Chapter 35:
'I thought they pitied you as a genius who got hurt. Looks like their envy has turned into jealousy…'
Naruto lay on his desk with a sad expression, glancing up at Iruka who was teaching, while mentally discussing their classmates with Sasuke.
Many people were jealous of Sasuke, but right now only one person was directing clear malice toward him.
'No rush. In the next sparring match, I want to fight him…'
Sasuke lay on his desk. He had already decided how to deal with the person who harbored ill will toward him.
But for now, he needed to recover his strength. At the very least, he had to get his body back in shape first.
Lying in bed for half a year had left him so weak that even he found it disgusting.
'The graduation exam is in a few days. You should first think about how to get good results. A genius can't turn into a dead-last just because he was hospitalized for a while. You can't take my position…'
Naruto didn't really care what Sasuke planned to do, but this year's graduation exam was only a week away. If Sasuke performed poorly, it would ruin his reputation as a genius.
Naruto didn't want Sasuke to fall from the position of top student, so this year's exam — Sasuke had to take first place!
'Why do you like being the dead-last so much?'
Talking about grades made Sasuke curious about Naruto again.
In the past, he had always thought Naruto really didn't know anything.
But now he knew that was impossible. Naruto's learning ability was definitely much stronger than the other students'.
'Because it's fun, and it saves me a lot of trouble!'
Naruto still hadn't found where the Forbidden Scroll was hidden, so he had to maintain this persona so it wouldn't collapse.
He even planned to keep failing the Clone Technique all the way until graduation.
Though he didn't think he would actually get the real Forbidden Scroll at that time.
With the Third Hokage's scheming nature, the scroll was probably just bait — containing one or two jutsu as a test for him…
As long as they kept an eye on it, any fake scroll they produced would inevitably be connected to the real one.
Stealing the Forbidden Scroll wasn't very meaningful. What he wanted was to learn all its contents.
'Do whatever you want. If you ever want to get beaten up, just say it. I won't hold back!'
Sasuke didn't want to deal with Naruto anymore. He definitely wouldn't let his grades drop. Even if his body was still weak, he refused to hand over the first-place spot to anyone else.
He was now the only remaining member of the Uchiha clan. He represented his entire clan — he could not allow anyone to surpass him!
The two of them spent the entire morning lying on their desks listening to class. At lunch, Iruka brought two portions, but each only had three onigiri.
Sasuke stared at the rice balls for a long time during lunch. In the end, he endured the sour feeling in his heart and ate them all.
Mom's onigiri… he didn't know when he would be able to eat them again.
...
"Lord Hokage, the Uchiha clan grounds have been completely cleaned up. We still haven't found the Uchiha clan's secret archive…"
In the Hokage's office, an Anbu knelt on one knee and reported the latest findings.
"Continue monitoring Uchiha Sasuke. Report immediately if anything unusual happens!"
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat in his chair and thought for a long time. After giving the order, he waved his hand and dismissed everyone.
They still hadn't found the Uchiha clan's secret archive, nor any of the clan's valuable items.
He had suspected Danzo, and he had suspected Uchiha Itachi, but he suspected the masked man who had appeared with Itachi during the massacre even more.
Unfortunately, he had no way to ask Itachi about these things right now, and Danzo refused to give him any face…
Although the chances were slim, he could only hope to get an unexpected surprise from Uchiha Sasuke.
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