He won?!
On the way home, young Sasuke's mind kept replaying the final moment when Uchiha Jiyue "finished" Kakashi.
To be honest, he had never imagined shuriken could be used that way—even in his dreams.
"Shadow Shuriken Technique… and Mechanical Shuriken…"
"I've learned something new!"
But what struck him even more was—
"He's already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan… once he fully adapts to those eyes, his strength will skyrocket again…"
"What terrifying talent!"
"Even Shisui, and… that man, didn't progress this fast!"
The more Sasuke thought about it, the more shocked he felt.
If only I could get him to guide me…
Originally, Root was founded as a training division for producing elite ANBU members.
After the Third Hokage took power, it was fully handed over to his advisor, Danzō.
With ruthless tactics, Danzō gradually suppressed and bled the major ninja clans of the village, growing Root into its present size.
Before officially inducting Jiyue, Danzō deliberately gave him three days off to adjust to his condition.
That morning, with the rain still falling outside and having caught a chill the night before, Jiyue didn't go out to train as usual.
He was sitting on the wooden step outside his bedroom, staring blankly at the slanted threads of rain blowing across the courtyard.
Occasionally, a raindrop splashed onto him, but he didn't even notice.
"Ninjutsu is like a lighter—the fuel in the bottle decides how big the flame is.
For me right now, collecting a few more fancy lighters doesn't mean much.
My shuriken skills have already hit a bottleneck, so… next, I should focus on training my body."
In the shinobi world, there might be countless ways to train the body—
But the three most elite were:
The Seven-Day Breathing Method of Sunagakure.
Konoha's Eight Gates.
Kumogakure's Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
"If I trained in all three, that'd be triple the…"
In his mind, he pictured himself wearing a green jumpsuit, skin charred black from electricity, giving a thumbs-up with a Guy-like grin.
Jiyue instantly shook his head.
"No way—!"
"No way, what?"
A young voice suddenly sounded beside him.
Turning his head, Jiyue was startled to see Sasuke sitting right next to him, propping up his chin and looking at him curiously.
"Sasuke?!"
Jiyue blinked.
"When did you get here?"
Sasuke glanced at his watch.
"About five minutes ago."
Worried that Jiyue might be angry at him for barging in, Sasuke quickly added:
"I did say hello to you, but you didn't answer."
"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you."
Jiyue already had a plan for how to deal with Sasuke.
He smiled—then immediately followed it with a harsh tone:
"I just want you to get out of here. Right now."
"Why?"
The smile froze on Sasuke's face, replaced with a look of pure hurt.
"The one who killed my parents and sister is your brother. Is that reason enough?"
Jiyue grabbed Sasuke by the collar, tossed him outside the courtyard gate, and slammed it shut.
"I also…"
Climbing up from the cold ground, Sasuke wanted to say something back to Jiyue.
But once the words reached his lips, he didn't know where to start.
In the end, he just dragged his wet, heavy clothes and began walking home.
But after only a few steps—
The cold wooden gate creaked open again.
Through the misty curtain of rain—
Jiyue stepped out, holding an umbrella in one hand and a bag in the other.
"Change into the clothes in this bag, and take this umbrella with you when you go."
Sasuke's eyes lit up instantly.
"Now? Right here?"
"What else? Leaving your IQ aside, you're pretty dumb."
Jiyue still wore his cold scowl.
But Sasuke wasn't afraid of him anymore.
Not letting me in—that's his principle.
Coming out to give me clothes and an umbrella—that's kindness.
If someone had killed my family, I'd hate meeting their relatives too… he's not wrong.
That sharp contrast between Jiyue's earlier rejection and his current gesture left a deep impression on Sasuke, filling him with guilt.
If things had been different, they could have become friends…
It's all Itachi's fault—that bastard destroyed the Uchiha, and ruined everything I had!
Changing quickly into the dry clothes from the bag, Sasuke caught the faint scent of gardenia drifting from them.
He took a deep breath, ready to apologize—
But as if anticipating it, Jiyue shoved the umbrella into his hands and disappeared into the heavy rain.
"Hey!"
Looking at the now-closed gate, Sasuke puffed his cheeks in frustration.
"What a strange guy…"
Still, as he walked forward with the umbrella, he caught another whiff of the gardenia scent and murmured:
"But… he's not a bad person."
Three days later—
Forest of Death.
Root's secret training grounds.
"The codename 'Alpha'—it has to be mine!"
A boy with shoulder-length, silvery-lavender hair punched his challenger to the ground and declared his claim in front of the others.
The surrounding children all stepped back, clearly intimidated by him.
"Big brother is way too loud…"
Not far away, atop a large tree, Sai frowned as his inspiration was broken.
Looking at his unfinished drawing, he sighed.
"Forget it. Lord Danzō will probably be here soon anyway. I'll stop here for today."
Seeing Sai hop down from the tree and walk toward him, the silver-haired boy—Shin—smiled warmly.
"Sai, what made you come over on your own today?"
Hiding his sketchbook, Sai said quietly:
"If Lord Danzō sees me drawing again, he'll scold me."
"So you are afraid of something."
"Of course."
Though they weren't blood brothers, years of living together had long since made their bond deeper than family.
Before long, Danzō arrived, flanked by several Root operatives.
"Lord Danzō, is this the place?"
"Yes."
Shin was just about to greet Danzō, when he noticed something.
Danzō had brought three new children with him.
The gentle voice from earlier had come from the orange-ponytailed girl on his right.
"Lord Danzō, they are…?"
Shin asked quietly, his eyes wary of the newcomers.
In a good mood after successfully recruiting three talents, Danzō addressed the assembled children with a smile:
"Gather around. From today onward, these three will be your generation's Alpha, Beta, and Gamma."
What?!
Shin's heart sank.
He had trained for three years, hoping to secure a top ranking in the new generation to protect his younger brother.
And now, the person he respected most had simply given away the top three titles without even holding a competition.
He couldn't accept it.
"Lord Danzō, I object!"
Shin stepped forward, anger burning in his eyes.
"Without any assessment, how can you casually hand out such valuable titles?"
With him taking the lead, other ambitious children also began protesting.
"He's right!"
"Shin makes a good point!"
"Lord Danzō, we refuse to accept this!"
"If they want the titles, they have to beat us first!"
As the voices of dissent grew louder, Danzō's brow furrowed slightly.
But soon, he decided to give them a chance.
Very well—let's see your strength, then.
He gave a pointed glance to Uchiha Jiyue, Aburame Torune, and Yamanaka Fū.