Uchiha Fujie's daily life was steady and orderly, with nothing particularly unusual about it.
ANBU found no real fault in his behavior, so after a week, Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered them to withdraw.
Keeping two ANBU on rotating surveillance duty was simply too wasteful.
In truth, ANBU did not have that many people to spare.
There were fewer than a hundred full ANBU members in total, and every one of them was an elite among ninja. Even the weakest were at least at the level of a special jonin.
Because of that, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no intention of keeping two full ANBU members stationed around Uchiha Fujie forever.
Rather than leave them sitting around doing nothing, it was better to send them to the borders.
Still, withdrawing ANBU did not mean he had stopped keeping watch on Fujie.
Instead, he assigned four ANBU reserves, split into two groups, to monitor him in rotation.
They were there not only to observe him, but also to protect him.
After all, if Fujie—or his Sharingan—were snatched away by enemy spies, that would become a serious problem.
Other villages might hesitate.
The Hidden Cloud Village, however, might not.
Those people were notorious for being reckless, and they had a history of trying to seize valuable bloodlines.
Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, had once been targeted by them.
Even Hinata Hyuga, inheritor of the Byakugan, had nearly been taken.
On this particular day, Sasuke Uchiha came to find Uchiha Fujie.
He seemed to have made up his mind.
"Fujie, let's train together. We'll kill Itachi Uchiha together in the future."
Sasuke Uchiha was lonely.
At this stage, he had not yet become the cold, ruthless avenger he would later turn into.
He was not nearly that unpleasant yet.
"Train together?" Uchiha Fujie let out a cold laugh. "You're too weak."
He said it on purpose.
He wanted to provoke Sasuke Uchiha.
He wanted to beat him up a little and collect some interest before settling the real score with Itachi Uchiha.
Sasuke Uchiha's eyes widened, and he activated his Sharingan with a proud look on his face.
"Weak? Then let me see how strong you really are."
The moment he finished speaking, a sharp pain exploded in his stomach.
His body flew backward.
With a single strike, he had already lost.
Sasuke Uchiha forced himself back to his feet, gritting his teeth.
"My Sharingan barely saw your movement… but my body couldn't keep up with your speed at all."
Uchiha Fujie did not attack again.
He could not help but think that Sasuke Uchiha really was Sasuke Uchiha.
The type who loved acting cool and then got smacked down for it.
Not even giving Sasuke Uchiha a chance to speak, Uchiha Fujie looked down at him and said coldly, "You think that kind of strength is impressive? It's pathetic. The real geniuses in Konoha don't stay cooped up in the Ninja Academy. They graduate early. So what if you keep training like this and manage to graduate first in your class at age twelve?"
Young Sasuke Uchiha looked confused.
Wasn't that already impressive?
If he could graduate early and follow a powerful jonin, then surely he would have a chance to defeat Itachi Uchiha.
Uchiha Fujie gave a mocking sneer.
"You should know that someone in Konoha became a jonin at the age of twelve. And Itachi Uchiha was even more monstrous than that. At thirteen, he had the power to wipe out the entire Uchiha clan. Maybe he wasn't quite at the level of the Five Kage, but killing ordinary jonin would be as easy for him as slaughtering dogs."
"Do you know what's even more ridiculous? There was once an Uchiha who was called a dead last, yet he became a chunin at ten years old. So what's there to be proud of in becoming first at the Academy? Maybe I'll apply for early graduation next year myself. For true geniuses, the Academy is never a place to stay for long. If you can't even graduate early, what right do you have to talk about avenging the Uchiha against Itachi Uchiha?"
Sasuke Uchiha stared at him, his mouth hanging open in shock.
A twelve-year-old jonin.
A ten-year-old chunin who had been called a dead last.
And Itachi Uchiha… really had been that powerful?
"Please teach me," Sasuke Uchiha said seriously. "I'm begging you."
His attitude was completely sincere.
No one understood the Uchiha better than another Uchiha.
In Sasuke Uchiha's eyes, Fujie had definitely awakened the Sharingan already.
Even if his strength was not quite at the level of a chunin, it could not be too far off.
That made him more than qualified to teach him.
Sasuke Uchiha wanted strength.
He wanted to graduate early.
He wanted to train under a jonin and then surpass jonin.
Only by doing that could he ever hope to defeat Itachi Uchiha.
"Fine," Uchiha Fujie said. "But my training is harsh."
In truth, he wanted Sasuke Uchiha to grow stronger.
