Night.
The boy, his body flickering with deep-blue electric light, chased relentlessly after the knife-wielding girl ahead.
Lightning coiled around Sasuke's frame; with every step, his figure vanished instantly from its spot, pursuing the gleam of light in front of him.
Suddenly, amid the shrill chorus of a thousand birds and the thunder's furious roar, he surged forward.
Heh, this kid's got something.
Hikari leaped from a tree branch on one foot, twisting mid-air as cold steel flashed from its sheath. In the blink of an eye, fierce flames licked along the length of her long sword.
A sharp ring of metal on metal—lightning blade and flame blade collided in a burst of sparks.
Lightning snarled; embers scattered everywhere.
They clashed and parted in the same instant. Hikari used Sasuke's momentum to spring higher, while arcs of electricity exploded across Sasuke's body as he charged upward once more.
The two became streaks of red and blue, waging a ferocious, peerless chase through the forest.
Every exchange sent fire spraying and electric arcs crackling.
Hikari parried Sasuke's relentless assaults; her flaming blade met and turned aside each seemingly unstoppable, straight-line charge.
"You won't get far like this. You don't have even a hint of the proper evil Uchiha brat vibe."
"This brainless style—it's exactly like the Senju or Uzumaki."
"Not a single thought behind it."
Hikari fended off his attacks while still finding time to critique him.
Sasuke pressed his lips together at her words.
Was this how he wanted to fight?
Lightning Release was by nature swift and savage. Even having mastered both its nature and shape transformation, it was still difficult for him to preserve that blinding speed in combat while also weaving in refined technique.
Moreover, the Lightning Release body technique Sarutobi Hiruzen had bestowed upon him only pushed him further down that reckless, invisible-speed path.
"Then what should I do?"
Sasuke halted, gazing up at the girl silhouetted high in the sky, her back to the bright moon.
He remembered something Kakashi had once told him on the battlefield in the Land of Frost.
Kakashi had said he would rather Sasuke develop techniques that truly belonged to him than simply inherit his own.
"Want to learn?"
"I'll teach you."
A glint of mischief flashed in Hikari's lively eyes.
"But first, you have to call me something nice."
Sasuke hesitated; he had already gotten a rough feel for Hikari's personality.
She looked every inch an Uchiha, yet her temperament was surprisingly bright and playful—evident from how she bickered with little Sakura every few days.
And "something nice"…
"Come on, call me 'Granny'."
Hikari leaned in close to the stunned, motionless Sasuke and teased him.
…
Sasuke stared at the radiant smile on the girl beside him and found he couldn't get the word out.
Granny?
Even if she was technically several generations above him, her appearance was roughly his own age—it was impossible for him to say it.
"Not willing, huh~~~?"
"Then never mind~~~."
Hikari arched a brow at his conflicted expression, executed a flashy sword flourish, sheathed her blade, clasped her hands behind her head, and turned to leave.
"…"
"…Granny."
The words left Sasuke's mouth in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz—inaudible unless one listened very carefully.
"Yes!"
"Good boy. Truly an evil Uchiha brat who'll do anything for power."
Hikari's eyes curved into happy crescents as she reached out and patted Sasuke's head with satisfaction.
She had intended to teach him anyway, even if he hadn't said it.
After all, she still wanted to watch Sasuke turn the Uchiha windmill of love. It would be no fun at all if he tripped over a rock and died along the way.
"Technique, you see, is—"
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
Uchiha Hikari had never been one to dawdle. The moment she agreed, she prepared to explain without hesitation.
But just as the words left her mouth, a shuriken flew from her hand.
It struck the tree right beside the intruder with perfect precision.
It had not missed—Hikari had aimed it there on purpose.
They were inside Konoha, after all, and for Sasuke's sake she didn't want to cause trouble for this evil little Uchiha brat.
Killing a couple of fools who didn't know better would only complicate things.
"I never imagined the Uchiha clan had gained another member."
A hoarse, aged voice emerged.
The speaker stepped out from the deep shadows beneath the trees.
Hikari's brows drew together slightly as she regarded him; Sasuke stared as well.
"This old man is Shimura Danzo."
A black-robed man leaning on a cane appeared before the pair.
"…"
Sasuke offered no reply to the elder who had appeared before him in the dead of night.
He didn't know the man at all.
"It is only natural you do not recognize me."
"I have always worked in Konoha's shadows, eliminating in the darkness those who threaten the village."
"Whatever the Hokage cannot handle, I handle."
Danzo's single exposed eye regarded the boy and girl with dark, fathomless depth.
"You may think of me as the Hokage who dwells in shadow."
His words softened Sasuke's expression somewhat.
The Third had granted him Lightning Release body techniques and was also little Sakura's teacher.
Sasuke held a favorable view of the Hokage.
More than that, from beginning to end Sasuke had always considered himself a ninja of Konoha.
He had never spoken the words aloud, but he had lived by them, devoting his strength to the village.
"Then, sir, what brings you to me so late at night?"
Sasuke hesitated before adding the honorific.
"That is precisely why I have come."
Danzo's gaze flicked briefly to Uchiha Hikari.
He did not recognize this female Uchiha. She had appeared out of nowhere some time after that troublesome girl Haruno Sakura left the village.
"Hey, you two talk. I'm going to bed."
Hikari waved a hand, clearly annoyed, and walked off.
Sasuke watched her go with faint regret.
He had been hoping to learn some technical refinements from her tonight. It seemed it would have to wait.
The moon hung hidden behind thick clouds on this dark, windy night; the resulting shadows crept forward, gradually swallowing Danzo before inching toward the boy ahead.
"Sasuke, do you know the truth about Uchiha Itachi?"
The man lowered his gaze to the boy before him.
"…"
Sasuke's face settled into calm neutrality, betraying no emotion.
"It seems Haruno Sakura never told you the truth behind the Uchiha massacre."
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched the corner of Danzo's mouth.
He had thought long and hard before deciding to approach the last Uchiha.
And it had to be done quickly—there could be no delay.
Because once he made contact, this boy who trusted Haruno Sakura completely would surely report the meeting to her.
Danzo needed the boy to trust him utterly after a single encounter.
"Uchiha Itachi—a pitiful man."
Danzo spoke slowly.
"To protect his only younger brother, he chose to destroy the entire Uchiha clan."
Master of such tactics, Danzo opened with a devastating revelation. The inexperienced boy opposite him trembled faintly from head to toe.
Not from shock.
From anger—rage without limit.
What had the man just said?
That Itachi annihilated the entire clan to protect his only brother?
"It appears that girl Haruno Sakura truly told you nothing."
"This matter was meant to remain buried forever in the dark, never to see daylight."
"Yet now, it can no longer stay hidden."
"I will tell you the truth of the Uchiha massacre."
Danzo looked at the boy and continued.
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