Sasuke, the fact that Sasuke could awaken his Sharingan at his age showed his immense talent.
"In the future, you should stop comparing Sasuke to Itachi. I know you're doing it for his own good, but everyone has their own path to walk. He's not a replacement for anyone."
"I will seriously consider it..."
Fugaku felt that Tōshirō cared more about his son than he did, and he couldn't help but feel a little ashamed as a father.
Suddenly, he had a bold idea. "Tōshirō, I have a request."
Tōshirō didn't think much of it and raised his chin. "Oh, what is it?"
"Could you be my son's godfather?"
A godfather is a child's guardian and protector. They are usually asked to take on the role when the child is an infant or has reached a certain age. It is a position usually given to a respected person in the community or a close friend.
Tōshirō was perfect for the role in terms of both reputation and relationship.
"Huh?"
"You don't want to?"
"No, why are you asking me this all of a sudden?"
"This is probably a wish of every parent. I hope that my children can receive better help as they grow up. You seem to have more wisdom in raising children than I do as a father."
While Fugaku was saying this, he also hoped that by doing this, Tōshirō would be able to get over the pain of losing Tsunade.
The dead cannot be brought back to life, so he hoped that Tōshirō could start a new life.
Being Sasuke's godfather... Tōshirō thought it sounded interesting and readily agreed. "I don't have a problem with it, but we should discuss this with Mikoto."
"I'm sure Mikoto will be very happy with you being our children's godfather..."
"Alright, then."
Tōshirō looked up at the sky, feeling a sense of emotion. In just a few days, his relationship with Sasuke had changed so much.
He had initially cared so much about Sasuke partly because he was Fugaku's son.
The other reason was that Sasuke had immense potential and was one of the few people who could be of help even at the Ōtsutsuki level.
Now that he was the child's godfather, perhaps he should spend even more time on Sasuke.
(End of Chapter)
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