Sasuke Uchiha becoming stronger was one part of his future revenge plan against Itachi Uchiha.
He understood very well that to Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha was even more important than the village itself.
Sasuke Uchiha answered in a low voice, "For the sake of getting stronger… for the sake of killing Itachi Uchiha… I'm not afraid of anything."
From that point on, Uchiha Fujie began drawing up a training plan specifically for Sasuke Uchiha.
He even had Sasuke Uchiha imitate his own approach.
At the Academy, most of his time should be spent refining chakra.
As for the academic subjects, it was enough to maintain good grades.
There was no need to insist on being first.
Information was important, yes.
But for a ninja, power mattered even more.
If Sasuke Uchiha had not possessed such low chakra reserves at the moment, Uchiha Fujie would even have taught him the Shadow Clone Technique and had a clone attend class in his place.
In truth, Sasuke Uchiha's talent was far from poor.
People liked to compare him unfavorably to Kakashi Hatake, Itachi Uchiha, and Shisui Uchiha when he was twelve, but that was only because after the massacre, he had been forced to figure everything out on his own.
Now things were different.
At the Academy, very few people could match Sasuke Uchiha's current level.
And with someone guiding his training, his growth would naturally be much faster.
Among students of the same year, the only one who could truly compete with him was Naruto Uzumaki, who was being personally trained by Kakashi Hatake.
Speaking of Kakashi Hatake, he was soon summoned to the Hokage Building.
The daily lives of Fujie and Sasuke Uchiha, along with their training, were all under Hiruzen Sarutobi's observation.
Uchiha Fujie knew he was being watched.
He had already noticed it.
But he did not expose it.
Even though he had gotten stronger over the past few days, he still was not yet strong enough to move against Konoha.
During that time, his split bodies had also obtained several C-rank ninjutsu and three B-rank ninjutsu, further increasing his strength.
And because he had already mastered chakra nature transformation, the same ninjutsu in his hands was not remotely comparable to what an ordinary ninja could perform.
Even among jonin, not everyone had mastered chakra nature transformation.
Once mastered, however, the difference in power was enormous.
For example, the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique in his hands was on a completely different level.
Inside the office, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "How is Naruto's training progressing?"
Kakashi Hatake thought for a moment before answering, "Naruto's talent is actually quite good. The main problem is the interference from the Nine-Tails. It affects him a lot in the early stages. Once his chakra control improves, the situation should get better."
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha would both eventually reach Six Paths level through extraordinary circumstances, but that did not mean they lacked talent.
No one who could develop an S-rank technique like the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken or Lightning Release: Kirin was a mediocrity.
"Can Naruto reach the level of a genin within a year?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.
"Not the kind of genin we have in peaceful times. I mean the kind of genin who would survive in wartime."
This time, Kakashi Hatake frowned in confusion.
Hiruzen Sarutobi then explained the situation with Sasuke Uchiha and Fujie.
The two of them might graduate early.
He wanted Naruto Uzumaki's strength to rise quickly as well so that when the time came, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Uchiha Fujie could all be placed under Kakashi Hatake's care.
Hiruzen Sarutobi believed that with Kakashi Hatake there, and with Naruto Uzumaki as a firm believer in the Will of Fire, the three of them would influence each other over time.
Eventually, Sasuke Uchiha and Uchiha Fujie would surely come to support the Will of Fire as well and become loyal supporters of his ideals.
Kakashi Hatake frowned slightly.
He felt that even if early graduation was a possibility, there was no need to rush it that much.
Whether it was Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, or Uchiha Fujie, all three of them should first build a solid foundation.
There was no need to hurry them into graduation.
So many ninja had fought and sacrificed themselves just to create a peaceful environment for the next generation.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone turned serious.
"Kakashi, you should understand what these three children carry on their shoulders. They are not ordinary children. And I'm not saying they should immediately start performing dangerous, high-level missions. I'm asking you to take them under your wing and help them build bonds."
Kakashi Hatake still felt uneasy about it.
But after a long discussion, he realized he would not be able to persuade Hiruzen Sarutobi otherwise.
In the end, he could only agree.
He simply could not trust anyone else to take Naruto Uzumaki.
"It looks like I need to start training again," Kakashi Hatake thought to himself after leaving. "Only then will I be able to protect Naruto… and protect the last of Obito's clan."
He had found a new goal to strive toward.
As for what a stronger Kakashi Hatake might look like—
That remained to be seen.