[Far away from Konoha Village, Inside a Forest]
Hearing bursts of birdsong, Sasuke looked absent-minded.
Dawn's brilliance slanted from the east, penetrating the forest, sprinkling mottled light and shadows, shining warmly on his body.
Sasuke still hadn't regained his senses.
"What are you thinking?" Ryosuke asked.
Sasuke spoke what was in his heart, "I just feel… that we actually swaggered out like this, it's a bit unbelievable."
Ryosuke slightly nodded, understanding Sasuke's confusion.
After leaving Konoha, Ryosuke had been rummaging through fragments of his predecessor's memory, understanding Konoha's status in the ninja world.
If a bunch of Konoha's ninjas were determined to keep people…
Relying only on the Level 2 Platinum Star and Level 1 Hermit Purple, they couldn't possibly walk out of the village alive.
Thinking carefully all the way until dawn, Ryosuke gradually figured out the flavor of it.
Inside this, there existed many layers of contest.
First, the major clans and several strong figures did not participate in the fight.
Among this was Uchiha Itachi's factor, no one wanted to provoke a madman who killed his entire clan.
There was another factor, "The rabbit dies, the fox grieves."
In the Uchiha extermination incident, there was something fishy.
Everyone couldn't find evidence, but they weren't fools. If one day they could wipe out an Uchiha, another day they could wipe out a Hyuga or an Aburame.
Many strong ones avoided this matter, unwilling to get involved.
Next was the decision of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
If the Hokage forcibly gave the order, even personally made an appearance, Ryosuke definitely could not beat him, nor run away.
Perhaps out of guilt toward the Uchiha clan, this legendary "Professor of Ninjutsu" never once showed his face from beginning to end.
Hesitation when it's time to cut will surely invite chaos.
Lastly, the only person willing to appear and intercept, Kakashi.
His identity was also very interesting. He did not belong to the Uchiha clan, yet possessed a Sharingan, with a very ambiguous relationship with the Uchiha.
Kakashi was one of the rare ones who could meddle in this matter without getting himself covered in filth.
Ryosuke recalled the fight with Kakashi.
"…He held back, rather than a fight, this was more like an examination."
Sasuke asked in surprise, "Examination? Examine what?"
Ryosuke pointed at his eyes, "Examine whether we, out there, can keep these eyes."
The Uchiha clan's Sharingan symbolized mystery and power.
Just look at Kakashi, obtaining just one Sharingan made him instantly become the 'Copy Ninja.'
Everyone wants the chance to ascend in one leap.
Once news spreads that Ryosuke and Sasuke escaped Konoha, countless ninjas and bounty hunters will target them.
Without sufficient combat power, rather than getting one's eyes gouged out and body dismembered, better to stay in Konoha as a prisoner.
"And also, for us to leave Konoha, there had to be a hurdle. Otherwise, appearances wouldn't look good. Kakashi acted as this hurdle, on one hand, examining, on the other, appropriately letting us go."
"But why would he help us?"
Ryosuke thought for a moment and said, "Because of that Sharingan of his."
Perhaps feeling indebted to the Uchiha, so wanting to give one last bit of help… this was Ryosuke's guess based on existing intel.
Ryosuke's guess was close, but there was another reason, that was Kakashi's personal judgment.
The tragedy of that night, Kakashi did not know the real cause, but he had worked with Uchiha Itachi. With his understanding of Itachi, it was impossible for him to commit something so inhumane.
There definitely was something wrong in there.
Therefore, Kakashi had to act.
He had to let Ryosuke and Sasuke escape. Once they left the village, if the black hand hiding behind the scenes wanted to act, its hand must 'reach out.'
The further the hand reaches, the more likely it leaves clues, so Kakashi could unravel the thread and trace back to the truth.
This night seemed to involve only the Uchiha extermination case, yet behind it, intelligence, games, weighing of power, intertwined influences, as if a chessboard.
Ryosuke was a chess piece that suddenly appeared on the board.
Only, Danzo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Itachi and others were playing shogi.
But Ryosuke was a "chariot".
Smashing apart countless arrangements and hidden threads.
"Brother Ryosuke, you're really amazing."
