Hokage Building, Office
The Third Hokage sat in his chair, smiling kindly at Hatake Kakashi, who had just entered the office. "Kakashi, you're here quite promptly."
"As you commanded, Lord Third, I dared not delay," Kakashi replied respectfully.
After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, the Third Hokage asked, "Kakashi, you've been working with Sasuke for two years now, haven't you? What's your assessment of his character?"
Kakashi paused briefly, gathering his thoughts before replying, "Sasuke is calm, rational, and diligent. He approaches challenges with composure and maintains a detached demeanor. He occasionally displays a sharp tongue and delivers sobering remarks. Perhaps due to the traumatic events in his past, he rarely expresses his emotions openly. Overall, he's a reserved, hardworking, and emotionally guarded child."
The Third Hokage chuckled, teasing, "So, in that case, Sasuke is quite similar to you in your youth, Kakashi."
Kakashi nodded silently.
Through two years of interaction, he had indeed recognized echoes of his younger self in Sasuke.
Both had suffered profound losses, closed off their emotions, occasionally lashed out with biting words, and immersed themselves in relentless training, driven by a desire to prove something.
However, back then, Kakashi had projected cold indifference.
The boy, on the other hand, radiated composed calmness.
Seeing Kakashi remain silent, the Third Hokage pressed further. "Sasuke has been under your tutelage for a year now, hasn't he? What do you think of his current strength?"
Kakashi replied calmly, "Sasuke is the most gifted genius I've ever encountered. At his age, my strength paled in comparison to his."
"It seems you hold him in high regard," the Third Hokage remarked. He knew Kakashi had become a Jonin at just twelve years old, so Kakashi's assessment meant Sasuke had already reached Jonin-level strength.
'No surprise they're brothers, after all. The elder brother's talent was exceptional, and the younger brother is no less remarkable.'
He recalled Itachi's early achievements: becoming a Chunin at ten, joining the Anbu at eleven, becoming an Anbu Squad Captain at thirteen, and by fourteen...
The Third Hokage sighed inwardly before continuing in a measured tone, "Sasuke is your current disciple, and his elder brother once served under you. In your opinion, how does Sasuke's current strength compare to Uchiha Itachi's at the same age?"
'Itachi...?'
Hearing the Third Hokage mention Uchiha Itachi, Kakashi's expression darkened slightly.
At this time, he was still unaware of the truth behind the Uchiha Clan Massacre. He also knew nothing of the agreement between Uchiha Itachi and the Hidden Leaf Village.
Like most Jonin in the village, he believed the official narrative: that Uchiha Itachi had committed the massacre in his pursuit of extreme power.
Even now, he couldn't understand why that seemingly calm and composed young man would commit such an act.
Kakashi remained silent for a moment, then shook his head. "It's hard to say. Both Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke are highly skilled ninjas proficient in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, with no obvious weaknesses. Sasuke has an advantage over Itachi in taijutsu, physical strength, and swordsmanship compared to Itachi at his age. However, Itachi surpasses Sasuke in genjutsu and combat experience, especially with the Sharingan."
"I'd call it a roughly 50-50 chance," Kakashi concluded.
"The key factor will be how much of Sasuke's true potential he can unleash in a life-or-death battle."
Such a life-or-death struggle is vastly different from routine sparring matches.
Some individuals, when facing mortal danger and the terror of death, can tap into reserves of strength and latent abilities far beyond their usual capabilities.
Others, however, will tremble in fear, unable to muster even half their normal strength.
The Third Hokage nodded, pondered silently for a moment, then smiled gently. "I understand, Kakashi. You may leave now. Oh, and don't forget your promotion to Jonin next month. Be sure to prepare accordingly."
"Yes, Third Lord Hokage," Kakashi replied respectfully, turning to leave the office.
"Sigh..."
After Kakashi left, the Third Hokage let out a soft sigh and retrieved a stack of files on this year's graduating class from his drawer, beginning to review them.
___
Uchiha Clan Compound, Sasuke's residence.
After finishing dinner, Sasuke didn't immediately begin his training. Instead, he left a Shadow Clone at home and descended into the newly constructed basement beneath his house.
The basement was a spacious, clean room. At its center stood a medium-sized experimental workbench.
The surrounding area was filled with surgical scalpels, razor blades, small tweezers, fine needles, syringes, gauze, microscopes, and various other medical instruments.
Sasuke first approached a corner of the room, retrieved a small cage, placed it on the workbench, and opened it.
Two lively, energetic, and spirited white mice immediately appeared, bouncing around vigorously.
However, upon seeing Sasuke, the mice immediately panicked, squeaking frantically and scurrying about in alarm.
Sasuke smiled gently, revealing a warm expression. He carefully took one of the mice out of the cage and began meticulously examining its body, focusing particularly on its eyes.
"Subject A: Pupil size, shape, and color normal."
"Conjunctiva: Normal color, smooth, transparent, no significant congestion, edema, follicles, or new growths."
"Cornea: Normal size, sensation intact, no significant clouding, hemorrhage, pus accumulation, or foreign bodies."
Lifting the mouse, Sasuke flipped back its eyelids and studied them intently for a moment before noting his observations in the experimental log beside the workbench.
Having finished writing, Sasuke picked up a small flashlight and shone it into the mouse's eyes.
"Slightly sluggish reaction to light. Probably due to not fully adapting to the new eyes yet."
He gently pressed the lacrimal fossa, the bony socket housing the tear glands above the outer corner of the mouse's eye. When a few remorseful tears welled up, Sasuke nodded in satisfaction.
"No redness, swelling, tenderness, or fistulas in the lacrimal sac region. Normal secretion volume upon compression of the lacrimal sac. No stenosis or obstruction of the tear ducts."
After further meticulous examination revealed no apparent signs of discomfort in Subject A, Sasuke picked up Subject B and began the examination again.
After a long while, Sasuke placed both mice back in their cage and let out a long sigh.
'So it seems my eye transplant surgery was a success!'
These two mice had been specially selected as experimental subjects for the eye transplant. Not only did they share the same blood type, but their iris diameters and pupil sizes were nearly identical, minimizing any potential error.
'Medical Ninjutsu truly is like a cheat code—absolutely unbelievable.'
Just yesterday, Sasuke had performed the reciprocal eye transplants on the two mice. Yet in a mere day, both animals had already begun to adapt to their new eyes.
However, there was precedent.
During the Third Shinobi World War, Nohara Rin had successfully performed a "hot-swappable" transplant—a plug-and-play surgery that required no adaptation period.
___
This Sasuke Is Strange 150 advanced chapters: (5 ch updates everyday)
Patreon.com/rashta
Be a member so you can also read:
1. 345 adv ch of Talent System In Naruto (Completed)
2. 487 adv ch of This Danzo Is Weird
3. 270 adv ch of Uchiha Madara's Cousin
4. 163 adv ch of WDQK: Divorcing Ling Qingzhu (Completed)
5. 560 adv ch of Qian Renxue's Younger Brother
6. 274 adv ch of I'm Huo Yuhao's System
7. Adv chapters of Naruto: Galgame System (Upcoming)