---
But he wouldn't admit it—doing so would make him feel weak.
So, Uchiha Sasuke gave himself another explanation:
"I carry the name of Uchiha. I will restore its glory with my own hands. I can't fall here. I must defeat him!"
Gritting his teeth, Sasuke forced his battered legs to move, charging toward Ye Dou once more.
Ye Dou didn't hesitate. With a powerful stomp that cracked the ground, he vanished in a blur and reappeared in front of Sasuke.
A solid punch landed in Sasuke's gut—whump!—followed by another across his cheek, and then a spinning kick that sent him crashing into a nearby tree with a thud.
"It's over. So much for… 'the avenging soul of the Uchiha,'" Ye Dou said coldly.
That phrase wasn't Ye Dou's invention—it came straight from Sasuke himself, from the first time he sought him out after his recovery.
It was dramatic, over-the-top… classic chunibyo. But it reflected Sasuke's heart. His entire reason for living now was revenge.
"Damn it… If only I had my Sharingan!"
Sasuke didn't get up this time. His fists trembled with frustration.
Ye Dou was too fast—faster than his eyes could track. He needed his Sharingan to stand a chance.
In truth, Ye Dou also wanted Sasuke to awaken and master his Sharingan. At least then, Sasuke could provide something closer to real combat experience.
After all, Sasuke had awakened his Sharingan—on the night of the Uchiha massacre—but he couldn't seem to use it now.
"Is it a matter of insufficient training? Or something deeper—psychological?"
Ye Dou frowned. It wasn't something that could be analyzed easily. The Sharingan was tied not just to blood, but to trauma and resolve.
"Tch. Whatever. Don't get in my way."
Unable to unravel the mystery, Ye Dou turned away and resumed his training.
"Wait for me… I will catch up. I finally understand now—what it's like to lose everything. That loneliness… it'll make me stronger!"
Sasuke wasn't the same boy he had been. He wasn't just cold anymore—he was hard.
Clutching his stomach, wincing from the pain of repeated strikes, he dragged himself out of the forest.
"…Ye Dou," the mongoose murmured, watching Sasuke's back. "He's starting to resemble you."
"It's just superficial," Ye Dou said flatly. "There's deeper darkness waiting for him."
And with that, he said no more.
Ye Dou already knew what was coming.
He knew Sasuke's current path was one carved by Uchiha Itachi's hand—pushed forward by the power of hatred.
And even when Sasuke finally achieved his so-called revenge and killed Itachi, there would be a greater, more bitter truth waiting.
That hatred would be redirected. That rage would be used again. He would become a pawn once more.
Uchiha Sasuke's fate was riddled with manipulation and tragedy. It was no surprise that he eventually abandoned Konoha in search of his own answers.
But Ye Dou didn't think he was in any better shape than Sasuke.
He, too, lived under a blade—his own survival hanging by a thread. Unlike Sasuke, Ye Dou was alive purely for the sake of staying alive.
---
Nighttime.
After dinner, Ye Dou silently made his way to Konoha's cemetery.
Although the Uchiha clan had been labeled traitors, Konoha hadn't made the details public. The village buried them together with other fallen shinobi—cleaning up the mess in silence.
As for Uchiha Itachi, Konoha's official story was that he massacred the entire Uchiha clan and became an S-rank missing-nin. A bounty had been placed on his head.
But privately, Sarutobi Hiruzen had never changed the barriers guarding Konoha's perimeter. If Itachi ever wanted to return, he could slip through undetected.
This was Hiruzen's way of appeasing him.
They said it was in case Itachi wanted to check in on Sasuke—but more likely, it was to maintain contact and pass intel about the Akatsuki.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was a true believer in the "Will of Fire," but he played the game shrewdly.
He knew real loyalty wasn't enforced through violence and iron-fisted rule—it was forged through bonds, through love and sacrifice.
Just like how Guan Yu could have stayed with Cao Cao, but left the moment he received Liu Bei's letter.
Hiruzen might have been old, but he hadn't gone senile. If anything, he understood people better than anyone. He had always been a master strategist—and a master at staying clean.
As Shimura Danzo once said, Hiruzen was the "light" of Konoha.
He played the benevolent grandfather, sitting atop the Hokage's tower, while pushing the dirty work onto Danzo and Root.
The Uchiha massacre was no different.
Itachi hated Danzo.
And someday, Sasuke would also direct his vengeance toward Danzo.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen—the one with the most power—would remain untouched.
To Itachi, he was still someone worthy of gratitude.
Maybe Ye Dou was being cynical. Maybe this was all just his own dark interpretation of Sarutobi's strategy.
But he saw no harm in being cautious.
After all, this world was a meat grinder that chewed people up and spat out bones.
---
"Anyone around?" Ye Dou asked.
The cemetery was still—eerily so. Not even an insect stirred.
But Ye Dou was cautious. Most of Konoha's shinobi were buried here, including many with Kekkei Genkai. The idea of something happening to their remains wouldn't sit well with the village.
Given the likes of Orochimaru and Danzo, there was no way Sarutobi hadn't stationed guards here.
Sure enough, after the mongoose flicked its tail to sense chakra—
"There are four chūnin patrolling. But you could slip past. They're slacking off—playing cards, not watching the graves."
[Undercurrents]
"Four chūnin, huh?"
---