Little Sasuke sincerely sighed, "It's one thing for your ninjutsu to be powerful, but I didn't expect you could deduce so many things, it's simply like a prophet in a fairy tale."
Ryosuke smiled.
Based on existing information to make rational deduction and analysis was not such a difficult thing. As long as there is enough logical analysis ability, adding a suitable amount of information is enough.
"Want to learn?" Ryosuke asked.
"Of course!"
Sasuke's eyes shone, "I also want to become a person like Brother Ryosuke!"
"Then first learn mathematics, to develop logical thinking ability."
"Eh?"
Escaping all the way until noon, the sun high in the sky, Ryosuke and Sasuke were hungry to the point their chests stuck to their backs.
On the way they occasionally passed by small villages, but considering they weren't far from Konoha yet and worried about being tracked by Danzo's men, they didn't enter.
Using the vines of the Hermit Purple, Ryosuke caught a wild rabbit.
But how to eat it, that stumped Ryosuke.
"Kill it, skin it, remove the organs, roast it, then eat." Sasuke tilted his head slightly, "Brother Ryosuke, don't tell me you can't kill a rabbit?"
Ryosuke really couldn't. He had never entered a kitchen since childhood; let alone rabbits, he hadn't even killed a single fish.
Not that Ryosuke was afraid, he just didn't know how to start.
Little Sasuke put his hands on his hips and smiled.
Finally something he was good at. He took the rabbit from Ryosuke's hands, pulled out a kunai from his body, and skillfully slit it open, saying, "I'm very good at this. Back then, when training with Itachi with kunai, we would often catch rabbits and fish to eat, at that time…"
As he spoke, his tone gradually lowered, his hands slowed down, and his bright eyes filled with a watery mist.
Sasuke sniffled hard.
"Tell me, why would Itachi do these things? Could he have some hidden reason?"
Sasuke hoped the omnipotent Ryosuke could deduce an answer, one that could explain last night's mystery.
"Of course he had a reason."
Sasuke suddenly raised his head.
Ryosuke continued, "But having a reason doesn't mean it was right. To judge a person, you can't look at what he thinks, you look at what he does."
The scheming of villains is not as good as the sudden inspiration of fools.
"A reason is only the starting point, but from this starting point can branch countless paths leading to completely different ends. And Uchiha Itachi chose the simplest, and also the most foolish path."
Sasuke half-understood, half-not.
Ryosuke gently patted his back, "Don't worry, if you can't figure it out, think slowly. You're still young, there's plenty of time."
Sasuke hummed in response, buried his head in handling the rabbit, Ryosuke squatted to the side and learned, occasionally asking a question or two. In the back-and-forth, Sasuke gradually walked out from his grief.
No salt, no seasoning, the roasted rabbit tasted very ordinary.
Ryosuke, however, ate very earnestly, this was his first meal since arriving in this world.
During the short rest, Ryosuke finally had time to check last night's battle harvest.
[Soul fragments: 652]
That's 65 draws.
Among them, Ryosuke originally had 300 fragments.
From slaughtering through Root all the way to Konoha's edge, he obtained 52 soul fragments.
Defeating Kakashi gave 300 soul fragments.
Defeating Uchiha Itachi, Ryosuke got 800 soul fragments. Kakashi only 300, this wasn't because Kakashi was that much weaker than Itachi.
It was because their battle mentalities were different.
Uchiha Itachi fought with the intent to kill Ryosuke; Kakashi, the opposite, held back a lot, didn't even use Raikiri or Kamui.
It's just that Uchiha Itachi suffered from lack of intel, Ryosuke hit him with a combo, leaving no chance to display his skills.
'652 fragments.'
Ryosuke decided to draw first.
Level 2 Platinum Star was strong enough in close combat; even if he saved to 1000 fragments and upgraded to Level 3, it would only be icing on the cake.
In the battle with Kakashi, Ryosuke realized his weakness. He was lacking mid-to-long-range combat ability.
He needed a new Stand to make up for this shortcoming; otherwise, he could easily be kited to death.
After weighing the pros and cons, Ryosuke opened the system interface.
'Draw!'
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