Slash. Slash. Slash.
A blur tore through the Uchiha compound, only to stop in the shadows.
Sasuke stood there, chest rising and falling, eyes sharp.
"Too slow…" The words were little more than a whisper, but heavy with frustration.
Speed. He needed more speed. Without it, the Sharingan's insight was useless. What good was seeing an attack coming if his body couldn't move in time? One misstep, one moment of hesitation, and he'd be dead.
He flexed his fingers, feeling the faint tremor in them.
"Speed wins battles before they even start," he told himself. "It's the edge that decides who walks away… and who doesn't."
His mind wandered briefly to Shisui. Shisui of the Body Flicker. The man had moved like a phantom, so fast that even the most vigilant shinobi saw nothing but an afterimage. To match that level… no, to surpass it, that was the standard Sasuke set for himself.
And anything less was unacceptable.
Chakra control next, he decided, halting his body flicker drills. Turning toward the tree he had been standing beneath, Sasuke placed a foot against its trunk and pushed upward, beginning the climb.
One step. Two. Three. Four.
His momentum faltered. The chakra flow slipped, as if the "glue" holding him to the bark had suddenly vanished. Gravity claimed him, pulling him down.
But Sasuke twisted midair, landing lightly on his feet. His expression barely shifted, though a flicker of irritation passed through his eyes.
Still, he didn't stop. He tried again… and fell. Again. And again. Each time the bark scraped beneath his sandals, each time gravity pulled him down, he pushed himself back up.
He refused to stop practicing.
A few days ago, while he'd been at the academy, one of his clones had already checked whether the hidden locks back home had been disturbed. To his relief, they hadn't been touched.
Even so, when he returned, Sasuke made no move to open them. He knew he was being watched and would be for some time. The village couldn't risk neglecting surveillance on its last heir.
But he also knew it wouldn't last forever. The disappearance of the Uchiha had left the Land of Fire's borders uneasy, and sooner or later the constant watch, this twenty-four-seven shadow over his life, would loosen. And when it did, whatever remained hidden in those secret places would still be there, waiting.
All he had to do was be patient. Acting too soon would only risk everything. Whatever was hidden in those caches could vanish before he ever laid hands on it.
So, for now, he focused only on what he already knew or could at least claim to know. Chakra control came first. He started with tree walking, determined to master it before moving on to the far more delicate challenge of walking atop water.
Of course, he didn't neglect the basics. Techniques like the Substitution and the Transformation Jutsu were vital. Especially now, with the knowledge carried in those foreign memories, their importance weighed even heavier on him.
Still, he couldn't train in everything at once. He was only a child, and his stamina had limits. So he set his priorities: body flicker, chakra control, taijutsu, the basic academy techniques, and shurikenjutsu. He refused to fall behind in his accuracy with kunai and shuriken. To him, precision was every bit as important as speed or power.
After all, most shinobi were built for offense, not defense. Even a single well-placed slash to the neck could end a fight, at least against lower-level opponents.
"Ah, finally, five." Sasuke grinned. This time, he hadn't fallen right away, only to lose his balance a moment later and land hard on his backside with a dull thud.
"Ouch… I should not lose my concentration," he muttered in frustration, though the grin lingered, clear proof he was pleased with his progress.
Still, there were many more steps to go. He glanced up at the tree, which somehow seemed even taller from where he sat, but the sight didn't discourage him.
Without wasting a moment, he pushed himself to his feet and stepped onto the trunk again, determined to make more progress.
Whether or not things unfolded exactly like in those foreign memories, one fact was unavoidable. He would leave the village during the Chūnin Exams, if not earlier. That would be his best chance.
As for whether to follow Orochimaru, that decision could come later. What mattered now was preparing for the outside world, a place far more dangerous than anything within Konoha's walls. Out there, he would face hardships and threats that would kill anyone too weak to face them.
To survive, he needed strength. And right now, he was in the best position to gain it. Here, his life was all but guaranteed. If anything happened to him, the village elders would not sit quietly. That meant he could push himself to his absolute limit without fear of dying. Even if he collapsed unconscious, someone would make sure he survived.
He had no intention of wasting that opportunity. For the next few years, he would train harder than ever before. His goal was to reach at least jōnin level through his own ability alone, without relying on the gacha's help. Whether he could achieve it or not was uncertain, but he would give everything he had. If Kakashi and Itachi could do it, then so could he.
As for reaching the level of a Kage, it wasn't that Sasuke didn't want to. But he wasn't arrogant enough to think talent alone would get him there. Experience on the battlefield was often the deciding factor in breaking past that wall, and that was something he knew would not come easily.
And if he tried to graduate early, he knew exactly what would happen: rejection. The council would never allow him to grow too strong too quickly. If they truly felt things were slipping out of their control, they would not hesitate to go further, break his hands, his legs, even gouge out his eyes. After all, wasn't that still "protection" in their eyes? Itachi had been promised he would be kept safe, but Sasuke had no illusions about what that meant. One only needed to look at Naruto's life to understand how cruel the village could be.
When that time came, he could only hope the gacha would give him something, anything, that could tip the balance in his favor.
*****************
Pet suggestions